Punish The Parents To Set An Example On Law And Order In Thailand

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Punish the parents to set an example on law and order

By The Nation

Last week's fatal highway accident involving a teenage driver without a licence must serve as a lesson in responsibility and accountability

The recent horror car crash that left nine people dead is an expensive lesson for us all, but will it really bring an end to the problem of underage driving and irresponsible parenting? While the police said they had to interrogate the surviving driver, who is 16, as well as witnesses, to find out what exactly happened, it is obvious that the young driver was involved in the accident and was probably the cause of it. She was too young and she was driving without a licence.

The driving laws exist for a reason. A minor does not have the necessary maturity to be allowed behind the wheel of a vehicle on any road, never mind a major highway.

Parents are responsible for the actions of their children, up to a certain age. If parents are so negligent as to allow a 16-year-old without a licence to get behind the wheel of a car and cause the deaths of innocent others, then those parents must be severely punished to the full extent of the law.

Unfortunately many parents do let their children drive vehicles, in the full knowledge that it is against the law, and even though the consequences can be fatal, as we've seen. Some of these parents even buy cars for their underage kids. With parents like this, how could a teenager not resist the temptation to get out on the road? Any young person would want to test the speed of a new car on the highway. This is understandable. But any responsible parent would surely not allow them to do so - for the sake of their own child's safety and that of others.

If there is an accident involving a minor driver, the registered owner of the vehicle involved must be held fully accountable, no matter who was driving at the time. The only possible vindication would be for the owner to have reported the car stolen before the time of the accident. While minors can only be subject to cautionary measures, the parents must face the full consequences of their actions in allowing an unlicensed minor to drive.

In some developed countries, the punitive civil and criminal damages imposed on parents of minor drivers who cause fatal accidents can result in bankruptcy. It has been reported in the media that the driver in this case might be subject to only a Bt400 fine for driving without a licence. The public will realise that this no deterrent to similar incidents happening in the future. If this ends up being the sum total of the punishment, it will do nothing to discourage underage driving.

The parents in this case should be subject to severe punitive measures and damages, aside from compensation for the deaths of nine people. They should also be forced to do extensive community service and undergo a stringent re-education course to ensure that they realise the tragic effect of their irresponsibility.

Parents have a responsibility to educate their children about the sanctity of the law, the role of good citizenship, and that they must be accountable for their own actions. Parents are in the best position to prevent their children from doing anything that is illegal. But unfortunately in this case the spotlight has so far been on the teenage daughter and not the parents. What were they thinking in allowing their daughter to drive illegally? Were they even aware that she was doing so? If they were aware, the punishment should perhaps be even harsher.

Without proper punishment and the chance of redemption, these parents and their daughter will fail to understand the rationale behind the legislation on underage driving. Lenient punitive measures will also fail to make others realise the possible tragic consequences of such negligence.

Parents have a moral obligation to raise their children to be good citizens and to abide by the law. It could have happened to anybody, but what we have seen here is likely a case of privileged people thinking that they are above the law. We see this continually in our society in a variety of ways. If an example isn't set, if it isn't demonstrated clearly that nobody is above the law, then we will see many more incidents like this in the future.

-- The Nation 2011-01-04

[Siam Simon]

^^will be interesting to see if these wise words by the Nation opinion writer are heeded in this case.I'll certainly be vigilant.

[whybother]

subject to only a Bt400 fine for driving without a licence.

This is the problem, not only in this case but in all situations in Thailand.

Unlicensed drivers that are caught driving should put in jail.

[waza]

Good editorial, the family is a primary institution of socialisation, if it fails to education the children to the accepted norms, mores and laws of their society the child will be dysfunctional. This leads to anti-social behaviour in the child, which are carried through to adulthood. However, its not the only primary institution of socialisation, there is also the media, education system, peers and government. Should they also be held accountable and punished if an individual behaves in an anti-social manner?

Edited January 4, 2011 by waza

[canuckamuck]

Good editorial. The parents are guilty, they should face the music.

[cdnvic]

Over-the-top anti-Thai statement deleted. Calm down, take a breath, and write something sensible.

[maswov]

I understand if the parents allow the kids to drive, but if the kids drive without their parents knowledge, that is crossing the line. Many of you have kids and teenagers and all of us were teenagers at one point. For the most of us our parents did not condone the things we did, and if we were caught by them we would have been punished.

So if parents are held accountable for our actions, being caught by the authorities is a better deal, you get a walk while mom and dad get jail time.

[slapout]

The author of this editorial most certainly, has never been involved in a like situation. Granted parents may be responsible for their children and their actions when those actions are preplanned and detrimental to society. But should accidents of this nature be approached in a manner that juvenile murder, theft rings, street children theft, etc, are? We hold the system responsible for education, or lack there of, of our students, is not education at fault in this case also?

Even the author asked if the parents were aware of her driving. There are many factors to consider prior to making judgment or where the responsibility should lie. In the case of accidents all of the factors contributing to them are seldom known to those not involved. In this case there may be only one person who knows most of the factors as she remembers them and that may be distorted due to several possibilities.

I have noticed that another accident in which 7 died, on the same day, has received little publicity on TV nor the newspapers. Is it because no so called known names were involved as well as the victims were not of the same educated social order?

[canuckamuck]

The mom appeared to be defending how her daughter drove that night, not offended that her daughter was driving, I'll bet the car even belonged to the girl although registered to a parent.

[gotlost]

I agree with this editorial but what about the punishment of the girl. the owner of the car, the person who gave the keys to the girl. They should also pay along with the attitude of the Thai society. There are nine humans dead because of this act.

[richieudon]

There is a big school down the road from me.

Everyday I see hundreds HUNDREDS of underage school children riding motorcycles to school, many of them three-up and almost all with no helmet.

Things only get said when tragedies like this occur but as long as there is widespread corruption and as long as the Police keep on doing the fine job they're doing, then nothing will ever change.

Two kids got killed going to school 2 months ago, hit by a songtheiw loaded, nay, overloaded with kids. The Police decided to man the school gates but after a month they stopped. Probably too busy doing important work (collecting money)...

[wackysleet]

Good editorial. The parents are guilty, they should face the music.

Really, so you don't believe that each successive government should also shoulder part if not all of the blame for this sad incident. Remember the words "prevention is better than cure" ensure for once in a Thai governments life that they actively enforce whole heartedly the laws that are already in place instead of turning a blind eye and covertly appearing to endorse the law breaking, the schools also for allowing under age kids to ride motor bikes, no helmets, 3 up and we have all seen it time after time.

The article makes a point about maturity or lack of it, what a bloody joke, the countries so called driving test is the real joke along with the so called tea money instead of the proper legal accountability to law breaking of any description, and the blatant turning of a blind eye by the police.

Parents do have moral responsibilities but children as we know often live by the fear of peer pressure and the certain lack of legal consequence, if there had been no accident, then she would have still been breaking the law and if she had been stopped fined 400 baht absolute bullshit this judiciary system here, selective in the extreme.

[dominique355]

How can someone claim to enforce "Law and Order" and at the same time asks for punishment for someone although they have not broken any law? (I am talking of the parents of Praewa)

And how can someone claim a 16 year old is way too young to drive a car when in more and more countries today people can get a driver's licence at the age of 16?

This article appears to be the result of some sort of revenge justice, justice before all or any facts are know. That's irresponsible!

We don't know the circumstances of the accident such as, did the van change lanes in a reckless manner, as suggested, thus being at least partly responsible for the accident? And: How can 16 people fit in this kind of van? Was it overloaded, making it hard to control?

I assume Praewa did not deliberately crash into the van and simply had no "experience" how to handle such a situation after. So why don't we also see her tragedy? A little compassion also for her would certainly be welcome.

[Mitker]

I totally agree with this editorial.

The girl shouldn't be the target. The parents should be.

[canuckamuck]

Good editorial. The parents are guilty, they should face the music.

Really, so you don't believe that each successive government should also shoulder part if not all of the blame for this sad incident. Remember the words "prevention is better than cure" ensure for once in a Thai governments life that they actively enforce whole heartedly the laws that are already in place instead of turning a blind eye and covertly appearing to endorse the law breaking, the schools also for allowing under age kids to ride motor bikes, no helmets, 3 up and we have all seen it time after time.

The article makes a point about maturity or lack of it, what a bloody joke, the countries so called driving test is the real joke along with the so called tea money instead of the proper legal accountability to law breaking of any description, and the blatant turning of a blind eye by the police.

Parents do have moral responsibilities but children as we know often live by the fear of peer pressure and the certain lack of legal consequence, if there had been no accident, then she would have still been breaking the law and if she had been stopped fined 400 baht absolute bullshit this judiciary system here, selective in the extreme.

I don't disagree with what you say, but I stand by my comment. I agree that changes should be made across the board. But that will take a decade or more.

[anterian]

I see this as the most relevant comment, "a case of privileged people thinking that they are above the law."

and this attitude works down the chain, even in my poor village there are those who think they are entitled to more privileges than others.

This is a "pecking order" society.

[planemad]

dominique355 has made the point that seems to have been missed by most. Initial accident reports stated that the girl had just returned from America. It is quite possible therefore that she already has a drivers license albeit for another country. Of course this would not be valid in Thailand because of her age. I do not offer this as an excuse for her actions, just something else to consider amongs all the other factors surrounding this very sad incident.

[richieudon]

Good editorial. The parents are guilty, they should face the music.

Really, so you don't believe that each successive government should also shoulder part if not all of the blame for this sad incident. Remember the words "prevention is better than cure" ensure for once in a Thai governments life that they actively enforce whole heartedly the laws that are already in place instead of turning a blind eye and covertly appearing to endorse the law breaking, the schools also for allowing under age kids to ride motor bikes, no helmets, 3 up and we have all seen it time after time.

The article makes a point about maturity or lack of it, what a bloody joke, the countries so called driving test is the real joke along with the so called tea money instead of the proper legal accountability to law breaking of any description, and the blatant turning of a blind eye by the police.

Parents do have moral responsibilities but children as we know often live by the fear of peer pressure and the certain lack of legal consequence, if there had been no accident, then she would have still been breaking the law and if she had been stopped fined 400 baht absolute bullshit this judiciary system here, selective in the extreme.

Even if you passed your driving test at the youngest legal age 17?, 18? How does this prove you've experience of driving on an expressway?

All you have to do is drive around 2 cones and reverse into a parking space. Failing that just slip a little 1000 baht note to someone and off you go...

[ginjag]

I totally agree with this editorial.

The girl shouldn't be the target. The parents should be.

My tought on this is BOTH should be punished. Depending a lot regarding Who did own the car? correct age of driver, aware of the fact she drove the car regular, things like this when uncovered will have more bearing on the punishment to be dished out. Plus many other factors.

Edited January 4, 2011 by ginjag

[humqdpf]

I understand if the parents allow the kids to drive, but if the kids drive without their parents knowledge, that is crossing the line. Many of you have kids and teenagers and all of us were teenagers at one point. For the most of us our parents did not condone the things we did, and if we were caught by them we would have been punished.

So if parents are held accountable for our actions, being caught by the authorities is a better deal, you get a walk while mom and dad get jail time.

I agree that there could be a problem with children using the car without their parent's permission. So, here is the solution: the car is immediately taken from the family until legal remedies are completed. The parents and child are taken into court. There is an automatic time in a boot-camp (and education) for the kid (minimum 6 months) where you are only known by your first name. The parents, if they are rich enough, will have to pay for boot camp. There will be a fine imposed on the parents based on their combined wealth to a max of 1 million baht and the parents will have to pay any damages.

If the child absconds or the parents don't pay, there will be a permanent stop on all government issued permits and paperwork (passports, drivers licences, building permits) for any errant parent or child. That should stop Daddy leaving his keys around for junior to find and should get Junior to realize that if he gets caught driving Daddy's car, he will be separated from all his luxury for at least 6 months! (Thats a lifetime when you are only 15!)

But now it is time to wake up from the daydream. The reality is that NOTHING will ever happen in Thailand to anyone who is from the Teflon class - the Teflon class are those families and their members who will never have to pay for damages relating to accidents, who will never go to prison or even be charged for any wrong-doing and who probably will never have to pay a fine. At least one cannot say that Thailand is not consistent in the way it hands out justice!

[slipperx]

Intersting article but the law has to be in place before you can start handing out sentences to parents and whilst there might be some obtuse way of effecting a punishment on the parents it would be more nelightening for Thailand to pass a law specifically dealing with parent responsibility which I don't believe exists. Secondly, expecting a family to be responsible through education of its children is a tall order when there is no accountablilty in government or the law enforcement agencies. Thailand is so corrupt that until this is dealt with and accountability and transparency expected and demonstrated to the public by its elected representative and civil service / law enforcement agencies and court system then I fear this is too much to expect of parents most of whom are really quite uneducated. So where does the role model for the family come from?

[RedNIvar]

dominique355 has made the point that seems to have been missed by most. Initial accident reports stated that the girl had just returned from America. It is quite possible therefore that she already has a drivers license albeit for another country. Of course this would not be valid in Thailand because of her age. I do not offer this as an excuse for her actions, just something else to consider amongs all the other factors surrounding this very sad incident.

If I'm not mistaken, in the US if you're below 18 you get a drivers permit that requires an adult to be in the car at all times when you drive. Even then you're not allowed on the Freeway.

In this case she did not have an adult in the car, plus she was on the tollway. I think this is a moot point.

However I do agree with the article from the Nation.

[jaltsc]

Please stop using the word "Accident". An accident is what occurs when the parties involved take expected and responsible actions and something out of the ordinary intervenes. This was a "criminal crash", where an underage, unqualified, unlicensed driver crashed her uncontrolled vehicle into another, causing death and destruction.

And please, do not try an tell me that her parents had no knowledge of their daughter driving. Why had they not taught her responsibility? How did she get the keys in the first place? Yes, they should be responsible for their neglectful parenting. Especially when it causes the deaths of others. Of course there's the argument that she developed all of her driving skills from watching the way adults drive. Let's face it, there are numerous adult drivers who don't possess any more driving skills than does this young girl. Perhaps if irresponsible adult drivers were held to a higher standard and were properly fined and punished for their infractions, a message would be sent to the youth of this country.

If Thailand wants to have modern technology it needs to develop the proper cultural infrastructure and responsibility that comes along with that technology. It cannot use the same safety standards that were in place for horse drawn wagons. It cannot hide behind to the mantra: "Much of our country is backwards and should not be held up to western standards" every time something like this happens. The cultural lag in this part of the world is strikingly obvious and needs to update itself if it wants to partake in western technology.

[John1012]

Has anyone discovered what caused the accident. Was the van driver doing what van drivers usually do, driving too fast, without allowing for any error on other motorist's part, trusting that 'his abilities' as a 'professional' driver would keep him safe, sod the passengers, , treating the road as his own domain,regardless of traffic conditions. Would it have made any difference if the driver of the other car had a full license and was 45 years old? A police colonel? The girl, whilst being in the wrong for driving, may NOT have been the cause of the accident. I agree that the parents be held responsible, but lets find out who caused the accident, before deciding what level of retribution there is for inadequate supervision of a minor.

[BlackJack]

let them have their day in court and receive the 400 baht fine

then once found guilty start a civil case and claim ALL the assets of those responsible

this will go a long way to assisting those effected by this tragic event

and show the public that you must be responsible for your family and their actions

sorry for the parents and family that must live on

Edited January 4, 2011 by BlackJack

[Scott]

To whom was the car registered? I thought I read somewhere that it was her friends car.

[fxe1200]

There is a big school down the road from me.

Everyday I see hundreds HUNDREDS of underage school children riding motorcycles to school, many of them three-up and almost all with no helmet.

Things only get said when tragedies like this occur but as long as there is widespread corruption and as long as the Police keep on doing the fine job they're doing, then nothing will ever change.

Two kids got killed going to school 2 months ago, hit by a songtheiw loaded, nay, overloaded with kids. The Police decided to man the school gates but after a month they stopped. Probably too busy doing important work (collecting money)...

... a teacher of the village Nong Trud (Trang province)rides his MC to the school every morning without wearing a helmet. He shows the pupils how to treat the law with contempt. Questioned why he does so, he answered: " Don' worry, accidents only happen in Bangkok and big cities."

This behaving reflects the attitude of most of the Thai people. And there is no change in sight.

[SICHONSTEVE]

I understand if the parents allow the kids to drive, but if the kids drive without their parents knowledge, that is crossing the line. Many of you have kids and teenagers and all of us were teenagers at one point. For the most of us our parents did not condone the things we did, and if we were caught by them we would have been punished.

So if parents are held accountable for our actions, being caught by the authorities is a better deal, you get a walk while mom and dad get jail time.

Are you implying that the parents were unaware that their daughter was driving their car on the speedy express way? First of all, where did she get the keys from (maybe she had a spare set made up secretly)? where was she going? (her parents were in the dark about her driving their beloved car, let alone across town on this manic highway to hell that Bankok can be)??!!! and finally that she must have got into the car several times without her parents knowing (on her own) and learnt how to drive (at speed apparently) somewhere on the nearby roads without any sort of external instruction from anyone!!!!! I don't know if this is what the parents (or you) are claiming to be the case but it would be totally laughable - if events had not been so tragic!!

In reality the situation is far serious and the death toll immeasurably higher with the "motosai" situation. It is incomprehensible to me that 3 or 4 students travelling to school on the same bike with a 10 year old driver is not regarded by the 6 - 8 parents involved in allowing this to happen (up to 10 times every week) as being an action of pure craziness and irresponsibility.

Please don't reply to this posting with that worn out excuse that the 'parents are so poor'. If so, where did they get the money from to buy the bike (and pay for the fuel and maintenance) and taxis are not so expensive for this to act as a deterrent, especially if they can cut a deal with the driver whereby the 4 sets of parents pay - between them - for a permanent ongoing service that will provide steady income for the driver and relative safety for the kids (so everyones happy with the arrangement) NB: others in the neighbourhood can share the costs making it cheaper still to operate. This smacks more of laziness and reasons pertaining to convenience, although the resultant consequences could turn out to be equally as tragic as this much publicised single incident and affect the lives of so many families (can you imagine the amount of guilt being shared by these parents from their foolishness, heaven forbid, should the worst happen)!!!.

Finally, why do the Thai police allow this to transpire when it is clearly illegal. They seem concerned mainly with the fact about whether the rider is wearing a helmet and not that there might be 5 people and a dog travelling on it with the rider being so obviously underage that he would need glasses not to see so. They have ID cards as well, don't they??? There is just something sooooo wrong in all of this that they should turn a blind eye to it (parents. police and Government) and they should instead DO something concrete about it that reflects the seriousness of this unacceptable situation!!!! Just what do the Government officers and police responsible for safety on the roadways do with their time to warrant being paid a salary? Can someone enlighten me please if they have the answer????

[neverdie]

Has anyone discovered what caused the accident.

A thai visa investigation team, consisting of highly trained chimpanzee's was dispatched not long after the accident occurred, however, they seem to be having problems with their local ISP and are all caught up trying to define terminolgy used by one of the local print media news papers.

I am sure that they will eventually get to the bottom of this & report back to us all through their highly skilled forum posters who is probably presently asleep after bashing away at the keypad all night in a disagreement with another poster regarding a minor spelling issue.

[richieudon]

I understand if the parents allow the kids to drive, but if the kids drive without their parents knowledge, that is crossing the line. Many of you have kids and teenagers and all of us were teenagers at one point. For the most of us our parents did not condone the things we did, and if we were caught by them we would have been punished.

So if parents are held accountable for our actions, being caught by the authorities is a better deal, you get a walk while mom and dad get jail time.

Are you implying that the parents were unaware that their daughter was driving their car on the speedy express way? First of all, where did she get the keys from (maybe she had a spare set made up secretly)? where was she going? (her parents were in the dark about her driving their beloved car, let alone across town on this manic highway to hell that Bankok can be)??!!! and finally that she must have got into the car several times without her parents knowing (on her own) and learnt how to drive (at speed apparently) somewhere on the nearby roads without any sort of external instruction from anyone!!!!! I don't know if this is what the parents (or you) are claiming to be the case but it would be totally laughable - if events had not been so tragic!!

In reality the situation is far serious and the death toll immeasurably higher with the "motosai" situation. It is incomprehensible to me that 3 or 4 students travelling to school on the same bike with a 10 year old driver is not regarded by the 6 - 8 parents involved in allowing this to happen (up to 10 times every week) as being an action of pure craziness and irresponsibility.

Please don't reply to this posting with that worn out excuse that the 'parents are so poor'. If so, where did they get the money from to buy the bike (and pay for the fuel and maintenance) and taxis are not so expensive for this to act as a deterrent, especially if they can cut a deal with the driver whereby the 4 sets of parents pay - between them - for a permanent ongoing service that will provide steady income for the driver and relative safety for the kids (so everyones happy with the arrangement) NB: others in the neighbourhood can share the costs making it cheaper still to operate. This smacks more of laziness and reasons pertaining to convenience, although the resultant consequences could turn out to be equally as tragic as this much publicised single incident and affect the lives of so many families (can you imagine the amount of guilt being shared by these parents from their foolishness, heaven forbid, should the worst happen)!!!.

Finally, why do the Thai police allow this to transpire when it is clearly illegal. They seem concerned mainly with the fact about whether the rider is wearing a helmet and not that there might be 5 people and a dog travelling on it with the rider being so obviously underage that he would need glasses not to see so. They have ID cards as well, don't they??? There is just something sooooo wrong in all of this that they should turn a blind eye to it (parents. police and Government) and they should instead DO something concrete about it that reflects the seriousness of this unacceptable situation!!!! Just what do the Government officers and police responsible for safety on the roadways do with their time to warrant being paid a salary? Can someone enlighten me please if they have the answer????

Well the police don't actually police in this country. The only job they do is to extract money. If they can't get any money out of a situation then they're no interested.

In my town I don't think I've ever seen a police officer working after 6 o'clock at night. I mean patrolling the streets. I've seen them shakedown a pub but that's about it.

I saw on television a football match between two Thai provinces that turned pretty ugly. How the police were dealing with it was comical. The answer is they don't police, they're just called police, that's all....