SONGKLA Province, Thailand - April 11, 2018

Street Wise and Songkhla Province worked together to launch a road checkpoint in preparation for the upcoming Songkran festival period, which tends to see a dangerous spike in road traffic injuries and fatalities each year. At the launch, students and teachers from participating schools wore traditional Thai outfits, seizing on the popularity of ‘Love Destiny’, a smash hit TV soap opera, as they distributed Street Wise hand fans and refreshing towels to drivers and passengers.

The checkpoint, which is located across from the Singhanakhon Town Municipality Office, will help direct traffic, provide medical and emergency care, and assist in spotting and arresting people who violate the law by drunk driving, speeding, running red lights, not wearing helmets or seatbelts, causing a disturbance, and other unsafe road behaviors. The checkpoint will be active during the seven days of Songkran, from 11 to 18 April.

Sakra Kapinkan, Deputy Governor of Songkhla, presided over the event. 60 participants attended, including students from program schools and representatives from AIP Foundation, Chevron (Thailand) Limited, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Songkhla Civil Defence Volunteers, the Singhanakhon Provincial Police Station, Songkhla Volunteer Defense Corps, and the Songkhla Provincial Public Health Office.