THAILAND: DRIVING FORWARD ON TRAFFIC SAFETY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 003890

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EB, EB/TRA, EAP, AND EAP/BCLTV

TRANSPORTATION FOR OST AND NHTSA

COMMERCE FOR ITA: JBENDER AND JKELLY

COMMERCE PLEASE PASS TO USTDA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: BEXP ELTN ECON ETRD PREL SOCI TH
SUBJECT: THAILAND: DRIVING FORWARD ON TRAFFIC SAFETY
FOLLOWING TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY MINETA'S APRIL VISIT

REF: A) BANGKOK 2852


1. Summary: The upcoming International Road Federation (IRF)
meeting in Bangkok this June affords an opportunity to engage
Royal Thai Government (RTG) contacts and consider USG follow-
up work on traffic safety in Thailand, including the status
of two US Trade and Development Agency (TDA) projects,
following Transportation Secretary Mineta's April 2005 visit
(Ref A). Secretary Mineta publicly inaugurated US-Thai
traffic safety cooperation last April, during a month that
brings an annual flood of new traffic deaths during
Thailand's traditional New Year. Prime Minister Thaksin and
Transport Minister Suriya enthusiastically welcomed Secretary
Mineta's offer of technical assistance to help Thailand
develop a traffic injury data collection system under APEC
auspices, with the PM noting that the "pandemic" of traffic
fatalities was of his utmost concern. Observing the logical
lead Thai agency's lack of political clout, and the Transport
Ministry's pre-occupation with large infrastructure projects,
we suggest a letter from Secretary Mineta to the Deputy Prime
Minister and Interior Minister, a close Thaksin friend, to
follow up on our technical assistance offer for the project.
We propose follow-up action soon, lest we lose the momentum
created by the Secretary's successful visit, and look forward
to working with Washington agencies on this worthiest of
goals: saving lives. End Summary.

IRF Meeting


2. The International Road Federation (IRF) World Meeting,
held every five years, will convene in Bangkok June 14-18.
The global gathering of road industry experts, where the
development and maintenance of better and safer roads and
road transport systems worldwide is encouraged and promoted,
is a networking opportunity for public and private sector
road industry professionals from all over the world. It also
affords an opportunity to reengage the embassy's Royal Thai
Government (RTG) contacts on road traffic safety. A
simultaneous Intertraffic Trade Fair has been certified by
the U.S. Department of Commerce, with the Embassy Commercial
Section lending support to eight participating American
companies, including 3M and Avery Dennison. The World
Meeting will be attended by RTG contacts from the Transport
Ministry's Department of Highways (DOH) and Office of Traffic
and Transport Policy and Planning (OTP). The conference
website is http://www.irfbangkok2005.com.

USTDA Traffic Projects


3. Prior to Secretary Mineta's and US Trade Development
Agency (TDA) Director Askey's April visit (paragraph 6),TDA
has had two technical assistance projects in the pipeline
that would impact traffic safety. The first, a traffic data
collection system for the Transport Ministry's Department of
Highways (DOH),would help the RTG to develop a more modern
and reliable traffic data collection system, together with
on-line transmission and traffic analysis applications to
insure that its traffic engineering, road maintenance and
safety planning are efficient and cost-effective. TDA has
completed its desk study on the project, and the DOH has
asked that TDA help in developing a traffic information
system as well as define technology options, procurement
requirements, and financial plans to implement the project.


4. The second project is a Smart Corridor that would make
use of Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) on the route from
Bangkok to the new international airport currently under
construction. The Ministry of Transport's Office of
Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP) has requested
a study for a project that would serve commuters to and from
Suvarnabhumi Airport, scheduled to open in 2006, prior to an
airport rail link that would be completed within 3-5 years.
This priority project is expected to enhance traffic
transportation management through the utilization of ITS
technologies, a concept that has evolved from HOT/HOV lane
use in the United States.

Secretary's April Visit Coincides with Annual New Year Deaths

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5. On April 18, Transportation Secretary Mineta and National
Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Runge visited Bangkok
and met with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and
Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit on the issue of
road safety, a timely subject given the number of traffic
deaths reported each year during the April Songkran holiday,
the traditional Thai New Year during which most Thais travel
to visit family. Minister Suriya noted that 2004 Songkran
fatalities outnumbered deaths from the separatist insurgency
in the south of the country (an insurgency in the three
southernmost Muslim-majority provinces that has left more
than 600 dead since January 2004, traffic fatalities in 2004
numbered 654). While the government trumpeted that traffic
fatalities were down over last year's holiday period (522
deaths this year) allegations swirled in the media that
provincial bureaucrats had underreported statistics in order
to make themselves look better vis-a-vis implementing the
central government's road safety campaign (awards were later
given to those provinces judged to have had "outstanding
performance" in preventing injuries and fatalities over the
holiday period). Thailand averages between 12,000 and 15,000
traffic deaths annually in a country of 63 million.

PM and Minister Welcome US Experts for Traffic Safety


6. In their meetings, Secretary Mineta and Dr. Runge
applauded Prime Minister Thaksin for being so personally "out
front" on the issue of traffic safety, and Thailand's
selection under APEC to pilot a traffic injury data
collection system, funded by General Motors, and offered a
team of NHTSA experts to work with the RTG on the system.
Both Thaksin and Suriya welcomed US technical assistance on
the issue, noting that while the RTG had been successful in
bringing down traffic fatalities in the last three years, the
numbers are still too high. (Thaksin called traffic
fatalities Thailand's greatest "pandemic," far outstripping
either murder or the highly publicized SARS and Avian Flu
health crises in reported deaths.) The PM and Minister
lamented the "Thai context" where 500 plus traffic fatalities
in one month "is considered normal" and where motorcycle
accidents account for 85 percent of traffic fatalities and
injuries, which usually stem from low helmet use, with drunk
driving and speeding also playing a part. Minister Suriya
explained the work done to encourage helmet use to date, with
some success. He listed additional needs for better road
design and clearer signage, expressing hope that Dr. Runge's
team of experts could help in those endeavors as well.
Following a meeting with high-ranking police officials that
highlighted the need for better data collection and
methodology, the Secretary gave a press conference at
Bangkok's Police Traffic Control Center, publicly
inaugurating US-Thai cooperation on road safety. The
Secretary announced that the US would send experts to work

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with the RTG in developing a master plan for improving
traffic safety data, an important first step in developing an
effective safety strategy and saving lives.

Dr. Runge Meets with OTP; Strategies in Moving Forward


7. In a separate meeting with Transport's OTP, the agency
unveiled the Thailand Road Safety Action Plan (completed in
2004) and Dr. Runge discussed next steps in cooperating on
the APEC project. It was revealed that sixteen different
agencies are involved in road safety and that that there is
no central data depository. Traffic accident data comes from
three Agencies: The Department of Highways (Transport),the
Royal Thai Police, and hospitals under the Public Health
Ministry. All use the TRAMS data system, but there is no
standardization in how the data is reported, or in training.
Dr. Runge noted the Thai Police statistics show frequent
overlap in defining the causes of accidents, and suggested
that an immediate improvement in Thailand's data collection
would be to take into account measurements of
accidents/fatalities per kilometers traveled.


8. Comment: The pilot APEC traffic data project, the first
such project in Asia, could be a model to Thailand's
neighbors and greatly benefit the region, if it is done
right. While OTP staff have some expertise they can to bring
to the project, they lack the political clout to make other
RTG agencies cooperate. Further, the Transport Ministry is
focused on transportation infrastructure projects and would
likely lend little high-level support. Therefore, a logical
high-level point of contact would be Deputy Prime Minister
and Interior Minister Chidchai Wannasthit, who chairs the
National Road Safety Operation Center Committee and is also a
close friend of the Prime Minister. We believe that a letter
from Secretary Mineta to Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai
suggesting follow-up on the project with Dr. Runge,
referencing the April visit and the Prime Minister's intense
interest in traffic safety, would go a long way in generating
the high-level policy direction necessary for a successful
outcome. We suggest follow-up as soon as possible, lest we
lose the momentum gained from the Secretary's very successful
visit. The Embassy looks forward to working with the
Transportation Department and NHTSA in improving data
collection in Thailand and eventually the region, with our
ultimate goal being saving lives -- down the road. End
Comment.

BOYCE