Drunk drivers could be hit with life ban

[geovalin]

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng on Tuesday discussed some of the changes he wants to see in the Traffic Law, including heavier punishments for those caught driving under the influence (DUI).

 

Sar Kheng, who is also chairman of the National Committee on Road Traffic Safety, said he wanted drunk drivers’ licences revoked and they not be allowed behind the steering wheel again.

 

He made the remarks at an annual meeting of the National Committee on Road Traffic Safety, where he stressed the importance of having traffic police enforce the regulations.

 

read more https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/drunk-drivers-could-be-hit-life-ban

[sammieuk1]

Pointless most drunk drivers here are already dead along with anyone in the way removing every Thai drivers right foot would be more effective????

[CGW]

It's difficult to take anything stated by the "National Committee on Road Safety" seriously! where have they been for the last fifty years?

Stand by for more of the same!

[VocalNeal]

Used to be 20,000 Baht to avoid a charge, now it will be 50,000 or 100,000. 

[samsensam]

 

you can have all the prohibitive laws and bans in the world but they will be futile until someone decides to enforce them.

[perconrad]

25 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Pointless most drunk drivers here are already dead along with anyone in the way removing every Thai drivers right foot would be more effective????

Have you seen that the news is from Cambodia?

[Samuel Smith]

19 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Used to be 20,000 Baht to avoid a charge, now it will be 50,000 or 100,000. 

In Cambodia ???? 

[drbeach]

4 minutes ago, perconrad said:

Have you seen that the news is from Cambodia?

Cambodia is very much similar to Thailand in many respects. And given it is even more corrupt and has fewer resources to tackle this sort of problem, I very much doubt anything will come of this proposal.

 

Even if it's signed into law, it won't make an iota of difference, because any rich or well-connected local driving a luxury SUV that crashes into a poor construction worker or peasant after having a few too many drinks will simply pay a few hundred dollars to the police and the family of the victim and that will be the end of it. It's the poor that would be dis-proportionally affected by this law.

[drbeach]

21 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Used to be 20,000 Baht to avoid a charge, now it will be 50,000 or 100,000. 

In Thailand it's nowhere near that much, unless you mean if that's the pay off for a drunk driver who killed someone, in which case you are probably right.

However, if you're merely drunk and get pulled over at a traffic stop (the vast majority of which only operate after dark) you can probably get away with paying 1000-2000 Baht. Only a sucker would pay more and the cops normally don't expect more either.

[bkk6060]

8 minutes ago, perconrad said:

Have you seen that the news is from Cambodia?

Yes you are right.  Talk about clueless, some will stoop to anything to attack Thais...

[dcsw53]

Great sound bite for K Sar, it will raise his profile in the government, but that is all.
Government statistics show that the vast majority of road deaths are from motorcyclists crashing while drunk, so it is fair to assume motorcyclists are the large majority of drunk drivers. How many actually have licences in the first place. In our village < 10%. So how do you take away something from someone that they never had.

[ChouDoufu]

how exactly will this work?

 

how do you "ban someone for life" who's already driving without a license?

[Dmaxdan]

43 minutes ago, CGW said:

It's difficult to take anything stated by the "National Committee on Road Safety" seriously! where have they been for the last fifty years?

Stand by for more of the same!

Yes, they do love a new proposal. Problem is they will be too scared to actually implement this because of the huge backlash that will come from all the regular drink driving netizens! 

At the end of the day, keeping people happy far outweighs keeping them alive.

[seajae]

the best way is to seize the vehicles/bike  they are using never to be returned plus jail time and a huge fine, hit them in the pocket, its the only thing many understand

 

[klauskunkel]

Quote

Drunk drivers could be hit with life ban

That surely depends on the car brand...

[Benmart]

Corruption will negate any actual enforcement. The weakest link is law enforcement. Until that house is cleaned up, little will change.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Benmart
Rewording

[alien365]

6 hours ago, drbeach said:

However, if you're merely drunk and get pulled over at a traffic stop (the vast majority of which only operate after dark) you can probably get away with paying 1000-2000 Baht. Only a sucker would pay more and the cops normally don't expect more either.

Interesting. One of my friends got away with it by buying some m150's for the cops. Others have paid between 6-10k (all Thai). I heard the foreigner rate is 20-30. 

 

I got breathalysed for the first time in over 7 years last week. Didn't expect to see them at the tollbooths on motorway 7. Best top my easy pass up in future as it didn't look like they went that far.

[Knocker33]

You have to have a license in the first place to be banned. Most don't 

[manhood]

In Thailand nobody take anything serious. Any catch up by police can be paid off easily. Nothing had a consequence if wrongdoing. So if that doesn't change nothing will ever change in this country!

 

[mike787]

Really!  This will be very interesting.  Let's see if this is the magic incentive to reverse Thailand's deadly road statistics.

[Cricky]

23 hours ago, geovalin said:

he wanted drunk drivers’ licences revoked and they not be allowed behind the steering wheel again.

Bring it on.

Should reduce traffic congestion significantly.

 

It'll be like driving through a ghost town.

[BritManToo]

15 hours ago, Knocker33 said:

You have to have a license in the first place to be banned. Most don't 

No problem for my g/f she never bothered with any license and happily drives a car and m/c.

[spornb]

Many contradictions

 

Proposals put forward by transport minister Saksayam Chidchob to DLT officials and the police say that Thai drivers will only be banned when they have accumulated 100 points on their licences, claimed a section of the Thai media. 

 

According to points already proposed this would mean having to be caught drink driving a staggering 25 times before you would be off the road for a year. 

 

Alternatively you could go through 50 red lights or go the wrong way down a road 50 times before being banned. 

 

You would have to flee the scene of an accident 34 times before losing your licence. 

 

Or drivers could look at their phone 100 times or motorcyclists could ride on the sidewalk or not wear a helmet 100 times before they were obliged to put the keys away for a year.

 

MThai.com said this was all part of encouraging Thais to be better drivers. Saksayam is making the proposals to the Department of Land Transport and the Thai Police, they claimed. 

 

The media also said that when 100 points is reached a driver could take the test again and get a new licence. But if they amassed 100 more points that would be it - a lifetime ban from driving. 

 

German and Swiss testing procedures are also being studied to upgrade the Thai driving test, they reported. 

 

MThai.com said that the following points system applied:

 

One point: Using a mobile phone while driving, not wearing a seatbelt or helmet, riding on the sidewalk

 

Two points: Going through red lights or going the wrong way

 

Three points: Organizing street racing, fleeing the scene of an accident or driving under the influence of drugs

 

Four points: DUI and driving while intoxicated with 200mg of alcohol in the blood and causing injury or death

 

Thaivisa cautions that this report - and its interpretation by us here - makes a stark contrast with previous proposals to ban drivers after they amass just 12 points. 

 

The claim about getting 4 points for 200 mg of alcohol seems odd, we further note, as the limit for DUI in Thailand is just 50 for experienced drivers.