BANG SAO THONG, Thailand —November 26, 2020

Located just east of Bangkok, Thailand, Bang Sao Thong District is home to a large number of villages with narrow roads lacking the necessary infrastructure like crosswalks or traffic signs needed to keep students safe. Through the Hauling Safety program, AIP Foundation organized an event for 225 students, aged 6-12, at a local school to increase knowledge and skills enabling this at-risk demographic to travel to school safely.

The road conditions in Bang Sao Thong District, particularly around the target school, make it difficult for students: with 2-lane semi-closed roads, narrow footpaths lined with food stalls and shops, children are in danger every single day.

School administrators took a hands-on approach with AIP Foundation to develop games and activities that would increase the traffic knowledge and skills for students. Activities included how to maintain visibility by identify blind spots of car drivers, understanding traffic signs, understanding when and how to cross roads safely, and road user behaviors that would put them at risk. Students broke out into brainstorming sessions to discuss unsafe travel and ways to proactively solve them.

The Hauling Safety program, supported by Toll Group, seeks to promote safer journeys to and from school to protect young children from preventable injury or death while traveling on the roads. The program leverages school-based education campaigns to increase student and teacher knowledge of safe road behaviors, public awareness campaigns to promote community knowledge of road safety, and private sector volunteer engagement to encourage responsible investment in vulnerable communities.