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Thailand's Prime Minister has used his sweeping post-coup powers to announce two new traffic regulations, only to backtrack on one of them hours after it came into effect.
Last week, Thailand's military junta announced two strict new road safety regulations — that all passengers must wear seat belts and pick-up trucks must not carry people in the tray.
But on Wednesday, the very day they were due to come into effect, police said they would ignore the ban on tray passengers until after next week's Songkran Festival — traditionally the most dangerous time of the year on Thai roads.
"The strict enforcement regarding travelling in the cargo bed of pick-up trucks would return after the festival," said Lieutenant General Witthaya Prayongpan, assistant commissioner of the Royal Thai Police, according to The Nation newspaper.
Last year 442 people died on the roads in the week of Songkran — a shocking toll fuelled by alcohol, speed and untrained drivers.
Thailand has the second highest recorded road toll in the world after Libya, with an estimated 14,000 people a year dying in car and motorcycle accidents.
Under Thai law, the tray of pick-up trucks should be only used for cargo — but the rule is rarely enforced and it is a common mode of transport for Thais, particularly the poor and rural residents.
Despite the apparent backflip on the new traffic rule, the assistant commissioner of police suggested that people stopped for improperly transporting passengers during Songkran holidays should politely negotiate with officers.
"If you are stopped by police, please don't argue with them ... please acknowledge your charges and ask for a reduction of the fine or for leniency," said Lieutenant General Witthaya Prayongpan.
"Officers exercise judgement on a case-by-case basis," he said, according to the online news site Khaosod English.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, thailand
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