Mr Romdon officially opened the first batch of the ‘Youth Safe Driving Training Project’ at Wichit Songkhram School today (June 22), just one week after taking up his new role in Phuket following his transfer from Songkhla Province.
Addressing the 80 students taking part in the training, Mr Romdon urged them to pay close attention to the lessons on traffic laws and safe riding techniques, stressing that wearing a helmet should become a lifelong habit.
"The most important thing is to listen carefully to the instructors so you understand the traffic laws and how to ride safely," he said.
"Most importantly, every student must wear a helmet every time they ride a motorcycle or travel as a passenger."
As part of the programme, the Phuket Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office (DDPM Phuket) distributed motorcycle helmets to all participating students in an effort to encourage regular helmet use and reduce the severity of injuries in road accidents.
Mr Romdon said the project aimed to instil safe driving habits from a young age so students could travel safely to school and throughout their daily lives.
DDPM Phuket Chief Warat Surawadee said children and teenagers remain one of the province’s highest-risk groups for road fatalities, largely due to limited driving experience, poor risk assessment and unsafe attitudes towards road use.
He said the training had been organised by the Phuket Provincial Road Safety Command Centre to build safer behaviours through active learning.
The one-day programme combines three key areas of instruction: traffic laws and road signs taught by officers from Phuket City Police; six ‘traffic vaccine’ modules designed to improve risk awareness and decision-making; and practical motorcycle riding skills delivered by instructors from the Honda Safe Driving Training Centre Phuket.
Officials hope the programme will strengthen traffic discipline among young people, improve riding skills and ultimately help reduce the number of road crashes involving children and teenagers in Phuket.
Mr Romdon was appointed one of Phuket’s two new vice governors following a Ministry of Interior reshuffle that also saw Phuket Governor Nirat Pongsitthaworn transferred to Bangkok as Deputy Permanent Secretary of the ministry.
Before arriving in Phuket, Mr Romdon served as Vice Governor of Songkhla and previously held senior administrative roles with the Department of Provincial Administration and the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre. On his first day in office last week, he pledged to work with all sectors to help drive Phuket’s development and serve the people of the province.