Vehicles emitting black smoke to face fine up to Bt5,000, department warns

[webfact]

Vehicles emitting black smoke to face fine up to Bt5,000, department warns

By THE NATION

 

 

In an attempt to reduce PM2.5 pollution, the Department of Land Transport will impose heavy fines on the owners of vehicles that emit black smoke exceeding the safety standard.

 

Department director-general Jirut Wisanjit said on Sunday that the maximum would be Bt5,000 and suspension of vehicle use until it was fixed.

 

Jirut said that his department had been implementing the Ministry of Transport’s policy to reduce dust particles less than 2.5 micrometres in the air in Bangkok.

 

“Since the beginning of fiscal year 2019 until January 2021, the department has inspected 689,333 vehicles in Bangkok areas and has suspended 8,762 vehicles from usage until they have their emission system fixed,” he said.

 

“As for vehicles that emit high volume of black smoke but do not exceed the safety limit, the department issues warnings to the owners and urges them to inspect their vehicle condition and make sure they were properly maintained.

 

“The department has opened vehicle inspection centres that also accept motor-vehicle tax payment at Phutthamonthon, Romklao and Khlong Luang product distribution centres, in a bid to help reduce the number of large vehicles entering inner Bangkok to have their vehicle inspected and pay tax,” he added.

 

“Motorists can help reduce air pollution caused by black smoke and PM2.5 dust particles by having their vehicles regularly serviced at department-certified vehicle inspection centres nationwide,” said Jirut.

 

“Alternately, they can switch to using electric or NGV-powered vehicles which have low to zero emission. The department has promoted the latter approach by reducing the annual motor-vehicle tax on low-emission vehicles under the Vehicle Act BE 2522.”

 

People who witness vehicles emitting black smoke, can contact hotline 1584, Line: @1584DLT or via DLT GPS mobile application.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30401750

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2021-01-25

 

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[PatOngo]

Crackdowns crack me up, should last about 5 1/2 days then they'll get bored and choked up on the fumes and retire to their air conditioned comfort!

[transam]

Blimey, that will be a nice little earner up my way, they can do the no crash hat, kids riding motorbikes, no lights on bikes and cars too whilst they're at it...

[4MyEgo]

What about farmers....cough....cough

[Surelynot]

22 minutes ago, webfact said:

Vehicles emitting black smoke to face fine up to Bt5,000, department warns

.......or paying backhanders of up to Bt500. Your choice.

[toofarnorth]

How does a vehicle get its MOT/insurance cert. when it belches out smoke ?  Do they go to the nearest place that issues the certificates and say here is 1000 B if you don't test it.

If I was one of the BiB in a car and I stopped a smoking vehicle I would want to see where it was tested and follow up . But of course I am not a BiB and that would involve work such as stopping 3 underage kids riding around on a Wave where none have a crash hat on.

[CharlieH]

5 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

How does a vehicle get its MOT/insurance cert. when it belches out smoke ?  Do they go to the nearest place that issues the certificates and say here is 1000 B if you don't test it.

If I was one of the BiB in a car and I stopped a smoking vehicle I would want to see where it was tested and follow up . But of course I am not a BiB and that would involve work such as stopping 3 underage kids riding around on a Wave where none have a crash hat on.

Problem there is whilst at the test there was no issue, whats done to the vehicle afterwards is the question and has no connection to the testing area. A test is only good for that moment. 

 

Its the people selling the necessary enhancing/performance items are at the source, that where they should start.

[Jimbo2014]

Total waste of time if no-one enforces it.  There are so many great idea laws in Thailand and Thailand has one of the largest per capita police forces.  However, somehow none of these laws are enforced.  We hear about massive raids on seniors hosting bridge parties or illegal immigrants selling Som Tum.  These raids consist of 40-50 crack Thai officers, but there never seems to be one around on the road to enforce any of these laws, or in the burning crop fields, or anywhere else useful.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Jimbo2014

[CharlieH]

4 minutes ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Total waste of time if no-one enforces it.  There are so many great idea laws in Thailand and Thailand has one of the largest per capita police forces.  However, somehow none of these laws are enforced.  We hear about massive raids on seniors hosting bridge parties or illegal immigrants selling Som Tum.  These raids consist of 40-50 crack Thai officers, but there never seems to be one around on the road to enforce any of these laws, or in the burning crop fields, or anywhere else useful.

Very true, been said many times without real active enforcement and real consequences its all just another publicity "seen to be doing" nonsense.

 

You wont even see a Policeman in tnis area after 5.30pm !

[toofarnorth]

1 minute ago, CharlieH said:

Problem there is whilst at the test there was no issue, whats done to the vehicle afterwards is the question and has no connection to the testing area. A test is only good for that moment. 

Agree if it gets retuned to sound rorty which could mean burning too much fuel , but what about Somchai in his battered 30 yo Toyota pickup the back of which is covered in soot , there are very many around up here , of course the vehicle may never get taxed or go for testing , I don't look for a tax cert. I just think " That should be off the road ".

[bluesofa]

25 minutes ago, transam said:

Blimey, that will be a nice little earner up my way, they can do the no crash hat, kids riding motorbikes, no lights on bikes and cars too whilst they're at it...

That'll never work, it smacks of multi-tasking. One crackdown at a time.

Thailand: the hub of serial crackdowns, lasting no more than a week each time.

 

I just hope they don't get around to the 'leaving the house without underwear' crackdown.

[bluesofa]

10 minutes ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Total waste of time if no-one enforces it.  There are so many great idea laws in Thailand and Thailand has one of the largest per capita police forces.  However, somehow none of these laws are enforced.  We hear about massive raids on seniors hosting bridge parties or illegal immigrants selling Som Tum.  These raids consist of 40-50 crack Thai officers, but there never seems to be one around on the road to enforce any of these laws, or in the burning crop fields, or anywhere else useful.

' These raids consist of 40-50 crack Thai officers,'    I think you've misspelt 'crack'.

[DaLa]

I used to burn tyres on a log burning stove in the UK that emitted cleaner gunge than some of the vehicles here. Together with my 90% blacked out windows it can make it difficult to see.

[WineOh]

repeating the same old rhetoric time after time does not make it so.

What's the point in announcing these fines if there is nobody on the streets that will enforce them?

 

 

[Glaswegian2]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

In an attempt to reduce PM2.5 pollution, the Department of Land Transport will impose heavy fines on the owners of vehicles that emit black smoke exceeding the safety standard.

 

Yeah. Right you are... or 1000 baht on-the-spot fine which goes in my pocket, and don't do it again...

 

Same as usual.

[ezzra]

Those blitzes last for a while and than quickly forgotten, i remember these kinds of campaign many times in the past including not allowing heavy lorries on the roads at day times, now you can see those heavy trucks and articulated trucks everywhere and at any time...

[Henryford]

But no penalty for the thousands of farmers burning crops every day !!

[spidermike007]

More hyperbolic nonsense, from the do nothing administration, that is famous for making promises it rarely keeps. How long have you lived here? How often have we seen promises like this? This current administration is infamous for pledges, declarations, proclamations and crackdowns. Few are even remembered, much less followed up upon two weeks later.
 
Feel free to cite some environmental promises that were followed up on, if you can. Otherwise, this is just a pedantic high school level speech, by men with a staggering level of incompetence and indifference toward their land, water and the common man. 

 

One of the primary reasons why they will not issue citations for polluting vehicles, is that there are barely any highway patrol vehicles on the roads! When was the last time you saw one patrolling? The only time I see one, is if they are sitting next to an air conditioned kiosk on the highway, with the cop inside either playing with his phone, or killing time, or beside the road at the scene of an accident. Otherwise, they do not patrol! So, how are they going to issue tickets? 

 

A while back they had another campaign similar to this and they had posters with phone numbers that you could call to report vehicles that were polluting. We were driving and we saw this truck that was pumping out huge black clouds of smoke and I copied down their license plate and I dialed the number, and handed my phone to my Thai wife and asked her speak to the department. She asked the person who answered the phone what can they do? He asked my wife why are you calling us and she said, well you have phone numbers posted to report polluting vehicles? The guy said well I don't know anything about that, nor who I would report it to, and she said well that's not really our issue is it? You're supposed to be monitoring polluting vehicles. He said OK, OK, calm down. Give me the license plate number and I'll see what I can do. My wife said are you going to do anything? He said, I don't know I need to look at the regulations first and see who I'm supposed to report it to, and then maybe somebody will do something.

[Suua]

If there was a global league table for ineffective police forces.

Where do you think Thailand would rank?

I would guess within the top 10.

[realfunster]

43 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

This current administration is infamous for pledges, declarations, proclamations and crackdowns.

 

To be fair, as best as I can remember, so were all the ones preceding it. 

 

I believe history shows that 3 months is the optimal timeframe to reference when claiming you will cure all problems in Thailand with traffic/pollution/education/corruption etc.

It makes you look like a really powerful and active leader and also gives the populace just enough time to completely forget about it....until the next blow up. Then rinse & repeat.

[heist]

2 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

How does a vehicle get its MOT/insurance cert. when it belches out smoke ?  Do they go to the nearest place that issues the certificates and say here is 1000 B if you don't test it.

Aftermarket ECUs have multiple tunes for different boost, injector flow rates, fuel rail settings. Select the lowest settings and you're good to go. 

[djayz]

Hope they start with the (state owned?) buses. 

[John Drake]

Could make a couple of billion baht from my area around Borom and Phutthamonthon easily.

[trainman34014]

2 hours ago, toofarnorth said:

Agree if it gets retuned to sound rorty which could mean burning too much fuel , but what about Somchai in his battered 30 yo Toyota pickup the back of which is covered in soot , there are very many around up here , of course the vehicle may never get taxed or go for testing , I don't look for a tax cert. I just think " That should be off the road ".

Most 'Testing Stations' don't test; for a few Bucks they just take the Chassis Number and write out the document, i've seen it at first hand on several occasions !

[trainman34014]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

More hyperbolic nonsense, from the do nothing administration, that is famous for making promises it rarely keeps. How long have you lived here? How often have we seen promises like this? This current administration is infamous for pledges, declarations, proclamations and crackdowns. Few are even remembered, much less followed up upon two weeks later.
 
Feel free to cite some environmental promises that were followed up on, if you can. Otherwise, this is just a pedantic high school level speech, by men with a staggering level of incompetence and indifference toward their land, water and the common man. 

 

One of the primary reasons why they will not issue citations for polluting vehicles, is that there are barely any highway patrol vehicles on the roads! When was the last time you saw one patrolling? The only time I see one, is if they are sitting next to an air conditioned kiosk on the highway, with the cop inside either playing with his phone, or killing time, or beside the road at the scene of an accident. Otherwise, they do not patrol! So, how are they going to issue tickets? 

 

A while back they had another campaign similar to this and they had posters with phone numbers that you could call to report vehicles that were polluting. We were driving and we saw this truck that was pumping out huge black clouds of smoke and I copied down their license plate and I dialed the number, and handed my phone to my Thai wife and asked her speak to the department. She asked the person who answered the phone what can they do? He asked my wife why are you calling us and she said, well you have phone numbers posted to report polluting vehicles? The guy said well I don't know anything about that, nor who I would report it to, and she said well that's not really our issue is it? You're supposed to be monitoring polluting vehicles. He said OK, OK, calm down. Give me the license plate number and I'll see what I can do. My wife said are you going to do anything? He said, I don't know I need to look at the regulations first and see who I'm supposed to report it to, and then maybe somebody will do something.

Just another Giggle from the Goon Show is the way i see it; they produce more comedy each week !

[bluesofa]

1 minute ago, trainman34014 said:

Just another Giggle from the Goon Show is the way i see it; they produce more comedy each week !

???? Next week: How to nail jelly to the ceiling.

 

[overherebc]

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

What about farmers....cough....cough

 

2 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

What about farmers....cough....cough

Good point.  Any farmer emitting black smoke should see a doctor.

Sorry ????????????????????

[RJRS1301]

If people cannot afford to get their vehicles serviced regularly to avoid the issue, how will they afford the fines?

Poor being penalised yet again.

Yes to problem of traffic pollution needs to be addressed, but there are other ways to address the issue.

 

[4MyEgo]

51 minutes ago, realfunster said:

 

To be fair, as best as I can remember, so were all the ones preceding it. 

 

I believe history shows that 3 months is the optimal timeframe to reference when claiming you will cure all problems in Thailand with traffic/pollution/education/corruption etc.

It makes you look like a really powerful and active leader and also gives the populace just enough time to completely forget about it....until the next blow up. Then rinse & repeat.

Yeh, but big joke was consistent....lol

[CLW]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

More hyperbolic nonsense, from the do nothing administration, that is famous for making promises it rarely keeps. How long have you lived here? How often have we seen promises like this? This current administration is infamous for pledges, declarations, proclamations and crackdowns. Few are even remembered, much less followed up upon two weeks later.
 
Feel free to cite some environmental promises that were followed up on, if you can. Otherwise, this is just a pedantic high school level speech, by men with a staggering level of incompetence and indifference toward their land, water and the common man. 

 

One of the primary reasons why they will not issue citations for polluting vehicles, is that there are barely any highway patrol vehicles on the roads! When was the last time you saw one patrolling? The only time I see one, is if they are sitting next to an air conditioned kiosk on the highway, with the cop inside either playing with his phone, or killing time, or beside the road at the scene of an accident. Otherwise, they do not patrol! So, how are they going to issue tickets? 

 

A while back they had another campaign similar to this and they had posters with phone numbers that you could call to report vehicles that were polluting. We were driving and we saw this truck that was pumping out huge black clouds of smoke and I copied down their license plate and I dialed the number, and handed my phone to my Thai wife and asked her speak to the department. She asked the person who answered the phone what can they do? He asked my wife why are you calling us and she said, well you have phone numbers posted to report polluting vehicles? The guy said well I don't know anything about that, nor who I would report it to, and she said well that's not really our issue is it? You're supposed to be monitoring polluting vehicles. He said OK, OK, calm down. Give me the license plate number and I'll see what I can do. My wife said are you going to do anything? He said, I don't know I need to look at the regulations first and see who I'm supposed to report it to, and then maybe somebody will do something.

Amen. Couldn't have it said better and there's nothing to add.