Child Car Seats

[Gumballl]

I have only been in taxis, private mini-buses, and pick-up trucks in Thailand. I've noticed that neither of these vehicles have seat belts in the rear passenger seats. Therefore, how is one supposed to attach a child (baby) car seat, unless in the front passenger seat?

Is the lack of seat belts typical of all vehicles in Thailand, or just the one's for hire and the "ever so safe" (not!) pickup truck.

[Nawtilus]

New cars have them in the rear. Most taxis remove them from the back seat, but every now and then you get one with them still in.

Dueal cabs i am not sure about, I have seen some with them in and some with them not.

But it is easy enough to just have them put back in. If you are meaning that you want to put a kids seat in a taxi when you go out, then you wont have any luck.

[Gumballl]

My wife and baby daughter live in Korat. The journey from Korat to BKK, as you may well know, can be dangerous at times.

Soon I am hoping that my wife and daughter will join me in the US, and that Thai driving horrors will be a distant memory.

For now, during my visits to Thailand, should I have to take my daughter to BKK, I will stick to taking the train.

[Nawtilus]

I agree, I have 2 kids here and hate taking them out in taxis. But it has to be done. We simply are very vigilant on how the driver drivesand tell him to slow down or drive carefully if he shows race car tendancies. otherwise we tell them to stop and get another one.

As for one of long trips like that from time to time, if you hire a car, you can get child seats. If you hire a bus or taxi for the trip, you can make sure they have restraints and then fit the child seat.

[grahamb]

It's not just in taxis where this can be a problem - our yr2000 Honda Accord's rear seatbelts work differently from all the descriptions I read about the equivalent US model on the web. This was particularly a problem when the child seat was rear-facing. I eventually managed to get it fitted securely enough but it was not fitted the same way as if we were in e.g. Europe or the US.

I took the car to the local Honda garage for help and their suggestion (and how they fitted it) was to use all 3 seatbelts in the back to secure it in place so that no-one else could have sat on the back seat and the seat still moved around as if nothing was holding it... I thanked them for their (lack of) help and fitted it myself

[Rooo]

All cars( I think) have 3 bolt fittings on the rear shelf,it's just a matter of removing the cover & screwing in the baby seat connection& then pass the standard belt through. Hope this helps.Oh sedans only.

With truck type , you drill a hole in back panel , backing plates inside & out & screw fitting in.

[rcalsop]

I have only been in taxis, private mini-buses, and pick-up trucks in Thailand. I've noticed that neither of these vehicles have seat belts in the rear passenger seats. Therefore, how is one supposed to attach a child (baby) car seat, unless in the front passenger seat?

Is the lack of seat belts typical of all vehicles in Thailand, or just the one's for hire and the "ever so safe" (not!) pickup truck.

In our first car a pickup I drilled through the rear bulkhead and bolted (with backing plates ) a lap strap belt which worked perfectly with the car seat I bought which had a 3 point harness belt in the seat . After that I bought cars that had ISO fitting points for the child seat and additional seat belt fittings from the dealer ( look in the hand book for the part numbers and use that for the order ) .

My Toyota Wish has two rear seats with the correct ISO fittings as standard and the third row of seats I added the special buckle to the belts to fit the new child seats I bought from Central . Taxis and buses !!!impossible to make them safe you cannot do it . That is why I spend the extra money and buy cars with the correct crumple zones and belt fittings then economy is the next consideration only after that is performance , speed and looks .

Now after amazing rows with family over the use of seats and belts I have finally won !!!! they understand and and my wife is an absolute convert to crazy farang ways including lecturing the other ladies at the beauty shop and the neighbours .. I have just handed the mothercare car seat catalogue to my Thai management collegue who is due to have a birth very soon and quote I had better get this sorted before you and your wife nag me to death !!!!.

The message can get through and you may just save a life .

[Thaiboxer]

In our first car a pickup I drilled through the rear bulkhead and bolted (with backing plates ) a lap strap belt which worked perfectly with the car seat I bought which had a 3 point harness belt in the seat .

rcalsop...what brand/model of car seat did you buy that was compatible with the pickup you had?

We have an '81 Toyota liftback with no belts in the rear seats...it simply never had them. I wonder if a reputable mechanic could fit belts in as I wouldn't feel confident enough to do any physical alterations myself. I don't think all car seats are the same so I would definitely be interested in one that could be adapted to a standard lap belt without the chest harness.

[markuk]

We have seat belts in the back of our Altis and it fixes to the car seat with no problems at all.

[rcalsop]

In our first car a pickup I drilled through the rear bulkhead and bolted (with backing plates ) a lap strap belt which worked perfectly with the car seat I bought which had a 3 point harness belt in the seat .

rcalsop...what brand/model of car seat did you buy that was compatible with the pickup you had?

We have an '81 Toyota liftback with no belts in the rear seats...it simply never had them. I wonder if a reputable mechanic could fit belts in as I wouldn't feel confident enough to do any physical alterations myself. I don't think all car seats are the same so I would definitely be interested in one that could be adapted to a standard lap belt without the chest harness.

I have no idea of the brand I visited 2or 3 car spares shops in the Rangsit area and they slowly helped me home in on the correct shop ..the lap belt was about 350 baht and the fitting comprised of removal of the lift out back seat bench and two holes drilled ,pilot holes and then holes a fraction larger than the bolts used for fastening then ( the bolts and washers were sourced with the belt ) large washers were used as plates on the bolt side of the bulk head ,which on Wingroad was the loading deck . The bolts were cut to length after fitting with a hack saw ( the most difficult bit ,hard work but the sweating merited 2 cold beers ) Then a quick cover up with paint and later I found a plastic cap that fitted over the not and bolt to tidy it up . The fitting needs to be solid and reliable and have good spring washers or nylock bolts or lock tight added so they do not vibrate undone . But remeber new belt mountings are actually made to Peel like a sardine can and rip out the fitting area in a Major impact to absorb the energy and not transfer it all to the human frame . The first objective is to stop the child becoming a projectile and flying through the air with the kinetic energy of a cannon ball killing the child and the person it hits on the way out . The second is energy absorbtion to reduce the skeletal forces and to reduce the the brain hitting the skull lining and whipping around like a jelly in an oversized bowl through rapid decelleration and back lash .

For dog lovers the same applies to dogs on the back seat you have a frontal impact with an unrestrained dog on the back seat and you are nicely controlled by your belts but the dog is now flying towards you with the force of a lead ball .

[helicoptor]

I am currently deliberating on whether to purchase a child car seat in the UK or when we arrive in LOS - Our Boy is 7 months, he has one at present but is fast growing out of it. I am unaware of Quality Standards regarding child seats in LOS so maybe purchasing in UK first? The deliberation is whether to wait till be get there and make do with the one we have or buy now in UK.. only problem with the latter is the (already) excess baggage we will have!

[samran]

I am currently deliberating on whether to purchase a child car seat in the UK or when we arrive in LOS - Our Boy is 7 months, he has one at present but is fast growing out of it. I am unaware of Quality Standards regarding child seats in LOS so maybe purchasing in UK first? The deliberation is whether to wait till be get there and make do with the one we have or buy now in UK.. only problem with the latter is the (already) excess baggage we will have!

We got ours here. No problems buying international brands here, ours are EU standard rated.

Generally things are more expensive here on that front, but if you are going to get stung with excess baggage, it may be worthwhile just getting it here.