In the past 2 months I have watched work crews installing signal lights on all the major roads in central Pattaya. The lights are positioned every 4 blocks or so along Beach Road, Pattaya Klang ( central road ) and Third Road to name a few, and there are a lot of them.I’ve noticed in the past week that they are are now operational and ready for use.

With the many pedestrian involved accidents and deaths on these roads Pattaya City Hall finally has done something about it and I think it’s a step in the right direction. Of course it will come down to the Thai and falang drivers to adhere to the rules of the road and the new traffic signals but I think after some time this step will definitely save lives.

There have always been crosswalks on these well trafficked roads but at best they were only a reminder for drivers to slow down and at worst they have been pedestrian targeting zones. These lights will go a long way in changing that.

The signals work very simply. On the pole is a large button for the pedestrian to push and after a certain period of time the lights will turn red forcing traffic to stop so the pedestrians can cross safely. At all other times the lights are flashing yellow to signal drivers they are approaching a traffic signal and they need to slow down. The real issue is will the baht buses and motorcycle taxi’s stop for these lights or in their haste for the almighty baht will they run them when they can.

I hope after a short time to break in the system the drivers pay attention to the traffic signals and equally I hope the majority of holiday makers and tourists use the new signal enforced crosswalks as much as possible. A few seconds wait for either drivers or pedestrians is a small price to pay to save lives.

While this is a good first step in tourist safety for Pattaya, City Hall now needs to buckle down and tackle the drunk driving problem. These accidents happen daily and the carnage leaves many people injured or dead every month. This isn’t just a Thai problem as many drunk falangs get behind the wheel of a car or get on their motorcycles after a night out on the town. If these people can’t think for themselves then maybe City Hall can enforce the laws and remove them from thew streets permanently.

Personally I think they should have checkpoints throughout town every weekend and all throughout high season. Drivers licenses and cars/motorcycles should be impounded and heavy fines and prison time/community service should be imposed. Being as there are many falang ( foreign ) drunk drivers on Pattaya’s roads immigration should get involved in the issue by making drunk driving a deportation offense, that would make many falang think before drinking and driving.

Falangs have no excuse for drunken driving considering every Western nation has inundated it’s people with drunk driving programs for decades, they should know better.