Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay
leads a meeting with city and law-enforcement officials to try and reduce
the number of traffic accidents over the holidays.
Vittaya Yoondorn
City and law-enforcement officials will blanket the
Pattaya area with checkpoints, medics and free refreshments as it makes a
concerted effort to cut the number of accidents during the New Year holiday.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay outlined the city’s Dec. 28
- Jan. 4 plans at a city hall meeting Dec. 9. Among the efforts will be
stations offering free water and snacks, public school awareness campaigns,
random traffic checkpoints, and 24-hour rapid-response medical teams.
Officials are targeting five high-priority areas:
Sukhumvit Road at the intersection with Central Road and in front of the
Pattaya Floating Market; on Third Road near both Soi Bongkot and the Sophon
Market and Second Road in front of Central Center mall in North Pattaya.
Each spot will host a stall offering beverages, candies and cold towels to
help alert drivers. It also will be an opportunity for police to check if
drivers are inebriated.
Most road checks, however, will happen randomly at
checkpoints that will spring up around the area.
In case of accidents, the Sawang Boriboon Foundation will
deploy two shifts of ambulances on standby and have medics available in 26
spots around the area. Nurses will provide triage before shipping victims
off to area hospitals.
The city Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation
has been tasked with fighting car fires while the public relations staff
will work with schools and media to get the anti-drunk driving message out.
