Prayut postpones new road safety regulations

[tuktuktuk]

Other countries make similar enforcement mistakes.  Just look at how the US enforces immigration laws.  Look the other way for 40 years and it becomes political suicide to turn it around.

[55Jay]

In the absence of wild tigers and salt water crocs, passengers in pick up truck beds, and no seat belts, helmets, etc., are effective population control measures.   Funny that Thais resist by ignoring the glaringly obvious, and claim this is a cultural birthright, and their way of life.  At any rate, thanks PM Prayuth for showing us your Big Brass Army Balls.  Now save your own political skin and carry on letting the Thai people you claim to love soooo much, serve themselves up as road kill smorgasbord.  Well done you! 

 

Edited April 6, 2017 by 55Jay

[Jonmarleesco]

Typical Thai backtracking. And Songkran is the time when most of the accidents will occur.

[Jonmarleesco]

2 hours ago, WhizBang said:

 

Actually, I think the problem is much deeper.  It shows that little or no thought goes into the making of these 'rules'.  Everything seems to be done by pulling ideas out of his nether regions without thinking anything through.  Only a total and complete idiot would not have forseen the backlash trying to enforce this law, without any real advanced warning, would bring.

 

The simple fact is, that the REAL problem is the idiot drivers.  I do not condone carrying passengers in the back of pickup trucks, especially at highway speeds, but it is the very poor driving skills of most Thais that is the cause of the vast majority of the accidents.

Of course it is. But an overfilled pick-up results in many more fatalities.

[Jonmarleesco]

22 minutes ago, 55Jay said:

In the absence of wild tigers and salt water crocs, passengers in pick up truck beds, and no seat belts, helmets, etc., are effective population control measures.   Funny that Thais resist by ignoring the glaringly obvious, and claim this is a cultural birthright, and their way of life.  At any rate, thanks PM Prayuth for showing us your Big Brass Army Balls.  Now save your own political skin and carry on letting the Thai people you claim to love soooo much, serve themselves up as road kill smorgasbord.  Well done you! 

 

'Now save your own political skin ...' Thing is, he has no political skin to worry about, does he?

[lvr181]

17 hours ago, starky said:

A last minute backflip. Who woulda thunk it?

Maybe just realising there are better and smarter ways of dealing with problems rather than a military style order? 

 

Could this be the beginning of critical thinking?

 

 

Edited April 6, 2017 by lvr181
Comment Variation

[55Jay]

34 minutes ago, Jonmarleesco said:

'Now save your own political skin ...' Thing is, he has no political skin to worry about, does he?

I did consider that when I typed it.   You're spot on, technically he doesn't.   Self-preservation maybe?  If the natives finally get fed up, out come the pitch forks and torches.  He and the Army will lose the initiative and be forced into the fight of flight box. 

Edited April 6, 2017 by 55Jay

[Notadoctor]

43 minutes ago, Jonmarleesco said:

Typical Thai backtracking. And Songkran is the time when most of the accidents will occur.

No - the death rate - (which is what everyone on this site clings to) is LOWER over SK....and that's with 19 million fully loaded pick ups on the roads.

Edited April 6, 2017 by Notadoctor

[55Jay]

Not going very fast on the trip upcountry and back either.  Gridlocked slow crawl. 

 

Edited April 6, 2017 by 55Jay

[55Jay]

This daily sight is just asking for trouble .  Then again, that old beater ain't going very fast either but even at slow speeds, a swerve to avoid a pot hole, or whatever..... physics is a bitch.

Edited April 6, 2017 by 55Jay

[janpharma]

This "U-turn" will cost again 500 deaths and multiple injuries

[akirasan]

^True..I've noticed a general lack of spacial awareness here

[Jackin1960]

20 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Like 100baht is going to deter anyone !!

 

Real consequences are needed with active continuous enforcement.

 

The fine should be 5000+ then they'll think twice.

You should think about moving back to your home country if you can't take a joker's silly attempts to bring Thailand into you sort of utopia like the one you left behind. Most who have gone to Thailand have gone because of it's odd ways.

[dotpoom]

It's all very well taking the moral high ground about these new regulations.....but it certainly puts a spanner in the works for the average Thai family who like to spend a day out together at the beach or whatever with the children. How often have I heard it said...."the pick-up is the poor man's taxi and the only means for having a day out together".

[Artisi]

20 hours ago, PeVee1st said:

And so we progress to the nearly 500 dead and nearly 4000 injured, along with the usual excuses. Welcome to Songkhran 2017!!!!

But check the stats. first and then comment on the major cause of road deaths, I'll give you a clue to start, it's not pickups. 

[wabothai]

better driving skills would do the job.

[dcnx]

Their rules, their lives. Let them live and die as they choose.

 

I can think of better ways to die than being thrown from a truck, but mai pen rai. If they don't care, I won't care.

 

Bring on the carnage count!

[Moonlover]

15 hours ago, smedly said:

lets see ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,carnage on the roads in Thailand probably the worst in the world

 

 

many attempts made by very obviously uneducated/unprofessional people to rectify the problem over the last decades and getting nowhere - in fact it is getting worse

 

 

 

When is Thailand and the authorities here going to realise that there are experts outside Thailand that can come and sort this out, just as Thailand relies on outside expertise for everything else (yes we all know) why not for road safety ???????????????

 

 

and NO - you very obviously don't have the skills to do it on your own.................yes you have the skills to buy submarines from China, how on earth you think that is money well spent is beyond me, is there a Thai word for "priorities"  again I call you out - Prauth Chan (O) Cha, this is pretty simple stuff.............you are running the country - start getting your priorities right ........... at the moment they are drifting verging on stupidity

 

make a difference please, your country needs you 

There are indeed such experts, both individuals and teams and many countries, notably wealthy middle eastern ones, call upon their services.

 

But unfortunately as has been mentioned by a number of more informed contributors here, this is as much a socioeconomic problem as it is a safety issue. And traffic safety experts cannot address those issues.

Edited April 6, 2017 by Moonlover

[smedly]

16 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

There are indeed such experts, both individuals and teams and many countries, notably wealthy middle eastern ones, call upon their services.

 

But unfortunately as has been mentioned by a number of more informed contributors

so you are saying you are more informed and I am not lol

 

I guess that is your very uniformed opinion IMO

[doode]

22 hours ago, tuktuktuk said:

It's still hilarious.  They'll enforce this about as strictly as every other traffic law. Nobody around here is worried and nobody intends to change how they travel.  They just know there's a new reason to be shook down for another 200 baht.  Bribes here are so institutionalized that there's an unwritten schedule of fees for every violation.  It's hard to imagine a cop in the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, Germany accepting about 5 or 6 Euros in lieu of a ticket.

A cop in GER , NL or AUS doesn't have a salary of 12-15k THB.

[Moonlover]

27 minutes ago, smedly said:

so you are saying you are more informed and I am not lol

 

I guess that is your very uniformed opinion IMO

I am not and will not pick out individuals.

[Dunky]

22 hours ago, Slaps said:

 

 

.

 

 

.

Behave,

Far too complicated 

 

Tomorrow Toyota, Isuzu, etc, 25% down on sales

 

.

Nail on head ! 

[tuktuktuk]

12 hours ago, doode said:

A cop in GER , NL or AUS doesn't have a salary of 12-15k THB.

True.  Cops are seldom well payed.  I just can't believe corruption is as pervasive in those other countries.  Many say it is, but I certainly can't see it myself.

[johnno2]

23 hours ago, Notadoctor said:

however the death toll usually goes DOWN over SK.

seriously?????

Police statistics show that the death toll from road accidents doubles during the annual Songkran holiday. Between 2009 and 2013 there were about 27 road deaths per day during non-holiday periods and an average of 52 road deaths per day during Songkran. Thailand has the second-highest traffic fatality rate in the world, with 44 deaths per 100,000 residents. Approximately 70 percent of the accidents that occurred during the long holiday period were motorcycle accidents. About 10,000 people per year die in motorcycle accidents.

During the 2014 Songkran festivities, 322 deaths and 2,992 injuries occurred from 11–17 April. Drunk driving and speeding were the leading causes of accidents, in which most involved were motorcycles and pickup trucks.

During the "seven dangerous days" of the Songkran festivities in 2016, from 11–17 April, 442 persons died and 3,656 were injured in road accidents, up 21.4 percent from 2015

[diehard60]

this is like the helmet law. i know a town with a police station and 99.9% of the people never wear them and that includes the cops. 

Prasong, Nakae, Nakhon Phanom. And the cops never say anything so what that means is the people have NO respect for the cops

[diehard60]

That means more people dead this year. Maybe less motor cycles on the road. Dreaming I guess

[Mosha]

Typical Thai backtracking. And Songkran is the time when most of the accidents will occur.

The death rate on the so called dangerous days, is right in the ball park for the non dangerous days.

Sent from my iris 505 using Tapatalk

[jerojero]

Flip Flop... Fippity-flopflop. Backstep, Mr PM, Backstep.

[sinbin]

On 4/6/2017 at 9:41 AM, CGW said:

Bold statement, can you link to any articles or news that states Thailand is the "laughing stock" of the world please.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/asia-thailand/thailand/thailand-set-to-make-itself-an-int-l-laughing-stock-again?page=1#post_12020252

 

http://ki-media.blogspot.com/2011/05/thailand-laughing-stock-of-world-by.html

Quite a few articles on the WWW.

[sinbin]

4 hours ago, diehard60 said:

this is like the helmet law. i know a town with a police station and 99.9% of the people never wear them and that includes the cops. 

Prasong, Nakae, Nakhon Phanom. And the cops never say anything so what that means is the people have NO respect for the cops

I live in a village where life is the same. In fact Thais don't respect the police end of. How many times do you see policemen being wai-ed?