Traffic accidents killed 200 people during six days in the Songkran festival holiday period from April 11 to 16, with Bangkok recording the highest number of road fatalities.

Kachorn Srichawanothai, deputy permanent secretary for the interior, said on Thursday that the fatalities resulted from 1,377 traffic accidents in which 1,362 people were injured.

The figures are down significantly from the same six-day period last year, when 1,811 accidents, 1,837 injuries and 243 deaths were recorded.

“Motorcycles are the most common kind of vehicles involved in the accidents, accounting for 83.32% of the incidents. … I would like people to wear helmets whenever they ride on motorcycles and please seriously follow traffic rules,” he said.

From April 11 to 16, the southern province of Phatthalung had the most traffic accidents at 52. The northern province of Lampang recorded the highest number of injured people, 56. Bangkok saw the highest road fatalities at 16, he said.

Saharat Wongsakulwiwat, deputy director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said most Songkran travellers had already returned to Bangkok and major provinces.

Pichet Kunathammarak, director-general of the Department of Rail Transport, said that people took about 1 million train trips on Wednesday.