Malaysians at risk of being involved in accidents in Thailand

THAILAND - Malaysians travelling to Thailand with their own vehicle without knowing the laws and road rules in the land of the white elephant, might end up in a tragic situation.

Malaysian Consul-General in Songkhla Ahmad Fahmi Ahmad Sarkawi said many Malaysians were at risk of being involved in accidents because most of them liked to travel in convoy when traveling here.

He said the wide and straight highways in the country was one of the factors why some Malaysians chose to drive at high speed.

"The speed limit set by the Thai government for vehicles and motorcycles on highways is 90 kilometres per hour (KMJ), which is different from Malaysia, which is 110 KMJ.

"The situation can lead to road accidents if they are not careful," he said when met by reporters at the Melayu Day celebration.

He said highways in Thailand have many routes that allow vehicles to make U-turns.

He also said there were a lot of motorcycles crossing and making U-turns, leading to road accidents.

Therefore, he urged Malaysians to drive carefully to avoid accidents.

Fahmi also advised Malaysians to return the vehicle declaration form to the Thai Customs Department if they were using their own vehicle before leaving the country.

"Today I was informed that many Malaysians forgot to re-submit their vehicle declaration form to the Thai Customs. In some cases, they went to the wrong counter and submitted the form to the Thai Immigration.

“If this happens, Thai Customs will see it as overstaying because there is no record indicating that we've departed the country,” he said.

Fahmi said the mistake of submitting the declaration form to the Thai Immigration counter instead could lead to the missing data of Malaysians leaving the country.

"The situation causes Malaysians to be fined 1,000 Thai Bhat (RM132.70) per day starting from the day after the vehicle declaration form expired.