Foundation offers Bt60 million to help make Thailand's roads safer
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The Safer Roads Foundation (SRF) has earmarked more than Bt60 million on efforts to reduce road deaths in Thailand, where more than 14,000 locals and foreigners are either killed or fatally injured in road accidents on average every year.
According to the World Health Organisation, Thailand came in at No 3 in world rankings last year in terms of the highest number of road deaths.
“I visited Thailand and saw many risks and danger in Thailand’s traffic, which is supported by the rising number of deaths. So I chose to support Thailand in reducing traffic accidents,” SRF director Michael Woodford said.
His foundation is providing 1 million pounds (over Bt60 million) in moves to cut down on road accidents in Thailand with the help of the Transport Ministry and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation. The fund is also intended to turn Thailand into a model of road safety.
Woodford said people should be aware of the rising number of road accidents and do what they can to resolve the problem.
Though related organisations have used several measures and laws, such as introducing speed controls and installing GPRS on public transport to deal with the problem, the number of road accidents are still on the rise.
Bangkok, Chiang Mai province and Surat Thani’s Koh Samui district will be the first to introduce improvements in accident hotspots.
The Thai Health Promotion Foundation has also approved another 15 projects as part of its road-safety campaign.
“In order to reduce accidents, not only do individuals need to improve their behaviour on the road, but all relevant organisations also need to work together,” Woodford said.
Teerapong Rodprasert, director general of the Land Transport Department, said the road-accident issue was a serious problem that needs to be resolved. He pointed out that though officials tried to implement new measures to control speed, it did not seem to work in practice.
The director said the department had started three experimental programmes.
The first is a speed-limit scheme in Nong Khai province, the second is organising public vans and the last is improving drivers’ behaviour.
