BANGKOK, Aug 8 (TNA) – The Thai government has
admitted that it has failed to achieve its goal to reduce road deaths and
injuries but vowed to push ahead road safety promotion in order to cut road
traffic casualties by half within next year.
At the 14th Thailand Road Safety Seminar on Wednesday,
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the government was aware that
Thailand has become one of the world’s most dangerous places for road users and
had placed road safety as one of its top priorities.
Thailand has designated 2011 – 2020 under the Decade of
Action for Road Safety, aiming to reduce the number of road deaths nationwide
by half. 
Admitting that there had been obstacles and shortcoming in
implementing road safety measures, Gen Prawit said the government would
continue to tackle the problems with a special focus on safety of pedestrians,
motorcyclists and cyclists.
He noted that road casualties had caused Thailand Bt200
million in economic loss a year. 
According to the Legal Development Program (LDP), one of the
seminar co-organizers, there has been an average of 66 road deaths every day in
Thailand.
The Seminar, held at BITEC convention center in Bangkok from
Wednesday to Friday, also features exhibitions on road safety by many agencies
under the theme “Play Your Part and Share the Road.” 
The event is a venue of policymakers, civic groups and state
agencies to review road safety laws and regulations and make recommendations
for improvements. (TNA)
