The Thai Department for Prevention and Mitigation of Public Disasters (DDPM) said on Saturday that 43 people were killed and 466 others injured in 464 road accidents on Friday, the first day of Thailand's "seven dangerous days" of the New Year holiday.

The department said drunk driving was a factor in 30.39 percent of the road accidents, followed by speeding in 24.78 percent.

A total of 80.08 percent of the accidents involved motorcycles, 39.22 percent occurred on highways under the supervision of the Highways Department and 30.60 percent occurred on secondary roads supervised by district administration organizations and villages, the DDPM said in a press release issued on Saturday.

A total of 30.39 percent of the accidents took place between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and 29.27 percent of the casualties were people over the age of 50.

A total of 158,453 people were charged for traffic violations, including 42,912 cases of riding without crash helmets and 39,584 cases for carrying no driving licenses.