A total of 313 drink-driving cases were sent to court yesterday and nine of the offenders were ordered to wear electronic tags to kick off the first day of the New Year holiday.
Prasarn Mahaleetrakul, director-general of the Probation Department, said a total of 514 cases were sent to court on charges including drink-driving, reckless driving and speeding on Thursday, which marked the start of the 'Seven Dangerous Days' road safety campaign.
Of these, 313 involved drink-driving, accounting for 60% of the cases, 22 reckless driving (4.28%), one speeding (0.1%), and 178 driving under the influence of drugs (34.6%).
The Probation Department chief said the courts ordered nine drink-driving offenders to wear electronic monitoring devices. They were ordered not to leave their homes between 10pm and 4am for 15 days, report to probation officials and do community service for 24 hours. Their driving licences were also suspended for six months.
Bangkok had the most drink-driving cases with 60, followed by Maha Sarakham (40) and Ubon Ratchathani (33).
On Thursday alone, a total of 88 vehicles -- 63 motorcycles and 25 cars -- and 129 driving licences were temporarily seized for drink-driving and other unsafe driving cases, said Col Sirichan Ngathong, deputy spokeswoman for the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).
Under the NCPO chief's Order No.46/2558, authorities can temporarily seize vehicles driven by drivers caught driving under the influence or in an unsafe manner from Thursday (Dec 27) until Wednesday (Jan 2), she said.
This is the fourth time vehicle seizure has been implemented during the New Year festival, she said.
The seized vehicles will be impounded until the end of the festive period, she said, adding that the vehicles will be registered, photographed and impounded in a place equipped with a security camera system, she said.
Col Sirichan noted the number of vehicles seized under the road safety promotion programme continues to rise.
The number of vehicles seized during New Year 2016 was 3,046. The number rose to 4,354 in 2017 and to 6,326 in 2018.
Meanwhile, Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat said tourism is expected to boom in secondary cities across the country during the New Year festival, thanks to the ministry's promotion campaign encouraging more people to travel to the provinces traditionally off the tourist map.
More people, tourists and locals who return home from other provinces, are heading to the so-called "minor" cities during the holidays, he said.
Under the campaign, tourists are being provided with information about places to visit, stay and eat in the minor cities, which have many attractions, he said.
Asked about rental cars and motorcycle services which are popular with foreign tourists in many well-known destinations, Mr Weerasak said the Department of Land Transport will strictly enforce the law which will be helpful in making sure the roads are safer.
The department strictly warned that offering a rental vehicle service, including motorcycles, to people who do not hold a proper driver's licence is against the law.
The ministry and the department have agreed to jointly launch a public campaign to raise awareness among operators of the rental motorcycle service that they may face legal action if they are caught offering the service to a person who do not possess a proper driver's licence.
