I am curious, is it legal in Thailand to have people sitting on the back of a pickup truck as a moving vehicle?
Sandy from Koh Kaew
It is illegal to carrying people in the back of standard pickup trucks and larger trucks. It does not matter how many people are in the back. People should use their truck to transport things, not people.
However, it is legal if the vehicle has been legally modified to safely transport people, such as tuk-tuks and songtaew (local buses).
Please note that according to Section 20 of the Land Traffic Act 1979: “A driver is responsible for not letting his passengers, animals, or loads to fall, leak, give out smell, reflect light, etc, which may cause harm or danger to the public.”
The penalty for breaching this section is a fine of B500, but the fine can be much more if the driver is involved in an accident or causes injury to the passengers.
Lt Col Theerawat Liamsuwan, Deputy Superintendent of Traffic Police Division of the Phuket City Police.