Children under 6, or those 135cm or less in height, must be placed in booster seat or a child safety seat and wear seatbelts from September, or face a fine of up to 2,000 baht on conviction.
Exceptions to the seatbelt rule include special circumstances, such as for health reasons, whereby it is not possible to comply, but other safety measures must be in place. These new measures are all included in an amendment to the Land Traffic Act, which was published in the Royal Gazette on May 7th. The new rule will be enforceable from September 5th.
The amendment is in addition to the new rules imposed since March 2017 by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which compelled all drivers and their passengers, front and rear, to wear seatbelts throughout the journey, as opposed to the previous rules mandating the wearing of safety belts only in the front seats. Exceptions were, however, made for cars without seatbelts installed in the rear seats.
The requirements do not apply to drivers and passengers in a Samlor, or Tuk-Tuk, a tractor, a road roller, a farm truck or other vehicles which are not required to be fitted with seatbelts.
Thailand’s roads are among the world’s deadliest, with an average of 2 deaths per hour (or 49 per day) according to 2020 data.
