Wearing a seatbelt in the rear of a vehicle will now be mandated in Thailand for passengers, with the regulation taking effect in September of this year.
The Thaiger reports that the new rule, Road Traffic Act (No.13) 2022, was published on 7 August. The act aims to improve road safety, particularly for young children.
Parents will need to ensure that their children wear seat belts for the duration of travel to avoid injuries in the event of an accident.
Under the new rule, both drivers and passengers must wear seatbelts at all times. Children, however, will also need to sit in child safety seats.
Those who fail to comply will be fined over Thai Baht 2,000.
Meanwhile, in Laos, regulations are less clear.
Article 39 of the Lao Law on Land Traffic states that fines for failure to wear a seatbelt will apply to drivers, not passengers, and will range from Lao Kip 70,000 to Lao Kip 100,000.
In 2017, then Director of the Vientiane Traffic Police Department, Lieutenant Colonel Youttaphong Souvannasing, explained that officials had directed all Vientiane traffic police to cease penalizing citizens for not wearing seatbelts until regulations and fines were properly established and clarified.
