Pickups can carry holiday revellers, government says

[dallen52]

Some countries fight and squabble about euthanasia for years...

 

Hey, come to Thailand. 

Assisted death is the norm here.

 

Pass a law making unsafe practices unlawful.

Then do a backflip and say, " we know its a law, but we not enforce".

 

Unless a farang is involved. 

And then its benefits cheque day.

Take him for all you can.

 

Knock knock...

When is the law not the law?

When you are in Thailand of course. 

 

Saw one on Klang yesterday again.

Bike taxi shoots across and t bones a farang bike.

Fairly at fault...

 

Nooooo.

All his mates make him sit on the road until police come. 

(He was going to get up himself).

They say in Thai yak.."

"Not move. Not move.

Farang hit you. We see."

Poor bugger. 

Christmas day too.

 

I thought Thais didn't celebrate Christmas day.?

BIB comes and goes straight to the farang bike rider... ka ching.

 

[lvr181]

"...but said the government understood it has long been the norm and the ban is not enforced."

 

Then why have 'the ban' at all? 

[Ossy]

5 minutes ago, lvr181 said:

"...but said the government understood it has long been the norm and the ban is not enforced."

 

Then why have 'the ban' at all? 

It was just a catchy sound-bite . . . like all the rest of their meaningless, small-minded drivel

[jerojero]

What a stupid decision to reverse the ban on pickup's carrying passengers in unsecured in rear!!  Any deaths or injuries over the coming " 7 deadly days" should be directly attributed to Director - general Chayaphon Thitisak of Disaster Prevention & Mitigation Dept!! Whilst there's incompetents like this guy, in charge, Thailand's road toll will continue to escalate unabated!! 

The incompetence starts and rests with government imposing impractical or unenforceable laws. And then if possibility enforced, done via corrupt police or rhey substitute a wai for appropriate fine or jail time. Sad.

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[cookieqw]

Unbelievable that a government would put the children of the country at risk by saying this

[cookieqw]

And there goes the recently announced crackdown on the seatbelt law

[stevenl]

6 hours ago, CGW said:

Not enforceable? I thought this was a country ruled by the military/Police not one of the many places that have pretend democracy & a free thinking population

They just lack reasoning!!!

Now read my post again and notice the difference between your and my post about 'enforce'. 

Your post is a very good example of changing the contents of a quoted post.

Edited December 26, 2017 by stevenl

[wvavin]

How to identify holiday revellers. Stamps on their forehead stating their status? Well, I only know they are potential corps!

[djayz]

Not even as drunk as a fiddler's fart could I make this stuff up... 

Only a few weeks ago they were all for banning using pickups as passenger vehicles and now they do a U-turn AGAIN!! 

Seriously, who's running this circus anyways?!?!

[GOLDBUGGY]

I think a good idea as it is safer for them to be riding in the back of the truck after a full day of drinking, then driving themselves.

 

Hope this helps some. 

[dinsdale]

TIT. Happy New Year.

[Next stop NK]

I guess we all saw the other news today: "Top Thai astrologer warns - be careful of road accidents at New Year"

Well, he must be a genius, 555

[cookieqw]

Well at least after the holidays it will be enforced then

[Daveyh]

Wow! Even the government here says "it's ok to break the law!" .......... pardon me Sir, but I just don't get the mindset here! Perhaps you could explain it to me? Sitting in the back of a pickup at speed without any restraints at all & you are "airborne" ........ see you in the next life after you hit the deck! To say it's been the "norm" for years & it can continue to be ignored, although it's the law is utter madness. There is no logic to this at all! The road statistics will sadly continue to rise & Thailand will be able to hold on to their recently accquired title of having "The Most Deadliest Roads in the World" indefinitely at this rate! More horrific news during this 2017/2018 New Year holiday period coming soon no doubt ...... very sad.

 

Edited December 26, 2017 by Daveyh

[HHTel]

14 hours ago, CGW said:

They should pass a law stating that all passengers in the back of pick up trucks must wear crash helmets! should be a easy law to enforce given their impressive success rate with motorcycles!

Then that would be one law contradicting another law.  Isn't there enough confusion.

[Rhys]

What about the rural buses with students on the roofs, packed like sardines... that was never enforced?

[AsianAtHeart]

15 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

They are only poor people, why should the government care about them?

The government does care about the poor people, which is why they are allowing them to ride in the back of pickups.  You may be thankful that you are wealthy enough to not understand the plight of the poor in this instance.  If pickups are banned, many of the poor will attempt travel by even more dangerous modes, e.g. motorcycles.  This would serve to increase the traffic fatalities.  The government has made a wise decision in this case to allow people to ride in pickups.  Will some die?  Probably.  But how many will die on motorcycles, and how many more would have died on motorcycles had the ban been enforced?  We may never know the full extent of lives saved, on average, by this leniency toward them.

 

If they were not poor, of course, then they could afford to buy some other car, or maybe air tickets, etc.  Reasonable minds would conclude that most back-of-pickup-riders would be unable to do this.  Thus, the government does care about them after all.

[webfact]

Pickup bed rides permitted despite peak traffic hazards

By The Nation

 

File photo

 

NEW YEAR’S Celebrations will soon begin with millions of people hitting the road and revellers gathering at festive venues.

 

But before the celebrations begin, authorities came forward yesterday to advise the public about permitted and prohibited activities. 

 

“We will be lenient with the ban on passengers in pickup beds but drivers must be very careful, especially when applying the brakes,” Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said. 

 

He added that motorcyclists and pillion riders must wear safety helmets. 

 

“Those travelling in cars must have safety belts too,” he added. 

 

Prayut also urged people to not criticise officials who would be strictly enforcing traffic laws for road safety.

 

The festive season is often plagued with road casualties and every year authorities have declared two periods known as the “seven dangerous days” – during the international New Year’s period and Songkran holidays – to remind people that they should be careful and help promote road safety. 

 

For the coming period, the perilous period has been designated by authorities as running from tomorrow to January 3.

 

Prayut encouraged passengers to help take care of drivers because they were in charge of their safety. 

 

Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department director-general Chayaphon Thitisak said that sitting in the beds of pickups would be allowed during the holidays because the government understood people had |travelled in such a fashion for a long time.

 

Chayaphon added, however, that people riding in pickups should not sit on the edges of the truck bed or drink alcohol.

 

He said his department’s main mission for New Year was encouraging people to respect traffic laws.

 

‘Social measures’

 

“We will use every social measure to prevent accidents on the roads during the holidays,” he said. “We encourage communities and families to look after one another and make sure everyone is complying with road safety

regulations.”Provincial Police Region 1 commissioner Pol Lt-General Suwat Chaengyodsuk said speeding, drunk driving, the use of mobile phones while driving and driving while drowsy were of particular concern. 

 

Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Maj-General Panurat Lakboon said if people found suspicious items or felt unsafe, they should alert police via the hotline 191 or the police “I lert u” app. 

 

He also warned New Year revellers against lighting fireworks or firecrackers. 

 

“If your fireworks or firecrackers hurt other people’s rights, you will face up to three years in jail and/or a fine of Bt60,000,” Panurat said. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30334867

 

-- © Copyright The Nation http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30334867

[MaxYakov]

16 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

The same will be applied to crash helmets, four on a motorcycle, under age drivers, driving the wrong way down a road, jumping red lights, overloaded vehicles........and on, and on, and on........

I was told by a Thai woman that only three on a motorbike/cycle is unlawful and ticket material. Three on a bicycle? I don't know.

[Airbagwill]

For all those single issue fans - the "all-you-have-to-do" brigade, this statement by the authorities basically shows how far Thai (motoring) laws are from being a coherent bulwark against motoring offences. It is not the police's job to decide what is or isn't law, their job is to enforce and report to the courts.

Major constitutional changes are required before this problem can be approached in an effective way.

[MaxYakov]

14 hours ago, Basil B said:

What you mean is when those who are supposed to enforce it are corrupt and incompetent it will not be enforced.

 

As pointed out for so many Thais it is a way of life, my view on this is to start at the edges and work inwards, first restrict the distance and speed, say 5km of the distance from where the registered owner of the vehicle lives and max speed of 30km/h (20mph), and not allowed on motorways or other high speed roads.

This gets the (sarcastic) "yeah, right!" from me.

Edited December 26, 2017 by MaxYakov

[Bigfarang1948]

Here we go again. What has changed about this headline?  You actually mean Thais were not allowed to carry people in open pickups?  When did that law go into effect? I cant believe the sheer stupidity of some of these government edicts...

[Sydebolle]

Pun intended! 

Driver does not buckle up = fine!
Pick-up back of people on the way home = fine! 

And then the world in general and Thais in particular wonder, why Thailand made it to the top position on the "world's most dangerous countries to drive" - now how godforsaken ignorant and stupid is that! 

[Keesters]

Government sponsored road deaths and injuries.

[juice777]

So they are taking this road safety thing seriously then.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[Srikcir]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

“We will be lenient with the ban on passengers in pickup beds but drivers must be very careful, especially when applying the brakes,” Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said. 

If injuries and deaths do result to passengers in pickup beds, will the Prayut government assume financial and medical responsibility for those passengers by its waiver of the laws?

Perhaps even accept criminal negligent homicide in those cases where the pickup driver is not the cause of the fatality? Punishable by imprisonment not more of ten years or fined not more of twenty thousand Baht.

Given that all of Prayut's government carries immunity for its actions - no.

That doesn't encourage the public to comply with laws, especially associated with traffic.

[phetpeter]

Look! 10-15 years ago, most vehicles on the road were pick-ups, cars were expensive, and road conditions not variable for them. So everybody who could afford one had a pickup. Now everybody is buying cheap cars, still not suited for most conditions, problem is the power output of all trucks and cars is beyond the capabilities of most drivers, This week will see thousands of drivers who during the week only sit in Bangkok traffic, and the bad driving habits of Bangkok heading home, thinking they are still driving in Bangkok, except they are finding their vehicles are capable of reaching speeds that their brains can't handle, ask your wife to read a Thai road sign as you barrel past it at 120KPH! and real bends in the road. and still try to drive on the hard shoulder which they have been doing it Bangkok at 20kph, and they are now doing at 60kph and forget Bikers up country aint traffic savvy Bangkok bikers.

[Road Warrior]

I ENDOSE nev COMMENT 100%

[Lemonltr]

If a vehicle crashes into a pickup carrying passengers in the 'tray' and is at fault is he also legally responsible to compensate the illegally seated passengers  killed/injured?

[Brunolem]

18 minutes ago, Lemonltr said:

If a vehicle crashes into a pickup carrying passengers in the 'tray' and is at fault is he also legally responsible to compensate the illegally seated passengers  killed/injured?

Surely the insurance won't pay because these are no sitting spaces as per the manufacturer.

As for the driver paying, it all depends on whom is going against whom, knowing that the wealthier is always right...