"It's our way of life!" : Villagers in pick-ups beg police not to issue fines

[webfact]

"It's our way of life!" : Villagers in pick-ups beg police not to issue fines

 

Picture: Sanook

 

CHIANG MAI: -- Villagers in Chiang Mai had a clear message for police at roadblocks in Chiang Mai set up to fine people for riding in the back of pick-ups.

 

"It's our way of life", said Orathai on the Chiang Mai to Fang road. "Don't enforce the law - give us some time to adjust".

 

She was on her way back with many family members after visiting a sick relative in hospital in Chiang Mai.

 

A Chiang Mai police spokesman said that people were not being fined yesterday in the region, said Sanook.com.

 

Which was just as well - later PM Prayut Chan-ocha announced a backtrack on enforcing the pick-up law until after Songkran after the pubic outrage.

 

Sanook also reported that police were out in force in Udon in the north east and Pangnga in the south but people were likewise just

being warned on Wednesday.

 

Meanwhile, a well known automobile "guru" and car expert Patanadech Asasaphakit went on his personal Facebook page to write an open letter to the PM.

 

He said that first of all the government must put the onus on car manufacturers to fit seatbelts in the back of all cars. Then people will should be given the choice whether to wear them in the back.

 

He said the law should only be enforced in the front at first.

 

He likened what he would like to see to airplanes where passengers are made to wear seatbelts on takeoff then while in the air they are just advised to do so for their own safety.

 

Such a policy would be more suitable regarding wearing seatbelts in the back of cars, he said.

 

Patanadech - also know in Thailand as Na Dech - said that the PM should not compare conditions in Thailand to other countries as it is just not the same.

 

Sources: Sanook 1, Sanook 2, Sanook 3, TNews

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-04-06

[mercman24]

nothing to do as "not the same as other countries" you idiot, when a vehicle crashes it stops, you my friend keeps going,  all the way to the mortuary and this guy is an "expert"

[PatOngo]

Patanadech - also know in Thailand as Na Dech - said that the PM should not compare conditions in Thailand to other countries as it is just not the same.

 

I totally agree.  The universe can only have one centre!

Edited April 5, 2017 by PatOngo

[4MyEgo]

Firstly I can't believe the PM has backed down due to "a public backlash" how many people will die during Songkran Mr Prime Minister, this is when it is needed most, you can't tell a child this is the new rule, only to back down when the kid says I think its unfair, what kind of mixed message is he sending, a MAJOR deadly one, with the results being evident after Songkran.

 

If this is the kind of weakness the Thai government shows when trying to enforce the law, good luck in enforcing anything, cant say I agree with everything politicians come up with, but something as important as saving lives for their own good should have come into effect as at the due date, with some soft warnings for the country bumpkins when pulled over for a week or so with regard to riding in the back, then the full force of the law applied and maintained thereafter.

 

Yes yes I know, don't get my knickers in a knot.

Edited April 5, 2017 by 4MyEgo

[cooked]

There is generally a huge to do about the Songkran massacre in the news every year. Quite right too.

Just remember that 28 000 fatalities each year = 76 a day. The first headlines will blaze out something like "52 deaths on the first day this must stop". I agree but it does go to show how much confidence you can put in the road safety authorities and police reports.

 

[Don Mega]

9 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Firstly I can't believe the PM has backed down due to "a public backlash" how many people will die during Songkran Mr Prime Minister, t

 

History tells us no more than any other day on the road.

[Thaiwrath]

Fighting 10 onto 1 (quite often a woman as the victim) is also your way of life, but is wrong. The best deterrent for any offence is to punish the offenders with a SERIOUS AND REALISTIC sentence, but the fact thay you prefer to go down the 'Mai bpen rai' route does your (lack of) mentality.

[jaiyen]

"This is our way of life"  But it will soon be your way of DEATH !!  Will PM take responsibility for this U turn that will eventuate in the deaths of many people over Songkhran period ?  Of course not !  Will blame it on everything else he can think of.  In Thailand The Buck Never Stops Here  !

[Borzandy]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

"It's our way of life!"

We like to be ranked No. 1 for the number of deaths on the roads in the world.

[ThaiKneeTim]

Physics is the same in every country you halfwit! 

[humqdpf]

To an outsider, such an edict might appear to be that of a hard-working government trying to improve road safety. But in Thailand, it amounts to the ruling/urban middle class pushing around the rural working class, a kind of yellow shirt pushing around the red shirts. And to enact it just before Songran when the police are at their most hungry and thirsty? Hmmm. 

 

It is all very well for Westerners to decry this kind of transport - we all know if it is dangerous but so is riding on the roof of a train but it is all that the poor can afford.

[12DrinkMore]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

He likened what he would like to see to airplanes where passengers are made to wear seatbelts on takeoff then while in the air they are just advised to do so for their own safety.

 

[hdkane]

He likened what he would like to see to airplanes where passengers are made to wear seatbelts on takeoff then while in the air they are just advised to do so for their own safety.

 

Such a stupid thought...how many planes ask passengers to ride on the outside of the plane?

[cruisemonkey]

Quote -

"Patanadech - also know in Thailand as Na Dech - said that the PM should not compare conditions in Thailand to other countries as it is just not the same."

 

For sure... other countries don't have nearly as many idiots on the road (and writing to the PM)!

[Just1Voice]

Isn't is something to think about that the ONLY country in the world with higher road deaths is one where there is a full scale war going on? 

 

Edited April 6, 2017 by Just1Voice

[Loaded]

It's easy to criticize Thais for stuffing as many people as possible into pick ups and on motorbikes but many working class Thais cannot usually afford more than one vehicle per family and certainly can't afford to rent cars or pay for taxis every time they want to travel. This new law penalizes them.

[elgordo38]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Patanadech - also know in Thailand as Na Dech - said that the PM should not compare conditions in Thailand to other countries as it is just not the same.

 

Yes most have elected governments. 

[Jonmarleesco]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

'... car expert Patanadech Asasaphakit ... likened what he would like to see to airplanes where passengers are made to wear seatbelts on takeoff then while in the air they are just advised to do so for their own safety.

So put the belts on during 'take off', then, with progress underway, and anything from fifteen to twenty minutes, up to a few hours of travelling to go, take them off again? Intelligent thinking.

[Jonmarleesco]

It's also a common way of death.

[digger70]

Give them time to adjust,what a joke they had 38 years to adjust.This law has been there since 1979.

[sawadee1947]

"It's our way of life"

 

yes, this should be enough reason not to improve anything. !!!

[PETERTHEEATER]

3 hours ago, hdkane said:

He likened what he would like to see to airplanes where passengers are made to wear seatbelts on takeoff then while in the air they are just advised to do so for their own safety.

 

Such a stupid thought...how many planes ask passengers to ride on the outside of the plane?

Err, overbooked budget airlines?

[Oleg57]

this is all what poor people can afford in thailand. anybody who want to help - ask Thai government to spend more money on roads construction instead of buying submarines and wasting a lot of money on enforcement of stupid regulations. small government, small army and fewer police - happy citizens.

[whatawonderfulday]

The headline should read "its our way of life, and death"

[sharktooth]

Along the same lines as "but we've always done it like this..."

[balo]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

He said the law should only be enforced in the front at first.

 

He likened what he would like to see to airplanes where passengers are made to wear seatbelts on takeoff then while in the air they are just advised to do so for their own safety.

 

Such a policy would be more suitable regarding wearing seatbelts in the back of cars, he said.

  

 

Sure take off your seat belts once we are on our way to our destination on the busy roads. That makes sense.....

 

 

[Paul944]

A law like this needs a grace period without fines but just warnings to give people time to arrange alternative transport. If people are stopped every day and told for 1 month, next month it will cost 200 baht and you have to get out of the car and stay here. Maybe, only maybe, they start thinking of an alternative.

 

If they want to save lives just enforce sober driving by fining drunk people behind the steering wheel. No need for a grace period here because it does not require investments for the people involved. In the contrary, they save money by not drinking alcohol.

[whatawonderfulday]

Well thinking about it further then Thai's disregard for following rules and regulations, the Police's disregard to be the servant of the people, rather simply a mafia force lining their own pockets, then perhaps the government should adopt  a different approach to change peoples attitude to safety.

 

Maybe to encourage people to ride safely they should adopt the same, or similar shock tactics as cigarette smoking.  So all manufactures must overspray their pick-ups with pictures of children whose brains have been splashed across the road after riding in the back of a pick-up.  Also perhaps the bonnet should have pictures of disembowelled pensioners that have been catapulted from the rear of the bed into the passenger bulkhead.  And even more shocking perhaps on both sides of a pick up perhaps they could have pictures of an aborted fetus from a pregnant woman who was disembowelled after the pick-up flipped and crushed her between the bed sides and the roadway.

 

Shock tactics may work because certainly nothing else will.

Edited April 7, 2017 by whatawonderfulday

[maewang99]

On ‎4‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 3:09 PM, Oleg57 said:

this is all what poor people can afford in thailand. anybody who want to help - ask Thai government to spend more money on roads construction instead of buying submarines and wasting a lot of money on enforcement of stupid regulations. small government, small army and fewer police - happy citizens.

the poor people of Thailand.... in the poor country...

 

where more money spent on.... roads... teachers.........and not on this or that .... that is the answer!

or.... maybe they should just be invited to join the Sapien Club....

but the Sapien Club requires at least a minimal and non deminis portion of folks to "practice" literacy..... not just some kind of very limited capacity to do it a few times when you are a "student".... that's what we call "technology".... and it makes us different from non club members. that might even be helpful for more than just the mind numbing horrific vehicle fatalities, eh?

 

Edited April 8, 2017 by maewang99

[Bill Miller]

Hmm, would have been better to announce the new intention for enforcement a couple of months ago. It is rather sudden for folks of limited means to scramble up the cash for extra seats, hand rails, seat belts, etc.
The interim limitation of number of PU passengers and where and how fast they can drive seems the best solution for now... then get on implementing this in a measured way after the New Year.