'Central agency needed' to tackle rising road accidents in Thailand

[Classic Ray]

A two pronged approach of road safety education and traffic law enforcement is the first priority. The push must come from Government, as the police will not do anything until pushed, and education will not start until Government provides a budget.

[Bangkok Barry]

5 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"...Central agency needed’ to tackle rising road accidents..."

 

What a pile of crap.

 

What is needed is for the police to get off their asses, get on to the roads and patrol. And, when they see someone driving badly, stupidly, under-age and/or drunk, take action.

 

It ain't rocket science.

 

This is a police problem. If the police did their job, Thailand would have MUCH MUCH safer roads.

 

End of discussion.

 

BTW: this "Central Agency" is yet another case of Bureaucratic BS. Stop wasting everyone's time and money on Bureaucratic empire-building.

 

 

 

And as well as this, make every new driver learn to drive properly under a qualified instructor, and then take a proper driving test instead of the totally pointless pantomime they go through now.

But it won't happen because 1 - there are very few properly qualified instructors, 2 - learning to drive properly is quite hard, and Thais do not do hard, and 3 - the Me First attitude and total unawareness of anything around them makes it culturally impossible for Thais to drive safely and with consideration of others. especially when adding in the factor that if they are involved in an accident it is just fate and nothing at all to do with them, the Thai's ultimate get-out from accepting responsibility for anything at all.

[mok199]

3 hours ago, cooked said:

Unfortunately this aspect of Thailand is part of what we love about the place (most of us). Changing Thailand into a disciplined, rule following nation is impossible but would also be likely to destroy its character as far as I'm concerned. 

So less talk about police repression please, and start talking about education and prevention, which should also be a part of police work. 

.so you don't want police work in what does not suit you,only in what suits you..this what Thailand is now,a ridiculous attempt to be relivant and progressive with law enforcement ,enforcing laws like '' flavor of the day'' yet always willing to entertain a good'' photo opp'' and pie chart with a press briefing..as I said ''give me a 40 bt can dollar and we will call it square...cause the way it is now ,we aint hillbille and we aint downtown..have good one sir... 

[digger70]

2 hours ago, Prairieboy said:

I thought that was the job of the police! 

Yea but who's gonna get them of their asses to do their job. get a couple hundred of New BJ's and then with the army behind them maybe than something can be done, but I doubt it. the top figures are just gutless pay collectors. just thinking.

[greenmonkey]

5 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"...Central agency needed’ to tackle rising road accidents..."

 

What a pile of crap.

 

What is needed is for the police to get off their asses, get on to the roads and patrol. And, when they see someone driving badly, stupidly, under-age and/or drunk, take action.

 

It ain't rocket science.

 

This is a police problem. If the police did their job, Thailand would have MUCH MUCH safer roads.

 

End of discussion.

 

BTW: this "Central Agency" is yet another case of Bureaucratic BS. Stop wasting everyone's time and money on Bureaucratic empire-building.

 

 

Completely agree.

[greenmonkey]

2 hours ago, dinsdale said:

Need to change the culture of absolute selfish idiots into responsible drivers/human beings. Good luck with that.????

Agreed. So many times my missus will say to me " why is that person driving like this or parking there or... etc..." and at first I always tried to find an answer. Now I have given up trying to answer and use the same standard reply to all.... "because he/she wants to" And this is what it comes down to. People here do whatever is the most suitable for them. If it breaks the law or impedes other drivers or risks a serious accident.... it doesn't matter - as long as it benefits them. Completey self centred and selfish attitude that needs to change. Trust me - if the police start doing their jobs properly their attitudes will change quickly!

[Redline]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

ineffective: weak law enforcement

WOW someone actually said it!  Now what?

[Redline]

4 hours ago, cooked said:

Unfortunately this aspect of Thailand is part of what we love about the place (most of us). Changing Thailand into a disciplined, rule following nation is impossible but would also be likely to destroy its character as far as I'm concerned. 

So less talk about police repression please, and start talking about education and prevention, which should also be a part of police work. 

So, you believe they should not stop road carnage because you like the character of Thailand in this regard?  Mostly kids and children are dying.  Seems pretty selfish to me

[Chongalulu]

5 hours ago, jerojero said:

It's a policing problem, as in lack thereof! End of story.

So just one dimensional? No consideration for the issues of cultural,educational,driver training shortcomings,corruption,lack of political will/competence, nor road engineering? 

Just 'end of' fingers in the ears ,no other views to be listened to or considered.....?

[Ctkong]

Public education in Thailand still has a long long way to go... police need to set a good example ... remember ..the fish rot from the head first. 

Tackle issues of double carriage trucks, drink driving, helmets, working lights, beating red lights, undertaking,  would certainly reduce road fatalities. 

[Zack61]

Central agency needed’ to tackle rising road accidents

 

It seems most comments have already addressed the poor police efforts. Let’s see what the special task force comes up with. Not sure it’ll get a mention. 

[Ctkong]

Common sense would tell you that it is the lack of sincere effort on the ground to make a difference. All those half hearted attempts to make oneself feel good about road safety is not going anywhere. 

Thais definitely has the knowledge about how to reduce road fatalities but the spirit to go implementing  the law and order is weak. 

[Ctkong]

Thais generally has the propensity to daydream grandiose plans but lack the will to carry it through.  Just the top people having a vision will still need the people to carry it through and there lies the problem. There is no collective conscientious effort to make things happen. At most it is a half baked plan.  

[CALSinCM]

Thailand:
"Let's do everything conceivable with the exception of adopting Western traffic enforcement measures that actually work.  Instead, lets have more meeting, make additional ministries, write more papers, and have more seminars."
--Why not put policemen in patrol cars all across Thailand and pull violators over and issue citations with fines that are expensive enough to become a deterrent to stupid driving.  And if violators fail to pay their fines, issue a bench warrant and arrest them the next time they are stopped and impound their vehicle.  For those who are excessively speeding or driving extremely dangerously - arrest them.  Then create a nationwide campaign that spells out exactly what traffic laws are, how they are going to be enforced, and hammer the public on the road. And ditch the ineffective 'road-blocks' which are nothing but places to shake down motorist for money.  Concentrate on moving violations.

[cooked]

27 minutes ago, Redline said:

So, you believe they should not stop road carnage because you like the character of Thailand in this regard?  Mostly kids and children are dying.  Seems pretty selfish to me

You missed my point. I am saying that if you want to stop this you have to change the character of the Thai people. If you think that's a good idea, go ahead, it worked in Singapore. Why don't you go live there? 

 

[owenm]

Where do all the "pie in the sky" stats come from? The last WHO figures for Thailand 2017 were 25,000 road fatalities at the scene and ranking no 1 behind Libiria. Tjat equates to 500 weekly, 70 daily and 83% involve motorbikes and two wheelers.. 

This report mentions 15,453 deaths for 2017??

 

Thailand doesn't have adequate MAX speed signs posted on roads and highways, most are a guessing game.. Poor lane markings with no line reflectors, combined with poor or nil lighting and a recipe for night accidents.. Particularly if you're unfamiliar with the road or  conditions, and more so in the rain..

 

Police presence is almost non-existent hence the near lawless nature of many drivers.. Indicators for lane changes are almost non-existent and I could go on and on.. 

 

Police need to enforce the road rules and fine drivers in droves for non compliance.. But unfortunately you only see them doing road checks for licenses, registration, insurance and helmet use.. 

 

A "Fact Finding Mission" visiting other countries who have been successful at reducing their road fatality rates would be worthwhile, particularly some western countries where their road fatalities have dropped by up to 50% over the past 10 years.. 

But you need someone with the balls to make change, not the usual BS where nothing ever changes.. 

 

 

[Basil B]

Once a bad driver, always a bad driver.

 

You can take a horse to water but you can not make it drink, likewise you can teach Thais how to drive safe but you can not make them drive safely.

 

the only way Thailand can cure it's chronic road safety record is to impose draconian penalties for all traffic offences, tough annual safety checks for all vehicle including motor bikes, owners and operators of heavy goods vehicles and public service vehicles facing prison if any of their vehicles severely injurers or kills anyone, and certain prison for any traffic cop caught taking bribes...

 

Even these measures will take years to reform Thailand's appalling driving standards.

 

Old habits die hard.

[metisdead]

A post in which the quote function was not used properly has been removed. 

[lvr181]

1 hour ago, Zack61 said:

Let’s see what the special task force comes up with.

You're dreaming. 

 

(light hearted joke comment)

[yellowboat]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Country can learn from Vietnam on promoting safety, say who experts

Learning from the outside world, outragous!  Next they will have international election monitors.  Thailand becoming more fair and more excited in the pursuit of knowledge?  It could ruin the country for the army. 

 

Cops in Vietnam seem to be a lot more serious than the BiB leadership, if you could it that.   

Edited November 6, 2018 by yellowboat

[Ramdas]

I completely agree with most of the comments  written above ( the sensible ones obviously ) As for me I risk to have an accident at any given moment whilst riding my scooter in Bkk with idiots in the like of  car/motorbikes drivers who can’t drive in a straight line for a few hundred meters without looking what’s around them and needless to say whilst playing on their phones, this naturally applies to the motorbike riders too, no to mention jumping the red lights with or without  their entire family on it while it’s raining as well ????????‍♂️ 

Police must be more present and active on the roads enforcing their traffic violation to everyone, super rich inept to drive their brand new Mercedes or BMW’s or else, using fines for these careless useless, public danger drivers/ motorbikers.

At the same time, I doubt anything is going to change until they put in place a proper Driving licence training course for all the motorists, it’s simply too easy for thai people to get a driving licence but I understand it’s going to take a few houndred years to educate/ discipline  wild being who were meant to walk only in a jungle..

 

 

Edited November 6, 2018 by Ramdas
Edit

[Lupatria]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

to achieve “Thailand 4.0”, the authorities should use this opportunity to merge the traffic databases of various related agencies into a shared single database to enhance implementation of traffic policies and management and law enforcement. 

Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity!

[Moti24]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Central agency needed’ to tackle rising road accidents

No it doesn't!  It just needs a police force that does what it says on the tin!

 

Creating another agency will just be filled with more inactive post transfers.

 

Amazing Thailand!

[Cadbury]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

INTERNATIONAL ROAD safety experts have urged Thailand to follow Vietnam’s example by setting up a central agency to directly mitigate the country’s severe accidents problem

Just for the record Vietnam has 35% more people than Thailand. By contrast Thailand has 300% more road deaths than Vietnam.

 

[Lokie]

Here we go again...

[SmartyMarty]

So easy to fix.....education, training, enforcement. Creating special departments won't make any difference without these 3.

[Lacessit]

The first element needs to be driver education. Thai driving instructors are on the same level of competence as I am with brain surgery.

[Jonmarleesco]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

He said there was an urgent need for Thailand to drastically alter its strategies

First I knew Thailand HAD a strategy. I suspect it's the first the authorities knew of it, too. 

[Jonmarleesco]

57 minutes ago, Moti24 said:

No it doesn't!  It just needs a police force that does what it says on the tin!

 

Creating another agency will just be filled with more inactive post transfers.

 

Amazing Thailand!

For that, they need to be able to read what it says on the tin. 

[scorecard]

Totally agree about a single central official & professional agency.

 

In the past in LOS the number of agencies dabbling in this subject area is countless and in many cases way off the intended real purpose of many of those agencies.

 

One central professional agency given specific goals and if not meant there can't be any argument about who is responsible and accountable. 

 

Years ago I gave some MBA lectures in Singapore, on one occasion a minister gave a talk, he mentioned that every ministry in Singapore has a very clear understanding of why that ministry exists and ministries should never be working outside of their reason for existence there should never be overlap; that causes confusion, breaks down accountability and is the wrong way for gov't agencies to be using their resources.

 

One student asked 'but what if there's a subject that's not under any ministry'. The ministry praised the question and explained that there is a professional support agency who are required to continuously look at this subject and quickly suggest adjustments / add items to various ministries and where that happens every gov't employee receives and e.mail to explain in easy detail why something has been added, who is responsible etc.

 

He was accompanied by 2 of his staff. Within 24 hours every student in my class (and myself) had received an e.mail with further points & details (from ministry documents and quoting website details etc.) in regard to every discussion point and comment the minister had made during his talk.