Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
A new law states that international airlines will need to pay out millions of baht if passengers die in-flight. Delayed flights and damaged luggage could also result in compensation.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about the new act.
International airlines will be forced to pay compensation of up to 5 million baht to the next of kin of passengers who die in-flight under the new International Air Carriage Act 2015, said deputy permanent secretary for transport Woradech Hanprasert.
IMMEDIATE MEASURE
Woradech said on June 6 that details of the act have been published in the Royal Gazette which means it takes effect immediately.
The law was drafted to deal with compensation demands from passengers and relatives in cases where airlines are at fault. Previously, Thai authorities had to deal with such issues through aviation regulations and no specific legislations existed.
Woradech said airlines have to develop rules and regulations in accordance with the new law.
SPECIAL ASSISTANCE
Every airline normally has regulations to protect passenger rights which includes compensation packages for passengers.
Under the new act, up to five million baht will be paid out for passengers who die or are injured on board international flights, Woradech said, adding that passengers can also file a lawsuit to recover additional compensation from airlines.
The law will provide better assistance to passengers and their relatives as they previously had to make personal injury or death claims themselves, Woradech said.
OTHER DAMAGE
Under the act, airlines will also be responsible for people affected by delayed flights and loss and damage to baggage and carry-on luggage. These items are deemed as coming under the supervision of airlines during the flight and check-in process.
However, airlines will not have to pay compensation if they can prove they have implemented measures to tackle such problems, or losses occurred through unavoidable situations.
The new law covers international airlines in Thai airspace and Thai-registered airlines anywhere in the world. The act uses the so-called Special Drawing Rights (SDR) valuation to determine how much each compensation case is worth.
Exercises
Read the story. Then, decide whether each of the following statements are true or false.
1. The act hasn’t been enforced yet.
……………….
2. In accordance with the act, up to five million baht will be paid out for passengers who die or are injured on board international flights.
……………….
3. SDR stands for Special Drawing Rights.
……………….
4. The new law covers international airlines in Thai airspace only.
……………….
Vocabulary
- next of kin (n): your closest living relative or relatives
legislation (n): the process of making and passing laws
tackle (v): to make a determined effort to deal with a difficult problem or situation
unavoidable (adj): impossible to avoid or prevent
airspace (n): the part of the sky where planes fly, usually the part above a particular country that is legally controlled by that country
