All car passengers now required to buckle up

Driving and riding in Hua Hin and Thailand, all topics on cars, pickups, bikes, boats, licenses, roads, and motoring in general.
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Big Boy
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Big Boy »

I'm seeing a lot of opposition to the riding in the back of a pick-up law that comes into force today. People on social media are calling it a law for the rich - penalising the poor. They are suggesting more effort should be put into curbing the excessive rich speed freaks.

Of course, effort should simply be placed into correct policing. Rich or poor, both practices are dangerous.

As a bye the bye, I've not seen anybody riding in the back of a truck, and I've been out twice today. I'm sure that some who live near construction sites will have seen them though.

Incidentally, this is the type of thing being posted on social media:
trucks.jpg
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by hhinner »

^^ Troops in pick-ups don't have a choice. Do it or be disciplined (to death maybe).
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Big Boy »

But will the driver have to pay the fine?
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by HHTel »

I spent an hour in a coffee shop on Petchkasem and watched the traffic. Only two pickups had passengers in the back. One pickup had one guy sat in the back and the second, and by far the funniest, passed with a dozen pairs of eyes peering around the edge of a tarpaulin that was covering them to look like a normal load. Wish I'd got a pic of that. Of course the songteaws were overloaded with people hanging off the back.
I did notice in that hour that at least 50% of motorcyclists didn't have helmets!

A few years ago, the police cruised around HH with speakers warning that motorbikes can only carry two people who must each wear a helmet. Police stops were placed to 'enforce' it. How long did the 'crackdown' last? ---- TWO DAYS.

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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Big Boy »

Judging by the reaction on Thai social media, this is not going down well at all. IMHO they've compounded the problem by deciding it will be safe to ride in the back in designated areas for songkran. Protesters on social media earlier today........
protest.jpg
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Bristolian »

On my weekly migration twixt BKK and HH, today, I must have passed more than a dozen pick-ups with passengers in the rear. Most were builders getting their transport home but a few were just normal passengers.

At one stage a highway patrol car slowly passed me to make a U turn and in front of me was a builders pickup with probably 10 or 12 passengers in the back.

The police ignored it completely.... TIT and the laws mean nothing if there is no or little tea money to be had.

On the plus side the traffic today, on the migration run, was much better than my expectations and I only shouted blo*dy idiot twice. Probably a record low!!
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Nereus »

Police back down, relax pickup bed rule

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... p-bed-rule

Authorities have bowed to social pressure, agreeing to relax the ban on travelling in the cabs and beds of pickup trucks until after Songkran but the seat belts requirement is still in place.

Wednesday was the D-day for enforcing the the NCPO order banning sitting in the cabs and beds of pickup trucks.

The ban faces heavy criticism since many people use the space for travelling and waterfights during Songkran.

Police on Wednesday evening agreed to relax the ban until after Songkran but did not specify when.
In the meantime, they will resort to giving warnings instead of imposing a fine.
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Big Boy »

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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by HHTel »

They talk about it being a new regulation (since postponed) but I gather that the law has always been in place but never enforced. No surprise there!
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Big Boy »

I keep seeing reference to the rear seating on 2 door pick-ups being forbidden as well. Do they not have seat belts? If that's the reason, couldn't vehicle owners fit them retrospectively?
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by Nereus »

Love to known just what some of these clowns are drinking!
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Sansern: Pickup can carry up to six in bed, cab


http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... in-bed-cab

A pickup truck can carry up to six people in its cab and bed, the government spokesman said on Thursday in an attempt to clear the confusion over the relaxed safety rule.

Wednesday was the D-day for enforcing the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) order banning sitting in the cab or the space behind the front seats and the beds of pickup trucks.

But after the new rule met with strong criticism and opposition from the public ahead of the water festival, the government decided to back down by temporarily relaxing the enforcement of the rule in the evening.

Lt Gen Sansern said the government aimed to ensure safety for the public, especially during the upcoming Songkran holidays, when it stepped up enforcement of the law barring people from sitting in the cabs and beds of pickup trucks and requiring all passengers in almost all types of vehicle fasten their seat belts.

He said since many people were not ready for the new rules, the government would allow some adjustment time. 
The government will for now allow up to six people to sit in the space behind the front seats and the bed of a pickup truck. No one will be allowed to sit on pickup bed rails. (wtf is a bed rail?)

Meanwhile, a vehicle driver and front-seat passenger have to fasten seat belts but those in the back seats will only get a verbal warning if they fail to do so. 

Lt Gen Sansern’s statement was different from what deputy police chief Detnarong Sutthichanbancha said on Wednesday. The police general said the government had not set the maximum number of passengers to sit in pickup beds.

Before the U-turn by the government, many people have vented their anger in social media. 
Some say policymakers did not understand the poor and the culture of Thai people who normally travelled in pickup trucks to their hometowns in the provinces during the Songkran festival.

Some suggested the government get tough on other traffic laws such as arresting those who drove in the wrong direction as it was more likely to cause accidents.

A few small contractors complained that the new rules would severely affect their businesses as they had only a pickup truck to transport workers and construction materials to work sites.

But others support the policy, saying that it would help reduce road accident fatalities. 
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by HHTel »

Big Boy wrote: Thu Apr 06, 2017 3:32 pm I keep seeing reference to the rear seating on 2 door pick-ups being forbidden as well. Do they not have seat belts? If that's the reason, couldn't vehicle owners fit them retrospectively?
The rear bench in a 2 door pickup was never designed as a seat apparently. It's supposed to be cargo space. Not sure if it's possible to fit belts.
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by pitsch »

I think, if it is enforced not to sit in the rear of a pickup, the number of deaths will increase. Many of these people will then drive with motorbikes and as 74% of the deaths are motorbike drivers.....

So what will the government do to reduce the motorbike deaths? Nothing?
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by NOKYAI »

I guess they have created a market for all those mini vans that are also being 'banned' from transporting people longer distances.

We all know none of this will ever happen!
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Re: All car passengers now required to buckle up

Post by europtimiste »

Rich Thais can afford a minibus, but others cannot travel anymore with a pick up and their relatives. Everything is done for this oligarchy and crush the poors.
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