The government has prepared another public relations drive to address the holiday road slaughter, beginning Dec 21. This year's twist will be the slogan "777". It is meant to be read as seven-seven-seven, which simply means the New Year's campaign will last three weeks, rather than the "seven dangerous days" of the recent past. Authorities start from a weak point, since last year's safety campaign saw a 25% rise in holiday highway fatalities, to a record 478 -- more than 68 deaths a day.
Sanit Phromwong, director-general of the Department of Land Transport (DLT), announced the 777 campaign last week. It will run from Dec 21 to Jan 10. The middle of the campaign coincides with the four-day New Year's weekend, Dec 30-Jan 2. According to the DLT's press release, the 777 programme "is aimed at reducing road accidents, casualties and fatalities". That is certainly a worthy goal. The obvious question, once again, is why the programme lasts seven or 21 days, and not 365.
The concept behind the "seven dangerous days" campaign was always flawed. Police and the military have recently made a show of many arrests and vehicle seizures to stress that drink-driving is a road death waiting to happen. In its first year, the military regime saw traffic deaths during the seven dangerous days fall by 25, to 341. The next year, fatalities rose to 380, and last year's toll was a bloody and sobering record.
Previous governments did no better, and the statistics prove it. The last military regime in office during New Year 2007, oversaw a seven-day record 449 deaths. Civilian regimes did no better. The lowest number of "dangerous-day" deaths was 335 in 2012. The statistics merely prove the obvious: A short-term campaign, even with massive enforcement, is no answer.
This regime, like every previous government -- no exception -- has simply failed to come to grips with the problem. The numbers are clear. Among established nations under peaceful government, Thailand has, hands down, the worst highway slaughter rate in the world.
The World Health Organisation keeps accurate records for every country. Here are a few numbers which should, but do not, serve as eye-openers for responsible government officials. Thailand is the 20th most populous country in the world, with the 10th highest accident rate. Thailand, roughly the same size and population as France, had 24,896 known traffic deaths in 2015; France had 3,268. Britain, half Thailand's size with the same population, had 1,827.
For its size and population, Thailand's highway slaughter is worst in the world, by far. It has more than 36 highway fatalities per 100,000 people. China's toll is 19. Vietnam and Malaysia have 24, and Indonesia's is 15. Those last three countries, Thai neighbours and fellow Asean members, are considered by world standards to have dangerous highways. Thailand is the worst of all.
This is a task for central government. Yet the best it can come up with are the failed and ineffective biannual "dangerous days" PR campaigns in April at Songkran and for the official New Year. By itself, an awareness campaign doesn't work. The dangerous-day programmes have failed to affect the toll. The attempts at massive enforcement of drink-driving regulations hasn't worked.
Despite all this evidence, neither the DLT nor the Prime Minister's Office has even suggested a holistic, year-round effort to make roads safer. The Ministry of Education has rejected drivers' courses, police claim to be too busy to enforce anti-drink-drive laws every day. Until proper public education and serious enforcement are followed every day, the end-of-year safe driving campaigns will remain meaningless.
