The city administration is enhancing road safety by surveying large trees throughout the city and installing additional CCTV cameras on eight routes to enforce traffic laws.

The campaign was launched in response to a recent report of a large tree falling on the road and damaging a taxi at the Ratchaprasong intersection in Pathum Wan district earlier this week, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Wednesday.

He said there were about 3 million large and small trees in Bangkok’s public areas, which are under the responsibility of respective district offices and the Environment Department.

“The city currently has no official arborists, or experts in management of large trees, but we are in the process of training ones for each district office, in collaboration with arborist associations,” he said.

He added that the city has earmarked a budget for a tree-surveying project in the city area, which should be able to start work next year and cover over 40,000 large trees in the first phase.

“We will survey large trees that pose a threat to the public during rainstorms to build a tree database,” said Chadchart. “Then, with the help of arborists and modern technology, we will inspect the trees’ root system to evaluate the threat and find ways to strengthen their foundations.”

He added that the city will also choose suitable trees that have a strong root system and therefore less chance of falling down in Bangkok’s ongoing “1 million tree planting project”.

Separately, Chadchart said that the city will install more CCTV cameras on eight routes that have frequent reports of motorcycles riding on footpaths in violation of the traffic law and posing a danger to pedestrians.

He said the city has currently dispatched officials to enforce the laws in 77 locations across 50 districts, but has yet to try using CCTV surveillance, which should provide better coverage as the cameras can read the licence plate numbers and immediately forward them to related agencies to fine the owners.

“The maximum fine for using vehicles on footpaths is 5,000 baht, but our officials are currently fining at 2,000 baht per violation,” said Chadchart, adding that he did not want to add burden to vehicle users, but on the other hand the city must uphold the laws and ensure the safety of pedestrians.

“We are coordinating with businesses that use motorcycle riders for delivery to provide training to their staffers regarding road safety and traffic laws,” he said. “The city is also considering building more U-turn points for motorcycles to reduce the need of riding on footpaths.”

Chadchart added that the city has also urged motorcycle taxi stands at over 1,000 locations to avoid using footpaths to park or turn their vehicles.