Criminal Law in Thailand Part 25: Traffic crimes

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Dave The Dude

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Criminal Law in Thailand Part 25: Traffic crimes

  • Published: 3/10/2010 at 12:00 AM
  • Newspaper section: Spectrum
This time we'll begin a discussion of the criminal side of driving in Thailand, in the hope that you will avoid it. Most people know what they know about criminal law from practical experience with their cars. Generally, violations of the traffic laws are criminal offences, but most are what lawyers call malum prohibitum (wrong due to being prohibited) _ not morally wrong like intentionally killing somebody, just violations of the rules society imposes to maintain public order and safety.

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In fact, if you do run somebody over on the road while exceeding the speed limit and the number of drinks you should have consumed, you will have committed a much more serious crime, but what we'll discuss here are common traffic crimes.
The law governing traffic offences in Thailand is the Land Traffic Act BE 2522 (1979) (the Act). Generally it provides that for minor offences, such as running a red light or speeding, a police officer can give you a ticket (called a ''written order'' in the Act) to pay a fine at the local police station. For parking offences, where the driver is not around, the ticket may be left on the car.
The Act also provides that the officer can take the licence of the offending driver to ensure that the fine will be paid. If the officer takes the licence, he or she has to issue what's called a driving licence replacement, good for no more than seven days, during which time the driver has to go to the police station, pay the fine and retrieve the licence.
The Act also says that in the case of minor offences, the officer has the discretion not to issue a ticket, but just give a warning. Here are some cases in which an officer can't give just a warning:
Driving while intoxicated.
Refusing an officer's order to move a vehicle.
Hit-and-run cases.
Racing on a public road.
All of these topics will be covered next week, except hit-and-run, discussed below.
We're now going to cover some crimes on the road that are not just covered by getting a ticket and paying a fine at the police station. The first is hit-and-run. It is very common in Thailand that one of the parties in an accident simply drives away as fast as they can. The reasons for this are obvious. The offender may not have enough money to pay for the damage caused. Also, the legal process can drag on for years, and when confronted with the prospect, the offender simply flees.
Before we cover the criminal side of this, you should be aware that if you can't identify the other party in an accident, even in a hit-and-run, it may be impossible to collect from your insurance company. In case of accident, therefore, one of the first things to do is get the licence plate number of the other car.
The Act imposes a duty on a driver to stop and report an accident where the driver has been involved in an accident that caused damage to the person or property of another. This means giving your full name, address and vehicle registration number to the other party and reporting the accident to a police officer on duty near the scene. It applies no matter who was at fault.
If a driver escapes and does not give the information required, the Act says that the driver doing so will be considered to have been at fault. Also, if this driver has escaped on foot, leaving his or her vehicle, the vehicle will be confiscated. If the driver does not appear to collect the car within six months, it will be become the property of the state.
There are additional penalties for not stopping at or reporting an accident. According to sections 78 and 160 of the Act, the hit-and-run driver is exposed to a fine and/or up to three months in jail.
Next time we'll talk about further traffic issues.
 
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