A traffic accident in the United States has set in motion a chain of events that might lead to Thailand switching to a right-hand traffic pattern.
Were looking into it, said a government spokesperson Wednesday. Its complicated, but the US Federal Highway Administration has promised some technical support.
The circumstances surrounding the proposal literally arose by accident.
Missy Fortune of Arlington, Virginia had just returned from a two-week Thailand vacation in March 2011 when she collided with another car while driving on the wrong side of the street. Charged with reckless driving a criminal offense in Virginia Ms Fortune and her lawyer were successfully able to argue that the accident occurred because she had become accustomed to driving on the left-hand side of the road while in Thailand.
Her unique defence was picked up by a newspaper in Arlington, which is a suburb of Washington, DC, and was read by several members of the US Senate during a sitting of Congress. The senators questioned why people in Thailand should drive on the left when most of the tourists that came to Thailand were from places that drove on the right.
Not wanting to irritate the US Senate, the Thailand government has agreed to consider switching to a right-hand traffic pattern.
The National Roads Authority hired Goan Rahngway, a traffic consultant from Burma, which switched from a left-hand traffic pattern to a right-hand pattern in 1970, to conduct a feasibility study on making the change.
Plenty of countries have made the switch, Rahngway said. Since 1940, Panama, Argentina, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Belize, Sweden, Iceland and my own country have gone from the left to the right.
Asked if he thought it appropriate for Thailand to make the change simply because the United States wanted it to, Rahngway waxed philosophic.
My country allegedly made the change on the advice of a wizard, he said. Id say its best not to look behind the curtain.
Rahngway said a public meeting would be held at the South Sound Community Centre on April 1st to explain the proposal in more detail.
People might think this idea is foolish, and its true that there are a lot of fools around, especially today, he said.
But I promise to steer people in the right direction or Im not Goan Rahngway.
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A traffic accident in the United States has set in motion a chain of events that might lead to Thailand switching to a right-hand traffic pattern.
Were looking into it, said a government spokesperson Wednesday. Its complicated, but the US Federal Highway Administration has promised some technical support.
The circumstances surrounding the proposal literally arose by accident.
Missy Fortune of Arlington, Virginia had just returned from a two-week Thailand vacation in March 2011 when she collided with another car while driving on the wrong side of the street. Charged with reckless driving a criminal offense in Virginia Ms Fortune and her lawyer were successfully able to argue that the accident occurred because she had become accustomed to driving on the left-hand side of the road while in Thailand.
Her unique defence was picked up by a newspaper in Arlington, which is a suburb of Washington, DC, and was read by several members of the US Senate during a sitting of Congress. The senators questioned why people in Thailand should drive on the left when most of the tourists that came to Thailand were from places that drove on the right.
Not wanting to irritate the US Senate, the Thailand government has agreed to consider switching to a right-hand traffic pattern.
The National Roads Authority hired Goan Rahngway, a traffic consultant from Burma, which switched from a left-hand traffic pattern to a right-hand pattern in 1970, to conduct a feasibility study on making the change.
Plenty of countries have made the switch, Rahngway said. Since 1940, Panama, Argentina, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Belize, Sweden, Iceland and my own country have gone from the left to the right.
Asked if he thought it appropriate for Thailand to make the change simply because the United States wanted it to, Rahngway waxed philosophic.
My country allegedly made the change on the advice of a wizard, he said. Id say its best not to look behind the curtain.
Rahngway said a public meeting would be held at the South Sound Community Centre on April 1st to explain the proposal in more detail.
People might think this idea is foolish, and its true that there are a lot of fools around, especially today, he said.
But I promise to steer people in the right direction or Im not Goan Rahngway.
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