Police set up roadblocks and gave
breathalyzer tests over the New Year holiday in an attempt to limit the
number of accidents and road fatalities.
Manoon Makpol
The verdict is still out on how successful they were, but
Pattaya city and police officials made a concerted effort to educate drivers
on how to prevent accidents during the New Year’s holiday, traditionally one
of the deadliest seven day spans on Thai roads.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay, Pattaya Police
Superintendent Col. Nanthawut Suwanla-Ong and Wannaporn Chamchamrat,
director of the Public Health and the Environment department, hosted a Dec.
29 rally in front of Big C in South Pattaya to reduce the number of
drinking, fatigue and telephone-related vehicle accidents between Dec. 29
and Jan. 4.
Verawat noted an average of 33 people a day were killed
on Thailand’s streets and highways in 2009. That takes a tremendous toll on
both the country’s cultural and economic stability.
Using songs and speeches, the officials tried to get over
the point that people should not drive when sleepy or drunk. Drunk driving
can land offenders in jail for a year with fines up to 20,000 baht. It’s
also illegal to use telephones while driving, unless hands-free headsets are
used.
Final statistics will be released later, but nationwide
road-related fatalities increased by 5.2 percent in the first six of the
“seven dangerous days,” with 325 people killed and nearly 3,500 people
injured in 2,227 road accidents.
Locally, no traffic related fatalities were reported as of press time.
