40-year-old man first fatality of holiday season
A 40-year-old man was the first recorded road casualty of the New Year holiday yesterday, with police expecting hundreds more to be killed and thousands injured over the most dangerous seven days of the year. Sathit Manowong was killed when the pick-up he was travelling in collided with a six-wheel truck before slamming into another vehicle in Uttaradit province yesterday.
The accident happened in tambon Dan Nakham in Muang district. Police blamed speed and poor visibility.
Driver Thanthorn Wonglek, 31, and two women, Rudapa Yukindee, 35 and Jariya Luengthanahiran, 27, were seriously injured.
Employees of a Bangkok firm, they were on their way to Phrae province for New Year celebrations. City police have set up checkpoints on all roads leaving Bangkok as part of a campaign against drink driving.
Metropolitan Police Bureau chief Pol Lt-Gen Viroj Chantarangsi said 176 checkpoints were being manned by 3,556 traffic police. Police expect the death toll from road accidents in the capital to stay below 10. Last year nine were killed and 88 injured over New Year.
bangkok post