Ministry mulls more speed cams

The Transport Ministry needs more time to decide whether to install more cameras to capture the licence plates of offenders, says minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.

He was speaking after a meeting with Japan’s Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), which has joined the local ministry in efforts to cut the local death toll. The MLIT voiced concerns about recently-installed “Your Speed signs,” which are radar-based speed-detection systems designed to tell how fast the driver is going. These signs are commonly posted in areas near schools.

The signs have been installed in several areas throughout the country, including the Khao Phueng area in Uttaradit, an area notorious for road accidents. However, Department of Highways reports say the accompanying cameras which take images of a vehicle’s licence plates will start arriving only next year.

“Japan has warned us about the signs, as drivers tend to disregard the warnings after a while and drive as fast as usual,” Mr Arkhom said.

He added discussions about installing more cameras, another suggestion by the MLIT, would take some time, since more money would be needed.

According to ministry reports presented to MLIT, around 71% of road deaths in Thailand are from motorcycle accidents. Last year, the country recorded around 22,000 road deaths in total, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said. “There are over 21 million registered motorcycles in Thailand, yet only around 13 million motorcycle licences have been reported by the Department of Land Transport (DLT),” Mr Arkhom said.

“Most of the seven to eight million unlicenced drivers could be kids, who get bikes and drive them before they are 15 years old.” He said the DLT will hold talks with the Ministry of Education to kickstart more motorcycle-based road safety campaigns. “It is a complicated issue, since kids driving motorcycles to school is part of the culture in rural areas,” Mr Arkhom said.