Court doles out fines for face mask violations

Court doles out fines for face mask violations

The driver and passengers in a lorry are seen wearing masks after mask-wearing was made compulsory in vehicles with at least one passenger. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)
The driver and passengers in a lorry are seen wearing masks after mask-wearing was made compulsory in vehicles with at least one passenger. (Photo by Pornprom Satrabhaya)

Courts have fined at least nine people so far this week for not wearing face masks in public, as part of stiffer measures to crack down on those flouting anti-Covid rules.

The fines varied from 1,000 baht to 4,000 baht, although they can go as high as 20,000 baht.

Office of the Judiciary spokesman Suriyan Hongvilai said on Wednesday the amounts imposed on offenders varied depending on the gravity of the crime committed and the circumstances surrounding the offence.

The wearing of face masks has been made mandatory by an administrative order issued by provincial governors as part of the latest measure to limit the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

Mask wearing is also compulsory for motorists. A driver with one or more passengers in the same vehicle must don a mask, as must the passengers.

On Monday, the provincial court in Wiang Sa district of Surat Thani fined two people 2,000 baht each for failing to wear a mask. The fine, however, was halved because they admitted their guilt.

Another person in the same district was fined 1,000 baht on Tuesday.

Tuesday also saw two people fined 4,000 baht each by the provincial court in Ayutthaya and another two were fined the same amount in Yala.

These fines were also halved after the guilty parties confessed, as were the 2,000-baht fines for two people in Yala’s Betong district on Tuesday.

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