PM warns against bad riding at Bike for Mom

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.

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