The Public Health Ministry is considering a proposal to extend blood testing for alcohol among motorists outside the holiday seasons, as part of a year-round inspection policy to ensure safer driving on Thai roads.
Though the government on Thursday announced "success" in reducing road accidents during the New Year holidays, there is still more work to do, and the blood testing which ensures accurate results, will be undoubtedly part of it, said deputy permanent secretary for public health Opas Kankawinpong.
Authorities use both blood and breathalyser tests to find out whether motorists are driving under the influence of alcohol. The tests are frequently conducted because drink driving is one of the major causes of road accidents on Thailand's roads.
Between Dec 28 and Jan 3, dubbed as the "seven dangerous days", drink driving was still the top cause of casualties, accounting for 43.7% while speeding was second at 25.2%.
"But we still have some little problems that are preventing us from putting the proposal into practice," Dr Opas said.
Among them are: "Where will a budget come from and who will do the task?" he said.
Blood tests are not an inexpensive option as it is estimated that year-round testing will cost between 30 and 40 million baht, Dr Opas said, adding that the calculation is based on a cost for each test taker which swings between 500 and 1,000 baht.
The deputy permanent secretary stated that he did not think the Public Health Ministry should be the agency responsible for the outlay and also said that it may not be fair to push the burden onto motorists themselves, especially if they tested negative.
More talks are needed to address these concerns as well as consider whether to have the road safety fund, supervised by the Department of Land Transport, finance the blood tests, Dr Opas said.
During the seven dangerous days, authorities found that about half of motorists taking blood tests had an illegal level of alcohol in their blood, he added.
The government should come up with a master plan to ensure road safety over the long run, "not just temporary strict measures during holiday periods", said former deputy transport minister Nikorn Jamnong, who now chairs the Thai Plodphai (safe Thai people) organisation.
It is true authorities managed to reduce the number of deaths during the New Year's seven dangerous days to 423 this year, compared with 478 last year, Mr Nikon said, but the fatalities were still up on the 380 seen in 2016.
A recent survey by the World Atlas website ranked the country worst among 30 nations in terms of road deaths.
Thailand's road traffic death rate (per 100,000 population) stood at 36.2 last year, followed by Malawi (35) and Liberia (33.7).
