Yesterday I saw numbers that made my heart sink — 284,253 people killed or injured by drunk driving in the last 5 years. That’s an average of 56,850 cases per year. But what hit me harder is the estimated 20 people becoming disabled every day from road accidents, with 30% of road deaths caused by drunk driving.
This isn’t just statistics. These are real lives. So many people with disabilities are living with the consequences of drunk driving accidents. Their lives changed forever, and it’s so much harder than before. The lost opportunities are worth more than we can put into money. And that’s not even counting those who died…
The economic loss from drunk driving is 370,000 billion baht over 5 years, plus another 306,156 billion baht from disability — all preventable if we choose not to drink and drive.
Thailand ranks 9th in the world for road death rates. Thai youth aged 15–24 have the highest road accident deaths in ASEAN. We can’t keep treating this as just a “festival season accident” anymore.
Prevention isn’t just about enforcing the law. It’s about building public awareness that every time we drink and drive, we risk making someone a person with a disability for life.
Don’t drink and drive — this is basic public consciousness we must have in society. If you agree, please share.
Sources: Department of Disease Control + ThaiHealth + WHO