Safety at a price: Why compulsory car seat use is controversial in Thailand

[grego49]

20 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

I was told that they remove the rear light bulb so that the police cannot follow them!

Around my way they remove the tailight globe as they think it flatterns the battery,,

[StayinThailand2much]

1 hour ago, Excel said:

Whilst that is a generalisation I suspect ignorance of safety awareness is not restricted to the lower echelons of Western society and having said that even the " 'class of / bottom of the barrel' westerners" as you quoted, would still have an education far higher then almost all Thais, so again that can not be the only reason.

True. I went to a funeral of highly-educated young Canadians several years ago. Once in Thailand, they had to ride a bike at night, drunk and without helmets. A pickup-truck was in their way. The rest is just sad...

[mtls2005]

The path to modernization is not without its bumps.

 

 

 

[tingtong]

3 hours ago, steve187 said:

will the school minibuses have to have car seats for the under 6's

 

Will taxis offer the same mandatory child seats?

Or baht buses a seat belt?

Or both belt/ child seat for those in the bead of pickups?

 

Understand that they want to start somewhere.

But think perhaps a very strict have driving license, or no drunk driving would be a better first step to general road safety and less fatal accidents.

 

[yardrunner]

42 minutes ago, seajae said:

can see it now, child /booster seats just sitting on the seats not belted in, probably will get the occassional chair with the legs removed in there as well, safety in Thailand just doesnt equate with much of the population, it either interferes with them, takes extra work, costs more money or is just inconvenient for them. Doesnt take a genius to see that thais do not like following the law and will ignore them to suit themselves, car seats will go into the same basket as licenses, helmets, red lights, not crossing double lines, indicating to turn, going the wrong way on roads, riding in the backs of trucks etc, using car/booster seats will not happen 

most people in other countries do not like obeying traffic laws, they are only obeyed because they are enforced, i can remember when breathalysers were introduced in the 60s their was law about drinking and driving before but hard to enforce and largely ignored in rural areas, breathalyser came in and easy to prove innocent or guilty and because it was enforced things changed rapidly. when will traffic laws be enforced in Thailand

 

[rbkk]

Many  parents, sadly, will not be bothered to properly secure the seat. They will plonk it in the back and see it's primary purpose is as a booster seat to give their child a better view. Before the days of seat belts securing the child seat, licenced installers used to have to bolt them in. There were special adapter kits made by the car manufacturers 

[brucegoniners]

If you can afford a car here, you can afford a car seat.

 

The real issue is children on motorbikes with their parents and siblings, most not wearing helmets.

 

That's where most kids get injured or killed.

 

And the sad part is there's really no good solution for it. Can't ban that or poor people won't be able to get around.

[ujayujay]

4 hours ago, drgoon said:

We are in Isaan and can't seem to find a booster seat for our 6yo other than on Lazada etc.

 

 

 

OK, so whats the Problem?

[starky]

6 hours ago, Lite Beer said:

Total rubbish. People in Isaan as not as poor as you seem to think.

My wife's daughter and partner have a car but still cart their two year old around on a motorbike as they cant be bothered to get the car out.

People in isaan arent as poor as i think? Well one of us is talking rubbish. My wifes daughter has a car so there is no poor people in Isaan? What a logical and well thought out argument. You may have just won the award for the worlds largest non sequitor. Congratulations!

Poverty in Thailand is a rural phenomenon that occurs most drastically in the northeast—the most populated region in the country. The ‘rural poor’ make up 7.3 million people,

Edited May 16, 2022 by starky

[starky]

7 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

People in Cambodia are poor too, but you would never see something there like in the picture below (taken in Thailand). Everyone would wear a helmet, which, probably, would limit the number of people that could ride on the bike.

 

Also, I have never seen anything like this in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, or anywhere else. But Thais are reckless, thoughtless, or both. Just imagine, they got into an accident. It could very well be fatal for half the riders.

 

 

 

Yeah righto mate now i know your extracting the urine doesnt happen anywhere else in Asia only Thailand. Right?

Because no one in Cambodia would ever do it

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fimage1.masterfile.com%2FgetImage%2F700-00086624em-man-with-six-children-on-motorcycle-phnom-penh-cambodia-stock-photo.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.masterfile.com%2Fimage%2Fen%2F700-00086624&docid=4KLDjA69FWs5-M&tbnid=rv732KxCiTh9XM&vet=1&w=450&h=300&hl=en-AU&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim

 

Certainly wouldnt  ever happen in Vietnam

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.gettyimages.com%2Fphotos%2Fvietnamese-mother-with-children-riding-a-motorbike-south-vietnam-picture-id860876858%3Fs%3D2048x2048&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gettyimages.com.au%2Fdetail%2Fphoto%2Fvietnamese-mother-with-children-riding-a-motorbike-royalty-free-image%2F860876858&docid=SU4Fv9Q3wQNYxM&tbnid=jvHqQeO7KZKvmM&vet=1&w=2048&h=2048&hl=en-AU&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim

 

And never ever ever in Myanmar its only those reckless Thais

 

https://images.app.goo.gl/9ymYNJLQg736HesY9. 

Edited May 16, 2022 by starky

[Gottfrid]

9 hours ago, steve187 said:

will the school minibuses have to have car seats for the under 6's

Do they have that in your home country? Does your home country have laws for child seats?

[nrasmussen]

8 hours ago, Andre0720 said:

Oh yes, and with a crash helmet safely secured in the front basket....

Safety is considered by people here as an option only...

Once when I visited a Thai friend in rural Isaan we were going to go in a car with a couple of other guys. I started to put my seat belt on and my friend said "You don't need to do that - there's no police around here," to which I replied "I don't do it for the police, I do it for me" - and they all looked at me as if I was crazy.

 

So obeying the law obviously (at least for those guys) has nothing to do with safety, but all to do with the risk of getting a fine.

[NoshowJones]

10 hours ago, KhunLA said:

May simply be the 'class of / bottom of the barrel' westerners that Thailand attracts ... ????

 

Apologies if this offends any snowflakes who may identify, or not, with that assertion.  

 

DISCLAIMER:  there may be many highly intelligent, safety conscious westerner here, that I simply haven't notice on the roadways.

Just because someone is highly educated, or has university degrees does not guarantee they also have good common sense.

[josephbloggs]

16 hours ago, drgoon said:

We are in Isaan and can't seem to find a booster seat for our 6yo other than on Lazada etc.

 

 

 

So order from Lazada then.

[michael888]

But 4 - 13 year olds and a 10 year old driver on one motorbike (all with no helmets), no problem lol

Edited May 16, 2022 by michael888

[jacko45k]

19 hours ago, brucegoniners said:

If you can afford a car here, you can afford a car seat.

I guess similar could be said of motorcycles and helmets (which are often given free)..... I somehow think they will still not be used... policing isn't up to it!

[fgmr]

Someone in BKK has got their head up their jacksie! What have they done to ensure that motorbikes with 3,4,and 5 kids on board travel around the country. Some of the drivers are themselves just 12 year old. 

Drive around the rural areas , past schools and see the number of bikes parked within the school grounds or just outside. 

AND just a a few klicks into the nearest town and one is likely to see the LOS PLOD stopping kids for not wearing helmets. LICENSE!!  INSURANCE!! 

What a effin joke!

[Orinoco]

22 minutes ago, fgmr said:

. Some of the drivers are themselves just 12 year old. 

That would be a well seasoned rider up where i live.

Amazing Thailand, no one cares at all.

[akampa]

On 5/16/2022 at 6:41 AM, drgoon said:

We are in Isaan and can't seem to find a booster seat for our 6yo other than on Lazada etc.

 

 

 

I have a booster seat hardly used you can have for free just pay the postage

[Hans Johnson]

Wait for awhile and all markets will have cheap substandard child seats. 
 

Don’t worry the children have amulets to protect them from harm. 

[drgoon]

On 5/17/2022 at 9:35 AM, akampa said:

I have a booster seat hardly used you can have for free just pay the postage

That would be awesome..  I'm out of country for a couple of days. I will message you. 

[scorecard]

On 5/16/2022 at 4:36 PM, nrasmussen said:

Once when I visited a Thai friend in rural Isaan we were going to go in a car with a couple of other guys. I started to put my seat belt on and my friend said "You don't need to do that - there's no police around here," to which I replied "I don't do it for the police, I do it for me" - and they all looked at me as if I was crazy.

 

So obeying the law obviously (at least for those guys) has nothing to do with safety, but all to do with the risk of getting a fine.

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