US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK3890

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 
 
SIPDIS 
 
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 
 
SIPDIS 
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