Bangkok: The Prime Minister discussed with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Road Safety to continue cooperation on safety. He is confident that this year Thailand will reduce the number of accidents well in the past several years.
According to Thai News Agency, Ms. Paethongtarn Shinawatra, Prime Minister, met with Mr. Jean Todt, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety and his team. The Prime Minister and the UN Special Envoy exchanged policy ideas on how to improve road safety measures in Thailand, which continues to face a high rate of road fatalities, especially among motorcyclists, accounting for more than 80% of accidents. This problem affects both the health of the people and Thailand’s economic potential in the long term. The Prime Minister emphasized that the Thai government has always been aware of this problem, especially during important festivals such as Songkran, when the accident rate is higher than usual. This year, the government has been able to reduce the number of accidents.
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General commended the role of the Thai government in emphasizing the importance of improving road safety through the government’s campaign and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, which promotes the use of helmets for children and youth, and emphasized the promotion of the use of standard helmets, which have been confirmed by the World Health Organization to reduce the risk of death and injury. He also suggested ways to develop the project to become a national model covering every province in Thailand.
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General proposed a guideline requiring motorcycle dealers to include standard helmets to prevent losses. He suggested that Thailand consider using international standard helmets and may consider exempting or reducing import taxes on such equipment to encourage people. The Prime Minister acknowledged and saw that it would be beneficial and directly affect the safety of the people, which he will discuss with relevant agencies.
In addition, both parties expressed their mutual intention to continue cooperation to promote road safety and were willing to seek opportunities for cooperation with civil society and the private sector, such as inviting world-class Thai artists to join as road safety ambassadors together with important international figures. They are also ready to cooperate to drive cooperation to promote road safety sustainably.