Thailand Road Safety Manifesto

Thailand Road Safety Manifesto The manifesto was jointly launched on the 8th of November 2007 by the Ministry of Transport[hhtp://portal.mot.go.th], Ministry of Education, Thai Society for Transportation and Traffic Studies1, and the Thai Health Promotion Fund 2. This was the first time in Thailand that private companies, universities and non-government organizations are invited to take concrete actions to help the country reduce its traffic road tolls. Twelve companies and NGOs participated in the launch.

The Facts

For the past 5 years, 2002-2006, some 66,300 people died in road traffic accidents in Thailand or an average of 13,260 deaths per annum. Some 5.0 million people were injured, some of them severely. The economic loss resulted from traffic accidents were estimated at 232,000 million Baht, corresponding to approximately 2.81% of the country’s Gross National Product in 2007.( Department of Highways 2007, 3)

The Human Tragedy

Over 13,000 road fatalities occurs annually in Thailand with several hundred thousands of those injured become permanently disabled. Family of those crash victims who die suffer immeasurable grief and many have to endure economic hardship resulting from the loss of the family bread winners. For those hundred thousands families whose loved one become disabled, life after the crash is a long and seemingly endless drain on the family both emotionally and financially. This is the main driving force behind the launch of the manifesto.

The Goal

The goal of the manifesto is to reduce the number of road deaths in Thailand by 5000 between 2007 and 2012 from the current 13,000 deaths down to 8000.

The Joint Challenge

The Thai government, through its Road Safety Action Programme, has listed some 14 programmes of activities, whose implementation depend on the responsibility of the various government departments. Thailand Road Safety Manifesto is an appeal to all civil society organizations to participate in this joint undertaking and implement concrete measures to meet this challenge of saving ‘ 5000 lives’.