Pattaya police: Buckle up in both the front and back or face a fine

[Moonlover]

8 minutes ago, louse1953 said:

The law would be exactly the same as your country and mine.Seatbelts must be worn in rear if fitted.

The rear seat belt laws apply to cars registered since 1st April 2012, suggesting that that's the date when rear belts had to be fitted to all new cars by law.

 

A similar law was applied in the UK in 1991.

[Surasak]

5 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

Taking away people's free speech is a sign of the police state, and that has already happened here

 

Being told to buckle up is hardly a sign of it. But, you have the Keystone Kops in charge who wouldn't know nuance if it hit them in the face - so expect lots of fines for a week or so and then dropped

Not if they find they are making plenty of money!

[khunPer]

17 hours ago, Grumpy Old Man said:

I've often been a rear seat passenger in a Thai taxi and they don't even have the seatbelt accessible; does that mean the taxi driver is now responsible for the fine, in the interest of preventing accidents and increase the safety of their passenger.

There were some years mentioned about car's first registration and mandatory seat-belts, in the news-feed publication of this new Law; and as it being enforced just now, what might – or might not – have been available of seat-belts in Bangkok-taxis the past, is not interesting, but what's available now, compared to the specified details in the Law, is of interest... 

[Moonlover]

29 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

...........The measure is designed to prevent accidents ...........

 

How? Most accidents here are caused by the drivers.

Actually I agree with the logic behind this statement. But the effect is not immediately apparent.

 

Drivers who are conscientious about fastening their seat belts are gradually changing their mindset with regards to safety.

 

I actually noticed this in myself, when the laws were introduced in the UK. I gradually went from 'buckling up' to comply with the law to feeling unsafe, even somewhat 'naked' without my belt.

 

For me, the same applies to using a mobile phone. I never use one when I'm driving. Not to comply with the law but because I feel unsafe when doing so.

 

Like I said, it's a matter of changing the mindset and it does take time. Years in fact.

[louse1953]

4 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

Scum, there is no other word for them ! The name of the game is Screw the Farang

So in your home country the seat belt law,front and back is not inforced.Unless you come from a very backward  country,i doubt it.So why should Thailand be any different.This is more Thai bashing.

[RigPig]

4 hours ago, ferguston said:

Westerners, me included, complain about the lack of driving law enforcement in Thailand and the lack of driving skills of others in Thailand.

Yet when the law is enforced (whether or not it is perceived as a money making scheme) we still complain.

Would you break traffic laws in your own country and then when caught start complaining on social media?  I doubt it. 

Thailand has traffic laws like all countries. Obey them.

No one is complaining about the laws, just the arbitary / selective enforcement!!  Consistancy would be nice...

ANY law that encourages people to break it is a bad law.  If the law is un-enforcable or not working, repeal it.

 

The fact they are enforced when conveniant is NOT acceptable!  As people have already stated, pick up trucks (including and espeacially those taking children to school), trucks carrying workers, four up on a bike (especially with children who have no choice and are not old enough to make informed decisions) and of course helmets on bikes are just a few examples....

[nickmanchester2]

17 hours ago, Grumpy Old Man said:

I've often been a rear seat passenger in a Thai taxi and they don't even have the seatbelt accessible; does that mean the taxi driver is now responsible for the fine, in the interest of preventing accidents and increase the safety of their passenger.

ive managed to get the seat belt free from under the rear seat in a bangkok taxi once, and put it on... much to his annoyance I might add - but I was quick so he didnt stand a chance to stop me.

[louse1953]

28 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

The rear seat belt laws apply to cars registered since 1st April 2012, suggesting that that's the date when rear belts had to be fitted to all new cars by law.

 

A similar law was applied in the UK in 1991.

So  common sense prevails,i was only guessing.Common sense is something missing by many posters on this forum,as time and time again they jump the gun and always play the man,the Thai man or women.

[khunPer]

What about seat-belts for passengers sitting on the back body of a pick-up truck..? 

[Moonlover]

10 minutes ago, khunPer said:

What about seat-belts for passengers sitting on the back body of a pick-up truck..? 

Covered. Read my post number 55.

[55Jay]

I vaguely remember the start of the seat belt campaign in the US... what was it, like late 70's?  They beat it into us, for decades, and it worked.  Strapping on the seat belt is so automatic.  I feel weird if I don't put it on.  We are trainable, like Apes.  Although Apes are quicker and easy to deal with.  Associate the seat belt click with a few lovely bananas, and they are on board with the program!  

[HHTel]

3 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Will also look forward to speed camera's & red light camera's being installed, along with mobile camera's out and about, and highway patrol cars with radars fixed to them, by then I will be too old to drive anyways. 

They have already but not in enough places.  I've had a speeding ticket in the post with the obligatory photo of my car.

[khunPer]

50 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

  1 hour ago, khunPer said:

What about seat-belts for passengers sitting on the back body of a pick-up truck..? 

 

Covered. Read my post number 55.

Thanks (my post was with little humor ), found the article – "...no passenger is allowed to ride in the luggage tray of a pickup truck while travelling" – that's going to be major change for many a traveller between rural Thailand and major cities, not to mention building constructor's daily move of a load-of-workers...

[mettech]

It will be easy to find out who will be fined you guessed it Faraang with thai family member in the back seat so two in the back no seat belt 400 tbh and two in font ok total 400 tbh.

very simple deduction.

[Jonmarleesco]

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

They said they were acting on orders of the ruling military junta.

As opposed to simply doing their job.

[Moonlover]

31 minutes ago, mettech said:

It will be easy to find out who will be fined you guessed it Faraang with thai family member in the back seat so two in the back no seat belt 400 tbh and two in font ok total 400 tbh.

very simple deduction.

Not in my car they won't. They're all under strict orders. 'Buckle up or walk'.

[Moonlover]

53 minutes ago, khunPer said:

Thanks (my post was with little humor ), found the article – "...no passenger is allowed to ride in the luggage tray of a pickup truck while travelling" – that's going to be major change for many a traveller between rural Thailand and major cities, not to mention building constructor's daily move of a load-of-workers...

Horrifying isn't it! I've even seen 2 tier versions of this. Labourers from neighbouring countries according to my wife.

 

Human beings, being carted around in conditions that wouldn't be permitted for farm animals in the developed countries!

[krobert6]

Like I said in another thread - "at least they have seats now"

[Humpy]

So 15 standing in the back of a pick-up, 4 seated on the top of a garbage truck, 10 school kids sitting on the school bus luggage roof rack, 4 on a motorbike , all without helmets, and 4 ''I don't mind getting my legs smashed to pieces when clinging to the rear of a Baht bus as it gets rear ended by a lorry''.......... is all OK then ?.... Welcome to Thailand !

[Senior Player]

2 hours ago, nickmanchester2 said:

ive managed to get the seat belt free from under the rear seat in a bangkok taxi once, and put it on... much to his annoyance I might add - but I was quick so he didnt stand a chance to stop me.

This is so true about the seatbelt being either buried beyond the backseat and impossible to retrieve, or it's nonexistent or not working properly. Of course I'm more than happy to buckle up with or without a law telling me to, and have done on every previous occasion where possible. But as Grumpy Old Man pointed out, who pays the fine if the seatbelt is not working or has been purposely hidden? Some here taken it upon themselves to believe there is an element of Thai-bashing if you question this diktat, but I disagree. For once I agree that this is a calculated cash-grab exercise and it'll mostly be tourists that will be targeted and fined. I can picture the scenario: non-English speaking cop pulls over cab with unbuckled farrangs in the rear, who point out the seatbelt is broken or absent, and despite their protests, which fall on deaf ears, they're walloped with a stinging double fine. Welcome to Thailand. And as others have pointed out, what about tuktuks? 

[whatawonderfulday]

4 hours ago, Hooliganzone said:

What about Song Thaews packed with school kids most of them standing and hanging on at the back.

He who makes these laws should put his brain in gear first....Another money making scam  

You forget the Thainess values and whom should be considered first with respect to personal safety in Thailand by the current regime.

 They are in descending order

 

1)    Elites, so worth the most

2)    Coup makers and Juntas.  worth nearly the most as they prop up the Elites

3)    Business owners.  They build the malls for Elites to shop so quite important.

4)    Bangkokians.  Always support the above as they are brainwashed from birth

5)    Those in the countryside and despised by all of the above.

6)     Anybody from Isan, despised by all of the above but nonetheless supplied labour for most of the last 40 years development of Bangkok. Considered to be lazy and stupid but hey, not that lazy as they built the likes of Paragon, Emporium, BTS etc.

7)    Old people and children. Considered totally worthless and the latter an irritant to 1) and 2 ) above as they may grow up and change the feudal system

 

 

 

[khunPer]

44 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Horrifying isn't it! I've even seen 2 tier versions of this. Labourers from neighbouring countries according to my wife.

 

Human beings, being carted around in conditions that wouldn't be permitted for farm animals in the developed countries!

It's a bit of a dilemma, I think. Because the building construction workers – at least those in my photo, because they were the workers that build my house – really don't mind, they are happy to have a "well paid" job; the majority are migrant workers. And "we" that use their service – being building construction workers, or factory-workers from rural Thailand, coming down to central region to work at minimum wage, or little above, in factories – we that buy their service, or the products they make, we wish it to be a cheap-as-possible; also indirectly when renting a house or place to stay, or when we indirectly pay rent in a shopping mall or like, when buying products there.

 

And yes, looked through Western-glasses it seem very wrong, but even at home, in our home-country, we prefer to buy price first – i.e. we import lots of stuff instead of making it inside the country, as it's cheaper to have the stuff made on the "factory floors" in Asia – and at same time we complain about working conditions, too low wages etc. etc., whilst the Asian workers feel happy to have reasonable paid jobs that improve their life-style.

 

I understand and appreciate the safety concerns, but at same feel little sorry for those that need to travel back home, being rural Isaan or neighboring countries, to visit family – children and parents – a few times or once a year, and only can afford that when sitting in the luggage tray of a pickup truck, as they already send most of their salary home to support their family. Hope they will have an affordable an alternative...

 

A difficult balance...

[Moonlover]

31 minutes ago, khunPer said:

It's a bit of a dilemma, I think. Because the building construction workers – at least those in my photo, because they were the workers that build my house – really don't mind, they are happy to have a "well paid" job; the majority are migrant workers. And "we" that use their service – being building construction workers, or factory-workers from rural Thailand, coming down to central region to work at minimum wage, or little above, in factories – we that buy their service, or the products they make, we wish it to be a cheap-as-possible; also indirectly when renting a house or place to stay, or when we indirectly pay rent in a shopping mall or like, when buying products there.

 

And yes, looked through Western-glasses it seem very wrong, but even at home, in our home-country, we prefer to buy price first – i.e. we import lots of stuff instead of making it inside the country, as it's cheaper to have the stuff made on the "factory floors" in Asia – and at same time we complain about working conditions, too low wages etc. etc., whilst the Asian workers feel happy to have reasonable paid jobs that improve their life-style.

 

I understand and appreciate the safety concerns, but at same feel little sorry for those that need to travel back home, being rural Isaan or neighboring countries, to visit family – children and parents – a few times or once a year, and only can afford that when sitting in the luggage tray of a pickup truck, as they already send most of their salary home to support their family. Hope they will have an affordable an alternative...

 

A difficult balance...

Some very valid points indeed. Thank you for taking the time.

 

Yes, during my working life, I spent a lot of time in the middle east and saw the same there. It seems to apply all the way down the food chain.

[Bastos60]

Did they specifically mention they were enforcing this during songkran only? 

[4MyEgo]

4 hours ago, HHTel said:

They have already but not in enough places.  I've had a speeding ticket in the post with the obligatory photo of my car.

I drove through Kon Kaen the other day and the signs were everywhere, but a friend told me that they are not actually speed cameras, they are cops sitting there taking the photos. Back in Oz there were a lot of challenges (successful) over speed camera's and radar's until they went back to the drawing board.

[Senior Player]

50 minutes ago, Bastos60 said:

Did they specifically mention they were enforcing this during songkran only? 

No, not specifically, but that the government intends to kick off the strict enforcement of the rules before the Songkran traditional New Year, starting from 5 April onwards. Though it has been noted that in Jomtien the fines have already started a week earlier, which was why the man fined lodged a complaint. I highly doubt they'll be an easing up of the new enforcement after Songkran. It'll be a new steady source of income.

[2unique]

If no seatbelts in the rear of your pickup then no passengers allowed.

Only 3 passengers allowed in back of sedan. Seatbelts must be fitted.

No passengers allowed in bed of pickup

[jacko45k]

I was in a songtaew last night, no rear seat belts to be found.

Most of those around me on motorcycles had no helmets and were 3-up!

 

Looks like another farang-only rule to me.

[cracker1]

Does the driver get fined or the passenger who is un-belted get the fine ?

[brewsterbudgen]

I was in a songtaew last night, no rear seat belts to be found.
Most of those around me on motorcycles had no helmets and were 3-up!
 
Looks like another farang-only rule to me.

Songtaews are exempt from the new law.