Bangkok police want cars older than 10 years off the streets

[webfact]

TRAFFIC
Bangkok police want cars older than 10 years off the streets
THE NATION



BANGKOK: -- POLICE will propose that all vehicles older than 10 years be kept off Bangkok streets as part of a plan to improve traffic flow, unless they pay the same tax as new vehicles, a senior Metropolitan Police officer said yesterday.

Pol Maj Gen Adul Narongsak, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in charge of traffic, said city police would propose that the Transport Ministry set up regulations for such a prohibition.

Owners of such cars should be required to pay a yearly vehicle tax at the rate of a new car if they want to continue driving in Bangkok, Adul added.

"It will be required that cars allowed to run in Bangkok should be no older than 10 years. All cars older than that will have to be used in the provinces," he said.

At present, cars of seven years and older are now subject to 50 per cent less tax than on new cars.

No more details were provided.

Part of 16 traffic plans

The idea of banning older cars is part of 16 plans proposed by the Metropolitan Police to tackle the traffic problem in Bangkok next year.

Others include setting up a traffic court for the capital, modernising the ageing equipment at the traffic-control centre and reassigning the school hours and working hours of government agencies and businesses so there is not as much traffic during rush hour, Adul said.

He added that the proposals would call for an improvement in the efficiency of traffic police, acquisition of new technology and modern equipment to control traffic, and strict enforcement of traffic laws, particularly involving speeding and jumping red-light signals.

Traffic police would rely more on closed-circuit cameras to direct traffic and enforce the laws.

According to Adul, another measure to be implemented during rush hour from next month is the towing of cars that are parked in prohibited areas. Violators will |need to pay a Bt500 fine, Bt500 in towing fees and Bt200 per day for storage.


-- The Nation 2013-10-08

[huanga]

Should of thought of the congestion before the government installed the first car policy. Then again, it's always patch job with this government or before. Never bother with long term planning!

[Thai at Heart]

Well who the hell thought it was smart to licence cars on a sliding scale anyway?????

[JoeThePoster]

Traffic police would rely more on closed-circuit cameras to direct traffic and enforce the laws.

Phew, for a moment there I thought they would actually need to get out of their air conditioned booth.

[noitom]

These Thais, they are something else. Now they're pressing down again on the poor Thais. Thais should think about raising tolls for entering Bangkok and enforcing compliance, inspection, and regulations to get plates every year.

[MYKTHEMIN]

I assume this apply to all the old dead beat buses.

[Crazy chef 1]

could be easyily solved: just enforce the thousands of existing traffic laws and the BIB's are doing their job.easy, isn'it?

[chooka]

This seems to be more of a class and image thing. No mention of the roadworthiness (safety) of the vehicles only removing the poor mans cars from Bangkok out to the poor mans province. I would guess clearing the majority of the vehicles of the roads would clear the way for Somchia's Merc.

I have no problem with removing any vehicle from the roads if they fail to comply with road worthy standards, and that includes 2 year old Mercs if a 10 year old vehicle is in mint or top condition then it has every right to use the same public road as the Hi So's. Adding extra taxes on vehicles based solely on a vehicles age is not fair.

Edited October 7, 2013 by chooka

[jackr]

Good enough, some of these clunkers are a problem, but please include tuk-tuks which create more pollution per kg than anything out there.

[yooper2001]

Why don't they have a yearly safety inspection on any vehicle over 5 years old and make a reasonable decision if the vehicle is safe for the road or not. Oh wait this is Thailand and this is too simple of a solution

[Tatsujin]

Oh my word, I thought that outright stupidity had been slowed down some . . . I guess I was wrong, it's still alive and kicking.

[ezzra]

What a load of hogwash, I have been driving extensively in Bkk for 26 years now and rarely I see cars

broken down, the problems dose not lie in old cars, the problems lies in old fart's thinking like

this police man, I'm willing to match my 14 years old Benz with any of his "gift" cars he's driving..

[ezzra]

Why don't they have a yearly safety inspection on any vehicle over 5 years old and make a reasonable decision if the vehicle is safe for the road or not. Oh wait this is Thailand and this is too simple of a solution

There is such yearly inspection on all vehicles over 7 years I believe, whereby the vehicle is inspected for all safety and mechanical roadworthiness,

[boomerangutang]

Bkk needs to implement 'dedicated right turn lanes' with green arrow lights. Currently, at every intersection with lights, only one lane can move at a time, while 3 or more are stuck.

[MaxLee]

So in other words, ditch your old car and buy a new one? What logic is that? And how will it solve traffic problems. The old cars aren't simply gonna disappear in thin air, and if they are compressed, you only have bigger amount of metal junk.

[ignis]

Why don't they have a yearly safety inspection on any vehicle over 5 years old and make a reasonable decision if the vehicle is safe for the road or not. Oh wait this is Thailand and this is too simple of a solution

what is a safety inspection ? cars already have so say an inspection [MOT] after there 8th Birthday every year, or you will not get your road tax

My car is old, the paper I need to get the tax, safety inspection? I take the car to the garage, she take the book and the numbers using masking tap and a pencil.

5 mins later I drive home.......... 7 days later she calls me have the new tax come and collect. I bought my Audi A6 in 2008, was very low KM and 1 owner but 10 years old.. every year since then have taken it to a local Village Garage each year to get the paper to get the new Tax, also get the new Insurance from the same lady garage owner.. never had any sort of Inspection, or car checked.

Yes is in mint condition and now has 158k only on the clock... my 18 month old Pickup has already well passed that KM

Now I have seen car/trucks on red plates with rear lights not working or front lights only 1 headlight, they will be OK as just a few days/weeks old. also seen 20 - 30 year old cars in far better condition than 10 year old cars

Anyway I drive into Bangkok maybe 2x a year, nothing I need or want in BKK, so not going at all is no problem.

[gemini81]

right, they're gonna tow off vintage mini coopers etc? Good luck with these incompetent police enforcing it. Come & get us next year, when the car is 10 years old. Come & get all the trucks from upcountry for construction, industry, hauling and selling fruit.

What an absolute joke.

[ignis]

2 nd hand car tent in and around Bangkok will look empty ? will anyone even buy a 9 year old car if they can only use it in Bangkok for 1 year ?

Many Thais privately owned car, over the years I have noticed that they keep them for 10 years, before buying new again.. many are in showroom condition but 10 years old.

[Alwyn]

Great idea! Get the old crappers out of the way so the rich kids in their ferarris have more room to violate traffic laws. Having said that didn't Japan have a law banning all cars over 3 years old? might still have that law... MOT testing (and enforcement) would help but instead of banning older cars why not implement congestion charges (and enforce them) as in London for example? Oh, and teach people how to drive correctly might help too - you know, stopping when the traffic light is red instead of dashing into the middle of the intersection and holding up all the traffic (thus starting or aiding and abetting the traffic congestion)! Start with taxi drivers... mass pogrom on the tuk tuk drivers... happy days

[aussiebebe]

Am I the only person who doesn't understand this story? Will 10 year old cars get taxed or banned from Bangkok? Or banned if they don't pay the tax?

Owners of such cars should be required to pay a yearly vehicle tax at the rate of a new car if they want to continue driving in Bangkok, Adul added.

"It will be required that cars allowed to run in Bangkok should be no older than 10 years. All cars older than that will have to be used in the provinces," he said.

It seems perfectly fair that old cars pay the same tax as new cars - a reduction in tax for older cars is unfair.

[apetley]

Why don't they have a yearly safety inspection on any vehicle over 5 years old and make a reasonable decision if the vehicle is safe for the road or not. Oh wait this is Thailand and this is too simple of a solution 

 

 

There is such yearly inspection on all vehicles over 7 years I believe, whereby the vehicle is inspected for all safety and mechanical roadworthiness,

 

Yes a friends corolla went through the test only last week. Running on three cylinders, indicators didn't work, couple of bald tyres. Absolute joke and NO money changed hands for the pass.

Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[rheinwiese]

Will that regulation include also all BKK buses over 10 years old??

I see broken down buses on a daily basis causing huge jams.

Edited October 8, 2013 by rheinwiese

[giddyup]

Am I the only person who doesn't understand this story? Will 10 year old cars get taxed or banned from Bangkok? Or banned if they don't pay the tax?

Owners of such cars should be required to pay a yearly vehicle tax at the rate of a new car if they want to continue driving in Bangkok, Adul added.

"It will be required that cars allowed to run in Bangkok should be no older than 10 years. All cars older than that will have to be used in the provinces," he said.

It seems perfectly fair that old cars pay the same tax as new cars - a reduction in tax for older cars is unfair.

Not if you have an older (8 years old) car as I do. Makes perfect sense to me!

[GeorgeO]

This seems to be more of a class and image thing. No mention of the roadworthiness (safety) of the vehicles only removing the poor mans cars from Bangkok out to the poor mans province. I would guess clearing the majority of the vehicles of the roads would clear the way for Somchia's Merc.

I have no problem with removing any vehicle from the roads if they fail to comply with road worthy standards, and that includes 2 year old Mercs if a 10 year old vehicle is in mint or top condition then it has every right to use the same public road as the Hi So's. Adding extra taxes on vehicles based solely on a vehicles age is not fair.

Totally agree Chooka, how do they propose to deal with a vintage car that has been fully maintained to pristine standards and working condition?

This whole issue could be dealt with by applying an appropriate annual vehicle maintenance testing standard, such as the MoT Test in the UK. Vehicles that fail the test cannot get their road fund licence renewed, so they are not allowed back on to the roads until all of the problems with the vehicle have been fixed and the vehicle gets through the test successfully.

Given that the test includes a check of all side, main, hazard and brake lights, such a test in Thailand would undoubtedly result in 75% of the cars being taken off the road for light replacements...!

Furthermore, once a vehicle has passed such testing, the road fund licence should be increased significantly, as the fund should be able to support all road repairs. This could be staggered according to engine size, so as to penalise those with greater emissions and reward those who drive smaller cars. I would have no problem paying double what I currently pay for my Camry.

[Notstupid30]

if it was the government who came out and said this ? i would have thought hmm seems like all car manufacturers are trying to flood the market in Thailand with new cars as they lost a lot revenue in recent month's but as it's the police i can see this problem being solved very quickly with a bribe of 200thb or what the govermeant needs to do is bring some sort of annual test of automobile safety aka MOT test ...

[robblok]

This seems to be more of a class and image thing. No mention of the roadworthiness (safety) of the vehicles only removing the poor mans cars from Bangkok out to the poor mans province. I would guess clearing the majority of the vehicles of the roads would clear the way for Somchia's Merc.

I have no problem with removing any vehicle from the roads if they fail to comply with road worthy standards, and that includes 2 year old Mercs if a 10 year old vehicle is in mint or top condition then it has every right to use the same public road as the Hi So's. Adding extra taxes on vehicles based solely on a vehicles age is not fair.

You said it before i could type it.

They should just do the checks good at the MOT and make sure the cars are maintained well. A well maintained car is not a problem old clappers that break down all the time and belch black smoke are. I would not shed a tear if those were forced out but not good cars that are kept in good condition.

[sscsamui]

That is stupid... 10 years.... It should be more like 20 year old Vehicles.. And include the City buses... Well 10 years for the Buses...

[yannic]

yes, start with the old trucks and busses congesting the Sukhumvit ban them too. Actually ban all buses and Trucks on Sukhumvit, then ban the tuk-tuks too.

[Arjay]

Really smart! Judging by the photo of that pick up truck do they think the taxes are ever paid even before increases. Maybe they should stop the "tea money' payed for inspections at the transport office first.

[virtualtraveller]

A 10 year old car is not necessarily unroadworthy, that car in the picture is more like 20 years old. My 7 year old Vigo is still in mint condition. People who can afford to drive cars should be taxed to the hilt, that will help solve traffic problems, force car share, and redirect the money towards to public transport that is comfortable and convenient.

Someone living in Bangkapi should be able to walk or motorbike taxi to a nearby metro station.