Strict punishment, including a 2,000-baht 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 on Sept 5, the Department of Land Transport (DLT) said on Sunday.
The DLT was responding to concerns raised over the perceived impracticality of the recently-passed Land Transport Act 2022, as the back-row seats of older trucks and cargo beds aren't typically equipped with seat belts.
DLT director-general Jirut Wisanjit said people should not be worried about whether they can no longer ride in the bed of pickup trucks. He said the Royal Thai Police will issue an announcement to exempt them from punishment.
The new 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, he said. "In practice, if we are going to impose this seat-belt fastening mandate on passengers, we will start with requiring car makers to install extra seat belts," he said.
A pickup truck carrying passengers in its cargo bed will, however, be required to cut its travel speed, said Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, deputy national police chief.
The national police are working together with the DLT on the new law.
The announcement will outline details of how the law will be enforced by the police, including who and what will be exempt from the mandate, he said.
A requirement under the law for cars to have proper car seats for children will not take effect on Sept 5 as there is still more work to be done to ensure it does not overly burden consumers, he said.