Bloody Songkran Festival Carnage Leaves Hundreds Dead, Tens of Thousands Hurt in Thailand by Phairath Khampha 19 April 2002 The Songkran festival road toll in April 15 soared to hundreds dead with tens of thousands people injured. An average four people had died on the roads and 276 others injured every hour since midnight of April 11. Two members of Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali of Thailand's entourage joined the list of dead highway accident victims. The majority of victims were motorcycle pillion riders who were not wearing crash helmets. The major cause of road accidents was speeding, reckless overtaking, jumping red lights and drunk driving and generally behaving in a stupid and immature fashion. Most accidents involved private cars. Hundreds other died or were injured in other incidents. A total of 564 people died in road accidents and in total 821 people were killed in various Songkran related accidents. Songkran is Thailand's traditional new year festival and it is similarly celebrated in Burma, Laos, Cambodia, southern Vietnam and parts of China's Yunnan province. As of April 15, more than 76,774 people were injured and 821 killed during Songkran, Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said. Thailand's Public Health Ministry's Narenthorn Communication and Emergency Medical Service Centre arrived at the figures by adding up the number of people receiving medical treatment between April 11 and 15 at 811 public hospitals across the country. During Songkran 53,108 people were injured and another 528 were killed, mostly in road accidents. Casualty records from hospitals under other government agencies and from private hospitals and clinics were unavailable, hence the real toll could perhaps never be known, but it would be considerably higher. On April 12-13, Nakhon Ratchasima province reported the highest number of casualties with 964 injured people. Chiang Mai reported 811, Khon Kaen 616, Buri Ram 579, Ubon Ratchathani 556, Surat Thani 534 and Nakhon Si Thammarat 296 over the same period. Nakhon Ratchasima also had the highest number of people killed in road accidents with 16, Ubon Ratchathani 11, Buri Ram 10, Nakhon Si Thammarat 9, Khon Kaen 7, Chiang Mai 6 and Surat Thani 5. This carnage happens every year as Thais behave in undisciplined and stupid, unthinking fashion, killing each other off in behaviour and activities they perceive to be amusement. Police also reported one murder and three injuries related to Songkran celebrations. Police said Sarawut Kotchachen, 17, from Nakhon Si Thammarat, was shot and hacked to death by a group of 20 youths from other villages. Police said Sarawut smeared powder on the face of a teenage girl from another village as part of the celebration, but she became angry and came back with the 20 men from her village to assault him. During the killing, another man, Charoen Promhom, 26, suffered knife wounds on his arm and body. Police said they knew the identities of the attackers and were hunting them down. More fighting was reported in Amnart Charoen. Police said Patcharee Orasi, 16, and her boyfriend, Kakhawut Pimnid, 22, received gunshot wounds and were rushed to the provincial hospital. Khakhawut told police that a group of young men on motorcycles chased after his motorcycle and shot at him and his girlfriend at around 1.30am in Muang district. Another shooting was reported in Bangkok. Police said they arrested patrol 191 policeman Yutthapong Lekkrachang, 29, for shooting his friend, Pongphan Khongthai, 25. Police said Yutthapong was drunk at his home in Nakhon Sawan and pulled out his pistol to tease his friend. Yutthapong accidentally pulled the trigger while pointing the gun at the back of his friend's head, police said. He fled the scene but was later arrested. Doctors said Pongphan was still in a coma following the operation to remove the bullet from his head. Those killed inroad accidents included a man who was killed in Trat at 10pm on the night of April 13, just a week before his marriage. Police said Nikhom Waliwan, 30, was hit by a pick-up truck while riding his motorcycle. The person riding with him was injured. The pick-up truck driver fled the scene. Nikhom's relatives said that he was to be married on April 20. At 1pm on April 14, Hem Khuha, 58, was killed when the pick-up truck in which she was riding overturned in Ratchaburi. Police said Hem and her family were returning from a Songkran trip to Cham-am in Phetchaburi when the accident occurred. Police said a tyre burst, sending the vehicle out of control. Nine other people riding the pick-up truck were injured. Former sports champ killed in Chumphon during royal entourage Two members of Her Royal Highness Princess Soamsawali's entourage joined the list of Songkran holiday highway accident victims on April 15. They died when a van they were travelling in, part of Princess Soamsawali's motorcade, collided with a 10-wheel truck in Tha Sae district, Chumphon. Walapa Tangjitnusorn--one of Thailand's top sports stars of the 1970s and 1980s--was among those killed. Four other women in the van were injured when one of the tyres exploded and the driver lost control. The van hit a 10-wheel truck in the opposite lane of the Phet Kasem highway about 10am. The injured--Chollathit Srisai, Jayanit Sawatdibutr, Duangduan Inkham and Winya Tangjitnusorn--were taken to Tha Sae hospital and then transferred to Chumphon hospital. Mrs Chollathit was later pronounced dead. Mrs. Walapa's young daughter was seriously injured and put on life support. The princess and her attendants who were on their way to Trang, Krabi, Phangnga and Phuket, stopped to look after the injured at the hospital.