110,000 traffic tickets issued to speeding drivers ahead of road safety campaign

The Highway Police Division revealed that 110,000 speeding tickets were issued ahead of Thailand’s seven-day road safety campaign.

The Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, Damronsak Kittiprapas, launched the road safety campaign named Seven-day Dangerous (7 วัน อันตราย) today, December 29. The campaign aims to reduce the number of road accidents during the traditional holiday season when many Thais will travel out of Bangkok to spend time with their families in their home provinces. The campaign will run for seven days from now until January 4 next year.

About 50,000 police officers will be on duty at more than 3,700 checkpoints on almost every road in Thailand. They will facilitate commuters and monitor drivers who violate traffic laws. Some checkpoints will require drivers to undergo alcohol tests.

Highway Police Division revealed yesterday that they had already issued 110,000 traffic tickets to drivers in the six days leading up to the campaign.

The division also stated that nearly 10,000 drivers were also arrested and fined for drunk driving, failure to wear a helmet (on motorcycles), and failure to wear a seat belt.

Damrongsak emphasised that officers will start deducting driving license points on January 9, 2023. Each driver has 12 points, and their licenses will be suspended for 90 days or banned if they lose all their points. Each traffic offence carries different penalty point deductions. The more serious the crime the higher the deduction.

The Royal Thai Police expects that there will be about 7.3 million trips or journeys in and out of Bangkok during the holiday season this year. The busiest period is predicted to be between December 29–30 and return on January 2–3 next year.

Drivers can contact hotline numbers 191, 1599, 1193 (for all highways across the country), or 1197 (for roads in Bangkok) if they need help or information or want to notify officers about the road accident.