Seat belt fastening soon mandatory on all public buses and vans in Thailand
A new law forcing passengers on inter-provincial buses and public vans to buckle up could be in place by the end of the year, the Transport Ministry says.
The Transport Minister has been pushing the ministry to come up with a ministerial regulation it to enforce the law, which has been approved by the Council of State and in the process of being submitted to the cabinet for consideration and approval. The regulation is expected to be announced at the end of the year 2013.
Once announced, passengers on all types of public buses, including cross-province tour buses and vans, will be required to wear safety belts while on those vehicles. Violators will face a fine of up to 5,000 baht, he said. All buses must be equipped with seatbelts by April 1, 2014. Unless they fail to do so by that date, owners will be fined 50,000 baht per bus.
Wutthichart Kalayanamit, managing director of Transport Co, said its 854 buses are equipped with seat belts. NakornChai Air Bus, said the firm equipped its buses with seat belts 20 years ago. The question now is: will passenger really use the seat belt ?
