Pick-up seating ban a slap in the face for Thailand's poor!

[webfact]

Pick-up seating ban a slap in the face for Thailand's poor!

 

Image: Thai Rath

 

BANGKOK: -- Thai Rath commented strongly on the story on everyone's lips this week: the government's ban on travelling in the back of pick-ups.

 

Though PM Prayut has said that the implementation of the ban will be delayed until after the Songkran holidays Thai Rath said that the ban was effectively a slap in the face for the nation's poor who are obliged through one reason or another to travel in this way.

 

In reality the law banning travelling in the cargo bay of pick-up has existed for a long time and is known to the people, they said.

 

But everyone has accepted that it is not enforced. To suddenly announce that it would be enforced is unfair, especially to the poor.

 

The influential Thai media group said that 35 million people are expected to be on the move next week in buses, planes, trains, minivans and cars. There are thought to be more than 7,000 bus and van trips per day alone with upwards of 180,000 passengers per day using that mode of transport.

 

But they said that many poor people cannot afford to go in buses and vans.

 

They choose to club together with friends and travel in the back of pick-ups by splitting money for gas and thus saving cash on expensive bus travel.

 

While accepting that this has its own dangers there are also dangers travelling in vans and buses. They said that poor driving of overtired and badly trained bus and van drivers was also very risky.

 

This was known to all Thais as was the habit of fleecing the public for transport costs during times like Songkran.

 

So this is why the poor are prepared to suffer the blazing sun, the wind and the rain by sitting in the back of a pick-up. Everyone always knew it was illegal but now it is to be enforced they demanded of the government:

 

"What are the poor to do now?"

 

"Poor families whose only asset is their pick-up used to transport goods and people - vehicles bought in good faith - what are they going to do now?"

 

People have got used to using pick-ups as multi-utility vehicles and to expect them to suddenly change was unfair and a slap in the face from the authorities to the poor.

 

Thai Rath looked at accident statistics and quoted experts who identified areas where compromises to the enforcement of the law could be made.

 

One of the main problems, they said, was that people in the back of a pick-up changed the stability characteristics especially if there were more than seven.

 

In this case there was two times more likelihood of an accident.

 

If people were standing in the back of a pick-up this further increased to four times more likely that an accident would happen.

 

The more people that were carried the more chance of an accident.

 

Thai Rath proposed that several measures could be made in the short term to "meet the law half way".

 

These included making it law to put a roof on the back of pick-ups, limiting the number of occupants in the back to just seven and focusing on being strict in enforcing the law on fast roads such as highways, motorways and toll ways.

 

Source: Thai Rath

 

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

[mercman24]

one paragraph says it all, "everyone knows it is illegal to travel in the cargo bay of a pick up,  whats the cost of a pick up now a days ,1-5 million ?? for a "poor" family"  same old story flaunting the law for years, same as "poor" families buying  30,/ 40,000 baht scooters and cant affford helmets.

[whatawonderfulday]

iThai Rath are almost interpreting Stalinists policies by their statement.  Whilst it may effect the poor( riding in the back of a pick up),  most certainly you can not, or should not,  allow people to die unnecessarily because they are poor.

Edited April 6, 2017 by whatawonderfulday

[fruitman]

Believe it or not but poor people in W-Europe can't afford any car at all, not even a busticket...and there are many of them.

[Ceruhe]

Quote

But everyone has accepted that it is not enforced. To suddenly announce that it would be enforced is unfair, especially to the poor.

[DavisH]

At least now I can get my wife to wear the seat belt in the back lol

 

[johng]

Seat belts in pickup trucks is the last in a very very long list of laws that need enforcing...maybe they can start with enforcing the laws
about seizing power at the point of a gun and.....ooh I forgot.

[selftaopath]

Songthaews used extensively to transport individuals for a fee are frequently packed with people. I've seen so many crammed in that it was body to body i.e. standing , sitting, hanging off the back step etc. Is there a safety law for these - for profit -  privetely owned/operated vehicles?  They are a hazard to passengers and also on the roads as the drivers act like they own all thoroughfares.

[selftaopath]

1 hour ago, Ceruhe said:

Sounds like lying Donald.... it's sooooooooooooo unfairrrrrrrrrr. Seriously? But those who can not afford a 4 wheel vehicle are at a great disadvantage - daily.

[Artisi]

An interesting statistic would be the total number of deaths resulting from pick-up accidents compared to buses, vans and taxis, would think pick-ups would be well down the list. 

But as usual,  the powers that be shoot off mouth before putting brain in gear thinking what appears as a simple fix will cure all the road deaths - how about drink drive, speed, stupidity, not road worthy etc. 

[AGareth2]

2 minutes ago, Artisi said:

An interesting statistic would be the total number of deaths resulting from pick-up accidents compared to buses, vans and taxis, would think pick-ups would be well down the list. 

But as usual,  the powers that be shoot off mouth before putting brain in gear thinking what appears as a simple fix will cure all the road deaths - how about drink drive, speed, stupidity, not road worthy etc. 

add motorcycles to your list

[Artisi]

8 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

add motorcycles to your list

Yes, forgot motorcycles who according the to (unbelievable) stat's. account for the majority of road deaths - but was really comparing 4 + wheeled vehicles. 

Edited April 6, 2017 by Artisi

[starky]

I think that if it is to be enforced they really need to look into how they enforce it. While I cringe when I see a loaded pick-up flying down the highway as the article alluded to what is the option for these people? mini buses, vans, normal buses even the trains aren't safe in Thailand and certainly no more safe than people travelling in a pick up. I do believe it will effect the poor particularly in rural areas and will lead to more people 4 and 5 upping on motorcycles or overloading the family saleng. Again neither option is safer. This week I have been getting my farms ready. Everyday I have had 8-10 people in the back of my truck to get them where they are going. The other option would have been 2 or 3 trips round numerous villages and then out to the farm. On longer journeys what's the solution you take 10 pick ups off the road with @7 in the back that's another 70 people who are now going to be travelling on the roads in modes of transport realistically not much or potentially less safe than the one they are being dissuaded from. If people want to travel in the back of a pick up I think it should be allowed. Unless of course they are going to simultaneously clean up every other shitty illegal thing that happens here that makes it so dangerous to travel on the roads.

[dcnx]

Evolution is painful. This week it's trucks. Next week they can pick their knuckles off the ground. Maybe in 10 years they won't act like a troop of monkeys at attack people in groups. And if we're lucky, in our lifetime, we'll see them keep a single government in power for more than a few years.

[AGareth2]

1 minute ago, dcnx said:

And if we're lucky, in our lifetime, we'll see them keep a single government in power for more than a few years.

one govt completed it's term

[Chris Lawrence]

Is Mr T coming back? Things like this will only strengthen his cause. Why did the people luv him in the country areas? because he knew they didn't drive Ferrari', drink red bull and travelled the millionaires circuit. The General lives in a parallel world compared to the rest of Thailand. The longer he stays the greater the distance he puts in on the local folk.

[robsamui]

Once again it's all upside-down and back-to-front. Thais seem to have an entirely off-the-wall thinking set about everything, compared to the rest of the world. Some people might even say they don't have much common sense.

The aim of the exercise is safety on the roads. The General has clearly stated this. And because international statistics show that seat belts save lives, that's what he's banging on about, this time around.

Similarly, the more people in the back of a pick-up, the higher the centre of gravity and the more unstable it becomes.

 

However the single biggest cause of road injuries in Thailand is neither of these things. It's drunk driving. 

 

And, no, putting up alcohol prices won't fix this.

 

It can only be addressed by hard and consistent work by the police - actually DOING something on a regular basis - not just testing drivers for alcohol on public holidays or after they've had a crash, but randomly, all the time, in the day as well as the night, stopping vehicles and testing for alcohol and drugs.

 

But it's easier to count heads in a pickup, isn't it. (As long as it's not double figures and the police run out of fingers to count on.) It doesn't require hard and continued work, day in and day out. It'll put too much strain on the police, having to actually do a job of work like this.

 

So, once again - exactly like the annual vow to reduce road deaths at New Year and Songkran, which has no effect at all as every year the death toll rises - we have another wild idea about safety that doesn't address the heart of the matter, or even come anywhere near it.

 

If Thailand wants to pick up on safety ideas from Western nations so it can look good to its neighbours, let's begin with the essential basics and work to train a police force to uphold those - then when they are in place and established and are being enforced,  maybe we can add the refinements and fine-tuning later.

 

That's the way it's done everywhere else.

 

It's only common sense, after all 

 

Edited April 6, 2017 by robsamui

[NCC1701A]

blah blah blah... what will we be commenting on tomorrow?

[catman20]

15 hours ago, DavisH said:

At least now I can get my wife to wear the seat belt in the back lol

 

you mean she allows you to sit in the front

[dotpoom]

16 hours ago, mercman24 said:

one paragraph says it all, "everyone knows it is illegal to travel in the cargo bay of a pick up,  whats the cost of a pick up now a days ,1-5 million ?? for a "poor" family"  same old story flaunting the law for years, same as "poor" families buying  30,/ 40,000 baht scooters and cant affford helmets.

You certainly have a good point (even though I posted on the opposite side on here yesterday).

[gabruce]

One issue I have with this law, and many of the commenters is the belief that they know better than someone else and so they need to tell stupid people what they can and cannot do and make them do what they are supposed to do.

[jaltsc]

“Pick-up seating ban a slap in the face for Thailand's poor.”

 

Well, that's one way of reducing poverty. Place the poor in dangerous and deadly situations, and kill them off.

 

“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” ― George Carlin

 

It's easier to eliminate poverty than it is to cure stupid. 

 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2017 by jaltsc

[canuckamuck]

But Prime Minister the people can't afford 4 door pickups!

No problem, let them buy vans!

[Borzandy]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

They choose to club together with friends and travel in the back of pick-ups by splitting money

Yes, but why travelling soooooooooo fast.

[whatawonderfulday]

13 minutes ago, jaltsc said:

“Pick-up seating ban a slap in the face for Thailand's poor.”

 

Well, that's one way of reducing poverty. Place the poor in dangerous and deadly situations, and kill them off.

 

“Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.” ― George Carlin

 

It's easier to eliminate poverty than it is to cure stupid. 

 

 

 

spot on.  Thailand's own version of the "The Purge" except it is not time constrained.  Maybe by allowing them to kill themselves, and most likely others, the Junta can hit the 1000 death jackpot over Songkran ? I think the PM is possibly playing virtual Death Race 2017, especially as it appears old people and children are the ones in the back , so their deaths will gain him maximum points.  Well perhaps not as maximum points would need a roll-over of a pick-up at a pedestrian crossing that also wipes out somebody in wheelchair.   Sick I hear you say ?  your dead  right just like condoning multiple deaths like many posters on here and the PM.

[DavisH]

51 minutes ago, catman20 said:

you mean she allows you to sit in the front

I'm even allowed to drive her car lol.....and get the privilege of filling it with petrol too. I'm a spoiled git. 

Edited April 7, 2017 by DavisH

[Netzero]

A decision to allow people to continue to sit or stand in the bed of a pickup truck over Songkran is a decision to allow people to die. It's not an IF it will happen - it WILL happen and does frequently. I have lived in Thailand for 20 years - it's always the same story and excuses. What is needed is a change of behavior and while an over night decision to enforce existing laws prohibiting passengers in the bed of a pick up was a bit too shocking - ultimately the decision must be taken. Will it have the most effect on the poor -yes it will - but it will also save lives of the poor.

[Toshiba66]

It wont be enforced. Simple as that.

[BlindMagician]

Always whinging...We knew it was illegal..but..but...

 

Time to go through some pain, to learn a lesson.

[BlindMagician]

14 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

one govt completed it's term

Which one was that? Was it the one that bought rural votes with a cash handouts from trucks? Plenty of knuckles on the floor. Time for the masses to evolve.