Celebrating one year of The “Power of No” Campaign to combat drink driving for young people in Thailand

Over 39 million youth across ASEAN reached by innovative digital campaign, led by unique multi-sector alliance of 28 community organizations, businesses, associations, and governments

The next generation is rallying to protect our planet, its people, and their futures. To meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by 50% by 2030 , young people must be part of the solution.

Did you know: In Southeast Asia, road crashes claim the lives of 2,000 people each day. ^[1]

Did you know: In Thailand, 34% of men’s road crash injuries and 15% of women’s road crash injuries are related to alcohol. ^[2]

A report by the World Health Organization revealed that road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death of people aged 5-29. It’s a “silent epidemic” that’s been hurting the Southeast Asia region for decades. But road crashes are not inevitable; they are highly preventable.

The youth — which makes up about one-fifth of the population — now own the streets of Southeast Asia. This also means the youth have the power to make roads a safer place.

A key factor is tackling drinking and driving. In Southeast Asia, young adults are the most at risk for drink driving — 6 times more likely to drink drive than the general population. ^[3]

Take back your Power to say “NO” to drink driving

The "Power of No" public awareness campaign was launched in February 2022 to take action.

By saying "No" to drink driving, young people can keep themselves safe, protect their loved ones, and improve their community’s safety and opportunities. The Thai Foundation for Responsible Drinking (TFRD) and the Bangkok Motorbike Festival, with their implementation partner the Automobile Association of Vietnam (AAV), have come together to educate young people about the harms that could be caused by drink driving. The campaign is supported by theAsia Pacific International Spirits and Wines Alliance (APISWA) and creative agencyOrès, with endorsement from theUnited Nations Institute  of  Training  and Research (UNITAR), theUS-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) and theEU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC).

“Power of No” targets young adults 18-30 years old in six Southeast Asian countries: Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. It brings together over 20 international partners representing government, NGO, private, and community organizations to empower young people and promote a change in behavior when it comes to drinking and driving.

For the past year, the groundbreaking “Power of No” campaign has spread awareness to 39 million young people through video clips, eye-catching infographics, a commercial video, and important facts to be better educated on drink driving.

In September 2022, the campaign launched an international photo contest with the theme “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk”.

The contest encouraged groups of friends to work together to stop drink driving, and made contestants think critically about how they will act the next time they see a drunk friend reach for their keys. It reached over 7 million young people with over 450,000 ‘likes’, ‘comments’, and ‘shares’ during two months across Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and PartiPost. By participating, young people learned more about how alcohol works in the body, understood legal obligations, and tried useful tips to avoid drink-driving.

The legacy of the“Power of No” Campaign

The voices of youth are the most powerful vehicle towards monumental changes. Through effective digital engagement, young people are not only sharing campaign video clips and images on social media, but are also sharing their personal stories and viewpoints on campaign pages. Their passion, creativity, and aspiration to keep their community safe is the spotlight of the “Power of No” initiative.

The “Power of No” campaign is singular amongst drink driving campaigns because of its large coalition of international, regional, and local partners. Greig Craft, President of AA Việt Nam and FIA Region II (Asia Pacific) says, "It is rare for organizations from so many different sectors and backgrounds to unite, but we are all deeply motivated by our shared cause: to keep youth safe on the road. This generation of young adults has enormous potential to shape their community and prevent road crashes. We are proud to participate in this campaign to inspire change within local communities across the Asia Pacific.”

“We are honoured to be part of a large and broad coalition of partners with a single-minded goal to change behaviours and give young adults the agency to build a better and safer future for themselves and others,” shared APISWA Chairman, Vijay Subramaniam, who is also the Regional President, Asia, Middle East & Africa and Global Travel Retail at Bacardi. “The “Power of No” campaign demonstrates the power of partnerships and the impact shared solutions can have to support a collective global agenda to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries.”

By spreading awareness and inspiring engagement from young people, the campaign team hopes that they in turn will influence their families and friends to be responsible drivers and look out for each other for generations to come.

In 2023, the “Power of No” campaign expects to expand to other Asia Pacific countries to encourage responsible drinking and lasting behavior change in young people.

To learn more about Power of No, visit the campaign’s Facebook page or website.

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Power of No – List of Local Partners

About Asia Pacific International Spirits and Wines Alliance (APISWA)

The Asia Pacific International Spirits and Wines Alliance (APISWA) consists of 11 global spirits and wine producers operating across the Asia-Pacific region, including: Bacardi, Beam Suntory, Brown Forman, Campari, Diageo, Edrington, Moët Hennessy, Pernod Ricard, Proximo, Remy Cointreau and William Grant & Sons. APISWA aims to foster an environment where legal spirits and wine can be enjoyed responsibly, and which supports a vibrant, sustainable and responsible hospitality and tourism industry. Further, APISWA aims to secure a sustainable and competitive business environment for our members. APISWA is focused on protecting the interests and safety of consumers and on ensuring that alcohol is enjoyed in moderation, in ways that are appropriate to the local context and in line with international best practice. For more information, please visit: https://apiswa.org/

About Thai Foundation for Responsible Drinking (TFRD)

The Thai Foundation for Responsible Drinking (TFRD) is a non-profit organization. It was established in 2011 with the support of alcoholic beverage business operators.

The main objective of TFRD is to support and promote campaigns for consumers to have the better knowledge and understanding on alcoholic beverages. It is also to raise awareness of the effects of alcohol to health of people as well as to support the responsible consumption of alcohol for the benefits of individual, family and society. This will lead to the objective to reduce the problems related to the harmful use of alcohol (Harmful Use of Alcohol), including underage drinking, drinking alcohol before the age of 20 (LDA in Thailand), binge drinking and drink driving in an integrated and sustainable way.

About Bangkok Motorbike Festival

Bangkok Motorbike Festival the greatest motorcycle festival in South East Asia, the event will be held at the CentralWorld shopping center in the festival theme together with world renowned motorcycle brands and various brands of the motorcycle riding gear, accessories distributors both of Thais and foreign entrepreneurs to showing a unique of each biker and fulfill their different lifestyle.

About Automobile Association of Vietnam (AA Vietnam)

AA Vietnam was founded in 2017 as a leading membership organization that aims to provide a wide range of products and offerings with international quality standards for Vietnam’s road users. AAV services include professional roadside assistance (such as car towing service); insurance policies; travel packages; lifestyle discounts; and road safety advocacy in Vietnam and overseas. With the increasing numbers of automobiles on the road – 13% growth per year – AA Vietnam envisions itself as a quality service provider that ensures the safety and comfort of passengers on the road. In collaboration with the National Traffic Safety Committee, the AAV is well positioned to advance road safety initiatives. In 2018, the AAV collaborated with the FIA to launch the #3500Lives campaign to raise awareness on safe driving practices as 3,500 people are killed on the world’s roads every day. AA Vietnam is a member of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), and holds leadership roles in FIA’s Asia-Pacific regional projects on advocacy and community safety. For more information, please visit: http://www.aavn.vn/.