Banned vans: Officials pull 3,000 old public vans from road

[Tom Cahill]

Of course if they took the moronic van drivers off the road instead of the vans..........instead they are just going to go and replace them maybe ?

Its just a boon to second hand van sales and thats about it.... wont make the roads any safer with the morons still driving their newer van...

[2fishin2]

Maybe introduce maximum driving hours and minimum resting times in

between, instead of relaying on Red Bull or M150?

What about having all taxis, vans, buses and lorries fitted with Tachgraphs

as they do in Europe to ensure the safety of ALL road users in Thailand?

And most of all, what about enforcing existing laws in the first place?

Eh tachgraphs never heard that before

[Ulic]

Sell them in Myanmar and Laos. Fatten that bank account.

[louse1953]

Hmm, they probably mean the vans working officially, with a yellow plate, but nothing about the many thousands working, illegally, with basic plates (not authorised for carrying paying passengers)...

And not to speak about busses, I recently was 'kindly' (not that very) 'invited' on one, instead of a van, between Surrathani airport and Dhonsak, the thing from the dynosaurs age was totally unsafe, with seats hanging on pieces of ironwire, the safety belts cut off, 'inside moisturizing' through dripping aircon vents, a layer of mold everywhere where velvet might have been, the odd part falling off at every bump, rust everywhere, ...and as good as no brakes, worn out tyres, to the cord, a broken gearbox, and thick black smoke outside at every movement on the gaspedal (for a part inside the cabin too...), plus, was the, very, very young, driver having any kind of driving license, or just a member of the family...?

I'm not a religious man, and I hadn't been praying since a domestic flight in Russia, but I did, a lot, over the time it took to race(!) us, by mistake, to the Radja ferry pier, instead of the Seatran one...

Thank you very much, Thai Air Asia! 'Auf nimmer wiedersehen'!

T.i.T., although for sure ...T.A.T. would deny it!

After all that and you still got on,hypocrite.

[PeVee1st]

Only 3000!! Did they only check Sukhumvit Soi 11?? Wot about the rest of the country???????

[callaway]

Another knee jerk reaction, bloody joke.

Tests for vehicles over 7 years old ha bloody ha!!

I was at a test station a while back, they were testing ( and passed ) an old pickup that did not have a bonnet( hood if you are from USA )

when you see things like that you know that testing here is a joke.

The owner only took the bonnet off so that the examiner could do a thorough check under the bonnet. He obviously knew how thorough they are with inspections.

[Jim walker]

Will solve nothing regarding the public safety the drivers will still be driving should have just put both in the crusher van + driver this might save a few dozen lives a year on the Thai roads.

[kiwikeith]

What a crock. Thailand has an annual inspect requirement for vehicles older than 7 years. But of course this annual inspection is a joke from my personal experience in getting my vehicle inspected. It's kinda like the medical checkup/certificate required to get your first Thai drivers license--as long as you are breathing you will get the the medical certificate.

The govt should be cracking down on driver qualifications & training plus thorough annual vehicle inspections....but no, what do they do?....they try to help the vehicle manufacturers/dealers out by forcing the buy of newer vehicles which also generates more sales/excise tax for the govt.

But I expect this ban is only for the upcoming holiday period and then those 3000 vans will be allowed back on the road.

I went to the Government checking station to change onwership, vehicle had to be inspected, as I stood by and watched all the vehicles coming through I noticed one thing and the only thing checked was the VIN numbers.

They had pitts and brake machines but never saw one lane use them.

Your probably right they will let the Vans back on the Rd after Holidays.

Never a mention of a crackdown on the mental idiots that drive them.

[sead]

Of course if they took the moronic van drivers off the road instead of the vans..........instead they are just going to go and replace them maybe ?

Its just a boon to second hand van sales and thats about it.... wont make the roads any safer with the morons still driving their newer van...

The cant make money if they ban the drivers. If a turist doesnt have drivers licence they fine him and off he goes. So tomorrow we can fine him again. Problem is the money mostly goes in private pockets.

[Wilsonandson]

The van mafia! The motorcycle taxi mafia! The airport taxi mafia! What's next? The bicycle rickshaw mafia? The golf cart mafia? The ferry boat mafia? Organised crime is scary in Thailand. A hollywood movie should be made about it. 'The Good Van fellas', 'The Van Father', 'Vanface', 'Donny the Van Brasco', etc.

The bicycle rickshaw maffia is at the big market next to Nonthaburi pier. There are many of them and they all park in front of the market. Those things are very slow and cause a lot of congestion in that very busy neighbourhood.

The golfcart maffia is in the farang-moobaan next to chaeng wattana. There are several parkinglots reserved for them on the ground floor. They drive golfcarts their out of the moobaan into the parkinggarage to shop in central chaeng wattana.

Ferryboat maffia i haven't seen yet but the sightseeing longtailboat maffia is close to the grand palace. They have a scout opening taxidoors of visitors to the palace and tell them the palace is closed, then they offer them "cheap" longtailboats for extorted prices.

The real mafia of Thailand where do they live and what business are they in? This question goes through my mind when van mafia <deleted> is printed in the media. People would laugh at you in the states if you said that. Anyone know if there is a Yakuza or equivalent mafia group, real good fellas not van drivers in Los?

[JoeLing]

Maybe introduce maximum driving hours and minimum resting times in

between, instead of relaying on Red Bull or M150?

What about having all taxis, vans, buses and lorries fitted with Tachgraphs

as they do in Europe to ensure the safety of ALL road users in Thailand?

And most of all, what about enforcing existing laws in the first place?

Eh tachgraphs never heard that before

Well, obviously you're not European as they are mandatory since 1986 in all

Coaches and Lorries (or should I say trucks) within the EU and EFTA

But no worry if you haven't heard about them in the last 30 years,

Google and Wikipedia can help.

[Ks45672]

It's a start. The rest of the vans should at least have rev limiters and GPS tracking devices managed by a government body (if that's possible...)

When the driver/moron exceeds the speed limit or shows a display of speed based upon the GPS device, send the moron an electronic ticket.

It would be much better for public safety if they employed only female drivers. Women tend to have less ego and are not as abusive to the vehicles, like men are.

That's because they can't drive for shit.

Just goes to show you don't know your arse from your elbow....

How many women can win a f1 race or moto gp against men?

Maybe the odd exception but it would be the exception and not the rule

[siamcrut]

It's a start. The rest of the vans should at least have rev limiters and GPS tracking devices managed by a government body (if that's possible...)

When the driver/moron exceeds the speed limit or shows a display of speed based upon the GPS device, send the moron an electronic ticket.

It would be much better for public safety if they employed only female drivers. Women tend to have less ego and are not as abusive to the vehicles, like men are.

That's because they can't drive for shit.

...and like to play with their smartphones.

[konying]

What about the 3,000 drivers with a mentality of under 10 years?

They were given brand new vans to wreck, so its all safe now

[englishoak]

The van mafia! The motorcycle taxi mafia! The airport taxi mafia! What's next? The bicycle rickshaw mafia? The golf cart mafia? The ferry boat mafia? Organised crime is scary in Thailand. A hollywood movie should be made about it. 'The Good Van fellas', 'The Van Father', 'Vanface', 'Donny the Van Brasco', etc.

The bicycle rickshaw maffia is at the big market next to Nonthaburi pier. There are many of them and they all park in front of the market. Those things are very slow and cause a lot of congestion in that very busy neighbourhood.

The golfcart maffia is in the farang-moobaan next to chaeng wattana. There are several parkinglots reserved for them on the ground floor. They drive golfcarts their out of the moobaan into the parkinggarage to shop in central chaeng wattana.

Ferryboat maffia i haven't seen yet but the sightseeing longtailboat maffia is close to the grand palace. They have a scout opening taxidoors of visitors to the palace and tell them the palace is closed, then they offer them "cheap" longtailboats for extorted prices.

The real mafia of Thailand where do they live and what business are they in? This question goes through my mind when van mafia <deleted> is printed in the media. People would laugh at you in the states if you said that. Anyone know if there is a Yakuza or equivalent mafia group, real good fellas not van drivers in Los?

The pasta mafia would be mincemeat here, Your basically comparing poor nothing immigrant street kids done good with real and often high born power lords, breeding is everything here.

Mafia and state here works in harmony far more than the pasta mafia ever did. Start with anyone in uniform high up,then go from there...

Or did you suppose slavery, trafficking, counterfeiting,drug smuggling, gambling and illegal whiskey all takes place all over the country without the nod from the ones who oversee things and wield real power ?

Why do you suppose international crime dosnt dominate the mafia "amateurs" here and simply take over ?? because they always end up very dead, imprisoned or sent packing with a clear message when theve tried thats why. Unless they pay in like everyone else.

The godfathers here are not just the local lad done good like youd imagine, more like Game of Cards level power plays or Broadwalk Empire, the Nucky Thompsons with brother as police chief and other state employees in the family etc is a big part.

Possibly there is no more local powerful mafia anywhere in the world than here, cant say anymore unfortunately, the Syndicate as I like to call it has laws it likes to use to intimidate or threaten when any discussion of names pops up.

Think about it for a moment, you already know some of the Mr Bigs and occasionally some have to leave the country, many didnt become wealthy any other way than using standard mafia type business.

Unfortunately the pasta mafia arnt even in the same league and amateurs themselves compared to the real Godfather-esc like interests and real power used frequently here, really. Tell that to the next giggling American

[ableguy]

What a crock. Thailand has an annual inspect requirement for vehicles older than 7 years. But of course this annual inspection is a joke from my personal experience in getting my vehicle inspected. It's kinda like the medical checkup/certificate required to get your first Thai drivers license--as long as you are breathing you will get the the medical certificate.

The govt should be cracking down on driver qualifications & training plus thorough annual vehicle inspections....but no, what do they do?....they try to help the vehicle manufacturers/dealers out by forcing the buy of newer vehicles which also generates more sales/excise tax for the govt.

But I expect this ban is only for the upcoming holiday period and then those 3000 vans will be allowed back on the road.

I would bet those three thousand vans are a fantasy.