PHUKET: The Governor of Phuket has called for better checks on large buses coming onto Phuket during the ''Seven Days of Danger'' road safety campaign over New Year.
Having officers at the Tachatchai Checkpoint assess the buses and drivers as the vehicles arrive on Phuket would be an important step forward, Governor Jamleran Tipayapongtada told a meeting of Phuket authorities and police yesterday.
''Many of these buses come from other provinces where conditions are different so a 24-hour check on vehicles arriving on Phuket would help safety,'' he said.
Too many buses break down on Phuket's roads, creating safety hazards. There is only one privately-owned crane-truck on Phuket capable of hauling broken-down buses out of the way, the governor was told.
He ordered police to have the crane-truck on standby for action around the clock.
Buses and trucks are only supposed to traverse Patong Hill - often the scene of breakdowns and out-of-control crashes - between 7am-9am and 5pm-7pm.
The ''Seven Days of Danger'' run from December 29-January 4 with police usually manning checkpoints all over Phuket. Tests for drink-driving are expected to be more frequent this year.
A similar campaign is held during Thai New Year. The number of deaths for the past three Thai New Years have been: nine fatalities from 27 crashes in 2013, five fatalities from 28 crashes in 2014 and two fatalities from 44 crashes in 2015.
The governor also added that as part of improving safety at sea for Phuket tourists, he has requested speedboat tour companies to start collecting the identity of people on board vessels. Authorities will use boats to intercept vesels to make sure passengers are wearing life jackets.
Having officers at the Tachatchai Checkpoint assess the buses and drivers as the vehicles arrive on Phuket would be an important step forward, Governor Jamleran Tipayapongtada told a meeting of Phuket authorities and police yesterday.
''Many of these buses come from other provinces where conditions are different so a 24-hour check on vehicles arriving on Phuket would help safety,'' he said.
Too many buses break down on Phuket's roads, creating safety hazards. There is only one privately-owned crane-truck on Phuket capable of hauling broken-down buses out of the way, the governor was told.
He ordered police to have the crane-truck on standby for action around the clock.
Buses and trucks are only supposed to traverse Patong Hill - often the scene of breakdowns and out-of-control crashes - between 7am-9am and 5pm-7pm.
The ''Seven Days of Danger'' run from December 29-January 4 with police usually manning checkpoints all over Phuket. Tests for drink-driving are expected to be more frequent this year.
A similar campaign is held during Thai New Year. The number of deaths for the past three Thai New Years have been: nine fatalities from 27 crashes in 2013, five fatalities from 28 crashes in 2014 and two fatalities from 44 crashes in 2015.
The governor also added that as part of improving safety at sea for Phuket tourists, he has requested speedboat tour companies to start collecting the identity of people on board vessels. Authorities will use boats to intercept vesels to make sure passengers are wearing life jackets.
I wish they would face reality & make it 365 days of danger. If you think Phuket is bad, the rest of Thailand is fast catching up. Roads are now overcrowded with a 'devil take the hindmost' attitude.
There are areas such as I live near Korat where they are making a big push & progress against drunk driving, but little is being done to stop dangerous driving.
U-turns on major carriageways are scenes of regular death & destruction. These need to be replaced with overhead U-turn bridges.
'Ghost riding' motor cyclists are big contributors to serious accidents on major highways & the police seem to do little or nothing to stop that.
It is endless. Basically Thailand needs to bring its driving standards in line with other civilised countries to stop the carnage. They are driving the same trucks, buses, mini buses, cars & motor bikes as other similar countries, so why not adopt similar & improved standards.
Posted by Logic on December 26, 2015 11:49