PM warns against bad riding at 'Bike for Mom'

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HM THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY
PM warns against bad riding at Bike for Mom
THE NATION



Prayut and cabinet did rehearsal for event yesterday

BANGKOK: -- PRIME MINISTER Prayut Chan-o-cha has warned cyclists not to intercept this month's Bike for Mom pocession in Bangkok while it is underway from the side or overtake participants from the side for fear of accidents.

Prayut chaired a full rehearsal for the August 16 event yesterday, leading his Cabinet and government officials on a 15km ride from Dusit Palace to the 1st Infantry Regiment that included a stretch inside Kasetsart University.

The purpose of the rehearsal was to check the condition of road surfaces and possible hazardous obstacles for cyclists.

PM's Office Minister Panadda Diskul said HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn granted Prayut an audience last week and told the PM that he was concerned about the safety of cyclists in terms of possible road accidents and other issues that may arise because of cyclists' lack of fitness.

Prayut said the Prince also expressed concern about traffic congestion for the event.

The PM said the rehearsal also touched on procession control, communications, first aid and accident rescue. There was a minor accident during the rehearsal, he said.

The PM said the Prince was pleased that Thais had become more health conscious and were exercising more.

Prayut said almost 300,000 people have signed up to take part in the procession, 40,000 of which were from Bangkok.

He urged participants to strictly follow the instructions and advice given to them when they registered.

"Most importantly, do not intercept in the middle of the bike procession or overtake from the side because it can trigger a collapse of all cyclists like what happened in the Tour de France,'' he said.

Any cyclist who cannot keep up is urged to wait on the side of the street and rejoin the procession on the way back.

If it rains heavily, the event would be suspended until it subsides.

Prayut said he had to exert more effort while riding up a bridge but he was confident he would be able to participate to honour Her Majesty the Queen.

Prince 'does not want tight security'

Assistant police chief General Prawut Thawornsiri said the Prince did not want tight security for the event, as he wanted cyclists to have a close audience with him.

Medical teams will be on hand every 500 metres throughout the event.

Several roads in Bangkok were off limits to traffic yesterday while the procession took place and that will also be the case on August 16.

The roads were blocked yesterday from 6am to 12pm.

Another rehearsal will be held on August 15 but no roads will be blocked.

On August 16 when the event takes place, roads will be blocked from 12 noon to 9pm from the Grand Palace to the 11th Infantry Regiment King's Guard.

Call 1197 for further information 24 hours.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/PM-warns-against-bad-riding-at-Bike-for-Mom-30265762.html


-- The Nation 2015-08-03

[NongKhaiKid]

I'll be careful with this but it makes the PM and a gaggle of cabinet ministers and officials to check road conditions etc for a one off event ?

All show of course and what about the roads, safety etc for every other day of the year ?

Since this is going to be a Guinness Book Of Records busting event who is going to know what ' bad riding ' is ?

These people are running the country ?

Edited August 2, 2015 by NongKhaiKid

[Thian]

I like it! I hope they will start improving the safety, the roads, the attitude and everything. They should have built bicycle lanes hanging under the skytrain though.

[Bob12345]

I would almost hope for some non-deadly accidents with drunk drivers who crash their car in the front of the group as that will be one of the few things that could finally trigger some action on road safety in Thailand.

(of course i do not hope anybody getting hurt, but unfortunately the Thai elite does little when they are not effected themself directly first)

[Lupatria]

Good to know he's taking care of all important issues.

[TEFLKrabi]

They could have started by spelling Mum correctly!

[Orac]

I guess the rehearsal on the 15th will be the one to watch if they are not closing any roads for it. Best get the popcorn in.

[MESmith]

Don't they ever delegate?

[robblok]

Don't they ever delegate?

As far as I have read he likes biking.. one of the more fit Thai officials.

[bamnutsak]

Official events must be practiced many, many, many times so that all goes according to plan.

[NongKhaiKid]

Don't they ever delegate?

I suppose not if there's headlines and what is thought to be favourable publicity to be had.

[does]

Aren't you a tiny bit cynical? If this stimulates more people to use a bike, so much the better for the "show".

Any other gripes about Thailand you like to get off your chest? Say, traffic congestion due to cars.

I'll be careful with this but it makes the PM and a gaggle of cabinet ministers and officials to check road conditions etc for a one off event ?

All show of course and what about the roads, safety etc for every other day of the year ?

Since this is going to be a Guinness Book Of Records busting event who is going to know what ' bad riding ' is ?

These people are running the country ?

[NongKhaiKid]

Aren't you a tiny bit cynical? If this stimulates more people to use a bike, so much the better for the "show".

Any other gripes about Thailand you like to get off your chest? Say, traffic congestion due to cars.

I'll be careful with this but it makes the PM and a gaggle of cabinet ministers and officials to check road conditions etc for a one off event ?

All show of course and what about the roads, safety etc for every other day of the year ?

Since this is going to be a Guinness Book Of Records busting event who is going to know what ' bad riding ' is ?

These people are running the country ?

Try reading Post #8 for starters.

[PaulHamon]

wish they were worried about real Thai road safety more.

[does]

To make a wild jump - You mean Oabama should have delegated his eulegy in Charleston to his underlings?

Could it be that high profile people have more power to set an example than their delegates?

So no other gripes about Thailand? Than you are pretty tolerant.

Aren't you a tiny bit cynical? If this stimulates more people to use a bike, so much the better for the "show".

Any other gripes about Thailand you like to get off your chest? Say, traffic congestion due to cars.

I'll be careful with this but it makes the PM and a gaggle of cabinet ministers and officials to check road conditions etc for a one off event ?

All show of course and what about the roads, safety etc for every other day of the year ?

Since this is going to be a Guinness Book Of Records busting event who is going to know what ' bad riding ' is ?

These people are running the country ?

Try reading Post #8 for starters.

[Bluespunk]

I must have misread the story but are people being told they can't overtake?

[tx22cb]

I must have misread the story but are people being told they can't overtake?

No overtaking of important persons such as Ministers. You can overtake ordinary people at will.

[overherebc]

I would almost hope for some non-deadly accidents with drunk drivers who crash their car in the front of the group as that will be one of the few things that could finally trigger some action on road safety in Thailand.

(of course i do not hope anybody getting hurt, but unfortunately the Thai elite does little when they are not effected themself directly first)

Many years ago I used to use a short cut, country side road, to work past a large well known golf course in the Rayong area. One bridge had a huge hole in the road for months. Saw a few pick ups etc with punctures and wheel damage from said hole.

One morning I noticed a new 'red plate' S500 Merc with the puncture and wheel damage at the bridge.

The hole was repaired the next day.

Probably just timing.

[BirdsandBooze]

They could have started by spelling Mum correctly!

But then there would have been no letter O for the front wheel of the bicycle in the poster picture. Function over good grammar I'm afraid

[Bluespunk]

"Any cyclist who cannot keep up is urged to wait on the side of the street and rejoin the procession on the way back."

So if you're knackered you just stop and wait for everyone to come back past you and join again?

Sounds like what we used to do when it was cross country running at school.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Bluespunk

[Songhua]

"Any cyclist who cannot keep up is urged to wait on the side of the street and rejoin the procession on the way back."

So if you're knackered you just stop and wait for everyone to come back past you and join again?

Sounds like what we used to do when it was cross country running at school.

If you get puffed out on the return leg you wait until they come past next year.

[Antiparovian]

Where can I register or is it too late? (I live in Nong Khai)

[Bluespunk]

Where can I register or is it too late? (I live in Nong Khai)

Call 1197 for further information 24 hours.

[Antiparovian]

^ Number is for Bangkok event only. Thanks for your help anyway.

[Jimlove]

Meanwhile 70 people get killed every day on the roads in Thailand - not including the people die in the ambulance or in the hospital afterwards ... Real number of road killing per day would probably be around 100 per day ... and they are concerned about some ridiculous show off - I hope its gonna pi$$ rain in which case nobody will show up

If so many people are gonna ride together there is bound to be accidents ... like in Tour de France as PM say ... normally they call and write TdF this (according to TW) : Tour de Fronk ... hard to believe but true ...

[smedly]

typical in Thailand, this warning should have been directed at vehicle drivers not the cyclists, and the event should be properly policed with lane closures along the route

[HooHaa]

typical in Thailand, this warning should have been directed at vehicle drivers not the cyclists, and the event should be properly policed with lane closures along the route

would it have been that difficult to have read the article before commenting?

[Tonawatchee]

The Thai government should take this same attitude towards all Thai motor scooter, car and truck drivers.

[petedk]

I must have misread the story but are people being told they can't overtake?

I haven't read all the posts yet but it says don't "overtake from the side" whatever that means. How do people usually overtake? Can you fly over the others?