Their lives don't matter to politicians: The necropolitical ecology of Thailand's dangerous and unequal roads

Thailand is consistently ranked as having the worst road safety record in Asia, and one of the worst globally. Most deaths are of the rural poor, a function of necropolitical ecology. A primary factor is the materiality and design of the road system, built to increase mobility rather than improve safety, and lacking a hierarchical structure. Highways are poorly integrated into both rural areas and Thai cities, and ignore the needs of motorcycle drivers, who comprise most road users and victims. Traffic regulations are not enforced by poorly paid police officers, without adequate resources or ability to enforce traffic fines, and who engage in corrupt practices. This is compounded by inadequate driving education. These factors are complicated and caused by Thailand's fragmented and weak governance. A plethora of agencies do not cooperate and have overlapping mandates. No lead agency has been given sufficient power to improve governance of the system. The public blame drivers rather than the state. Political leadership, in favour of quick results, has attached little importance to this issue and consequently devoted insufficient resources to address it, an inaction, ignorance and urban bias that have contributed to unnecessarily high levels of rural injuries and mortality.

Automated summary

Thailand's road safety issues stem from the poor design of the road system, lack of enforcement of traffic regulations, and inadequate driving education. These problems highlight the weak governance and lack of cooperation among agencies in Thailand.