Driver's licence health rules to become stricter

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Big Boy
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Driver's licence health rules to become stricter

Post by Big Boy »

Oh well, there goes my driving licence - latest regulation from the Ministry of Silly Ideas :cry:
The Department of Land Transport (DLT) is preparing a ministerial regulation to prohibit those with five health issues from obtaining a driver’s licence.

It will be implemented early next year, according to DLT deputy director-general Kamol Buranapong.The department was in the process of consulting with the Medical Council and drafting new health criteria for licences.

They will include five new issues barring an applicant’s eligibility: epileptic seizures, high blood pressure, brain diseases, myocardial infarction and severe diabetes.

“It will take about 2-3 months to pass the regulation, hence it should be in effect around February,” Kamol said. There are already five diseases that prohibit a person from obtaining a driver’s licence: elephantiasis, TB, leprosy, alcoholism and drug addiction.http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/ ... l/30333233
I guess that'll get me walking more. 16 months, and I'll be on foot.
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MDMK
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Re: Driver’s licence health rules to become stricter

Post by MDMK »

I don't understand this at all. They surely can't mean every single person with high bp gets a driving ban? What's their definition of high? Surely if it's the same as any western GP's definition then that would include 50%+ of westerners over 50? Our roads here would be empty! And as for myocardial infarction, that's just a heart attack, right? it's says zero over the severity or the the prognosis. I don't even know what they mean by brain diseases.... a stroke? Where someone recovers more or less completely from, would that still disqualify them? What if someone had a tumour that was successfully removed, and they had full neurological function, still banned? This makes zero sense.
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buksida
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Re: Driver’s licence health rules to become stricter

Post by buksida »

This is a knee jerk reaction to the accident in Pattaya this week where the driver was epileptic.

But also later revealed that he was wasted on something else:
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crim ... gh-police/
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Big Boy
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Re: Driver’s licence health rules to become stricter

Post by Big Boy »

Aren't they always knee jerk reactions?

[Edit] It simply tells me the army are in charge. I worked with service personnel all of my life. Every time a new guy was put in charge, they'd spend a week evaluating the task, and then give their order. On rare occasion, it was sensible, but most of the time,
that order was ill thought out, self centred and often impractical. We'd then spend the next 2 years playing damage limitation until the new clown took over.

I don't know if Thailand is the same, but service personnel used to move on again every 2 or 3 years - they couldn't give a toss about the repercussions.
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Re: Driver’s licence health rules to become stricter

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buksida wrote: Wed Dec 06, 2017 5:00 pm This is a knee jerk reaction to the accident in Pattaya this week where the driver was epileptic.

But also later revealed that he was wasted on something else:
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crim ... gh-police/
Exactly what I was about to say. And the guy in this latest episode used epilepsy as a cover up for his drug abuse. He wasn't suffering from epilepsy at all.
According to the press, there was a single accident caused by the driver having a seizure 10 years ago. Epileptics can drive in most western countries providing certain conditions are met. As for high bp, that's ridiculous.
Some years ago back in the UK, a lady driver had a heart attack whilst driving on the main road where I lived. She killed a mother and baby and seriously injured her toddler. The lady driver died of her heart attack. How would they legislate against that? There are occasions when the unpredictable happens.
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Re: Driver’s licence health rules to become stricter

Post by StevePIraq »

There are already five diseases that prohibit a person from obtaining a driver’s licence: elephantiasis, TB, leprosy, alcoholism and drug addiction,

Do they ever test anyone, NO,
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buksida
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Re: Driver’s licence health rules to become stricter

Post by buksida »

This is the same list used for work permit renewals.
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Re: Driver’s licence health rules to become stricter

Post by hhinner »

Should be lots of space available in Hua Hin Hospital's car park if high BP and Diabetes disqualify people driving.
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Re: Driver's licence health rules to become stricter

Post by MDMK »

as well as empty hospital car parks, the roads should be empty as well. The W.H.O estimates high blood pressure to affect 20% of Thai women and 25% of Thai men over the age of 25 (compared to slightly less than 1 in 3 worldwide)

it's one way to tackle road congestion I suppose
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Re: Driver’s licence health rules to become stricter

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buksida wrote: Wed Dec 06, 2017 6:30 pm This is the same list used for work permit renewals.
I have to have a blood test to check for syphilis for my work permit! I really want to say a sweary word here but for ****'* sake. If I had (and no I haven't) syphilis, how on earth would that affect my teaching abilities? The bunch of numpties in government offices are off their rockers.

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Re: Driver's licence health rules to become stricter

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Thailand, where everything simple and easy becomes complicated and difficult and everyone goes around in circles. That's one way of avoiding leaving the 19th. century.
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Re: Driver's licence health rules to become stricter

Post by Hahuahin »

They should drop high blood pressure and add bad attitude and no consideration to others on this diseases list and the traffic flow will be unremarkable and the traffic fatalities will drop down 99%.
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Re: Driver's licence health rules to become stricter

Post by StevePIraq »

High blood pressure, I would think low blood pressure is even worse, my missus has blacked out walking around Lotus as she has low blood pressure and it comes on in an instant
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Re: Driver's licence health rules to become stricter

Post by StevePIraq »

myocardial infarction - WTF. commonly known as a heart attack, so you can't drive while having one, FFS
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Re: Driver's licence health rules to become stricter

Post by J.J.B. »

They can list as many things as they like. If the process of checking health status remains as it is today (50 Baht paid to a receptionist for a pre-signed form),it won’t make one iota of difference.
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