Travel in the same car as a drunk driver and you could be charged too, says Thai govt

 

File photo

 

BANGKOK: -- Passengers who travel in the same vehicle as a driver who is found to be under the influence of alcohol could also be charged with offences related to drunk driving, if new proposals get the go ahead.

 

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has asked cabinet officials to look into the possibility of such a law being adopted in Thailand, the Bangkok Post reports.

 

The PM has also wants ministers to lower the speed limit in centres and give harsher penalties for anyone found speeding, said.

 

Mr Ormsin said the Transport Ministry has already updated laws to make it easy to revoke a person’s license, as well as more severely punish those who are found to be driving without a valid license.

 

Another change in the law means that ALL passengers in a car must now fasten their seatbelts, Mr Ormsin added.

 

Also announced was the introduction of a new driving license which will include a metal strip and which is compatible with GPS. The new license will be available from the second quarter of next year, with the project expected to cost 533 million baht.

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2016-10-06

 

Baby steps, please. Let'a start with actually cracking down and prosecuting the actual drunk drivers before we go after their passengers. 

A licence with GPS strip in it.... interesting.

What if the bus or minivan driver is drunk?

Could be risky getting a taxi or tuk tuk then !

9 minutes ago, rkidlad said:

Baby steps, please. Let'a start with actually cracking down and prosecuting the actual drunk drivers before we go after their passengers. 

absolutely correct

 

also the OP is quite ludicrous under any properly applied law or logic, first of all you would have to prove that a passenger was aware of a drivers drunken state, also without carrying out a test how is a passenger going to know - the police themselves have to test those in charge/driving a vehicle if they are over the limit

 

This is beyond stupid 

2 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

Could be risky getting a taxi or tuk tuk then !

exactly, I wish someone with a bit of sense and understanding of the application of law would advise people about these things before they actually make a fool of themselves by announcing it in public

 

Yes there is good intension but

Off topic posts have been removed. 

4 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

Could be risky getting a taxi or tuk tuk then !

 

 

I am sure commercial vehicles are excluded from this. Or what about those drunk Srilankan Airlines pilots that got caught at Frankfurt Airport recently ;-)

 

I must admit I find the approach interesting, as it targets the complete lack of responsibility usually found in Thai people.

20 minutes ago, webfact said:

Passengers who travel in the same vehicle as a driver who is found to be under the influence of alcohol could also be charged with offences related to drunk driving, if new proposals get the go ahead.

 

"Could" is the operative term here. For the passenger to be charged the RTP would have to actually get out of their checkpoints, pull over erratic or even random vehicles, properly test the driver and passenger, and do all this without requesting or accepting a bribe to turn a blind eye.... In other words...

Lots of potential for disputes even violence if a passenger(s) refuse to get in a vehicle saying the driver's drunk so there's defiance on the part of the passenger which is also causing loss of face as naturally the driver isn't drunk and perfectly able to drive.

23 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

Could be risky getting a taxi or tuk tuk then !

 

Don't worry your taxi driver is only smoking meth for three days  straight in between passengers to alleviate the stress of the job. 

Any previous suspicion that something was a bit loose with the goose must now be confirmed by this latest round of "proposals" !!!

GPS compatible strips? That sounds dubious. GPS radio signals are very very weak, receivers need to fix several sources before a location can be computed by the receiving device. You can't send a signal to a GPS satellite, it's technically possible but you would need to own it or hack it... and without a power source in the license it gets harder and harder...  Does it record track data in a 10 minute loop? Unlikely to get the signal through a car, wallet and interference without a fair amount of antenna... "Is that a Thai license in your pocket or are you just please to see me?"

However, I like the idea in general. Forces passengers to implore reason from their drunk friends - might make for great tv!

36 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

A licence with GPS strip in it.... interesting.

 

I am surprised this is not everyday life. I have work for a company who monitored my every single driving habit right down to harsh cornering and harsh braking through IVMS. I didn't care too much, it never caused myself problems although it opened my eyes to a life one day where governments will apply this same technology. They already can.

That's 75% of Bangkok motorcycle taxis out of business then.

 

Double the fine and jail term for any civil servant, police or military drunk driving. And for once fire them from their service and ban them from any government work or contracts for life.

10 minutes ago, DualSportBiker said:

GPS compatible strips? That sounds dubious. GPS radio signals are very very weak, receivers need to fix several sources before a location can be computed by the receiving device. You can't send a signal to a GPS satellite, it's technically possible but you would need to own it or hack it... and without a power source in the license it gets harder and harder...  Does it record track data in a 10 minute loop? Unlikely to get the signal through a car, wallet and interference without a fair amount of antenna... "Is that a Thai license in your pocket or are you just please to see me?"

However, I like the idea in general. Forces passengers to implore reason from their drunk friends - might make for great tv!

 

 

Sorry bud, I don't want to be a smart arse, I was having my driving behaviour successfully monitored within seconds from remote areas of Australia. It's happening already. Not through a plastic card though.

 

Edited October 6, 20169 yr by damo

I don't doubt you for a minute old boy, but it was not done using a magnetic strip that has no power source. Tracking a car or a bike is not difficult. Both have sufficient surplus power to run a device and communicate with a network of some kind. They can store data when off the grid and fill in the gaps when reconnected to a network. That is mature and robust technology.

 

I've worked with electronic mapping, GPS and networks from the early 90s, and although I am not in that field now... This would represent bridging a significant gap. I'm open minded, but highly sceptical.

 

2 minutes ago, damo said:

 

 

Sorry bud, I don't want to be a smart arse, I was having my driving behaviour successfully monitored within seconds from remote areas of Australia. It's happening already.

 

How is the weather? Eaten rice yet ? 

I agree, the magnetic strip is a bit sci fi to me too. I think my churchy neighbours are concerned about it though, day of reckoning, marks on beasts or something. I don't drink and strongly despise drink driver so, as far fetched as it may be, sign me up!

This could kill off restaurant trade if nobody in the vehicle can have a drink. There's going to be some very dry birthday celebrations in the future. Crazy.

1 minute ago, Dmaxdan said:

This could kill off restaurant trade if nobody in the vehicle can have a drink. There's going to be some very dry birthday celebrations in the future. Crazy.

Why is that?  As long as the driver is sober the rest can be as drunk as they like.

I think it is meant to put a designated driver behind the wheel. My read of this is that the sober passengers need to persuade the driver to relinquish control and let one of the sober people drive. You can't prosecute a taxi driver for having drunk passengers, so why would that extend to private vehicles?

 

This is about peer pressure; getting the "I'm not drunk, I am fine to drive" idiots into a passenger seat. Pretty sure that is what is meant by "Passengers who travel in the same vehicle as a driver who is found to be under the influence..."

 

 

6 minutes ago, Dmaxdan said:

This could kill off restaurant trade if nobody in the vehicle can have a drink. There's going to be some very dry birthday celebrations in the future. Crazy.

Edited October 6, 20169 yr by DualSportBiker

47 minutes ago, NongKhaiKid said:

Lots of potential for disputes even violence if a passenger(s) refuse to get in a vehicle saying the driver's drunk so there's defiance on the part of the passenger which is also causing loss of face as naturally the driver isn't drunk and perfectly able to drive.

That happened to me at morchit ,I refused to get in the taxi because the driver stunk of whiskey ,I was shouted at and threatened,this was years ago

If they just go after speeding drivers and actually fine them...and lower the speed limits everywhere....it'll be a major breakthrough!:)

But in my opinion, it's just going to be far too difficult for the RTP.

So we will see a Thai driver caught drink driving 500 baht and farang in the back fined 5000 baht 

1 hour ago, Gweiloman said:

What if the bus or minivan driver is drunk?

 

They get a 500BHT fine and you go to jail?

 

And the numbers of taxis I've been in with NO SEAT BELTS available in back seats, unbelievable!

 

Just more "face saving" measures?  Always new rules but never proper enforcement of old ones! Amazing Thailand.

cards with GPS

anything like the bomb detectors?

re seat belts , sad case yesterday, one of my female friends, her brother died yesterday, i said may i ask how, in western thinking the reply would be "car accident",no, i get a pic of a young lad beside his upturned car,obviously no longer with us, looks like he got thrown clean out of the car, i have never seen a thai wearing a seat belt period.