ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the 683 traffic accidents, of which about 90% occurred in Bangkok. Although the numbers were large at the initial and the last stages of war, the gap between them was not so large. Most of the accidents occurred between Japanese motor vehicles and Thai vehicles or pedestrians; of these, accidents involving tricycles accounted for about one-third of the total, followed by motor vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles. In Bangkok, the majority of accidents occurred in Pathumwan and Bang Rak districts, where many Japanese soldiers were stationed; the Sam Yan intersection in Pathumwan district recorded the largest number. These accidents were largely attributable to the structural problems of the road infrastructure in Thailand, which had narrow surfaces and tramway tracks. Careless driving by Japanese personnel, including speeding and dangerous overtaking, and the inexperience of Thai pedestrians in dealing with the unprecedented increase in the volume of traffic. Since the overwhelming majority of victims were Thai civilians, Thai authorities such as policemen or joint MPs negotiated with Japanese to gain as much reparation as possible.
