Phuket road-deaths triple during 2015/16 safety campaign
Phuket Gazette


Police have packed up the checkpoints for the 'Seven Days of Danger' road-safety campaign. Photo: Gazette file

PHUKET: The 'Seven Days of Danger' road-safety campaign closed at midnight yesterday with a total of six deaths and 75 injuries.

Though the goal, like last year, was set at zero deaths, there were three times as many people killed on Phuket’s roads this year and a 67 per cent increase in injuries.

The last fatality during the campaign was 47-year-old Khwanjit Chawee-Inn, who died on her motorbike after colliding with a car in Karon.

All six people who died during the campaign were on motorbikes, reported the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phuket Office. Two of the deceased were foreigners.

The zero-death goal was dashed on day one with the death of Pat Prayernyong (story here). The number of deaths swelled to three on day two when Mutslim Dakhan and Jielin Deng died in separate incidents.

Full story: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket-news/Phuket-roaddeaths-triple-during-201516-safety-campaign/62803?desktopversion

-- Phuket Gazette 2016-01-06

Will Thai authorities ever figure out what they really need to do to reduce traffic deaths / accidents?

My suspicion is they will take a few more decades to wake up to what they really have to do.

Until they introduce roving vehicle patrols that pull people over for all violations and dispense with these stupid, lazy check-points and start instituting much larger fines, then people will have no incentive to change their driving habits.

From two to six is an almost undistinguishable increase, in statistical terms. And probably even less material, when compared to the average numbers outside the period.

This of course doesn't mean that more shoud be done to prevent deaths on the road, and RIP to the deceased.

Agreed, but larger fines simply mean larger backhanders to the police when caught, and I wonder how many vehicles driven by drunk drivers where waved on after they opened their wallets (5000 baht was the going rate before New year so I guess some police will be having a very happy new year)

On the AH2 yesterday there where numerous unmanned road blocks where the road was reduced to just one lane. At one of the unmanned road checks there was a police wedding celebration beside the road. We sat at traffic lights and on many occasions 3 or 4 cars drove on the "hard shoulder" and went through the red lights. Policing and road management need serious structural changes anything else is just a pathetic show.

Will Thai authorities ever figure out what they really need to do to reduce traffic deaths / accidents?

My suspicion is they will take a few more decades to wake up to what they really have to do.

Until they introduce roving vehicle patrols that pull people over for all violations and dispense with these stupid, lazy check-points and start instituting much larger fines, then people will have no incentive to change their driving habits.

One in ten Thais pays tax according to the Junta. There's no money to pay for law enforcement.

Reep what you sow.

Will Thai authorities ever figure out what they really need to do to reduce traffic deaths / accidents?

My suspicion is they will take a few more decades to wake up to what they really have to do.

Until they introduce roving vehicle patrols that pull people over for all violations and dispense with these stupid, lazy check-points and start instituting much larger fines, then people will have no incentive to change their driving habits.

Few more decades then most roads on Phuket are express ways where its possible to go faster and the numbers of road deaths are similar.

As long as they continue to drive like they do, there will always be deaths. Where to begin with the list offences and dangerous driving habits? Not to mention I don't have enough hours in the day to list them all. These people should simply not be allowed on the road period.

From two to six is an almost undistinguishable increase, in statistical terms. And probably even less material, when compared to the average numbers outside the period.

This of course doesn't mean that more shoud be done to prevent deaths on the road, and RIP to the deceased.

Yes, totally meaningless statistic.

Of course the good news is next year the numbers have a good chance of going down.