More than 85% of motorists committing traffic offences have ignored ticket fine payments worth several billion baht, but they will soon face retribution by being prohibited from renewing their annual car licences.
The measure to renew yearly vehicle licences, which will take effect from Oct 1, came as police yesterday unveiled a sharp rise in the number of rogue drivers, which are factored into the high number of road accidents and shocking casualty figures in Thailand.
"I hope this will help reduce the number of offenders," assistant national police chief Damrongsak Kittipraphat said.
Traffic police last year issued 11 million tickets, which was double the number a year earlier, but drivers paid for only 1.3 million tickets, he said.
"In just one year, the number of overdue ticket fines rose to 9.7 million," he said.
Usually each traffic law violator is required to pay 500 baht on average. This authorised police in 2018 to collect up to 5.5 billion baht in traffic fines.
"Also, in the first six months of this year, we've already issued seven million tickets, but 5.9 million, or 84%, of them have not been paid," the national police assistant said.
"If violators choose not to cough up, they will be hit with another 2,000-baht penalty for failing to pay the fines on time," he warned.
