Driving in Thailand? Here's how the new points system works

Anything and everything about Thailand
Post Reply
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Driving in Thailand? Here's how the new points system works

Post by Gaybutton »

The points system begins Monday, January 9 (unless they change things yet again).

The article contains one of the all time great snippets of journalism and logic I have ever seen:
drivers are a key factor in road safety.
Wow! Really? No kidding? Thank you, article author, for letting us know. Why I never would have guessed or thought of that . . .
__________________________________________________________

Your essential guide to Thailand’s new driving license points system

By Thai PBS World

November 20, 2022

From January 9 next year, any driver who breaks traffic laws will face not only legal punishment but will also get his or her points deducted. And if their points drop to zero, their driving license will be suspended for up to 90 days.

National Police Commissioner General Damrongsak Kittiprapas explained that the point-deduction system is designed to promote safe driving. Every year, road casualties claim more than 22,000 lives in Thailand, which has the ninth-highest rate of traffic accidents in the world.

Drive safely or lose points

All driving license holders will start with 12 points each, Highway Police Division commander Pol Maj-General Ekkarat Limsangkat said. However, these points will be points deducted whenever they are caught committing a traffic offense.

“For minor offences, we will deduct one point. For serious offences, we will deduct four points,” Ekkarat said.

Speeding, failing to stop for pedestrians at a zebra crossing, talking on the phone while behind the wheel, or driving a vehicle with no license plate will cost the driver one point.

Two points will be deducted if they are caught jumping a red light, driving against the prescribed traffic direction, or driving while their license is confiscated or suspended.

The three-point deduction is reserved for illegal road racing, while the highest penalty of a four-point deduction will occur in serious offences like drunk driving.

How to increase your points

All points deducted will be credited back to drivers’ accounts after one year. But if their points drop so low that they risk a 90-day license suspension, drivers can take a course on traffic laws and safe driving in a bid to boost their score.

“If drivers take a course with the Land Transport Department [LTD], they may get some points restored before the year ends,” Ekkarat explained.

When the new driving-point system goes into effect, drivers will be able to check their score on https://ptm.police.go.th/eTicket or the Paotang application.

“Police and the LTD systems will be linked to ensure smooth implementation,” Ekkarat added.

Fine, jail term

Ekkarat said the introduction of the points-deduction system did not mean that those who break traffic laws will be spared a fine or jail time.

“As well as losing points, they will also be liable to legal action,” he said.

For example, if someone is caught driving while his/her license is confiscated or suspended, apart from getting their points deducted, they will also face a jail term of up to three months and/or a fine of Bt10,000 under the Traffic Law Act.

Confiscated, suspended driving license

A confiscated driving license is different from a suspended driving license. Traffic police are empowered to order the seizure of a driving license if its holder is at risk of driving dangerously – for example, because they are too tired, sleepy, or emotional.

“When drivers are deemed to have recovered enough to drive properly, their driving license will be returned,” Ekkarat said.

He added that a driver, for example, may be flagged down by police and have his driving license confiscated if he cuts in front of other vehicles out of stress or perhaps a big fight with his sweetheart.

“This measure is intended to prevent dangerous driving that threatens not just the driver but also others.”

If drivers are caught driving dangerously because of a health issue, traffic police officers may send them to the hospital and inform their relatives.

The order to suspend a driving license can only be given by a police region commissioner or the Central Investigation Bureau. The driving license will be suspended for 90 days from the time of the order.

Overhaul of driving-license system

Titipat Thaijongrak, director of the Land Transport Safety Bureau, said Thailand is improving its driving-license system to reflect the fact that drivers are a key factor in road safety.

“Our upgraded system focuses on fostering conscientiousness, discipline, and road-safety awareness,” he said. “Our training and tests now also cover accident prediction and risk analysis to improve accident prevention.”

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/your-essen ... ts-system/
Jun

Re: Driving in Thailand? Here's how the new points system works

Post by Jun »

Thai PBS World wrote: Tue Nov 22, 2022 7:11 pm“For minor offences, we will deduct one point. For serious offences, we will deduct four points,” Ekkarat said.

Speeding, failing to stop for pedestrians at a zebra crossing, talking on the phone while behind the wheel, or driving a vehicle with no license plate will cost the driver one point.
So these offences are considered so minor that the driver has to be caught 12 times before using up all his points. So in practical terms, it's hardly an offence at all.
We know people have been killed on zebra crossings in Thailand.
We also know that using a phone whilst driving is one of the known causes of road traffic accidents.
To get caught 12 times, I suspect the average driver would have to be permanently on the phone whilst driving.

For comparison, in the UK, failing to stop at a zebra crossing is 3 points and using a phone is 3~6 points. In the UK, you start at zero points and are likely to get disqualified at 12, so we can directly compare the points awarded with Thailand.

The Thai ban lasts up to 90 days. The UK ban is 6 months.

The UK has about 1600 road traffic fatalities per year, compared with over 20,000 in Thailand.

The very lenient points system might suggest that the Thai authorities simply don't care about road traffic deaths.

Absolutely staggering, when we consider that they were prepared to shut down large parts of the Thai economy for covid, which has killed just 33,000 people in almost 3 years. About half of whom would probably have died by now anyway, if it's like other countries.

Meanwhile, the road traffic accidents kill over 20,000 people, of all ages, every year and they won't even make minor interventions to reduce this. The kind of interventions that would have almost no negative economic side effects. Most probably positive side effects.
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Re: Driving in Thailand? Here's how the new points system works

Post by Gaybutton »

The point system is now in effect.
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Re: Driving in Thailand? Here's how the new points system works

Post by Gaybutton »

Thailand Tries New Driving License Point-Deduction System

By Tanakorn Panyadee

9 January, 2023

The traffic point-deduction system has officially been put into effect in Thailand today, January 9th, 2023 and it will change the legal consequences of Thailand’s notorious traffic offenses for good.

From today onwards, any driver who violates traffic laws will face legal consequences such as a fine or jail time as well as have their points deducted from their driving record. Under this new law, if a driver’s points drop to zero, their license will be suspended for up to 90 days.

According to Police Commissioner General Damrongsak Kittiprapas, this new system is designed to encourage safe driving and reduce the high rate of traffic accidents in the country, which claim more than 22,000 lives every year, putting Thailand on the ninth place worldwide for countries with the highest traffic accidents rate.

How this new system works is that drivers will be given 12 points to start with. These points will be reduced whenever the drivers are caught breaching traffic laws: one point for minor offenses such as speeding, failing to stop at a zebra crossing, or talking on the phone while driving and four points for serious offenses such as drunk driving.

Drivers will be given a second chance to redeem themselves if their points drop too low as it risks getting a 90-day suspension if they sign up and take a course on traffic laws and safe driving. For drivers with small point deductions, their points will be credited back after one year automatically.

But this does not mean that drivers will be exempted from facing old penalties such as a fine or jail time if they have their points deducted, said police commissioner general Damrongsak. Drivers who break traffic laws will also face old penalties as well as risk getting their driving license suspended. Drivers can check their driving score right here on https://ptm.police.go.th/eTicket

https://tpnnational.com/2023/01/09/thai ... on-system/

NOTE from GB: If you wish to use the eTicket site you will probably need some help from a Thai friend. The site is entirely in Thai. No English version. Considering there is a significant number of foreign drivers who hold Thai driving licenses, it would make sense to have an English version. I don't know about anyone else, but over the years I have been stopped and fined every so often - whether I had done something wrong or not, which under this system means I probably would have lost some points. Since there isn't an English version, why isn't there one?

Also, if any of us manage to lose enough points to have to take that safe driving course, that will be fun since you can fully expect however they do that, it also will be entirely in Thai.

Just another item for my "I Don't Get It" list.
Jun

Re: Driving in Thailand? Here's how the new points system works

Post by Jun »

From what I see, any "safe driving" course needs to be in Thai and Arabic.
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Re: Driving in Thailand? Here's how the new points system works

Post by Gaybutton »

The way Thai drivers pay attention to traffic laws, I wouldn't feel any safer at crosswalks if I were you.
__________________________________________________________________________

Thailand begins 4,000-baht fine on drivers failing to stop for pedestrians at crosswalks

By Pattaya Mail

January 25, 2023

Motorists who fail to stop their vehicles for pedestrians at zebra crossings face a maximum fine of 4,000 baht and have one point deducted from their driving license immediately under the new law.

Deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek said the new law, which was put into effect on Jan 9 increases penalties and adopts the point deduction system to ensure the safety of pedestrians at zebra crossings.

Each licensed driver has 12 points. Any drivers who lose all 12 points will have their licenses suspended for 90 days. At the third complete point loss in three years, licenses may be suspended longer. At the fourth complete point loss, licenses could be revoked.

Any driver who violates the suspension order will be punishable by a maximum of three months behind bars and/or a maximum of 10,000-baht fine.
Deducted points will be restored in one year after the dates of violation.

https://www.pattayamail.com/thailandnew ... lks-422578
Jun

Re: Driving in Thailand? Here's how the new points system works

Post by Jun »

The points system is a joke.
One point per offence, 12 offences to get a minor ban and we all know anyone with a few offences booked will bribe their way out of it.

What they ought to do is give proper penalties, e.g 3 per offence or 6 for severe offences, like failing to stop at a pedestrian crossing, but with points expiring after 5 or 6 years.
User avatar
Gaybutton
Posts: 21459
Joined: Sat Jul 31, 2010 11:21 am
Location: Thailand
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1306 times

Re: Driving in Thailand? Here's how the new points system works

Post by Gaybutton »

Jun wrote: Wed Jan 25, 2023 7:45 pm What they ought to do is give proper penalties
I believe no matter how they do it, it won't change the driving habits of so much as a single Thai. Even if their license is revoked, most will just drive unlicensed, which a great many do anyhow.

In other words, I doubt in reality these laws are worth the paper they're written on - and that's why everyone needs to be just as cautious and vigilant as always. Hit and runs? Most of the time when I read about those, the articles say the police will track down the driver. I can't even remember seeing a follow-up article saying they actually did track down the offender, much less what might have happened to him.

"Be careful out there among the English."
- Jan Rubes (Eli Lapp), 'Witness'
Post Reply