The Royal Gazette announced a ministerial regulation on alcohol testing, allowing blood and urine tests to be performed instead of breath tests, but the driver must first give consent before proceeding.
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The Royal Gazette announced a ministerial regulation on alcohol testing, allowing blood and urine tests to be performed instead of breath tests, but the driver must first give consent before proceeding.
On September 21, 2024, reporters reported that the Royal Gazette website published an announcement of the Ministerial Regulation on Testing the Amount of Alcohol in the Body of Drivers B.E. 2567 on September 20, 2024, by exercising the power under Section 5, Paragraph One of the Land Traffic Act B.E. 2522, which was amended by the Land Traffic Act (No. 12) B.E. 2562, and Section 142, Paragraph Five of the Land Traffic Act B.E. 2522, which was amended by the Land Traffic Act (No. 13) B.E. 2565, the Prime Minister issued the Ministerial Regulation as follows:
Section 1 shall be cancelled.
(1) Ministerial Regulation No. 16 (1994) issued under the Land Traffic Act B.E. 2522
(2) Ministerial Regulation No. 21 (2017) issued under the Land Traffic Act B.E. 2522
Section 2. To test whether a driver is drunk or not, measure the amount of alcohol in the driver’s body by measuring the breath with a blood alcohol level measuring device by blowing the breath (BREATH ANALYZER TEST) and read the value of alcohol in the blood as milligrams percent. The testing method according to paragraph one must be done according to the inspection method of each type of detector.
Section 3 In cases where it is not possible to test a driver by breath testing, the amount of alcohol in the driver’s body must be measured by one of the following methods:
(1) Measured from urine.
(2) Measured from blood.
The measurement of alcohol content in the body according to paragraph one must receive the consent of the driver before proceeding.
Section 4. The urine test method according to Section 3 (1) shall be tested from the driver’s urine sample. In collecting the sample, the following procedures must be followed:
(1) Provide a suitable container with a lid for collecting urine samples for the driver.
(2) Arrange for drivers to urinate in a private place with controlled sample collection to prevent any alteration or change.
(3) The information about the urine sample shall be specified on the label of the container under (1) and the container shall be sealed, with the driver signing the label.
When a urine sample of the driver has been collected in accordance with paragraph one, the chief traffic officer, investigator, or traffic officer, as the case may be, shall send the urine sample to the hospital or place and within the time period specified by the Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police for the chemical laboratory to measure the amount of alcohol in the urine sample under the supervision of a medical professional in accordance with the Medical Profession Act.
Section 5 Testing by blood sampling method according to Section 3 (2) requires the chief traffic officer, investigator or traffic officer, as the case may be, to send the driver to the nearest hospital within the time period specified by the Commissioner of the National Police to collect blood samples by medical methods that must not be otherwise harmful to the body or health of that person, under the supervision of a medical professional in accordance with the Medical Profession Act.
Section 6 In the event that the test results show that the driver has the following amount of alcohol in his body, he/she is considered drunk:
(1) The amount of alcohol in the blood exceeds 20 milligrams percent for drivers in the following cases:
(a) A driver who is under twenty years of age.
(b) A driver who has obtained a temporary driving license in accordance with the Motor Vehicle Act.
(c) A driver who has a driving license for a different type of vehicle that cannot be used interchangeably.
(d) A driver who does not have a driving license or whose driving license is suspended or revoked.
(2) The amount of alcohol in the blood exceeds 50 milligrams percent for a driver who is not the driver under (1).
Section 7 In measuring from breath or urine, compare the results of the measurement of the amount of alcohol in the body obtained from the blood alcohol level measuring device by blowing breath or the results of the chemical test from measuring the amount of alcohol in the urine sample, whichever is the case, using the amount of alcohol in the blood as a standard criterion, as follows:
(a) In the case of measurement from breath, use a conversion coefficient of 2,000.
(b) In the case of measurement from urine, use a conversion coefficient equal to 1/1.3.
Given on September 3, 2024
Phumtham Vejjayachai
Deputy Prime Minister
Acting on behalf of the Prime Minister