To curb congestion from royal motorcades, Thai king orders new traffic rules

BANGKOK: Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has ordered police to stop completely blocking roads in Bangkok for royal motorcades, a government spokeswoman said.

The order followed rare criticism of royal motorcades and other inconveniences that Thais have expressed in recent months, a British wire service reported on Monday.

Thai police will instead block off only a part of the roads for the motorcade, said spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat.

She also issued a video outlining the new rules, which also included allowing people to resume using bridges that tower over the motorcade route. “His Majesty the King is concerned his royal travel or that of the royal family’s could affect Thai people’s commute,” said a voice-over in the video.

Bangkok is one of the most congested major cities in the world, ranking 11th on US-based traffic analytics firm INRIX’s Global Traffic Scorecard in 2017.

Thailand has a tough law against insulting the king, queen, heir or regent. Anyone who violates this law faces up to 15 years in prison.