Police in Thailand to Enforce New Traffic Fines Starting Sept 5th

Thailand’s Director of the Traffic Management Center has announced the government has increased traffic fines for all traffic violation nationwide. This includes penalties for speeding or failing to stop at pedestrian crossings rising from 1,000 to 4,000 baht. The increased fines come into force on Monday, Sept 5 and they will strictly enforced by police.

According to Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapat, the deputy national police chief and director of the traffic management center, the new traffic fines and penalties are as follows:

• Those convicted of drink driving will face a prison term of up to one year and/or a fine of 5,000 to 20,000 baht. In the event that they repeat the same offence within two years, they can face up to two years in jail and/or a fine of 50,000 to 100,000 baht.
• For speeding over the legal limit, jumping red lights at intersections and failing to stop at a pedestrian crossing, fines will increase from 1,000 baht to 4,000 baht.
• The fines for driving backwards, not wearing a crash helmet or safety belt will be increased to 2,000 baht from 500 baht.
• If convicted of driving without regard for others’ safety, drivers can face up to one year in prison and/or a fine of between 5,000 and 20,000 baht, instead of the current 3 months’ jail and/or fine of 2,000 to 10,000 baht.
• Front seat passengers and passengers sitting in the back or any other row are required to fasten a seat belt at all times while travelling in a vehicle. Failing to wear a seat belt will face a maximum fine of 2,000 baht.

Police will begin enforcing the new traffic fines and law requiring everyone in a vehicle to wear a seat belt starting Sept 5th.

However, the clause of the Road Traffic Act which requires passengers under six years old to sit in car seats, the police said they will release more details about what classifies as a “child safety seat.”

The Department of Land Transport announced the 2,000-baht traffic fine, for passengers sitting in a truck’s cabin or its cargo bed without a seat belt will no longer apply when a new law takes effect. The new traffic law, however, will only allow at most three passengers in the back-row seats of a truck’s cabin and six people in a cargo bed.

In addition to street racers, organizers of street races, and shops that modify motorcycles for street racing, the amended traffic law imposes heavy penalties.

Those who refuse to pay traffic fines could be arrested under the latest Royal Thai Police order.

Those who fail to settle their traffic fines by the deadline will receive a warning under the new measure, which takes immediate effect. An arrest warrant will be issued if they continue to avoid paying the fines.