Understand. Adapt. Accelerate.

Thailand's road safety challenge: Adapting global technology to local realities. Dr Tongkam Kaewchalermtong, President of ITS Thailand, reflects on the country’s innovative approach to road safety.

Thailand has spent years attempting to improve its road safety record, introducing new technologies, government initiatives and public awareness programmes. Yet the country's road death rate has remained stubbornly high - in 2025 it recorded one of Asia’s worst motorcycle death tolls, as new figures revealed more than 14,000 riders died on the country’s roads last year.

For Dr Tongkarn Kaewchalermtong, President of ITS Thailand, the challenge is not simply a question of finding new solutions. It is about adapting international experience to Thailand's specific circumstances, improving the quality of available data and ensuring that research and innovation can be sustained over time.

Speaking about the country's road safety ambitions, Kaewchalermtong acknowledges that progress has been difficult, despite efforts by government and other stakeholders.
 

Source: Siwabud Veerapaisarn

A road safety target that remains a major challenge

According to World Health Organization data from 2021, Thailand recorded approximately 26 road traffic deaths per 100,000 people. Kaewchalermtong says that the figure has remained relatively stable for a long period, despite efforts to improve road safety through technology, government action and local initiatives.

"Even though the government tried to push really hard, we have new technology coming, and communities, both local and national, also agree to implement road safety measures," he explains.

"However, the number has not significantly reduced until today."

The government has set an ambitious target: to reduce the figure by half, to approximately 12 deaths per 100,000 people. Kaewchalermtong says this is the objective being pursued through Thailand's road safety planning, with the target set for the coming years.

The scale of the ambition illustrates the challenge facing the country. The technologies and approaches may be available, but translating them into sustained improvements in road safety remains a complex task.
 

Source: Oleg Doroshenko
 

Adapting the world's technology to Thailand

Thailand's approach to road safety innovation is not based exclusively on domestic technology development. Instead, Kaewchalermtong describes a combination of international experience and local adaptation.

"I think it's kind of mixed," he says, when asked whether Thailand's solutions are developed domestically or brought in from other countries.In Thai style, or the Thai government and Thai people, we have a really good technique. It's called adaptive adoption."

The principle is straightforward: identify effective technologies and mechanisms from elsewhere in the world, then adapt them to the Thai environment.

"We try to bring in and adopt all good technologies and good mechanisms from all over the world and implement them into the Thai environment."

Artificial intelligence is one example. The Thai government is exploring the use of AI-powered systems to identify motorcyclists riding without helmets, as well as road users engaging in dangerous behaviour, such as riding on pavements or travelling in the wrong direction. 

The intention, Kaewchalermtong says, is to identify violations and subsequently take enforcement action. 

He also believes that such systems can influence behaviour. Referring to conversations with friends who regularly walk on pavements and streets, he says that some feel safer than they did in the past.

The use of technology, therefore, is not simply about identifying violations. It is also about changing how people behave and how safe they feel in public spaces.

Engaging younger road users

Technology is only one element of Thailand's road safety strategy. Education and public engagement also have an important role, particularly when it comes to younger people. 

Kaewchalermtong describes a multi-level approach, beginning with road safety education in schools.

"We educate young people in schools to learn how to behave in a road safety manner," he says.

The second element involves using celebrities and other influential public figures to communicate with younger audiences.

"We also use the influence of superstars, such as famous pop singers. You understand that the younger generation loves to follow these superstars."

The idea is to use the reach and credibility of celebrities to communicate messages about responsible behaviour, particularly through social media.

Kaewchalermtong believes this approach can be effective because young people may not always respond to advice from parents or teachers, but are more receptive to people they admire.

"They believe in their superstars or role models," he says.

It is an approach that reflects a broader challenge for road safety authorities around the world: how to communicate effectively with younger road users, particularly in an environment where social media increasingly shapes attitudes and behaviour.

Can AI predict the next crash?

One of the more forward-looking areas of road safety technology is the use of artificial intelligence to identify dangerous situations before a collision occurs.

Rather than relying solely on historical crash data, AI-powered systems can potentially analyse traffic behaviour and identify near misses, helping authorities understand where risks are developing.

Kaewchalermtong says that this is an area Thailand is beginning to explore. He had recently attended a government meeting where the implementation of AI technology for accident prediction was discussed.
He draws a comparison with Minority Report, the science fiction film in which authorities attempt to identify crimes before they happen.

"I think AI technology today is able to predict," he says. "For example, a good technology is is one that detects near misses."

The focus, he explains, is on identifying near-miss incidents rather than waiting for a crash to take place.

"Instead of waiting for the crash, we can use AI to predict the near miss accident or crash situation."

However, he is cautious about the extent to which this technology can currently be deployed in Thailand. His concern is not necessarily the capability of the algorithms, but the quality and availability of the data needed to support them.

"Data is the oil, and AI is the engine," he says. "We don't have good enough oil at this time, in my opinion, for Thailand."

The analogy highlights what he sees as a critical issue. AI systems depend on reliable, sufficiently comprehensive data, and gaps in the available information can limit the effectiveness of prediction tools.
Kaewchalermtong hopes that the Thai government will be able to collect more high-quality data to support future crash prediction initiatives.
He says that a transport data centre is being developed to bring together data from different sources within a government system.

"I believe this is the new project for Thailand," he says. "And I think this is the future fuel: data."

Learning from other countries, but not following them blindly

Thailand's approach to road safety also involves looking beyond its borders. Kaewchalermtong identifies the United States, major European countries and Japan as examples from which Thailand can draw inspiration.

However, he points out that the circumstances of a developing country are not necessarily the same as those of a developed nation.

"All these countries that I mentioned are developed countries, but Thailand is a developing country," he says. "I think this is also the problem, because we cannot follow step by step with them."

Instead, the country must select relevant approaches and adapt them to local conditions. That position is consistent with his earlier description of Thailand's "adaptive adoption" approach. International experience provides a starting point, but the practical implementation of road safety initiatives must reflect local needs, infrastructure and resources.

The role of universities and the problem of continuity

Universities also play an important role in Thailand's road safety research ecosystem, according to Kaewchalermtong.
He says the government provides significant support for university-based road safety research, with a variety of topics being investigated.

"I think the government supports our universities a lot with road safety research projects," he says. "We have various research topics related to this issue, and I think it has worked really well so far."

But there is a problem when it comes to maintaining consistent statistical research over time.

"We have a lot of statistics, but it's not continuous," he explains.
Research projects can be disrupted when funding is unavailable, researchers move to other universities, graduate or change careers. This can make it difficult to maintain long-term data collection and build a consistent picture of road safety trends.
If you try to do research and collect data for statistics this year, the next two years you probably won't do it because you don't get the funding, or you move to another university, graduate or change your job."

For Kaewchalermtong, continuity is a significant issue for road safety research. The collection of data over a single period may be useful, but sustained research is necessary to understand changes over time and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

Source: Kean Tian

A shared objective, but different approaches

Thailand's road safety efforts involve a number of stakeholders, from national government departments to local authorities. Asked whether the country's approach is multifaceted, rather than based on a single solution, Kaewchalermtong offers a qualified response.

"Yes and no," he says.

He explains that different stakeholders are working towards the same overall objective, but use different mechanisms and approaches.

"For example, the Department of Highways, the Department of Rural Roads and local government use different kinds of mechanisms and different approaches to road safety."

Although the shared goal is road safety improvement, he says that individual organisations sometimes incorporate additional objectives into their projects.

"Instead of only road safety, they also need to do city development, for example, or build other infrastructure."

This creates a more complex picture of road safety delivery. Improving safety is not always a standalone activity; it can be connected to infrastructure development, urban planning and wider government priorities.

For Thailand, the challenge is to ensure that these different activities continue to contribute to the same long-term road safety ambition.