Police will give only a verbal warning to passengers who ride in the rear space or beds of pickup trucks pending a new law.
However, police vowed to get tough on the speed limits of pickup trucks, which is capped at 80kph.
Assistant police chief Wittaya Prayongpan said yesterday that the Royal Thai Police (RTP) had ironed out its own version of the restrictions of travel on pickup beds and sent it to the Department of Land Transport (DLT) for consideration. However, there was some hindrance that impeded the amendment of the law in line with the proposal.
On Friday a meeting was held between Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam and representatives from the RTP, the DLT and other related agencies.
It concluded that the RTP, which is in charge of law enforcement, would have to stick to the 1979 Land Traffic Act for the time being as authorities still cannot roll out a new motor vehicle act to deal with the issue, Pol Lt Gen Wittaya said, adding further studies will be needed.
From now, he said, police will only give a verbal warning to those riding in the rear space of vehicles by taking into consideration people's safety.
Authorities have not specified the number of people who can travel on pickup beds but smaller numbers would be better, he said.
The 1979 Land Traffic Act, Pol Lt Gen Wittaya said, requires vehicles designed to carry cargo to have speed limits at 80kph outside municipalities and 60kph inside municipalities. Drivers will break the law if their speeds go beyond the limits, which will endanger passengers, he said.
If accidents happen, the drivers would be found guilty of using a wrong type of vehicle as travelling on pickup beds is generally outlawed, he noted.
Pol Lt Gen Wittaya said the meeting indicated that the key causes for road fatalities and injuries are people riding motorcycles without helmets, those sitting in vehicles without buckling up and drink-driving.
Police will toughen traffic law enforcement, including helmet wearing, buckling up and drink-driving, to decrease the loss of lives in road accidents, he said.
The ban on people travelling in pickup truck beds was earlier enforced on April 5 in the lead-up to the Songkran holiday when dangerous driving is rampant and road deaths are high. It was part of stiff safety measures that were issued under Section 44 of the previous interim charter.
But the government decided to roll back its ban in the evening of the same day following fierce criticism.
Speaking after the meeting on Friday, Mr Wissanu said the order on road safety under Section 44 will not be lifted. The agencies involved were told to consider proposals involving restrictions on the travel on pickup beds raised during the meeting, he said, adding there will be another meeting to discuss the issue soon.
"People should feel at ease that, after this, when the government is to roll out any measures, it will take into consideration safety and people's convenience," said Mr Wissanu.
He insisted the regime will no longer invoke Section 44, which is now incorporated into the current charter, to cope with the matter.
A total of 390 people were killed and 3,808 injured during the government's seven-day Songkran campaign to tackle road accidents, which ended on April 17.
There were 3,690 road accidents over the period, with drink-driving topping the list of causes, followed by speeding and overtaking.
Mr Wissanu said no accidents were found with public transport during the period, while those who buckled up were not killed in road accidents.
Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said authorities had given a reprieve to people travelling on the bed of pickup trucks.
Owners of pickups should refrain from installing seat belts in the rear compartment because no new order has yet come out, he said.
He said he had asked the DLT to compile information about Thai operators handling the installation of seat belts and check whether their work complied with industrial standards.
DLT director-general Sanit Promwong said the meeting sent a good signal that the restrictions on travelling on pickup beds would be eased. More study is needed to amend the relevant laws in connection with the restrictions, he added.