Seven Days of Danger safety campaign underway in Phuket

The summary of the first day of the campaign was announced at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall chaired by Phuket Vice Governor Anupap Rodkwan Yodrabam this morning (Dec 30).

Day 1 of the campaign was from midnight to midnight yesterday (Dec 29). Day 2 of the campaign began at midnight last night. The campaign will conclude at midnight on Jan 4.

Present for the meeting this morning was Col Jirasak Siemsak, Deputy Commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, said a report of the meeting by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket).

There are 11 main police checkpoints set up across the island. The most common traffic infringements were operating a vehicle without a driver’s licence, operating an unsafe vehicle and drunk driving, respectively, the report noted.

However, the actual number of arrests or fines imposed for traffic violations were not reported.

Also present was Arporn Rutarapan of the Phuket provincial office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket), which is the office responsible for presenting the Seven Days daily reports for Phuket.

According to DDPM-Phuket, the most common type of vehicle involved in accidents on Day 1 of the campaign were motorbikes. However, the PR Phuket report did not mention how many accidents were recognised by officials during the 24 hours of yesterday.

Of note, the national Thailand Road Safety Committee (ThaiRSC) reports 54 people were injured in road accidents in Phuket yesterday.

According to the PR Phuket report, risky driving behaviour, not wearing a helmet and poor visibility were the most influential factors contributing to accidents and injuries.

Vice Governor Anupap said that all officers at the police checkpoints were asked to strictly follow the specified measures, “especially in the matter of drunk driving in order to prevent accidents as well as requesting volunteers to work together to provide services to the people”, said the PR Phuket report.

Vice Governor Anupap reiterated that the heads of all government offices and agencies are to urge all government officials to strictly follow traffic rules “to be a good role model for the people and to be part of the reduction and prevention of accidents during the New Year festival”, the report added.

Also reported this morning was that there were no safety incidents involving marine transport yesterday.

Regardless, Vice Governor Anupap asked the  Marine Police and related agencies ensure that tourists must wear life jackets at all times while onboard "for the safety of tourists".

ThaiRSC reports that already 14 people have been injured in road accidents in Phuket today (Dec 30).

So far this year, 106 people have died and 17,076 people have been injured in road accidents in Phuket this year, ThaiRSC confirms.

The death toll on Phuket’s roads has already surpassed that of last year, with three people killed in accidents on Wednesday (Dec 28), including a Thai man on a motorbike killed while waiting to make a U-turn in front of the Phuket Shooting Range on the road from Chalong Circle towards Kata Hill.

Officials have yet to release any details of those accidents, which occurred before the Seven Days campaign began, meaning those fatalities will not be included in this year’s officials total for the New Year holiday season.