Safe driving: App to help UK tourists in Thailand

Worried about auto accident deaths of UK citizens in Thailand, Spain & Australia, British govt developed a mobile phone app to keep British tourists safe.

Click button to listen to Road Safety App from UK download

Road Safety

Safe driving? There's an app

26 Mar 2013
Online Reporters

The British Foreign Office has developed an app for portable devices to guide Britons abroad on traffic and safe-driving concerns.

Like any such app, its use is not restricted, and visitors - or residents - other than British could benefit.

High numbers of crashes and highway deaths by British visitors to Spain, Australia and Thailand sparked enough concern among British diplomats that the app has been produced.

After natural causes, a Briton in Thailand is most likely to die in a highway mishap.

The Foreign Office said in releasing the app that there are 50,000 British residents and more than 870,000 British visitors to Thailand every year ...

In 2011, the FO claimed, 68,852 traffic accidents in Thailand killed 9,205 Thai and some British citizens also. By contrast, 1,901 people were killed in road accidents in the UK in 2011.

Mark Kent, British ambassador to Thailand, gave the statistics and the technology a boost with a statement introducing the mobile app.

"British nationals using the roads in Thailand should bear in mind that road laws and driving customs here are different from those in the UK and road conditions, driving standards and road traffic regulations can vary," he wrote

Many lives (might be) saved and critical injuries reduced if people adopted the same safety precautions abroad that they would naturally take at home.

The app provides links to advice on roads and driving from both the Foreign Office and Angloinfo, a tourist and expat-angled website.

The app is available here.

The app provides a map that can be zoomed into to almost any country in the world, and then presents tips on travel and driving.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Road Safety, Safe driving? There's an app, 26 Mar 2013, Online Reporters, link) 


Road Safety Vocabulary

app - a mobile app, mobile phone app (a computer program that helps you do some task on your mobile phone) (See Wikipedia)
release an app - when the company that makes an app starts selling it (or makes it available to public for download)

Safe driving? There's an app

British Foreign Office - the foreign ministry for the UK, deals with the country's  foreign affairs (See Wikipedia)

portable - can carry with you and take anywhere
portable devices - small computers you carry with you such as mobile phones, iPads, game players, etc
an app for portable devices

traffic - 1. how crowded the roads are, how many cars and slowly or fast they are moving; 2. the number traveling to a place during a period of time (people, aircraft, ships, trains, cars, trucks, etc.) ความหนาแน่นของจำนวนคน หรือยานพาหนะในช่วงเวลาใดช่วงเวลาหนึ่ง

Britons - British people (from the UK)
abroad - outside of the country 
Britons abroad - British people living outside their country

concerns - worries ความกังวล
traffic and safe-driving concerns

The British Foreign Office has developed an app for portable devices to guide Britons abroad on traffic and safe-driving concerns.

restricted - intended only for people who have been given special permission ที่จำกัด limited or controlled ซึ่งถูกยับยั้ง, ซึ่งถูกควบคุม
the app's use is not restricted

residents - people who live in a particular place or area ผู้อยู่อาศัย ราษฎรในบริเวณนั้น ชาวบ้านในบริเวณ ผู้อาศัยในบริเวณ
benefit - to get help or an advantage from something ผลประโยชน์

Like any such app, its use is not restricted, and visitors - or residents - other than British could benefit.

crash - collision, accident, road accident, traffic accident การชน  

diplomat - a person who works for the government in the area of "foreign relations" with other countries นักการทูต
British diplomats

High numbers of crashes and highway deaths by British visitors to Spain, Australia and Thailand sparked enough concern among British diplomats that the app has been produced.

natural - found in nature (not made in a factory by humans) ตามธรรมชาติ
death due to natural causes - was not murdered or died in an accident
death by natural causes

mishap - an accident อุบัติเหตุ
highway mishap

After natural causes, a Briton in Thailand is most likely to die in a highway mishap.

residents - long-stay tourists, people staying for a long time in another country (outside their own country) 
British residents in Thailand

visitors - short-stay tourists (the usual tourist), people staying a short time in another country (outside their own country)
British visitors to Thailand

The Foreign Office said in releasing the app that there are 50,000 British residents and more than 870,000 British visitors to Thailand every year ...

contrast - a difference between two things when you compare them ความแตกต่าง

In 2011, the FO claimed, 68,852 traffic accidents in Thailand killed 9,205 Thai and some British citizens. By contrast, 1,901 people were killed in road accidents in the UK in 2011.

ambassador - an official who lives in a foreign country as the senior representative there of his or her country ทูต เอกอัครราชทูต
British ambassador to Thailand

statistics - facts about something, described by counting them สถิติ
boost - to increase; to strengthen เพิ่ม; ทำให้มีกำลังมากขึ้น

Mark Kent, British ambassador to Thailand, gave the statistics and the technology a boost with a statement introducing the mobile app.

British nationals - a citizen of the UK, a person whose country is the UK
British nationals using the roads in Thailand

customs - traditions, the way that people usually do things in a country or culture (usually different from the way that other countries do it)
driving customs 
driving customs in Thailand

bear in mind - remember
bear in mind that road laws and driving customs in Thailand are different from those in the UK

standards - an acceptable level of quality or achievement มาตรฐาน a rule for behaving which should be obeyed มาตรฐาน, บรรทัดฐาน, กฎเกณฑ์, กรอบ
driving standards

regulations - official rules that control the way that things are done ระเบียบปฏิบัติ ระเบียบ ข้อบังคับ  กฎระเบียบ
road traffic regulations

vary - be different
driving standards and road traffic regulations can vary

road conditions, driving standards and road traffic regulations can vary

"British nationals using the roads in Thailand should bear in mind that road laws and driving customs here are different from those in the UK and road conditions, driving standards and road traffic regulations can vary," he wrote

critical - very seriously ill or injured and might die อย่างรุนแรง อย่างวิกฤต
critical injuries - serious injuries that might lead to death
reduce critical injuries

precautions - things done to protect people or things against possible harm or trouble การป้องกันไว้ก่อน
safety precautions
adopt safety precautions - start doing things to make you safe

Many lives (might be) saved and critical injuries reduced if people adopted the same safety precautions abroad that they would naturally take at home.

expat - a person living outside their own country for a long time
angle - one way of looking at a news story or subject (example: the expat angle on the story)

expat angle  
expat-angled website  - a website that looks at news and things from the viewpoint of the expat

links - 1. web links; 2. connections ความเชื่อมโยงกัน
links to advice on roads and driving

The app provides links to advice on roads and driving from both the Foreign Office and Angloinfo, a tourist and expat-angled website.

zoom in - to look at the details on a map or image
zoom in on a map
The app provides a map that can be zoomed to almost any country in the world, and then presents tips on travel and driving.