Police to set up New Year road safety checkpoints

PHUKET: Police will set up checkpoints across the island from December 29 to January 4 in a campaign to reduce the number of road fatalities during the New Year celebrations.

The checkpoints, manned by police, volunteers and officers from the Phuket Office for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (ODPM), will be set up at:

– Thepkrasattri Rd (in front of the Muang Mai building);

– Surakul Stadium in Phuket City;

– Chao Fa East Rd (in front of the Chaofa Thani housing estate);

– Tah Chat Chai vehicle control point (VCP);

– Cherng Talay Police Station;

– Thalang Police Station;

– on Sirirat Rd (at the south end of Patong);

– Phra Barami Rd in Kathu (at the permanent police VCP).

Particular attention will be given to motorcycle drivers without helmets and infractions, such as driving without headlights on and speeding, with officers especially vigilant between 2 pm and 10 pm.

If the need arises, police will use the Phuket Ruamjai Rescue Foundation to assist as a volunteer rescue unit (Tel: 1669).

The holiday period from December 31 to January 1 traditionally sees an elevated number of vehicle crashes.

For Phuket’s 2006 New Year’s celebrations, an ODPM spokesperson said that no more than four deaths and no more than 69 people injured due to traffic incidents are expected.