Prayuth Promises Punishment for Not Maintaining Transport Safety

[rooster59]

Prayuth Promises Punishment for Not Maintaining Transport Safety

By Pravit Rojanaphruk
Senior Staff Writer



Airport Rail Link passengers are treated Monday morning in Bangkok. Photo: Ruamkatanyu Foundation

BANGKOK — Heavier penalties will be meted out against those who endanger the lives of public transport users, Junta-leader-cum-Prime-Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha said yesterday.

Without laying out anything specific, Prayuth said, during his weekly Friday night television and radio address yesterday, that he would use his power to make sure anybody responsible for causing death or injury to train, bus or ferry passengers will face heavier punishment.

“Life vests must be readily available, trains must have safety standards and [administrators must] not try to solve disasters after they occur.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1459587912

-- Khaosod English 2016-04-03

[deckape]

Heavier penalties will be meted out against those who endanger the lives of public transport users

Get ready to punish every Thai behind the wheel....

[Smiley Face]

Expect 300 baht fines! Such harsh punishment will be a real deterrent!

[NongKhaiKid]

I for one believe him, after all we know how good Thai officialdom, from the top down, is at making promises and delivering ! ?

Edited April 3, 2016 by NongKhaiKid

[tracker1]

Firstly you have to catch the driver / operator if their not deceased or seriously injured as they have a tendency to do a runner

[tuanku]

Attempting to address the symptoms, not the underlying disease, which is an absence of law enforcement,

[arthurboy]

It's good to see yet another pronouncement from the junta.

Now all we need is some - any - independent evidence to see that they actually work.

BTW, I wonder what the budget is for this latest public spirited initiative?

[Thian]

When a Thai passengerboat sinks (happens regularly) they always improve the "safety". I bet that if i go to the passengerboats on the Chao Praya right now i will find them overloaded with too few lifevests. Same as the jampacked full skytrains at Siam every day.

[Hawk]

Promises, promises, promises!

But the sun will shine tomorrow!

[tuanku]

When a Thai passengerboat sinks (happens regularly) they always improve the "safety". I bet that if i go to the passengerboats on the Chao Praya right now i will find them overloaded with too few lifevests. Same as the jampacked full skytrains at Siam every day.

What - no life vests on the skytrains! It beggars belief.

[kingalfred]

Attempting to address the symptoms, not the underlying disease, which is an absence of law enforcement,

exactly! Talking about penalties is never a deterrent. Its taking action before!!

[jaltsc]

"Without laying out anything specific..."

Pretty much says it all when it comes to any promise made in LOS.

"Prayuth said he can’t help it if private car drivers wish to jeopardize their own lives by not being mindful about safe driving..."

Lock up the first few for 20 years with no possibility for parole and the others will catch on in 5-15 year....Hey, at least it's a start.

Oh, if you come from a rich and influential family, just ignore all of the above. Oh silly me, they've already been doing that for centuries.

Edited April 3, 2016 by jaltsc

[phoenixdoglover]

Attempting to address the symptoms, not the underlying disease, which is an absence of law enforcement,

exactly! Talking about penalties is never a deterrent. Its taking action before!!

Who would have thought the head of the Thai armed forces was not a man with a nuanced and sophisticated view of the functions of government and the police?

To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

(Quote attributed to Mark Twain)

[torpedo1970]

"that he would use his power to make sure anybody responsible for causing death or injury to train, bus or ferry passengers will face heavier punishment."

​Yes, good luck with punishing the brakes on buses - because thats who's fault it is.....

April fools is over but the ******* keeps coming

[NCC1701A]

the next time one of these horrible bus accidents happens, the PM should show up, pull his gun out and execute the driver and company owners right on the spot.

that will get things moving the right direction.

[The Deerhunter]

Attempting to address the symptoms, not the underlying disease, which is an absence of law enforcement,

.....and almost total absence of enforcement of safety and maintenance regimes by all the appropriate government departments and local authorities. It gets bigger than one can just cover in a promise on the Friday night chat show. A whole sea-change of attitudes to personal responsibility is required; and even with the best intentions and the best will in the world, that ain't gonna happen overnight! It has to start with the minister of every department and be relentlessly followed and prosecuted all the way down the line, in every sense of the word "prosecuted."

pros·e·cute

ˈpräsəˌkyo͞ot/

verb

past tense: prosecuted; past participle: prosecuted

1. 1.

   institute legal proceedings against (a person or organization).

   "they were prosecuted for obstructing the highway"
2. 2.

   continue with (a course of action) with a view to its completion.

   "a serious threat to the government's ability to prosecute the war"

Edited April 3, 2016 by The Deerhunter

[phoenixdoglover]

Attempting to address the symptoms, not the underlying disease, which is an absence of law enforcement,

.....and almost total absence of enforcement of safety and maintenance regimes by all the appropriate government departments and local authorities. It gets bigger than one can just cover in a promise on the Friday night chat show. A whole sea-change of attitudes to personal responsibility is required; and even with the best intentions and the best will in the world, that ain't gonna happen overnight! It has to start with the minister of every department and be relentlessly followed and prosecuted all the way down the line, in every sense of the word "prosecuted."

pros·e·cute

ˈpräsəˌkyo͞ot/

verb

past tense: prosecuted; past participle: prosecuted

1. 1.

   institute legal proceedings against (a person or organization).

   "they were prosecuted for obstructing the highway"

Hah! You forgot:

trans·fer

ˈtraansˌfur/

verb

past tense: transferred; past participle: transferred

1. 1.

   move a Thai official to a new job assignment, so as to appear to be punishing them.

   "they were transferred to the Department of Face Saving and Forgetting"

[Pib]

Gosh, this might mean fines for causing a road death could double, like maybe after years of investigation and court delay the fine could go from say Bt3,000 to Bt6,000. And who knows they might even send you to jail for a few months. Penalties might get durn tough in Thailand.

[natway09]

Grabbing the horse by the tail again I see!!!!

[yellowboat]

The venerable Junta-leader-cum-Prime-Minister is all stick and no carrot. Like many have said above, standards and enforcement

in Thailand are weak. There should be a minimal baseline to follow for safe operations. Operators who achieve high standards should

receive accolades. Praise those who do good first prior to threatening those who do bad.

[DDbkh]

Attempting to address the symptoms, not the underlying disease, which is an absence of law enforcement,

.....and almost total absence of enforcement of safety and maintenance regimes by all the appropriate government departments and local authorities. It gets bigger than one can just cover in a promise on the Friday night chat show. A whole sea-change of attitudes to personal responsibility is required; and even with the best intentions and the best will in the world, that ain't gonna happen overnight! It has to start with the minister of every department and be relentlessly followed and prosecuted all the way down the line, in every sense of the word "prosecuted."

pros·e·cute

ˈpräsəˌkyo͞ot/

verb

past tense: prosecuted; past participle: prosecuted

• 1.

  institute legal proceedings against (a person or organization).

  "they were prosecuted for obstructing the highway"

Hah! You forgot:

trans·fer

ˈtraansˌfur/

verb

past tense: transferred; past participle: transferred

• 1.

  move a Thai official to a new job assignment, so as to appear to be punishing them.

  "they were transferred to the Department of Face Saving and Forgetting"

Don't forget that traditionally ministers buy their posts and do not expect to have to do anything - a well known fugitive reputedly had 110 hopefuls lined up for his sister's little scam. Cash up front before you sit at the cabinet table. Maybe this has changed.

[Lupatria]

'trains must have safety standards'

This must be shocking news for the board members of the SRT as the budget for that is probably used up already.

[Tompa]

He can always start with the bus/train accident that killed 3 and injured 30 in Nakhon Chaisi earlier today!

Edited April 3, 2016 by Tompa

[Jimbo2014]

Hows about we focus on car safety. Like the numerous idiots that jumped 3 lanes squeezing between cars on the freeway in front of me in the last 10 minutes.

[WhizBang]

Attempting to address the symptoms, not the underlying disease, which is an absence of law enforcement,

Bingo. As always in Thailand, 99% of the real problems Thailand faces is due to total lack of law enfoecement.

Reform the police and judicial system from the VERY top to the bottom. Make examples of some very high ranking cops, jail them for their crimes with very hefty sentences, then strip them of their ill gotten wealth. THAT would make the rest sit up and take notice.

But until something drastic and comprehensive is done, nothing will change in Thailand.

And also do not forget military reform.

[phutoie2]

He can always start with the bus/train accident that killed 3 and injured 30 in Nakhon Chaisi earlier today!

just watched the vid on FB, what was that driver thinking?, well he was one of the ones killed so who knows. General P start with those unmanned crossings now.

[toybits]

We will know after This Year's Songkran Festival. Won't we? Another bloodbath coming up!!!

[soalbundy]

'trains must have safety standards'

This must be shocking news for the board members of the SRT as the budget for that is probably used up already.

They will just punish the poor train driver for the poor condition of the rail track and lack of maintenance of the train. I feel safer already.

[Basil B]

Having been on many boats without working Marine VHF radio, instead they use mobiles to call the boat operators who will probably have a half baked disaster plan that involves calling the Navy as a last resort.

VHF is important in coastal waters because a call on Channel 16 is broadcast to all vessels monitoring channel 16 as well as Coastguard, without VHF radio boats in distress can not broadcast a distress call but more importantly they are not listening out for other boats in distress and therefore maybe unaware of a situation where they are the nearest boat to assist. (case in point... SS Californian, how different things may have been had they been monitoring their radio on the fateful night off the SS Titanic).

[Thian]

Having been on many boats without working Marine VHF radio, instead they use mobiles to call the boat operators who will probably have a half baked disaster plan that involves calling the Navy as a last resort.

VHF is important in coastal waters because a call on Channel 16 is broadcast to all vessels monitoring channel 16 as well as Coastguard, without VHF radio boats in distress can not broadcast a distress call but more importantly they are not listening out for other boats in distress and therefore maybe unaware of a situation where they are the nearest boat to assist. (case in point... SS Californian, how different things may have been had they been monitoring their radio on the fateful night off the SS Titanic).

Hab LINE groupchat krab, no need ladio.

Did you also check the rescueboats on the ferry to samui? After studying it for 10 minutes i still understand how to launch them.