Children Car Seats Thailand Do You Use Them ?

[WilliamCave]

I was wondering how many westeners and Thais actually use children car seats here?

I have 2 in my vehicle for both my kids and they are used , meaning they are buckled up in them.

One time I was at the wife's family and her cousin came back to bkk with us from Chumphon and she was not happy I would not take the care seats out for the kids so she could be more comfortable she sat between the car seats and could not stretch out.

My reply was the seats are staying there if you don't like it there is always the bus.

Am I missing the picture here about Thais not understand why I use children car seats

[thaicbr]

I was wondering how many westeners and Thais actually use children car seats here?

I have 2 in my vehicle for both my kids and they are used , meaning they are buckled up in them.

One time I was at the wife's family and her cousin came back to bkk with us from Chumphon and she was not happy I would not take the care seats out for the kids so she could be more comfortable she sat between the car seats and could not stretch out.

My reply was the seats are staying there if you don't like it there is always the bus.

Am I missing the picture here about Thais not understand why I use children car seats

A lot of Thais just do not understand the consequences of their own actions. It will NEVER happen to them. Lack of education. Lack of thought for other than themselves. Lack of safety training at school/on the TV etc.

sent from my Q6

[TommoPhysicist]

Plenty of room for hangers on in the back of my pickup.

My kid sits on a pillow with the seatbelt on.

Child seats are only to raise the kid up high enough to wear the seatbelt.

[anon210]

I have a baby and I purchased a car seat when mother and child came to Thailand. The baby absolutely loves it and now she sleeps comfortably in it and gets to love driving around.

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[thaicbr]

Plenty of room for hangers on in the back of my pickup.

My kid sits on a pillow with the seatbelt on.

Child seats are only to raise the kid up high enough to wear the seatbelt.

Umm I don't think that's strictly true. Raising the child is just one part of a decent car seat. You are thinking of a booster seat for older children.

sent from my Q6

[BEVUP]

I was wondering how many westeners and Thais actually use children car seats here?

I have 2 in my vehicle for both my kids and they are used , meaning they are buckled up in them.

One time I was at the wife's family and her cousin came back to bkk with us from Chumphon and she was not happy I would not take the care seats out for the kids so she could be more comfortable she sat between the car seats and could not stretch out.

My reply was the seats are staying there if you don't like it there is always the bus.

Am I missing the picture here about Thais not understand why I use children car seats

A lot of Thais just do not understand the consequences of their own actions. It will NEVER happen to them. Lack of education. Lack of thought for other than themselves. Lack of safety training at school/on the TV etc.

sent from my Q6

EXACTLY

Keep telling the wife of the consiquences & thats why foriegners put their child in a seat in the back

REPLY WAS - & not be with mum whos sitting in the front wanting to nurse him

SOM NAM NA - iN THE BUBBLE

[evadgib]

It's mandatory in my car for everyone to belt up. My children are on boosters, having used adequate retraints since birth. Curiously the only people I see doing same are Ferangs or Thai/Ferang families.

[WilliamCave]

Good on all. That use them. My wife was in Canada and when we got pulled over by the police he asked to see that the kids were in there car seats properly. She was amassed at the requirements there for kids in car seats and in Thailand she agrees with them she has learnt

[BrianCR]

It's very difficult to put children's seats behind the wheel where many parents allow their kids to sit and even harder to put two or three on a motorcycle as mum and dad are taking up the room!

[ajarnpot]

Plenty of room for hangers on in the back of my pickup.

My kid sits on a pillow with the seatbelt on.

Child seats are only to raise the kid up high enough to wear the seatbelt.

ha ha, except of course when you have seen the stats - references not included cos I've better things to dowith my life- that show the number of lives saved by using 5 point child seats, in fact, most of Thailand should take notice of the stats for 3 point seatbelt, many lives saved by those thing too

of course road deaths being a greater source of deaths than any of the wars going on in the world today - combined -- I have gone off track here

[Orac]

Why on earth use something as backward as child seats when in this day and age in Thailand a bit of tippex on the roof and a small rubbing of gold and some foliage on the front bumper will give you all the protection you could ever need. If you feel this is not enough there are people standing at most junctions to sell you life preserving hanging things for your rear view mirror or you can place a small plate of food on the dashboard.

[Rsquared]

Unfortunately this is a perfect example to show the difference that education and law enforcement can make.

Coming from Oz where it is mandatory to have proper child restraints fitted, even taxi cabs are not allowed to carry passengers with small children if they don't have the proper restraints. Many lives are saved due to this law (please don't ask me to submit evidence....I am just using common sense).

Contrary, in Thailand there is a total disregard for safety when it comes to child restraints.....only have to look at the number of kids hanging off motor cycles, then there is the back of pick-ups, chock-a-blok full of kids and adults.

It will take a very long time to educate the average Thai, and then there is the enforcement......which both topics have been discussed to death previously.

So my hat is off to all the expats who take care of their young ones and don't fall into the "Thai way".

Cheers.

[TommoPhysicist]

Plenty of room for hangers on in the back of my pickup.

My kid sits on a pillow with the seatbelt on.

Child seats are only to raise the kid up high enough to wear the seatbelt.

ha ha, except of course when you have seen the stats - references not included cos I've better things to dowith my life- that show the number of lives saved by using 5 point child seats, in fact, most of Thailand should take notice of the stats for 3 point seatbelt, many lives saved by those thing too

of course road deaths being a greater source of deaths than any of the wars going on in the world today - combined -- I have gone off track here

I wonder if a kid in a child seat with a five point harness (attached by the normal seatbelt), is any safer than the kid sitting on a cushion and using the normal seatbelt?

I suspect no difference.

Edited January 3, 2013 by TommoPhysicist

[SweatySock]

Have to hang my head in shame here. I bought the car seat when my son was born, 5 years ago and initially it was used for every journey. However as he got older, he went for trips in grandad's car, which had no child seat and guess which one he preferred?

At the moment, the only concession I have to child safety is they sit in the back, not good I know.

[Tomtomtom69]

Just a few weeks ago I went on a trip to Chonburi with my Thai fiancee (we studied together in the USA) and her Thai friend who was visiting Thailand from the USA where she lives with her American husband. I was the driver, and alas she brought along her child seat, that she promptly fitted into the back seat of my car for her 2 year old daughter to sit in. Of course that lady has a lot of common sense, but given the standards (and laws) in America, this shouldn't be surprising. However, it still shakes me to see so few Thai people in general use car seats here when they are proven to keep kids safe. I haven't really observed this, but my guess would be that middle and upper class families are likely to use car seats, whereas many middle class families from upcountry Thailand and especially lower middle class families driving beaten down pickup trucks almost certainly don't.

Edited January 3, 2013 by Tomtomtom69

[xen]

When i have my step kids in the car the car doesn't move until the seat belts are done up. Then when they are with their father ,he tells them not to put their seatbelts on because he is a "Good" driver. ..............................................(And he gets a better driver the more whiskey he drinks too ).

[tartempion]

I have an isofix type childchair in my car and my wife an ordinary one.

We don't drive off without our now 2 years young being locked in her chair.

She always tries to lock herself but she can't manage that...yet...

[GooEng]

always use(d) them for both my kids - youngest (2.5yrs), still in the baby seat and oldest (6yrs) now on booster cusion.

seats were easy to buy in thailand with a wide variety of international brands available in the BKK malls, booster seat/cushion harder to find and eventually bought online in the uk (amazon.com) and had it sent to thailand.

wife was initially less than convinced about the necessity of these devices until shown youtube videos of unrestrained rear seat crash test dummy babies flying over/between the front seats and through the windscreen, or being crushed between adult and dashboard when sat on a knee in the front passenger seat.

Edited January 4, 2013 by GooEng

[barefoot1988]

i think there is a huge demand for child seat, not sure about how many use them though.

last year i posted and ad in bahtsold for my rear facing baby seat. you cannot imagine the amount of response i got within a week

[WilliamCave]

i think there is a huge demand for child seat, not sure about how many use them though.

last year i posted and ad in bahtsold for my rear facing baby seat. you cannot imagine the amount of response i got within a week

Was the response can I ask from Thais or westeners? I think mostvthais won't pay the price for car seats.

My wife understood what it means after 1 of outs children were born in Canada and we couldn't leave the hospital until we showed the nurse the car seat for the baby

[7by7]

Plenty of room for hangers on in the back of my pickup.

My kid sits on a pillow with the seatbelt on.

Child seats are only to raise the kid up high enough to wear the seatbelt.

ha ha, except of course when you have seen the stats - references not included cos I've better things to dowith my life- that show the number of lives saved by using 5 point child seats, in fact, most of Thailand should take notice of the stats for 3 point seatbelt, many lives saved by those thing too

of course road deaths being a greater source of deaths than any of the wars going on in the world today - combined -- I have gone off track here

I wonder if a kid in a child seat with a five point harness (attached by the normal seatbelt), is any safer than the kid sitting on a cushion and using the normal seatbelt?

I suspect no difference.

There is a big difference.

If the child is too small for the standard seatbelt, even if on a booster seat, then in the event of an accident they will not be thrown forward into the restraint.

Instead they will slide underneath the lap belt until something stops the movement.

That something will almost certainly be their head; result a broken neck and, at best, a quadriplegic child. Though more likely a dead child.

Always use the proper child restraint for the child's age and size.

This includes using a proper, secured booster seat if the child is big enough. A cushion is not secured in which case child and cushion will slide forward as above.

If proper child restraints aren't available then it is actually better for the child to be sitting in a rear seat unrestrained than be in an adult restraint too big for them.

And never sit a child on an adults lap and put the seatbelt round them both. In an accident the adult will crush the child.

[SteeleJoe]

As above. Also the seats themselves are designed to offer some protection.

It's ridiculous to think a pillow would stay in place or offer what a seat would if it did.

Yes, I use a child seat.

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[kurnell]

I have used child safety seats for my 2 girls since birth. We take them when we fly to Chiang Mai, Krabi etc as we use rental cars.

Thankfully my 3 year old was properly buckled in when my genius wife decided to reverse up an expressway when she missed her turn and a car following clipped another car before spinning and careering into our car destroying the right side of the vehicle. 3 year old hit her head but 95% of the impact was absorbed by the safety chair.

[Forethat]

Yes I use them.

I dont understand or know why Thais won't use them. I find that interesting. In addition, most Thais refuse to listen to, or understand, any argument that suggests they are doing the wrong thing.

What most people don't understand is that this is a problem in United Kingdom as well. It's not that they dont use child car seats, it's the fact that they use the wrong seats. Almost every child in United Kingdom is positioned in the back seat forward facing. That is, as soon as they are old enough to get out of the infant seat, they are positioned like this. Children shouldn't be travelling forward facing until they weigh ~20kg. I have asked colleagues about this and tried to suggest a backward facing position, but they refuse to listen. I should point out that this requires a child car seat designed for this. You can buy seats like this in almost every country in Europe.

Strangely enough, even though Britax - one of Europes best selling and top rated child car seat manufacturer - recommends that children under 20kg travels backward facing, but this recommendation is not given on the UK website. And in fact, the backwards facing car seat models aren't even sold in the UK.

So Thai's aren't the only nationality with minor flaws.

[maturebrit]

Have to hang my head in shame here. I bought the car seat when my son was born, 5 years ago and initially it was used for every journey. However as he got older, he went for trips in grandad's car, which had no child seat and guess which one he preferred?

At the moment, the only concession I have to child safety is they sit in the back, not good I know.

yeah I hear what your saying but if a child is in the rear seat without restraint hes like a missile if you did have to brake hard.. God Forbid... saw a vid years back showing just how a child can fly from a rear seat through the windscreen...my kids wont travel unless strapped in

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[Blackandwhite]

We have always used car seats in Thailand. The family were a little amused until we explained the reason ( it is all about education - we get it they do not ).

It is simple they are there to be used

Some bk taxi's still do not have seat belts to strap the car seats in the back

[147SAG]

We have always used car seats in Thailand. The family were a little amused until we explained the reason ( it is all about education - we get it they do not ).

It is simple they are there to be used

Some bk taxi's still do not have seat belts to strap the car seats in the back

We had twins in December this year and bought two car seats for the trip back home upcountry by van.I went to install car seats in the new van.Well there isn't any.and this is a brand new van.So with van already packed full we headed home with kids in unrestained car seats.Now at home seats bases are in the back seat all the time ready to go.There are all kinds of car seats and booster seats in Bangkok if you are willing to pay the price.After all they are your children.

[TexasRanger]

My in laws didnt understand why I wouldnt let my neice sit on the lap of the front seat passenger, I just lied and said a friend did that and hit a dog and the kids head got smashed on the windscreen and was disabled badly. Seemed to do the trick, she now sits in the back.

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[jocko]

Dont forget that wearing m/c helmets is the law in Thailand do we all wear them .

Child seats should be the law as well it would take massive safety campaign to try and educate the Thais and then enforce the law.

Not much hope there methinks

[swlondonmum]

We got a car seat for our 3yr old as soon as we got here and it is used almost without exception (ie I have let him sit out of it a handful of times driving at 20kmph in a soi, but I dont even like doing that when Thai family/friends are around as it gives the message that it's ok not to use it!). He's now 4 and 'trained' to say when his seatbelt is not done up so people in the back can help him - we've explained (mildly scared!) him into understanding why!

A few times in the early days I was persuaded to take it out and have him sit on me even on longer journeys but I soon realised that it's my son's life I'm taking in my hands and I'd rather be embarrassed than risk his safety. We've been on a few trips with friends and it's a bit uncomfortable with 2 adults plus car seat in the back but tough - if we can all wear seatbelts, why can't my son! he hardly ever goes in cars with other people as they have basically said/shown that they don't think it's important.

My (thai) husband on the whole agrees as he lived in the uk for 7yrs though says the odd comment like 'it'd be more comfortable in the back if you took the car seat out' though it must be hard not to be influenced when everyone around you thinks you're crazy for using it.

It's easy to slag off Thais but you only have to go back to when I was a kid to remember when adults in the uk didn't even wear seat belts at all (70s) and car seats/ seatbelts in the back are more recent. As others have said, rear facing car seats are safer but we dont yet have these in the uk. The safety argument of car seats (and seatbelts) is undeniable and hopefully Thais will start using them more - I would hate any of the Thais I know to get hurt or die in a car crash, esp the kids.

I would say one of the reasons for not using them for many people is not always the cost of the car seat but the 'cost' and 'inconvenience' of using it - ie you can't fit as many people in the car/it's less comfortable- sis in law bought one when my hubby recommended it after we got here but they never use it. Plus of course, education and the fact that many cars don't have seatbelts in the back.

We're moving back to the uk this year and it will be a relief for it to never be an issue there!