Police crack down further on motorbike helmets

Despite the law, some still refuse to wear helmets or limit passengers to one per motorcycle.

Pratchaya Kerdthong

Stepping up its campaign to get motorcyclists to wear helmets, the Pattaya Police staged a high-profile checkpoint on Beach Road in North Pattaya to catch offenders while broadening its information campaign.

About 10 traffic police officers laid in wait at the foot of Soi 1 and Beach Road May 14 to catch drivers and passengers without helmets. Each one was fined 400 baht, double the longstanding 200 baht fine for not wearing head protection.

The checkpoint was the latest effort by police to comply with a national government dictate to cut road accidents and deaths.

Parliament passed a resolution Jan. 4 calling on stepped up promotion of motorcycle helmet use with a goal of getting everyone on a bike to wear one. Police stations around the country were told to create action plans to make that goal a reality.

Pattaya recently installed 50 additional billboards around the city to educate people on helmet use and are working with schools and motorbike taxis to increase their use. Police claim 90 percent of students already use helmets.

Police are also visiting motorbike rental shops to ensure helmets are leased with the vehicles.

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