Performance of International Tourists’ Perception and Behavior toward Road Safety in Phuket, Thailand
Kritana Prueksakorn1, Kiyota Hashimoto2, Sudarat Kamnerdtong3, Panuwat Phakdee-auksorn4
1Kritana Prueksakorn, Andaman Environment and Natural Disaster Research Center, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Earth System Science and Andaman Natural Disaster Management, Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus, Thailand.
2Kiyota Hashimoto, Andaman Environment and Natural Disaster Research Center, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Earth System Science and Andaman Natural Disaster Management, Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus, Thailand.
3Sudarat Kamnerdtong, Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism, Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus, Thailand.
4Panuwat Phakdee-auksorn, Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism, Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus, Thailand.
Manuscript received on 25 June 2019 | Revised Manuscript received on 13 July 2019 | Manuscript Published on 26 July 2019 | PP: 96-103 | Volume-8 Issue-2S2 July 2019 | Retrieval Number: B10180782S219/2019©BEIESP | DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.B1018.0782S219
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: When traveling in a foreign country, road transport is most frequently and conveniently used particularly, but road conditions and manners are stunningly different among countries, which increases potential risks to meet accidents. If tourists feel such risks, it may be that they will not be repeaters and their impressions will also be shared with others, leading to a potential decrease of tourists. Phuket, Thailand, a worldly wellknown beach resort, faces problems in road conditions and manners, with a high rate of traffic accidents and casualties, and governmental actions have to be taken. This paper reports a questionnaire survey result about how international tourists feel and understand road conditions in Phuket during their stay, which is expected to offer good evidence on which governmental actions should be based. The survey results revealed (mostly through the behaviors and recommendations) that the majority of international tourists to Phuket felt risks in terms of road conditions, regardless of whether they drove by themselves or not, and most of them wanted the basic information on road conditions as well as regulations, so that they could prepare themselves. Relations between demographic characteristics and questionnaire replies were also investigated, suggesting that there be a necessity of reducing risks particularly for elderly tourists, and that the driving manner of local residents including professional drivers should be improved.
Keywords: Behavior and Perception, International Tourist, Phuket, Road Safety.
Scope of the Article: Environmental Engineering