Minivdo: The Ban On Using Mobile Phones Whilst Driving Cars Or Bikes Comes Into Effect Thursday 8 May.

[NBT TV Phuket]

MiniVDO on http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev....php?news_id=47

The Phuket provincial police chief, Decha Butnampetch states that the ban will come into effect this Thursday and police will stop any motorists, whether driving cars or motorbikes, seen using mobile phones whilst driving. However they admitted they will only warn motorists for the first two months, as part of a ‘publicity drive’, before starting to fine motorists after two months. The fines could be between 400 to 1,000 baht. However, the use of hand-free devices like Bluetooth will be permissible. It was even suggested earlier by police that the public should take any photos or video of drivers they see using hand-phones, and inform police with the evidence, as a way to deter the practice. We asked a driver visiting the studio what she thought about the new law and practice:

Andaman News NBT (VHF dial) at 8.30am & local Cable TV channel 1 + maybe FM90.5 Radio Thailand 6pm, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, & possibly FM108 Mazz Radio 7.30pm in Phuket, Wednesday 7 th May 2008 & http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/

[alanmorison]

Thailand's long love affair with the motorcycle has been matched by a pasionate fling with the mobile phone. The take-up rate has far outpaced adoption of the Internet, for example.

Most Thai adults now seem to carry a telephone everywhere they go, and plenty of school children have them, too.

With Thailand's population at almost 62.5 million, that's a lot of mobile chatter.

A single company, AIS, expects to sell 8.5 million mobile telephones in 2008 and another nine million in 2009.

It's been said that some Thais see motorcycles as a useful invention to make a couple of vanity mirrors easily transportable.

Some islanders are able to check their hairstyle and chat to a friend on a mobile while travelling the wrong way or going through the red light at an intersection.

Such sightings may become less frequent now as the police pursue the mobile mobile users.

It is not clear yet, though, whether the crafty motorcyclists who tuck their mobile telephone into the chinstrap of their helmets are legal or illegal.

Some frequent mobile telephone users consider that to be the reason why helmets were invented.

--More at Phuketwan.com