Young traffic offenders in Thailand will be taken on a court-ordered guided tour of Thai morgues, autopsy rooms and prisons if judges and probation officials in Thailand can agree on new proposed radical measures aimed at discouraging young Thai drivers from road racing, a senior Thai judge said.
Probation and court-ordered community work alone have proved insufficient to deter Thai daredevil road racers and young drunken drivers from quitting their dangerous habits, said Adisak Sornthanarat, chief justice of the Northern Bangkok District Court House in Thailand.
The court and probation officials are discussing a new shock treatment with a guided tour as a possible deterrent, he said. Young Thai traffic offenders would be led into morgues, watch post-mortem operations on victims of road accidents and tour prisons in order to get first-hand experience on the negative and often lethal consequences of road racing and driving under influence on public roads, the Thai judge said.
He also warned that with the Children Protection Act coming into effect since March 30, parents and guardians would also be held responsible for the harmful acts of youngsters and children under their care. The parents of the young and repeating road-race and driving under influence offenders may be summoned to provide guarantee-money to be paid as fines for future violations, Adisak added.
Parents may also be considered by a court as encouraging their children in offences, which could result in being fined for up to 60,000 Baht (US$ 1,550) or jailed for 3 months, said the judge. There are as many as 500 cases of drunk driving by youngsters each month in Bangkok, which is a lot, he added.
At Ramkhamhaeng University, a "Roads Safe from Drunk Drivers" fair was opened by Justice Ministry permanent secretary Somchai Wongsawat. A number of anti-drunk-driving campaigners and Thai celebrities were among those taking part in the fair. They included actor Willie Macintosh, who became a presenter for the "Don't Drive Drunk" foundation in Thailand, after he himself had been ordered by a Thai court to carry out community service for a drunk-driving offence.
