The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), Department of Land Transport (DLT) and police must come up with a clear decision on pickup tray passengers soon or confusion will reign. The holidays are over but nobody knows how long the grace period for the pickup tray rule will last or what kind of restrictions will be applied in its place. The April 5 order effectively banned people from riding in the tray of pickup trucks, a popular practice among rural people who often travel together to save on transportation costs. The zoning proposal, for example, will impose more burdens on traffic police who will have to monitor pickup trucks along these routes but the restriction itself does not necessarily ensure that pickup tray passengers will be safer if an accident happens. At the end of the day, the authorities will have to admit the pickup tray debacle should not be settled by stop-gap measures.

Source: Bangkok Post April 20, 2017 21:22 UTC