Thailand-
Over the past week, Thai news has been dominated by a story in which a young female doctor in Bangkok was tragically hit and killed by a police officer speeding through a crosswalk on a motorbike while she was attempting to cross the road.
I don’t want to talk about this horrific accident specifically as enough has been said about it on other media and articles, including here at TPN media.
What I do want to talk about, however, is road safety as a pedestrian in general and how the issues Thailand is facing are far beyond crosswalks, although this is certainly important as well. I also want to specifically chat about Pattaya road safety for pedestrians.
Earlier this week in our popular weekly feature Reader TalkBack we asked our readers about how to improve road traffic safety for pedestrians and have been swamped with hundreds of comments and e-mails. It is clearly an issue near and dear to many residents’ hearts here in Pattaya and we will be highlighting some of those responses early next week in our weekly recap of the results.
Something we found interesting here at the TPN office, however, is that most of the responses have focused only on zebra crossings/crosswalks, which perhaps isn’t a surprise as this was the area where the tragic accident took place last weekend in Bangkok.
However, road safety is much more than just this for pedestrians.
For instance, we recently covered the conditions of major sidewalks on Central and South Pattaya Road here locally and the Mayor’s statements on this. It’s good to see the issue being officially addressed but this has been a major problem for road safety for some time and has even forced people off the sidewalks into busy roads.
Another regular complaint locally is stray dogs. Opinions are passionate on this topic and varied with people often getting heated on how to handle the situation locally with soi dogs. Regardless, all sides mostly agree that aggressive dogs should not be on the roads, and a plan for vaccinating, spaying, and neutering those on the streets should also take place. As more tourists arrive in the future (and they will, as arrival rules continue to ease) this could become a larger problem as areas quiet for two years due to Covid-19 begin to pick up once more and some local dogs are potentially displaced.
We have also had several readers voice concerns on other matters like light poles in poor condition (or not working), telephone and other wires hanging low onto sidewalks and the street, or shops encroaching onto public sidewalk space.
Last but not least, safety period, especially at night, is a concern to many when choosing to go for a walk on say a local beach or around the city. Pattaya is certainly safer than many western cities at night but many readers have commented to us that with so many businesses still closed, nightlife limited on hours, and large numbers of tourists still a ways away that night doesn’t feel as safe as it used to be.
I bring these issues up as any plan for pedestrians’ safety in Pattaya needs to be a total plan and include multiple aspects to be successful. Once again, tourists will come back. Making sure the city is safe for the many pedestrians after years of the area being fairly quiet should be a top priority for area officials.
I welcome your comments and thoughts below.
Adam Judd, TPN media, January 28th, 2022.
