Report Expat Confusion Grows as Thailand Cracks Down on Helmet Law Violations

[Callmeishmael]

฿2,000?  Just sit outside any provincial government school at opening or closing time and you will see dozens of teenage students and their friends coming and going on motorbikes without wearing helmets.  I suspect that none of those kids could come up with ฿2,000 on the spot.  How are they going to enforce this?  I guarantee that they are not going to impound the bikes and make the parents come in to pay! 

[Negita43]

We have heard about the stick (fines) - what about the carrot (education)

[BangkokHank]

In Vietnam, every Grab motorcycle taxi driver carries an extra helmet for their passengers. That's the right way to do it. But I can't see them doing that here in Thailand. And it would be impractical for occasional passengers to always have a helmet with them just in case they might decide to take a Grab bike.

[richard_smith237]

3 hours ago, impulse said:

 

What if you have 90% chance of getting nits and cooties vs 1 in a million chance of getting a splattered brain? 

 

Then, what do you do with the helmet when you're not on the scooter taxi?  Do you carry it around all day?

 

I wore one when I was scooter taxiing between home and office because I had a place to put it on both ends.  But not going point A to point B where I had no place to store a decent (spelled e-x-p-e-n-s-i-v-e) helmet.  And the plastic crap on offer are less than useless.

 

It’s ok - you’re living proof that for some a serious brain injury would make little difference !!!

 

 

 

[Moonlover]

4 hours ago, smedly said:

motorbike taxi's are an issue, helmets are an issue due to the quality and cleanliness

 

The simple answer to that is buy yourself a balaclava style under helmet and wash it after each use.

[impulse]

4 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

It’s ok - you’re living proof that for some a serious brain injury would make little difference !!!

 

So you'd carry an expensive helmet around with you all day to protect your skull for the 3 minutes you'd be on a scooter taxi for that last mile?

 

Not me.

 

 

[motdaeng]

... what about people at the back of a (speeding) pickup? ... 

[quake]

If using a motor cycle taxi, just use the crash helmet they have.

if no have, use his one. ( been there done that )

if he says no, get a different motor cycle taxi.

Who cares if it's smells a bit. much better than your head smashed open in an accident.

Had one last week, taxi rank pattaya Thai second road intersection.

No crash helmet.

ok I not use you,

it ok no police.

I want cash helmet. one was found under the seat, on one of the other taxi guys bikes.

Sorted.

 

 

[richard_smith237]

38 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

So you'd carry an expensive helmet around with you all day to protect your skull for the 3 minutes you'd be on a scooter taxi for that last mile?

 

Not me.

 

You’re still struggling with this one I see…

… exactly how many head impacts have there been ?

 

 

…. use a flagfall taxi, GRAB, BOLT, InDrive, a songthaew, a TukTuk…

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

26 minutes ago, quake said:

If using a motor cycle taxi, just use the crash helmet they have.

if no have, use his one. ( been there done that )

if he says no, get a different motor cycle taxi.

Who cares if it's smells a bit. much better than your head smashed open in an accident.

Had one last week, taxi rank pattaya Thai second road intersection.

No crash helmet.

ok I not use you,

it ok no police.

I want cash helmet. one was found under the seat, on one of the other taxi guys bikes.

Sorted.

 

 

 

& also something at least semi-protective & not the cheap plastic Big-C ones…

 

But, in reality, the only time I’m not driving myself or riding myself is when I’m drinking & then I’m in no such rush to want to use a moto-taxi in the first place…. 
 

 

[PB172111]

4 hours ago, NE1 said:

Bloody Salengs are everywhere in our district. 

Some have plastic chairs on them where a passenger sits , others have the whole family on them.

At the moment the roads are getting resurfaced in a couple of areas and the roads are narrow , which means you could follow one of these for 5 klms or more.

They are a dangerous mode of transport.

It is the Thai way for a lot of families who can’t afford a family car. It is stupid felang comments that are ignorant of this.

[NE1]

19 minutes ago, PB172111 said:

4 hours ago, NE1 said:

 

It is the Thai way for a lot of families who can’t afford a family car. It is stupid felang comments that are ignorant of this.

 

They don't replace a family car , they replace the buses they used to take to the markets.

 

Just because you cannot afford a family car doesn't mean you should put your family's life in danger.

There used to be numerous buses people used in the rural areas , but they have stopped running because of these salengs.

Supply and demand , if you took these things off the road people would start to use the buses again.

 

[geminiman]

2 hours ago, impulse said:

 

Off topic, I know... 

 

Here's some eye candy from the Vintage Vespa shop on the river in Bangkok's Chinatown.

 

 

In the immortal words of Jody Foster in Nell.  "Want"

 

 

You can rent one in Pattaya.

 

[Chalong circle]

2 hours ago, Callmeishmael said:

฿2,000?  Just sit outside any provincial government school at opening or closing time and you will see dozens of teenage students and their friends coming and going on motorbikes without wearing helmets.  I suspect that none of those kids could come up with ฿2,000 on the spot.  How are they going to enforce this?  I guarantee that they are not going to impound the bikes and make the parents come in to pay! 

But the good thing is that all these teenagers have been to driving school and get a proper driving licence.

[hotandsticky]

8 minutes ago, Chalong circle said:

But the good thing is that all these teenagers have been to driving school and get a proper driving licence.

 

 

Please don't tell me that qualifies them as good drivers. Anybody can buy a licence.

[hotandsticky]

1 hour ago, BangkokHank said:

In Vietnam, every Grab motorcycle taxi driver carries an extra helmet for their passengers. That's the right way to do it. But I can't see them doing that here in Thailand. And it would be impractical for occasional passengers to always have a helmet with them just in case they might decide to take a Grab bike.

 

In Pattaya every M/C taxi I have used carries a helmet for their fare.

[quake]

1 minute ago, hotandsticky said:

 

In Pattaya every M/C taxi I have used carries a helmet for their fare.

 

Most do, but not all.

[hotandsticky]

 

2 hours ago, Callmeishmael said:

฿2,000?  Just sit outside any provincial government school at opening or closing time and you will see dozens of teenage students and their friends coming and going on motorbikes without wearing helmets.  I suspect that none of those kids could come up with ฿2,000 on the spot.  How are they going to enforce this?  I guarantee that they are not going to impound the bikes and make the parents come in to pay! 

 

 

Absolutely correct,  but you omitted the fact that there is usually a traffic cop on duty waving these helmetless kids into the school.

 

Start the education right there; impound the bike for the day  and put the students into detention.

 

A few years ago I spoke with a policeman in HCMC (where there is 99% compliance), he said it took a few years of consistent punishment but eventually they conformed. He also mentioned that they hadn't yet managed to stop them riding on the pavements!

[Artisi]

4 hours ago, Pouatchee said:

 

I call them living rooms... reason for this is i have seen a few fixed up with furniture reminiscent of the living room couch. I despise these menaces...

that's tough isn't it, you're in their country so learn to live with it.

[wombat]

if you're on a bike, other than the town one, you wear a helmet....thats not very hard is it?

[MRMOUSE]

5 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Down here in Phuket they are, also many food carts use them 

Are they licenced?I mean driving around with gas canisters and boiling oil.Notseen one here in. Jomtien with tax disc

[hotandsticky]

5 minutes ago, quake said:

 

Most do, but not all.

 

 

Those that don't are rather stupid because the driver is responsible for any fine.

[jwl53]

I've never seen or come across a helmet that will.make a motorbike rider drive safer, what it will do is give the rider a greater sense of security making them drive even more recklessly 

It will be interesting in a few weeks to see a breakdown of the stat numbers falang v thai fines, my moneys on more falang fines all day long

[wombat]

5 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

 

Absolutely correct,  but you omitted the fact that there is usually a traffic cop on duty waving these helmetless kids into the school.

 

Start the education right there; impound the bike for the day  and put the students into detention.

 

A few years ago I spoke with a policeman in HCMC (where there is 99% compliance), he said it took a few years of consistent punishment but eventually they conformed. He also mentioned that they hadn't yet managed to stop them riding on the pavements!

all these posters with no understanding of the rice bowl and how it works astounds me....this aint Kansas, Dorothy

[Artisi]

1 hour ago, Moonlover said:

The simple answer to that is buy yourself a balaclava style under helmet and wash it after each use.

or steal a few of your girlfriend or your wifes shower cap, it's not rocket science.  

[connda]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

This revised law has left some expatriates puzzled. A post on Reddit by a foreign resident highlights a debate over whether Thailand's helmet law applies to motorcycles with sidecars, known as saleng. The post details a playful argument with his Thai wife, who contends that the configuration of a saleng exempts passengers from wearing helmets, while he insists it shares the same legal status as traditional motorcycles.

Not confusing most expats.  Just irking a couple of expats who want to game the system.  Did you get stopped and have to pay 2000 THB.  Good.  You're driving a motorcycle and you know the rules.  If you get caught, stop whinging.  Pay your fine or put on a helmet. 

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

and how about the RTP themselves?? I see many driving a motorcycle with a baseball cap or another kind of cap... and clear again fines up to 2000 THB.. That will be for foreigners and Thais 300??? and how long will this crack down last?? 1 week?

Not sure of your location, but in mine I have never in 16 years seen a police man rider or pillion not wearing a lawful helmet.

[connda]

6 hours ago, brewsterbudgen said:

If you read the article, the "confusion" is about sidecars.

I don't think there is any confusion.  An expat or two are attempting to game the system by playing dumb and insisting that a motorcycle with an attached sidecar isn't a motorcycle so they are there exempt from helmets.  

Fyi - a dude in our village just had his brains spilled earlier this year after hitting a concrete mile marker with his side cart  and getting thrown off his motorcycle.  The side cart stops, the motorcycle swings 90 degrees, and dude get thrown down the road where he smashes his head into the pavement killing a dead as a door-nail.  That's why you need a helmet.  Well, feel free to contest the law - you'll lose and still pay a fine. So just wear a helmet or have 500 to 2000 THB handy.  

[wensiensheng]

The cynic in me says that this is about increasing police revenue. Why? Because after paying the fine they let people ride off without a helmet! If it was about road safety, they wouldn’t do that.

[billd766]

34 minutes ago, NE1 said:

 

They don't replace a family car , they replace the buses they used to take to the markets.

 

Just because you cannot afford a family car doesn't mean you should put your family's life in danger.

There used to be numerous buses people used in the rural areas , but they have stopped running because of these salengs.

Supply and demand , if you took these things off the road people would start to use the buses again.

 

I live in rural Kamphaeng Phet. There are no buses  out to the rural villages and have not been for at least the 20 years that I have been living here.

 

There are only 3 buses daily to Bangkok 350 km away and only baht buses to  Kamphaeng Phet, 65 km away. For anybody living here they need to get to the big village first, 6km from us and there is NO public transport to take you there. No bus, baht bus, saleang or motorcycle taxis either to take you there.