BANGKOK, April 18--- Thailand’s death toll from road accidents nationwide during Thailand’s traditional week-long Songkran new year reached 320 with the number of injuries at 3,320 persons, according to the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.During seven days of the Songkran holiday from April 11-17, 320 deaths were reported, rising by 49 persons compared to the same period last year, Deputy Prime Minister/Interior Minister Yongyuth Vichaidit told a news briefing on Wednesday in his capacity as director of the Road Safety Centre.There were 3,129 accidents in total.The deputy premier said that the northernmost province of Chiang Rai recorded the highest number of accidents at 125 and the highest number of casualties at 124.Meanwhile, the southern province of Surat Thani had the highest death tally at 13 persons.However, six provinces, including Nakhon Phanom, Trat, Trang, Pattani, Ranong and Satun, recorded no deaths from road accidents.The major cause of accidents was attriibuted to drunken driving, followed by speeding, Mr Yongyuth explained.He said that the road safety centre would compile the 7-day road accident statistics and provide suggestions to report to the Cabinet later and coordinate with concerned agencies to come up with measures and plans, aiming to reduce the number of deaths and injuries to zero.In an attempt to cut the number of traffic accidents and casualties to the lowest levels possible, the government launched its campaign during the "Seven Dangerous Days" beginning April 11 through 17 to raise awareness among motorists to drive more carefully during Thailand’s traditional new year.
BANGKOK: -- Most people in Thailand believe that the country's potential in every sector will help it become the largest auto-producing nation in the region.Thailand has been referred to as the "Detroit of Asia" for many years, although the basic foundation of the country was never planned to serve the expansion of auto production in the long term.During the past several years, labour wages in Thailand have risen according to the higher cost of living, which is normal in a free global economy. But there has been a shortage in the workforce below the bachelor degree level because mistakes have been made in the planning of the national education system, which is not in harmony with the development of the country. There are also other factors, including a split in society due to politics.Corruption by government officials at every level, the inability to effectively deal with natural disasters that are growing stronger each year, as well as the announcing of a free-trade area that allows tax-free imports in many areas, all come together in lowering Thailand's importance as an auto production base. There has even been talk recently about relocating the production bases for automobiles and parts to other countries in the region.Initially, Vietnam was considered an important competitor to Thailand, but I’ve always said that Vietnam and the Philippines - that used to be a production base many years ago - are still far away from being able to compete against Thailand even in the near future.However, the country we should be looking at the most is Indonesia. Almost every major auto manufacturer has an assembly plant in Indonesia, and though they are mostly joint-venture companies with local shareholders, the pattern was seen before in Thailand. There are chances that the brand owner may decided to increase its stake in these operations, which is not difficult these days since trade and investment barriers are more difficult to put up.The benefit of relocating production from Thailand to Indonesia is that brand owners do not have to start from scratch in terms of investment, especially major Japanese auto-makers that have long been present in Indonesia.According to the JAMA (Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association), Toyota has invested in Indonesia since 1971 and Mitsubishi entered that country in 1973. Other Japanese companies such as Hino, Honda, Isuzu, Nissan and Suzuki have all invested in Indonesia.At the same time, the political situation in Indonesia has become more stable, unlike in Thailand where more and more conflicts are taking place, and there seems to be no quick solution. Indonesia's corruption problem is also improving, but corruption in Thailand is bound to become worse. There have been accusations of corruption in every government project, even the country's national disaster-relief projects.Another important factor for investment is the sales figure in each country. Being able to sell thousands of vehicles in the home country dramatically helps lower production cost due to a larger economy of scale. This makes vehicles more price competitive when exported.According to the sales figures of JAMA members in the Asean region in 2011, Thailand is the largest market with sales of 746,000 vehicles, followed by Indonesia with 728,101.Malaysia is a distant third with 399,946 vehicles, followed by the Philippines with 135,296, Vietnam with 45,042 and Singapore with 16,883.You can see that only Thailand and Indonesia have the same level of sales.But Indonesia has a much larger chance of growing than Thailand. The 250 million people in Indonesia are enjoying increased income every year, and this will help accelerate auto sales there as compared to the 65 million people in Thailand.As a Thai citizen who wants to see continued growth of automobile production in Thailand, the region's leader, I also want to see authorities make an attempt to improve the foundation in every sector so it is in harmony with growth.This means supporting the auto-parts industry, having a long-term energy plan that is trustworthy, clear tax policies and development of skilled workers for factories that need to be improved urgently.Otherwise, the phrase "Detroit of Asia" would just be a joke and Indonesia will eventually grab the title of the largest auto producer in Asean.
