Suspected Drunk Drivers in Thailand to Face New Testing Methods

[webfact]

File photo

 

Thailand has introduced new regulations allowing police to use urine or blood tests to determine the alcohol levels of drivers suspected of being drunk if they refuse to take a breathalyser test. This announcement, published in the Royal Gazette, updates previous regulations from 1994 and 2017, which relied mainly on breathalyser tests.

 

The revised laws aim to modernise alcohol testing procedures and enhance the effectiveness of legal measures to combat drunk driving.

 

The regulation permits police officers to either collect urine samples on-site or escort drivers to a hospital for blood tests when breathalyser tests are refused.

 

Officers are instructed to secure drivers' consent before conducting urine tests and to provide a private and secure location for the sample collection.

 

They will also maintain control over the sample collection area to prevent any tampering. The collected urine samples will be sent to nearby hospitals for laboratory testing.

For blood tests, drivers refusing breathalysers will be taken to a hospital for medical examination. According to the new regulation, drivers found with more than 50 milligrammes of alcohol in their blood—and 20 milligrammes for those under 20 years old—will be charged with drunk driving, reported Bangkok Post.

 

Additionally, the law states that drivers refusing to undergo medical examinations without a valid reason will be presumed to have exceeded the legal blood alcohol limit.

 

In such cases, the medical professional will document the refusal and notify the police to initiate further investigation.

 

Earlier this year, the government approved an amendment to Thailand's Land Transportation Act, allowing alcohol level tests up to three hours after a driver has been stopped by police.

 

Karom Polpornklang, the then-deputy spokesman for the government, noted that the amended law would expand the methods available to identify drunk drivers beyond the traditional use of breathalysers.

 

-- 2024-09-23

 

[stoner]

this would be amazing if the system it was being introduced to wasn't corrupted to the max. 

[bkk6060]

It actually is a good idea and should create less corruption as a hospital will now be in the loop.  Unless, people think hospitals can/will be corrupted.

[brianbiegler]

Lol seriously if the perp refuses to blow for you do really think he's gonna pee for you? 🤦🏼‍♂️

[stoner]

31 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

It actually is a good idea and should create less corruption as a hospital will now be in the loop.  Unless, people think hospitals can/will be corrupted.

 

maybe the same way you get medically checked for your drivers license. by a licensed MD. 

[scubascuba3]

Doesn't mention if a blood/urine test is allowed if a breathalyser is also done i.e. the person refutes the result

[thesetat2013]

54 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

It actually is a good idea and should create less corruption as a hospital will now be in the loop.  Unless, people think hospitals can/will be corrupted.

Yeah.. so now we have to worry about the corrupt hospitals too wither bribing cops to make more tests without valid reasons or by the hospital staff accepting bribes to fake the test. 

[hotchilli]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand has introduced new regulations allowing police to use urine or blood tests to determine the alcohol levels of drivers suspected of being drunk if they refuse to take a breathalyser test. This announcement, published in the Royal Gazette, updates previous regulations from 1994 and 2017, which relied mainly on breathalyser tests.

Excellent news...

[itsari]

57 minutes ago, brianbiegler said:

Lol seriously if the perp refuses to blow for you do really think he's gonna pee for you? 🤦🏼‍♂️

They will just take the piss out of you 

[Asquith Production]

1 hour ago, brianbiegler said:

Lol seriously if the perp refuses to blow for you do really think he's gonna pee for you? 🤦🏼‍♂️

If you think your going to be just over it may be worth going for the urine or blood test. By the time they have organised it you may have gone under the limit,  plus I would probably be happier with results from a laboratory than a machine that is probably rarely calibrated. One would hope you will be given a sample for independent analysis like in thr UK.

[thailand49]

You got to come out to enforce and that isnt going to happen. 

[patman30]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Officers are instructed to secure drivers' consent before conducting urine tests

so they do not consent to a Breathalyzer test........
why would they consent to a urine or blood test?

 

 

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Additionally, the law states that drivers refusing to undergo medical examinations without a valid reason will be presumed to have exceeded the legal blood alcohol limit.

why do they not simply apply this to the breathalyser test?
(it is also law that you must not be discriminated against if refusing any medical procedure)
refuse the roadside breathalyser and you are treated as over the limit, simple.

[Bday Prang]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

It actually is a good idea and should create less corruption as a hospital will now be in the loop.  Unless, people think hospitals can/will be corrupted.

Does anybody think that hospitals cannot be corrupted ?    I can't  really think of any organization  or individual here that would be able to resist the  temptation, its in their DNA and always will be  

[Sig]

I would think that one's driver's license would be suspended or revoked if refusing some sort of lawfully ordered test. The way the article is written, it sounds like one can just refuse and consequences are up in the air. I didn't read the fine print, but I assumed that part of licensing would include agreement to be tested for drugs (prescription or recreational) or alcohol if the police determine that they have cause to believe one should be tested.
At any rate, I'm all for getting drivers who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol off the road!

[JoePai]

2 hours ago, stoner said:

 

maybe the same way you get medically checked for your drivers license. by a licensed MD. 

or by staying in a luxury hospital suit while serving a jail sentence ?

[dinsdale]

3 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

It actually is a good idea and should create less corruption as a hospital will now be in the loop.  Unless, people think hospitals can/will be corrupted.

I don't think you've fully thought this through. The corruption will happen upon blowing positive as it does now. As for hospitals being corrupt, corruption is endemic in Thailand including the health sector.

[MalcolmB]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand has introduced new regulations allowing police to use urine or blood tests

So you will have pissheads trying to piss in a small container while pissed.

 

It is going to be messy.

 

if you have had a couple you are better off with the breathalyzer that is more likely to show a lower reading. But always carry  a bottle of water in the car and rinse your mouth with water before blowing.

Edited September 23 by MalcolmB

[KannikaP]

57 minutes ago, patman30 said:

so they do not consent to a Breathalyzer test........
why would they consent to a urine or blood test?

 

 

why do they not simply apply this to the breathalyser test?
(it is also law that you must not be discriminated against if refusing any medical procedure)
refuse the roadside breathalyser and you are treated as over the limit, simple.

That's how it works in UK. However a breath test is merely an indicator of how much alcohol is in the body. For a conviction, a blood or urine test must be done by a medocal officer at a Police Station.

Now get that done down Sukhumvit! 

[NorthernRyland]

Tests mean nothing. All you need to do is drive around a checkpoint at certain hours of the day. That's how much of a joke laws are to the Thai's.

[wazzupnow]

4 hours ago, stoner said:

this would be amazing if the system it was being introduced to wasn't corrupted to the max. 

this makes corruption even more easy my friend driving  drunk just paid 10000 bht in Pattaya 

to be paid cash or going to monkey house watch out for JOMTIEN SECOND ROAD these 4 cops are having a good time

[andygrr]

Foreigners will probably get a bolstered bill from the hospital for the Blood / Urine test. 

[andygrr]

2 minutes ago, wazzupnow said:

this makes corruption even more easy my friend driving  drunk just paid 10000 bht in Pattaya 

to be paid cash or going to monkey house watch out for JOMTIEN SECOND ROAD these 4 cops are having a good time

If he was driving drunk he deserves everything he got and more. But the money should go to the city not the individual police officers.

[Grumpy one]

3 hours ago, brianbiegler said:

Lol seriously if the perp refuses to blow for you do really think he's gonna pee for you? 🤦🏼‍♂️

If both are a bit kinky it may be " pee on " rather than pee in   

[sabai-dee-man]

2 hours ago, Asquith Production said:

If you think your going to be just over it may be worth going for the urine or blood test. By the time they have organised it you may have gone under the limit,  plus I would probably be happier with results from a laboratory than a machine that is probably rarely calibrated. One would hope you will be given a sample for independent analysis like in thr UK.

 

Alcohol remains in your blood and urine far longer than on your breath. Besides, no one should be drinking and driving in the first place, let alone dreaming up ways to get around testing. 🙄

Edited September 23 by sabai-dee-man

[john donson]

now if only this was not a country corrupted to the bone and police could not be bought for a few hundreds of baht

[Nicholas Paul KNIGHT]

For starters to many requests. Today blow a p[ositive then immediately arrest take to Police Station either a further breath test on a dedicated calibrated  breath test machine or blood or urine.

Keep it simple , no need to seek permission if positive arrest , of unsure arrest , take to the station for either another breath test, blood or urine. No need to ask. Leaves out possibility of corruption except at the initial breath test.  

Note pay the doctor to come to the station easier.

[Victor Laszlo]

Don't drink and drive, simple as that.

[Ironmike]

So let's break down the costs now 20,000 to 50,000 to the police and around the same to the hospital except if your Thai then you give the coppers a basket of crap and cry with hands together,, job done,, this is just another way the Thai government is going to see many people leaving this corrupt and racist country 

[Asquith Production]

48 minutes ago, sabai-dee-man said:

 

Alcohol remains in your blood and urine far longer than on your breath. Besides, no one should be drinking and driving in the first place, let alone dreaming up ways to get around testing. 🙄

I agree you should not drive drunk and my comment was not about getting around it but more about getting an accurate result. If you are well over then giving urine or blood will show a positive result but if you are just borderline then it may help. 

[ujayujay]

2 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

So you will have pissheads trying to piss in a small container while pissed.

 

It is going to be messy.

 

if you have had a couple you are better off with the breathalyzer that is more likely to show a lower reading. But always carry  a bottle of water in the car and rinse your mouth with water before blowing.

...you seem to have experience in drunk driving