Thailand's "Ten Year Plan" to improve road safety has failed - instead of halving the death toll it's nearly doubled!

[lonewolf99]

The root cause has nothing to do with roads, cars, bikes or Police.

 

It is all to do with the people.

[NoshowJones]

7 hours ago, transam said:

At last the time has come for the pen pushers to have a word with the traffic police, or any police to get on with it..????

Pen pushers? Don't you mean the guys with the stupid ranks which they paid for and all the bling they wear Trans?

[Calach]

6 hours ago, Natai Beach said:

I told them a million times not to exaggerate.

 

i prefer driving in Thailand than Melbourne. In Melbourne they put speed cameras everywhere, if you go 5 kms over you cop a big fine.  It is over the top. 

I enjoy speeding when it is safe on an empty open road, in Melbourne you have sneaky coppers hiding in bushes with radar. 
 

I am guilty of having a few beers and driving, I have used my phone when driving, sometimes don’t bother wearing a seatbelt, sometimes can’t be arsed wearing the helmet on the bike, occasionally drive on the wrong side of the road. I have never caused an accident. 
Most of the foreigners here that I know have done the same. 
 

thai law enforcement is a bit slack, but Melbourne laws are way over the top and mainly about revenue raising. 

 

Only ever copped a parking fine in Phuket town. Paid out thousands living in Melbourne.

 

 

I too prefer the feeling of freedom and lack of safety here to the safety and lack of freedom in Europe. Maybe I'll change my mind when I or someone dear to me gets hurt, but I didn't move to Thailand to complain that it isn't a European police state. 

[NoshowJones]

7 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

It is definitely a behavioural and 'cultural' issue. 

 

File alongside stray dogs, sewers/drainage, prostitution, corruption, coups and a plethora of other apparently unsolvable problems.

 

Farang think too mut.

So you think prostitution is a problem? I think it should be legalised.

[Kwasaki]

Why are they worried some really clever person is bringing out the big bike DL so that will half fatalities. 

[Aussiepeter]

You can not educate pork. As Covid-19 destroys the worlds' economy, the missus' best friend - a former "Miss C. Mai" -  is posting hundreds of photos of her and her hubby (read Chinese-Thai and rich) touring LOS. He drives OK, but she is 'dodgy' on the road. Safe ? Hmmm. Ignorant of the Highway Code ? Hmmm. Why are you driving in third gear on the highway (says me) ? 'Only three in the car', says she. Use gear 4 when 4 in the car. Yeh, that's ok, says me. Strewth ! This woman has ha ha ha 'a degree in finance from C Mai Uni' and used to work for a bank ! Her husband sells fertiliser and they own at least ten houses in LOS. Unbelievably wealthy, BUT thick as, both of 'em ! They tried to show off their new BMW to me last year when I visited LOS, by taking me to a new restaurant in C Mai. They got there too early to get a "special show off that I am a f***ing VIP with a new Benz or BMW" parking spot (as the Burmese staff were not at work yet), so they made up some BS excuse to buy more time and then drove me around for the next hour, until they could park and get a "VIP" spot. The joke was on them. When we left much later in the night, theirs was the only BMW sedan in the entire 'VIP' area. Every other car - twenty-seven of them - were brand new Mercedes. They drove me straight through a red light, back to my hotel. When I asked (in Thai) about the red light, the answer was "nobody there, so it's OK to go straight through in LOS". "Mai pen lai. No problem". Unless, of course, you are a driver on a green light and approaching the same intersection on Hang Dong Road (a major crossroad) at 100 kph. I have a photo album with over 300 horrific pics of accidents I saw in the nearly 30 years I lived in LOS. I'm too old to handle "Thai driving" anymore. Scary stuff. REAL scary !

[trainman34014]

You can't fix stupid and setting up a 'National Task Force' will be about as effective as a condom full of pin pricks.

 

Truth is nobody cares and just watch the numbers of dead double again in the next ten years....and still nobody Thai will care !

[NeoDinosaw]

7 hours ago, Natai Beach said:

I told them a million times not to exaggerate.

 

i prefer driving in Thailand than Melbourne. In Melbourne they put speed cameras everywhere, if you go 5 kms over you cop a big fine.  It is over the top. 

I enjoy speeding when it is safe on an empty open road, in Melbourne you have sneaky coppers hiding in bushes with radar. 
 

I am guilty of having a few beers and driving, I have used my phone when driving, sometimes don’t bother wearing a seatbelt, sometimes can’t be arsed wearing the helmet on the bike, occasionally drive on the wrong side of the road. I have never caused an accident. 
Most of the foreigners here that I know have done the same. 
 

thai law enforcement is a bit slack, but Melbourne laws are way over the top and mainly about revenue raising. 

 

Only ever copped a parking fine in Phuket town. Paid out thousands living in Melbourne.


 

 

 

Sounds to me that Melbourne is doint the right thing.    Petrol-heads like you should not be allowed on any roads

[bwpage3]

8 hours ago, Titan1962 said:

The biggest factor contributing to the death toll here is lack of law enforcement. 
Buy a few trucks,set up the road blocks and start pulling over bikes first. No license,bike in the back of the truck,issue the ticket to appear in court. No helmet,park the bike issue a ticket and walk home or get a helmet delivered or go buy one and get the bike back. Drink driving,confiscate the bike or car,cancel the license until court appearance. Have more highway patrol cars on the road actually pulling over dangerous drivers and according to the infringement,park up the car or issue a huge on the spot fine. A better system so the police have access to drivers history,that will determine the course of action taken at the point of being pulled over. 
until that happens,things will not improve.

Can you imagine the change in attitude if they applied these simple adjustments,yes I know it’s Thailand.

It's the Thai police, who are too busy collecting money for their bosses to worry about improving road safety.

[Pennywise]

2 hours ago, lonewolf99 said:

The root cause has nothing to do with roads, cars, bikes or Police.

 

It is all to do with the people.

True. I noticed again today that the car drivers tend to drive their cars the same way the drove theit motorcycles/scooters before. it is amazing that a govenrment is not able to think off and implement a strategy to reduce tha overall accidents on Thai roads. Start with proper roads, all equipped with proper lighting especially in rural areas, followed by proper driving education of both motorcycle, car and truck drivers. To me it all boils down to human behaviour of the participants of the Thai traffic but also of the people that are trained to enforce.

 

[Peterphuket]

8 hours ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said:

Not often that you hear from Thais that they have failed.

Maybe his father is a farang.

[Peterphuket]

7 hours ago, Natai Beach said:

I told them a million times not to exaggerate.

 

i prefer driving in Thailand than Melbourne. In Melbourne they put speed cameras everywhere, if you go 5 kms over you cop a big fine.  It is over the top. 

I enjoy speeding when it is safe on an empty open road, in Melbourne you have sneaky coppers hiding in bushes with radar. 
 

I am guilty of having a few beers and driving, I have used my phone when driving, sometimes don’t bother wearing a seatbelt, sometimes can’t be arsed wearing the helmet on the bike, occasionally drive on the wrong side of the road. I have never caused an accident. 
Most of the foreigners here that I know have done the same. 
 

thai law enforcement is a bit slack, but Melbourne laws are way over the top and mainly about revenue raising. 

 

Only ever copped a parking fine in Phuket town. Paid out thousands living in Melbourne.


 

 

 

That's what we call the western way, and not only in Australia, but for example in the Netherlands there they have the same practices or even worse.

[bwpage3]

Tons of comments with everyone thinking they have all the answers.

 

But in reality, nothing will ever change and therefore worrying about change is just wasting your time.

 

 

 

 

[Peterphuket]

To let the police do their job properly, you will have to pay them better first, so that they do not depend on bribery.

[Cali farong]

Why all the negativity???  They have the Chinese virus under control

what more could we ask for 

[mark131v]

40 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

To let the police do their job properly, you will have to pay them better first, so that they do not depend on bribery.

 No, you will have to sack everyone of the thieving bastards then start again from scratch...

[Freigeist365]

Must be fake news - with all those clever heads sitting on the round table... Who's to blame? Foreigners? Unshowered Farang armpits? Those darn non-Thai countries, building and exporting all those dangerous motorbikes into Thailand? Climate change? C'm oooohhhhnnnn... There must be a probable reason! (except blaming the overall carelessness of the locals of course)
 

[Anant72]

10 hours ago, Titan1962 said:

The biggest factor contributing to the death toll here is lack of law enforcement. 
Buy a few trucks,set up the road blocks and start pulling over bikes first. No license,bike in the back of the truck,issue the ticket to appear in court. No helmet,park the bike issue a ticket and walk home or get a helmet delivered or go buy one and get the bike back. Drink driving,confiscate the bike or car,cancel the license until court appearance. Have more highway patrol cars on the road actually pulling over dangerous drivers and according to the infringement,park up the car or issue a huge on the spot fine. A better system so the police have access to drivers history,that will determine the course of action taken at the point of being pulled over. 
until that happens,things will not improve.

Can you imagine the change in attitude if they applied these simple adjustments,yes I know it’s Thailand.

Hit the pocket book, go after transport company owners who do not care for the conditions of their trucks or buses and let their drivers on the roads for long hours , impound vehicles, stop favoring the “do you know who I am” drivers.  France used to have the worst fatality rates in the 50’s, 60's and 70's. At the end of each weekend, especially long ones, the newscasts would start with the road carnage victims (the numbers were akin to those in Thailand. Now they are down to 4000 and less per year. How did they do it? Read my first sentence.

[Confuscious]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand's "Ten Year Plan" to improve road safety has failed - instead of halving the death toll it's nearly doubled!

 

Picture: Voice TV

 

A Zoom conference was told that the last ten years have seen a complete failure to address the carnage on Thailand's roads.

 

The ten years from 2011 to 2020 was billed as a decade to end the carnage. 

 

Instead of halving it has got much worse. 

 

In fact it has nearly doubled. 

 

It didn't need Thaivisa to do the math but we did: If nothing changes a MILLION more people could lose their lives by about the middle of the century.

 

Now a complete rethink is needed with refocus on what is important, otherwise it will just go on and on, said a manager of a road safety study group.

 

Dr Thanapong Jinwong said that the "10 year safety campaign" had failed. He was talking on the subject of "what to do about the roads so Thais don't fall victim to collisions".

 

Back in 2011 the target was to reduce road death from 20 per 100,000 inhabitants to 10.

 

Instead it is now 29 per 100,000. 

 

Earlier this year it looked like there was going to be some improvement but it proved a false dawn.

 

There were now just as many accidents and just as much death as ever on the Thai roads. 

 

He pinpointed the need to focus on three main areas:

 

1. Improving the driving skill and road use behavior of Thais.

 

2. Improving the safety of roads.

 

3. Ensuring law enforcement. 

 

These areas have long been advocated but continuing lip service being paid to the issue as well as a lack of any effective action means that the problems continue unabated. 

 

Dr Thanapong called for an end to a piecemeal approach with a setting up of a national taskforce to deal with the problem rather like the government has done with the Covid-19 pandemic. 

 

He said that concentrating on festivals (like Songkran and New Year when the issue is highlighted in the media and becomes a fleeting top priority), it needs to be a year round, all encompassing approach. 

 

If action is not taken now the problem will just get worse.

 

Thaivisa notes that the death toll on the Thai roads is among the worst in the world with a figure around 25,000 often given for annual deaths, perhaps 70% involving motorcycle fatalities. DPM Prawit Wongsuwean admitted two years ago that it was in excess of 20,000 per annum.

 

It is a sobering thought that if nothing is done to address the problem, the next three to four decades could see a MILLION people lose their lives on the nation's roads. 

 

Source: Voice TV

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-11-03

 

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The solution is so easy:

1. Require the monks to chase away the bad spirits who are causing the accidents.
2. Cancel ALL the driver licenses from foreigners.
     Foreigners are NOT ALLOWED to drive in Thailand.
3. Make the cars cheaper so that everybody will be able to purchase a car instead of motorbike.

Et VOILA, the easy solution.

[Almer]

It is simple just follow points 1 2 and 3 it really is that simple, i will be happy to offer my time to assist in the next 10 year plan and give me a free hand and i guarantee  i will halve the death toll or even better,  but nobody including falang will like it and the police will hate me and the government will , well you know the rest, i am serious about giving my time, i have accident investigation experience and sorting this out is kids stuff, but they have got to want to do it and not cry at the first sign of people power.

[Robin]

Remember:  Every Thai "knows" that he is such a good driver that he will never have an accident, so no need to think about changing his behaviour.

Very little chance of any bad driving being caught and punished with any meaningful punishment.  1000Baht fine is no going to worry any car owner  

Disqualification is no punishment when a driving licence is optional.

'mai pen rai'  you cannot do anything to reduce road accidents.

[Albert Zweistein]

As long as I see 10-11 year old kids driving a motorbike in the village and also without a helmet ( to big ) and sometimes a younger brother/sister on the backseat nothing will change. And nobody cares.

[brianthainess]

20 hours ago, pixelaoffy said:

Couldn't organize a p I s s  up in a brewery

Or; a kiddy's party in a lemonade factory. as my dad used to say.

[bwpage3]

7 hours ago, Almer said:

It is simple just follow points 1 2 and 3 it really is that simple, i will be happy to offer my time to assist in the next 10 year plan and give me a free hand and i guarantee  i will halve the death toll or even better,  but nobody including falang will like it and the police will hate me and the government will , well you know the rest, i am serious about giving my time, i have accident investigation experience and sorting this out is kids stuff, but they have got to want to do it and not cry at the first sign of people power.

Did you forget you are in Thailand?

[brianthainess]

19 hours ago, Natai Beach said:

sneaky coppers hiding in bushes with radar

In Perth they did that but it was contracted out and not cops at all, 50 mts after a speed sign or at the bottom of a hill.

[brianthainess]

And we have an ex-transport minister as minister of finance.  ????

[johnnygimbo]

20 hours ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said:

Not often that you hear from Thais that they have failed.

True, but it won't do any good here.

[mikebell]

Having a police force would help.

[johnnygimbo]

20 hours ago, PatOngo said:

In my travels around Thailand, and I have been to most provinces, I have found the roads to be quite good. Sure law enforcement is lacking but for me the most telling contribution to the carnage is the mentality of the road users, they seem to have no concept of self preservation as witnessed by the truly stupid things they do on the roads. Concentration is sorely lacking, and that is the key to survival on Thai roads.

it is common sense that is lacking in the vast majority of Thai people, and not just on the roads.

[actonion]

I dont see how law enforcement  is the main factor of road deaths, the Police dont understand the  Highway Code  as well as  most Thai drivers,     that includes  your Insurance  person too, my car has been involved in 2 accidents  by it being  hit from the rear,     both Police and Insurance man asked me why i had stopped so quick  in an emergency braking situation!!!.

Surely  the main  problem is lack of  Driver Education, no  "on road" driving test,  and what Education does the driving examiner have?

Last week  my Wife went to the Licencing Office to get her Motorbike Licence she sat  from 9am with 1 hour lunch break until 4pm watching a video ,,,"How to ride your Motorcycle Safely" this was followed by a written test, she failed,    the next day if you pass the written test  you ride a  Motorbike around an office block  which takes  3 minutes .... she passed  second time ..with Zero on the road  knowledge

 

Me first,  is their  driving attitude,   Road deaths will never change until  the Transport ministry employ someone who knows  what they're doing, because the current lot don't.. or import a professional person to show them how !!!