If you’re hitting the road this Songkran season, be sure to buckle up, or have your wallet ready.
Top government administrative, police and transport officials began enforcing on April 5 a new seatbelt directive issued by the junta under Section 44 of the interim constitution. It requires both drivers and passengers of public and private vehicles to wear seat belts or face fines if caught.
How much is the fine? It depends on who catches you.
If a police officer stops your private car or truck, both driver and passengers can be fined 500 baht.
If you’re caught riding unbuckled in a taxi, you’ll be fined 1,000 baht by the cops, but 5,000 baht if stopped by a Land Transport Department inspector. The driver faces fines of 1,000 and 5,000 baht, respectively.
In a bus or minivan? Be prepared to pony up a 5,000 baht fine to a Land Transport Department inspector, but just 500 baht to a police officer.
The driver and bus owner, however, have it worse. If a bus is stopped and the passengers aren’t wearing seatbelts, they can be fined 50,000. But if the driver told the passengers to buckle up and they ignore him, the driver gets off scot-free.
In the case of public vehicles with no seatbelts, such as Pattaya’s many baht buses, operators are required to make other safety provisions, such as installing guard rails.
Minivan operators also face a new rule: All vans now can have a maximum 13 seats. Those cramming in passengers now must remove seats to make the vans safer.
Public officials said the steps are necessary to reverse a climbing death toll during the Songkran period, which has killed or maimed 137,385 people since 2012.
