Thailand

In July 2009, Safe Kids Worldwide partnered with the Child Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Research Center (CSIP) to create Safe Kids Thailand.

CSIP is a nonprofit hospital-based organization committed to promoting safety with existing programs such as Safe Schools and Safety Helmet for Motorbikes. Walk This Way is the first Safe Kids Thailand program.

Highlights

Safe Kids Thailand Promotes Walk This Way Program

Since the launch of Safe Kids Thailand and their Walk This Way pedestrian safety program in January 2011, Safe Kids Thailand has conducted various educational and promotional activities to advance the mission of the organization to prevent unintentional injuries among children 14 and under. The most recent activities coordinated were the PHOTOVOICE camp in September and the Safety Day in July.

• PHOTOVOICE camp: In September, Safe Kids Thailand held a camp and educational session for teachers and 24 student leaders from three schools in Rayong Province to spread awareness on how to prevent pedestrian injuries among children. The highlight of the camp was the PHOTOVOICE project which included photography training for students, observational research field trips and discussion of photo selection. The photos were taken from the risk-prone pedestrian areas.
  
  As a part of PHOTOVOICE, children are given cameras to capture images of their walking environments and document pedestrian and driver behaviors as well as the potential hazards they face while walking to school. Safe Kids Thailand also set up the Thailand PHOTOVOICE Club in which Rayong Province is the first member. You can visit and become a member on Facebook. The photos will be used during a public awareness event in the province on October 8-9.

• Safety Day: In July, Safe Kids Thailand hosted a Walk This Way Safety Day and training for teachers at Wat Phraya Yang School in Bangkok. The objectives of the day were to promote the Walk This Way program, display the PHOTOVOICE exhibition and distribute materials to children and teachers. Nearly 250 participants took part, including government VIPS, teachers, students, volunteers from FedEx, parents, and the media. FedEx volunteers taught child participants how to walk and cross safely and David Carden, Managing Director, FedEx Express Thailand and Indochina presented the PHOTOVOICE certification to 30 students and spoke to the media about the program.

Safe Kids Thailand and Pedestrian Safety Program Launched

On January 11, 2011 Safe Kids Thailand launched the Safe Kids Walk This Way, pedestrian safety program, at Wat Phraya Yang School in Bangkok with the theme ‘Children Need our Hand’. In Thailand, traffic injury is the second leading cause of death in children under 14 years of age, and pedestrian injury is the main cause of injury-related death. Because children under 14 years of age do not have the skills to adequately navigate traffic, they are at greater risk for pedestrian injuries than adults. Safe Kids Thailand’s Walk This Way program aims to teach kids how to walk safely, to be aware of traffic surroundings and to learn about safety techniques for when they are walking.

The launch event consisted of the launch ceremony in the morning and pedestrian safety training for teachers from 50 local schools during the afternoon. More than 50 primary school children, the Deputy Mayor of Bangkok, representatives from the Ministry of Education and Police, and 15 FedEx volunteers, including FedEx' Managing Director participated. Safe Kids Thailand also unveiled a new website and Facebook page that will highlight upcoming Safe Kids Walk This Way program activities.  The events were covered by 22 media outlets in Thailand.