At least 636 people have been killed and 49,453 injured in accidents and brawls during Thailand's traditional New Year holiday period, the government said Monday.
Deputy Health Minister Surapong Suebwonglee said in a statement the festive period toll was climbing as Thais returned home from the provinces for the first working day of the new year on Tuesday.
"The initial report shows that in every hour there are 267 people injured and 4.6 killed," he said.
"If we take it over the five day traditional new year period, we find that the number of people killed and injured in car accidents is much higher than the millennium new year."
Some 442 of those killed died in automobile accidents, the rest in brawls and other incidents.
The grim statistics were collected from 811 hospitals across the country since Thursday last week when festivities began.
The health ministry earlier reported that the toll was the highest ever, with only 164 deaths last year over the whole "Songkhran" holiday period.
It said between 70-80 percent of patients treated by nurses and doctors were drunk.
This year's Songkran celebrations were held amid beefed-up security, after two bomb attacks hit tourist centers in the south on April 7, leaving one Thai child dead and nearly 50 people injured.
Extra police were deployed in high-risk areas such as transportation hubs, major temples and embassies in the capital, Bangkok.
Tourism authorities have billed the holiday weekend as the busiest in Thailand's history -- BANGKOK (AFP)
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