Success breeds success: helmet wearing in Thailand

“Success breeds success” is a popular adage, and when it comes to helmet wearing in Thailand, it certainly holds true. One of key organizations involved in the Community Youth Helmet Use Project in Thailand, Road Accident Victims Protection Co., Ltd. (RVP) aimed to continue the successful results of the project immediately after its completion.

The first RVP project focused on helmet-wearing promotion through road safety education in schools called, “Road Safety in Schools: RSC”. This project has been implemented in close to 400 secondary schools in Thailand.

The RVP’s second project is called “Helmet Fund Project”.  Funding to purchase helmets derives from donations made by individuals, the governmental sector, private sector, and civil society in the form of religious donations (to donate money for religious purpose is one of key merit making for Buddhists). The helmets given under the project will be blessed from a respectful monk in order to reinforce the belief that the helmets will enable safe riding and protect the head to be safe – even during a crash.

The Helmet Fund Project has already begun, and it will expand to provinces in the northeastern region of Thailand. GRSP had the opportunity to attend one event held in Nongkhai Province on 30 July 2011. The Provincial Governor chaired the event, and secondary students not only organized their respective booths to educate their friends on road safety and helmet wearing promotion, but they also organized a number of interesting activities on stage to champion helmet wearing.

by Nuananong Pankumhang