Drink drivers face electronic monitoring tags this Songkran

[snoop1130]

Drink drivers face electronic monitoring tags this Songkran

 

 

The probation department in conjunction with the courts of justice are introducing electronic tagging for those found guilty of drink driving at Songkran and thereafter.

 

Those who break the law will have to wear the EM (electronic monitoring) devices and may not be permitted to leave their home patch at night.

 

The staff have been trained in their use and they are ready to be deployed in two Bangkok jurisdictions from this week - Phra Nakorn North and Don Meuang. 

 

Sarawut Benjakul speaking on behalf of the courts said that initially those convicted of having between 200 and 250 milligrams of alcohol in their blood will be subject to tagging, reported Sanook on Wednesday.  

 

The imposition of EM was up to the courts concerned, however. 

 

Source: https://www.sanook.com/news/6020334/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-4-11

[Dmaxdan]

This could work but they are going to have to order an awful lot of them otherwise I can see them running out after a day or two.

[mok199]

yet another big plan from the ''Thai Think Tank''....

[Cadbury]

Just more of the same. All ass-covering talk and NO action. Because of this there is no hope of improving road safety.

[3NUMBAS]

they will just cut them off and sell them in the market later on

[Thian]

My friends who live in that area know exactly where, when and untill what time the police is checking for alcohol....many times they don't go home untill the morning or they go home before midnight.

 

They always check at the same roadblocks, never drive around in a patrolcar.

 

Why not throw drunk drivers in jail for at least a week?

 

 

 

[HLover]

1 hour ago, Dmaxdan said:

This could work but they are going to have to order an awful lot of them otherwise I can see them running out after a day or two.

They are sized for farang only= no problem.

[DrTuner]

And the IT system running the monitoring will be ..1..down.

[siamcrut]

They always check at the same roadblocks, never drive around in a patrolcar.
 
Why not throw drunk drivers in jail for at least a week?
 
 
 

Because it would put the whole country’s economy to an hold.

[justinnsamui]

They should have used them on a few other people.

[leeneeds]

only solution, the message may permeate through to society,

stay there until after the holidays,

[webfact]

Tougher measures planned to curb Songkran road mayhem

By THE NATION

 

 

Drunkdriving offenders may be detained for 15 days or be manacled with electronic bracelets; north sees high traffic.

 

IN A BID to end the recurring scourge of road accidents and the huge number of fatalities during the long Songkran holidays, the government is implementing tougher measures, including a 15-day immediate detention or the use of electronic monitoring (EM) bracelets for those caught drunk driving. 

 

 

Thailand is notorious for the high number of road accidents, with crashes and casualties reaching a tragic peak during long-holiday festivals such as Songkran. In 2017, the seven-day accident-monitoring period for Songkran reported a new high of 3,690 accidents compared to 3,447 in 2016 and 3,373 in 2015.

 

The Office of the Judiciary secretary-general, Sarawut Benjakul, yesterday said 5,000 EM bracelets had been arranged for those placed on probation for drunk-driving – people whose alcohol level at the time of arrest is 50-250mg per cent of alcohol. This will prevent them from going out between 10pm to 5am during the long holidays. 

 

The measure is to start on a pilot basis this Songkran in Don Muang and Phra Nakhon Nua court jurisdiction areas – known to have the most number of drunk-driving cases in the capital, he said. 

 

Those with an alcohol level at the time of arrest above 251mg will be locked up for 15 days at the Pathum Thani Central Detention, without bail, Don Muang Court head judge Prasert Lopradit said. 

 

After 15 days of detention or EM use on offenders, the two courts’ judges may consider giving an extended sentence of up to one year if the offenders had no remorse and showed a tendency to repeat the drunk driving offence.

 

Meanwhile, Metropolitan Police Bureau chief Lt-General Charnthep Sesawet vowed to beef up security at 11 spots designated for Songkran celebrations from April 11-18 and set up 137 checkpoints to ensure public safety. 

 

The 11 Songkran sites are: Lumpini Park, Silom Road, Khao San Road, Asiatique the Riverfront, Na Na Songkran Festival 2018, Patpong-Thaniya, CentralWorld, Siam Square, Chokchai Road 4, Royal City Avenue (RCA), and Songkran Music Festival 2018 on Rama IX Road. 

 

 

As the police intelligence agency has not seen any security threats, he said the forces would focus on crime prevention, especially via patrol and quick response to incidents.

 

Charnthep also urged Songkran revellers to wear polite clothing and refrain from using high-pressure water guns, avoid drug abuse and drinking alcohol.

 

Meanwhile, Mitraparp Highway in the “Gateway to the Northeast” province of Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday reported a high number of holidaymakers’ vehicles heading to Isaan to celebrate Songkran in their hometown. 

 

 

The congestion was particularly severe at Pak Chong, Si Kiew and Muang districts with some bottlenecks reporting two-kilometre-long traffic jams. Nakhon Ratchasima police deputy chief Pol Colonel Boonlert Wongwajana said they had opened an extra lane on the 15km-long section between Tambon Nong Sarai of Pak Chong to Tambon Khlong Phai in Si Kiew to ease congestion.

 

In Nakhon Phanom, the provincial bus station was crowded with travellers, most of them Laotian workers arriving from Bangkok heading across the border to the Thakhek border town in Khammouane province of Laos. 

 

 

Extra cross-border bus trips between Nakhon Phanom and Khammouane were added to support the high volume of travellers during this period, said bus station head Thitinan Somboonrat. 

 

Similar crowding was also reported at the Customs checkpoint at a pier crossing the Mekong River and many workers were happy to be exempted from paying the usual Bt1,000 border fee. The Cabinet resolved on March 27 to waive the border pass fee for migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia from April 5-30.

 

 

 

In the meantime, Chiang Mai Irrigation Office director Jensak Limpiti yesterday affirmed that a total of 186,000 cubic metres of water had been released into the Nakhon Chiang Mai Municipality Khu Muang canal, which surrounds the old city area, so the water quality was safe for the water splashing associated with the Songkran Festival.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30343015

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-04-12

[cornishcarlos]

How does a tag stop them drink driving ???

No-one is going to be monitoring everyone who is tagged, so they'll be free to pop down the local boozer and cruise home as normal..

Complete waste of money !!! Ah, there it is, another chance to skim the procurement process.. Damn these guys are smart :)

Edited April 11, 2018 by cornishcarlos

[inThailand]

Wouldn't it be easier, cost less and require fewer ankle bracelets to put them on non drinkers?

[jacko45k]

And is there a good supply available of these electronic tags, or have they yet to be procured? That in itself usually takes a long spell and is mired in corruption and delay.

[metisdead]

A troll post has been removed. 

[thailand49]

11 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

This could work but they are going to have to order an awful lot of them otherwise I can see them running out after a day or two.

Also who you going to call if the order is broken, the reason for the problem first place there is no enforcement.

[mark01]

Are they waterproof?

Probably cheap Chinese ones that stop working the next day. But guaranteed to make some people a lot of profit and backhanders.

[sammieuk1]

200-250mg your legless or dead already.

[worgeordie]

I hope someone with authority has opened up one of these boxes,

just to check there are at least some electronics inside,once bitten

twice shy.

regards worgeordie

[wgdanson]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Those with an alcohol level at the time of arrest above 251mg will be locked up for 15 days

That is FIVE TIMES over the limit. Lock 'em up for 50mg. Life imprisonment for 250mg for being a pre-meditated murderer!

Edited April 12, 2018 by wgdanson

[Lupatria]

Am I the only one suspicious this is just a test phase before the TAT makes them mandatory for tourists and foreigner who settled here? 

[peperobi]

Another very good Thai idea...who will be taking care of all those drunk peoples?

[Emster23]

How about using those tracking bracelets they wanted to put on tourists "for their safety"?

Thai computer monitoring I would guess not up to task, so how about a deal with Facebook? They seem pretty adept

[garzhe]

"Those who break the law will have to wear the EM (electronic monitoring) devices and may not be permitted to leave their home patch at night."

 

So they can only drive around there home patch whilst legless !

 

[AhFarangJa]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The imposition of EM was up to the courts concerned, however. 

 

Yes, and we all know the interpretation for that statement don't we ....

[Gracas]

You can only hope that these monitors work better than most of the CCTV cameras.

[Blackheart1916]

One form of entertainment that hasn't been banned - these humorous releases from various government departments. Really, it has to be a joke.

[bluesofa]

33 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

I hope someone with authority has opened up one of these boxes,

just to check there are at least some electronics inside,once bitten

twice shy.

regards worgeordie

 

Someone has checked already. Not saying they're an obsolete model, but you can plug it into your smartphone and use it to play Pacman.

 

Edited April 12, 2018 by bluesofa
grammar

[Old Croc]

16 minutes ago, Blackheart1916 said:

One form of entertainment that hasn't been banned - these humorous releases from various government departments. Really, it has to be a joke.

One of the entertainments of living in Thailand is reading about the weird and wonderful ideas constantly emanating from the fervid minds of Government think tanks.

Lets not take lessons from the way every other country in the world tackles mayhem on the roads. Lets come up with some idiotic idea that won't really inconvenience anyone, nor reduce the road toll, but will keep us on the front page!

Edited April 12, 2018 by Old Croc