Thailand records an average of 40 deaths per day on its roads, with drunk driving identified as the main cause of fatal accidents.
As the New Year festivities approach
This period coincides with New Year 2026, marked by a significant increase in travel across the country, which mechanically increases the risk of serious accidents related to alcohol and dangerous driving.
Civil society demands tougher sanctions
Road accident in Thailand. Photo: ASEAN Now.
On December 22, 2025, these networks presented a proposal to Mr. Ittiporn Kaewthip, Attorney General, calling for the confiscation of vehicles from drunk drivers and tougher penalties for alcohol-related offenses.
They also demand stricter enforcement of the law against those who sell alcohol to minors and push for legislative changes to increase the legal consequences of dangerous driving.
The networks also call for the full liability of sellers to be engaged when the sale of alcohol to minors or intoxicated persons subsequently leads to bodily harm or loss of life involving third parties.
A colossal human and economic cost for Thailand
Police inspect a tourist bus after it skidded off a road in Bo Phloi district, Kanchanaburi in February 2024. Photo: Piyarat Chongcharoen
Experts, including Mr. Surasit Silapngam, director of the Foundation Against Drink Driving, highlight the urgency of the situation, citing an annual loss of 500 to 600 billion baht due to road accidents.
According to Mr. Surasit Silapngam, more than 200,000 people have lost their lives on Thai roads over the past decade, mainly people of working age, which has a lasting impact on the country's workforce and economy.
According to official data from the Thai Ministry of Public Health, road deaths still averaged nearly 48 deaths per day in 2023.
See: Road accidents in Thailand cause 48 deaths per day
More recent figures cited by civil society networks, around 40 daily deaths, may reflect a gradual decline in road deaths or differences in period and method of calculation.
Relaxing rules on alcohol: a controversial decision
Customers at a bar clink glasses of alcohol.
The relaxation of alcohol regulations has increased concerns about road safety.
See: Thailand: end of the ban on alcohol in the afternoon to boost tourism
In some pilot areas, the sale of alcohol is now allowed until 4 am.
At the same time, the ban on sales between 2 pm and 5 pm has been lifted, allowing continuous sales from 11 am to midnight, potentially increasing the risks on the roads.
The new law on alcohol control provides for tougher penalties.
It introduces fines of up to 100,000 baht (approximately €2,725) for selling alcohol to minors or people already intoxicated, a sum five times higher than that provided for in the previous legislation.
See: Thailand: a new law bans the sale of alcohol to drunk customers
In this context, the government's current stance on alcohol sales represents a challenge in efforts to improve road safety.
In the future, civil society groups are ready to support legal actions that treat drunk driving as a serious threat to public safety.
They are also calling for large-scale awareness campaigns on the consequences of drunk driving and vehicle confiscation.
Heavier prison sentences in the event of a fatal accident
Prisoners in a Thai prison. Photo: Thomson Reuters Foundation
The proposed amendments to the road traffic law aim to toughen sanctions in cases of drunk driving resulting in death.
They provide for prison sentences of more than ten years, without the possibility of parole, in order to eliminate the discretionary decision-making margins currently criticized by associations.
Five key measures to combat drink-driving
Drink driving. Photo: PRD
These proposals aim to strengthen both deterrence, punishment and prevention.
Among the proposed measures are:
- The reclassification of certain cases of driving under the influence to dangerous driving
- The immediate confiscation of vehicles used during offenses
- The launch of national deterrence campaigns
- A reform of the Highway Code
- Enhanced cooperation between public authorities and the private sector
Collaborative efforts with the public and private sectors aim to drastically reduce road accidents related to alcohol nationwide.
- Thailand records an average of 40 deaths per day on its roads, with drunk driving identified as the main cause of fatal accidents.
- Road accidents represent an estimated economic loss of between 500 and 600 billion baht per year and have caused more than 200,000 deaths in ten years.
- As the "seven dangerous days" of New Year 2026 approach, civil society is calling for exceptional measures against drunk driving.
- Associations are demanding the confiscation of vehicles from drunk drivers and tougher penalties, with prison sentences of over 10 years without parole in the event of a fatal accident.
- The civil liability of alcohol sellers could be engaged in the event of a sale to minors or to people already intoxicated.
See also:
Thailand: Drunk driver hits dozens of revelers during Songkran
Thailand: a drunk German motorcyclist seriously injures a police officer in Pattaya
Thailand's roads are still deadly
Thailand launches a powerful campaign against drunk driving
Source: Siam Rath
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2 comments
Since many are already dangerous on the road or on two wheels without having consumed alcohol, I will avoid going out by car in the coming days for my own safety.
I give up making comments on the deadly toll of road accidents in Thailand when the annual report comes out…
We who know the control measures that exist in Europe to fight against the use of alcohol and drugs while driving, added to the theoretical and practical requirements to obtain (and keep) one's European driving license, we know what solutions to put in place to drastically and definitively reduce ALL accidents (not just fatal ones) due to driving while intoxicated…
But giving these solutions that have proven themselves to Thai officials is like trying to teach Spanish to a whale…
The solutions are, however, just as obvious as the nose in the middle of the face, but even assuming that they are the subject of new, more repressive laws in the months or years to come, we will still have to take the necessary steps to apply them on the ground, that is to say on the roads, all year round, with reinforced staff during weekends, holiday periods, public holidays, national folklore festivities and exceptional gatherings such as concerts and other festivals…
For me, given the way this problem has been handled for 15 years that I've been observing it, and nothing has really changed, I doubt that someone is going to get to work to completely overhaul this issue and implement the remedies to be applied…
In conclusion, nothing will change, especially not the Thai mentality about this matter…