Thai police "being kind" in mother of all New Year road carnage "U-Turns"!

[webfact]

Thai police "being kind" in mother of all New Year road carnage "U-Turns"!

 

Picture: Thai Rath

 

The Thai national police have done a massive U-turn on sitting in the back of pick-up trucks at New Year.

 

And their moves to make "100%" of Bangkokians wear helmets by taking their bikes have also been toned down.

 

People in pick-ups traveling home for the holidays are to be allowed to be in the back so long as they are "not sitting on the edge" or boozing.

 

While a senior policeman has admitted they have no right to confiscate bikes on the helmet issue and has even delayed enforcing the law three more days.

 

The pick-up seating and helmets issues were billed just a day or so earlier as measures to lower the death toll on Thai roads, now confirmed as the worst in the world.

 

Thai Rath said in their headline that the Thai police were "being kind".

 

Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Srivara Ransibrahmanakul was speaking after chairing a meeting of top brass cops including highway police and people from the private sector such as bus company reps.

 

The meeting at HQ was to address what was to be done at New Year to deal with road accidents.

 

Srivara put on a brave face and said that the main focus this year was to get tough with drink driving. Those over the limit would have their cars impounded.

 

Thai Rath did not mention that this is nothing new - it is an old measure usually enforced more strictly during other "deadly festivals" like Songkran and New Year in the past.

 

On sitting in the back of pick-ups Srivara said that he was considering the convenience of the public. Officers would only stop vehicles where people were exhibiting particularly dangerous behavior.

 

This included sitting on the edge in the back of pick-ups and drinking alcohol.

 

This seemed a strong U-turn after claims earlier in the week that enforcing the ban originally mooted at Songkran was targeting the poor.

 

Regarding the attempt to make 100% of the 3,400,000 Bangkok motorcycle riders and their passengers wear helmets Srivara also had a more lenient approach than previously reported.

 

The measures would be delayed until 28th December from the original Christmas Day deadline.

 

And he admitted that police did not have the right to confiscate motorcycles if the owners or passengers did not have helmets. But they would look after the bikes while they went to get a helmet.

 

However, if cops thought other law breaking was going on they would then have the right of seizure of bikes.

 

He told Thai Rath that this was not a loophole that would leave leeway for police to profit from the situation.

 

Finally he said that officers who gave out the old tickets for fines from now on were breaking the law.

 

Only new tickets - ones with English on that can be paid at ATMs - can be issued as of last Sunday.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-12-19

[trainman34014]

Truth is they have no way of stopping it, never have had and never will have, so better to save face now than look the useless bunch of numpties they are when the questions are asked later !

[quadperfect]

So much back peddling .

Kind of the police to back up and let a few hundred more people die this new years. Thats nice of them.

I say let it go .its the thai peoples choice. They dont seem to mind. 

So why should anyone care.

People in the back of a pick up or not wearing a helmet has no effect on my personal sefety.

Let them do there thing.

 

[Thaiwrath]

[PatOngo]

Let's retain that number one spot at all costs.

[PatOngo]

2 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

I do!

[Just1Voice]

Let the carnage continue.  After all, they have to maintain that #1 Road Death Toll status somehow. 

 

[seajae]

again we see them simply appeasing the hordes instead of pushing the laws, death on thai roads means nothing to the police, if they were serious they would be on the roads enforcing the laws as they currently stand. Why even bother to have laws if they are not going to be enforced, Thailand has a police force yet does not make them actually do their jobs and enforce the law, they do not go out on the roads and patrol and they allow everyone to do as they please on the roads. Until such time as the police actually do their jobs and the drivers/riders are made to obey the laws the deaths will continue, time for them to grow a pair and stop backing down

 

Edited December 19, 2017 by seajae

[darksidedog]

The cops are not being kind at all. People will die from this decision, so it is actually an extremely cruel thing to do. I just wish that for once, they would stick to their guns and do something that helped save lives, rather than worrying about the public's reaction.

[PatOngo]

Clever photo....hides the watch and the ring.

[Bluespunk]

Debacle

[Chelseafan]

1 hour ago, quadperfect said:

So much back peddling .

Kind of the police to back up and let a few hundred more people die this new years. Thats nice of them.

I say let it go .its the thai peoples choice. They dont seem to mind. 

So why should anyone care.

People in the back of a pick up or not wearing a helmet has no effect on my personal sefety.

Let them do there thing.

 

Because that drink-driver or motorcyclist driving without a helmet is going to crash into me!!

Still I won't care, I'll be broke within a week for smoking on the beach.

 

Edited December 19, 2017 by Chelseafan

[Enoon]

 

2 hours ago, seajae said:

again we see them simply appeasing the hordes instead of pushing the laws, death on thai roads means nothing to the police, if they were serious they would be on the roads enforcing the laws as they currently stand. Why even bother to have laws if they are not going to be enforced, Thailand has a police force yet does not make them actually do their jobs and enforce the law, they do not go out on the roads and patrol and they allow everyone to do as they please on the roads. Until such time as the police actually do their jobs and the drivers/riders are made to obey the laws the deaths will continue, time for them to grow a pair and stop backing down

 

 

The population have been taught to crawl, kneel and press their palms together in prayer and deference.

 

That is all the State, whose prime concern is the well being of a particular section of the "Body Politic" (a section blinkered, unimaginative and most of all...self-interested), requires of them.

 

The well being of the "Body Public" is of secondary consideration.  And then only when it may have a bearing upon the well being of that "particular section".

 

The public can do as much damage to itself as it wants.

 

A very different outlook to Western social policy.

 

Didn't you want to get away from the "Nanny" State?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2017 by Enoon

[bluesofa]

2 hours ago, quadperfect said:

So much back peddling.

Careful, you'll give them an idea for an unenforceable crackdown on cyclists with talk like that.

[berybert]

This years Christmas blockbuster movie, featuring all your old RTP favourites.

 

[EVENKEEL]

Happy to hear about the pick-up decision. Keep the bottle down low folks. Happy New Year.

[bluesofa]

The p155-taking opportunities the government have given us in the last few weeks particularly seem never-ending.

Recent posts seem to be inundated with them. I'm enjoying reading and participating.

 

[Golden Triangle]

Here we go round the mulberry bush
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush
Here we go round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning...........................................................

[mauGR1]

14 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Happy to hear about the pick-up decision. Keep the bottle down low folks. Happy New Year.

Agree, let the folks have fun, life is hard enough.

Personally i just stay away from the roads as much as possible

[bluesofa]

1 minute ago, mauGR1 said:

Agree, let the folks have fun, life is hard enough.

Personally i just stay away from the roads as much as possible

Or, as some of the motorbike riders seem to think: Keep death off the roads, drive on the pavement.

[Dave67]

You couldn't make that up, what a joke they

[AsianAtHeart]

In this case, it seems best to allow people to use their vehicles for their intended purpose (which, in this country, includes carrying people), especially given such short notice before the holiday when so many have already made their plans. 

 

I think it would be a very difficult quest to establish the number of lives that may be either lost or saved by this.  Consider that if people do not ride in the backs of pickups, many of the displaced would instead be occupying seats in minivans and buses--vehicles that have a dismal track record in Thailand.  I would daresay more lives are lost in vans and buses than in the back of pickups.  Can anyone find statistics that establish otherwise?

[franklnooner]

Happy New year

Let the killings begin.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

To all the farangs complaining about the Xmas/ NY "death" race, I assume you are being sensible and not going on any roads during that time. 

I mean you wouldn't be telling us how dangerous it is and then go drive in it, would you?

[irwinfc]

RTP = 0

thai motorists = 10,000,000

 

it's clear they don't want the scoresheet to get worse. pathetic

Edited December 19, 2017 by irwinfc

[thaibeachlovers]

15 minutes ago, AsianAtHeart said:

In this case, it seems best to allow people to use their vehicles for their intended purpose (which, in this country, includes carrying people), especially given such short notice before the holiday when so many have already made their plans. 

 

I think it would be a very difficult quest to establish the number of lives that may be either lost or saved by this.  Consider that if people do not ride in the backs of pickups, many of the displaced would instead be occupying seats in minivans and buses--vehicles that have a dismal track record in Thailand.  I would daresay more lives are lost in vans and buses than in the back of pickups.  Can anyone find statistics that establish otherwise?

Can anyone bemoaning the necessity of transporting people in the back of pickups in LOS actually prove that more people die in them than die from any other cause? I doubt it. Most that I see on my travels are driving at a reasonable speed. The actual dangerous people are usually in cars and driving too fast.

[alant]

3 hours ago, seajae said:

Why even bother to have laws if they are not going to be enforced,

Just so you can if and when you feel like it, or when you need the money or both. 

[AsianAtHeart]

According to one website I found, 73% of all fatalities in Thailand involved motorcycles.  This compares to 13% involving 4-wheeled vehicles other than heavy trucks (2%), presumed to include cars, minivans, buses, and pickups.  Given that these types of passenger vehicles are not separately classified in the statistics, it seems impossible to ascertain the relative risk of back-of-pickup passenger transport.  However, it does seem to indicate a greater danger of fatalities if the pickups are not permitted to carry passengers, simply because the probability that a number of those would-be passengers will instead choose motorcycle transport--the vehicle class of highest risk.  See their graphic below.

[01322521959]

Pathetic. How many more extra deaths could have been averted just BY ENFORCING THE BL*&%Y LAW??!

[Colabamumbai]

Assited suicide.