I was doing my usual trawl through the Thailand blogs and English newspapers this morning when I spotted an article by Talen on the death toll on the Thai roads during the New Year celebrations. He also comments on the tragic events with the night club fire in Bangkok. Having viewed some what I can only describe as gruesome pictures of the remains of human bodies from the fire in a Thai newspaper yesterday I decided I would leave that story alone and do a little more research into the carnage that faces every driver if they venture onto the Thai roads at a holiday period.
The current death toll for the New Year period stands at a staggering 226 with the holiday still in full swing, so this is forced to rise as the revellers return home over the weekend. So what are the forces of law and order doing to counter/educate the Thai drivers apparent death wish every time they get behind the wheel. Well according to the Nation, a total of 77,000 officials are on duty over the holiday period and to date they have stopped a total of 700,000 vehicles at some 3000 checkpoints throughout the country.
Now I consider that to be proactive policing, back home you rarely see a police officer at Bank Holidays let alone find yourself stopped at a VCP. Even more staggering however is the fact that a over 19,000 drivers have been charged with not having a drivers licence and over 17,000 for not wearing a crash helmet.
Locally as I drove down highway 4 yesterday I was amazed to see that all the U turns had been blocked off and that there were literally dozens of police around. However this had little or no effect on the driving standards of my fellow road users. In the 8km to my home I was overtaken by lorries, coaches and even motorcycles, sometimes on my left side and sometimes on my right on the two lane highway and hard shoulder. At one point I was tailgated by a pickup driver who seemed to want to check out the contents of my truck first hand and on another occasion cut up by a driver who suddenly came awake and decided he needed to exit to the left!
OK for anyone who lives here, we know the risks, but God help any foreign tourist setting out in the hire car with the family for a bit of sightseeing.
Now you might think that since the police have nabbed all those drivers without licences that things might be a little safer now. Well I am sorry to disappoint you since I can practically guarantee that the stopped drivers were actually allowed to continue their journey, no U turn for them, after they paid their respects to the relevant officials.
I'm sure its been said many times before but it really is time that Thailand did a U turn when it comes to driving standards and assigned this method of population control to history.
2 comments:
It is a case of having to live with the way things are in the country you choose to live in. It won't change overnight and not even in your lifetime there. Many visitors who are shocked with the way things are in foreign countries want to start a crusade to change things, whatever efforts are made are just a drop in the ocean. This is not to say it is wrong to want safer roads, but the way things are are in fact built into the culture of the country.
It is just the same in Bulgaria and you warn visitors - unfortunately, that is the only safeguard you can contribute.
Many good points. I think we all know the extra enforcement this time of the year has more to do with lining coffers than safety.
Unfortunately as you pointed out many tourists renting a car or motorbike for a look around have no clue what they are in for if it's their first time in the kingdom.
The sheer number of deaths each year on Thai roads really should wake the government up to the problem but it seems it's another case of mai ben rai.
Thanks for the link love Mike and I hope your new year is going well...be safe out on those streets.
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