Thai government targets lower road accidents during New Year holidays

BANGKOK, December 29 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Transport and other agencies concerned, have targeted and attempted to reduce road accidents during the so-called "seven dangerous days" of New Year travels nationwide, set from December 27, 2012-January 2, 2013, as a large number of New Year revellers have been leaving the capital for upcountry to either enjoy the holidays or stay with their families. Thai Transport Minister Chadchart Sitthipunt said during Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's weekly TV and radio programme on Saturday that his ministry has mapped out four policies to provide safety to the New Year celebrants, aimed at reducing road accidents to five per cent, compared with the corresponding period of last year when there were more than 900 cases of road accidents nationwide, killing 225 people and injuring some 900 others. Chadchart insisted that accidents from public buses and trains have been set to reduce to zero during the ongoing New Year holidays, officially starting from December 29, 2012 to January 1, 2013, with bus drivers, thus, banned from consuming alcohol. The transport minister announced that his ministry's Highways Department has set up 11 service stations nationwide; while several other agencies under his ministry have also set up stations where holidaymakers can park their cars and rest. According to the transport minister, the state-run Transport Co., Ltd., running inter-provincial bus services, has increased daily trips during the ongoing New Year holidays, so have the State Railway of Thailand or SRT and Thai Airways International or THAI with more daily trains and flights offered to their passengers. The transport minister acknowledged that daily electric train services offered by Bangkok's subway system, which normally ends at midnight, will be extended on New Year Eve, with its services to be continued to 2am of January 1, 2013. (TNA)