Hike on traffic fines delayed, but ticket prices will be consistant
Writing news in Thailand frequently means announcing something and then the next day announcing the opposite. And true to form, the new major hike in penalty fines for traffic violations announced before the weekend and scheduled to go into effect yesterday… have been retracted. But when they do go into effect, repeat offenders will be further penalised, and a new system will ensure fines are consistent across all of Thailand.
Saying that more time is required to properly get the word out about the new fees, the deputy director of the Royal Thai Police’s Traffic Operations Centre announced that they will not go into effect for another three months. During that time, teams of police officers will set out to raise awareness of the new stiffer fines for traffic violations.
The Land Traffic Act was amended to increase the fines for rulebreakers, hopefully dissuading drivers from engaging in dangerous behaviour, and yesterday the amendments were officially endorsed. But the deputy director announced that police will continue to hand out the old penalties, along with information about the more expensive fees coming soon.
“The newly amended traffic law carries fines of up to 4,000 baht for running a red light or violating the speed limit but, during this transition period, officers will issue tickets of no more than 500 baht along with a warning that subsequent fines will be much steeper.”
A new system has gone into effect that will issue all fines through the Police Ticket Management database, which will regulate tickets and make sure the same prices are applied for violations everywhere in the country. Also, for serial offenders, the fines will double, discouraging lawbreaking repeat offenders.
The following penalty increases for traffic violations are outlined below:
| TRAFFIC VIOLATION | PREVIOUS PENALTY | NEW PENALTY |
| Reckless driving without regard for others’ lives | 2,000 to 10,000 baht fine; up to three months in jail | 5,000 to 20,000 baht fine; up to one year in jail |
| Drink driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.05 or more | 5,000 to 20,000 baht fine; up to one year in jail | 5,000 to 20,000 baht fine; up to one year in jail |
| Drink driving (second offence within two years) | 5,000 to 20,000 baht fine; up to one year in jail | 50,000 to 100,000 baht fine; up to two years in jail |
| Speeding above the legal limit | 1,000 baht fine | 4,000 baht fine |
| Running a red light | 1,000 baht fine | 4,000 baht fine |
| Failing to stop for pedestrians at a crosswalk | 1,000 baht fine | 4,000 baht fine |
| Driving a motorbike without a helmet | 500 baht fine | 2,000 baht fine |
| Driving a car without wearing a seatbelt | 500 baht fine | 2,000 baht fine |
| Driving backwards (unclear if that means the wrong way on a road) | 500 baht fine | 2,000 baht fine |
SOURCE: The Phuket News
