Thai road safety: Green light given for police to spend half a billion baht on radar guns

[webfact]

Thai road safety: Green light given for police to spend half a billion baht on radar guns

 

video screenshot

 

Speeding motorists better watch out - Thailand is spending more than half a billion baht to equip its police with hand held radar guns.

 

A ministry of the interior budgetary committee has given approval for 849 of the devices to be bought at a cost of 675,000 baht each.

 

That makes a total bill of 573 million baht, reported Voice TV yesterday.

 

The bidding process for the radar guns was mired in corruption allegations and previous requests for more devices have been revised now that the true price for each one has been ascertained.

 

The government said that the radar guns were to help with road safety and would prevent accidents.

 

Source: Voice TV

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-10-20

[AGareth2]

money for the boys

[darksidedog]

17 minutes ago, webfact said:

The government said that the radar guns were to help with road safety and would prevent accidents.

Not to mention seriously boost the income of the cops using them.

I welcome anything that can reduce accidents here and speeding is an issue.

A far bigger issue as we all know though, is the "get out of my way" attitude of masses of drivers here. Safety will improve when their awful driving is targeted and punished.

[tifino]

 

expertly placed at the bottom of targeted hills

[Cadbury]

17 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

money for the boys

In every sense of the meaning.

I see them advertised in the US for around 25,000 THB and allegedly at police quality. Big difference between that and nearly 675,000 THB. And they have the audacity to claim to have removed the corruption factor. 

 https://www.radargunsales.com/product/traffic-enforcement-police-radar-guns/genesis-handheld-directional-2/

[Thailand]

They can also detect bombs, overpriced lottery tickets,, and cigarette butts hiden in the sand and come fully equiped with brown envelopes.

[YetAnother]

17 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

In every sense of the meaning.

I see them advertised in the US for around 25,000 THB and allegedly at police quality. Big difference between that and nearly 675,000 THB. And they have the audacity to claim to have removed the corruption factor. 

 https://www.radargunsales.com/product/traffic-enforcement-police-radar-guns/genesis-handheld-directional-2/

good example of how thailand works

[YetAnother]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

equip its police with hand held radar guns

now i understand 'police reform' ;new guns (reported in an earlier article) and now new toys to scam the public; should be so so easy for them;

just record a legit speeder and save the reading and display it for the next umpteen non-speeders

[seajae]

really have to wonder exactly how these will be put into action, will they simply be another tea money collecting helper or will the revenue go to the govt. Hopefully for the price paid per unit they will record all the "high"speeds and be part of the ticket issued so they cannot be used for personal gain  of the ones actually using them, only time will tell

[james.d]

Wow, 675,000 THB, that is the price of some new small cars...

 

I am gobsmacked that this this purchase has been given the green light.

I wonder if a separate budget is passed for the repair (after being dropped/messed around with) maintenance or calibration.

 

Edited October 20, 2017 by james.d

[Thian]

38 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

In every sense of the meaning.

I see them advertised in the US for around 25,000 THB and allegedly at police quality. Big difference between that and nearly 675,000 THB. And they have the audacity to claim to have removed the corruption factor. 

 https://www.radargunsales.com/product/traffic-enforcement-police-radar-guns/genesis-handheld-directional-2/

But those guns can't make pictures automatically.

 

For 675000 baht they can also buy new patrolcars and just do real policing on the road...or buy big bikes plus webcams for the motorpolice...

 

But the police doesn't dare to stop drivers and fine them, they like to hide between a tree and make secret pictures of the offence.

[ChrisY1]

"The 40 new speed guns cost about $180,000."...An excerpt from an Australian newspaper about state police purchasing 40 hand held cameras.

Roughly $4500AUD each....or 117,000Thb

675,000Thb is so typical of government purchasing....~500% more expensive than they should be...a great improvement to certain families wealth!

[NCC1701A]

in the states you ask the cop to use the reference generator and show that the gun is calibrated. if he can't, you still might get a ticket, but it will be thrown out in traffic court.

 

i had a radar detector in my car for years, worked great, especially on open highways.

 

 

[Eric Loh]

Just another normal transaction in this junta government like the over price clocks in Government House and statues in the Park. 

[Cuchulainn]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

A ministry of the interior budgetary committee has given approval for 849 of the devices to be bought at a cost of 675,000 baht each.

848 of them will be tampered with.

[luudee]

Radar detector business will be blooming !!! 

 

[anon789561]

675,000 baht each!! does a bloody drone pop out of it and fly after you down the road land and your bonnet and issue the ticket to you or something. 675,000 baht speed trap 555 only the best for the thai BIB

[Psimbo]

2 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

money for the boys

Progress and the first comment slags it off- Thaigeezers rock!

[wvavin]

Another sudden windfall for police as year end bonus!

[SkyNets]

1 hour ago, luudee said:

Radar detector business will be blooming !!! 

 

Golf ball detector business will be blooming!

[Thian]

I think drivers who drive too slow are the biggest problem. Or the ones who drive slow on the middle lane and won't move for anything.

 

 

[shanesox]

These radar guns are not 23000$US, believe me. So once again corruption rules


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Briggsy]

Within 12 months, 90% of them will be out of use or sitting gathering dust somewhere because

1. they were not maintained.

2. the instructions are in English

3. they are too heavy.

4. too much effort to use.

5. they are being used by the public to prove they weren't speeding.

6. they have been secretly sold off.

 

Nobody will care. 500 million baht. Nobody will care.

[Pilotman]

4 hours ago, YetAnother said:

good example of how thailand works

Good example of how all government procurement works, in  many many countries.  Just look at the waste in the UK MoD to see that we pay over the odds for everything, even stuff you can get in your local store for a fraction of the price.  As with many things seen through the jaundiced eyes of some on TV,  this is not confined to Thailand, far from it . 

[Borzandy]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

a cost of 675,000 baht each

Oh my dear, it's very expensive, I sure they also bought the option "farangs targeted".

[irwinfc]

spending nearly 600 million baht just to identify speeding drivers (catching them is another matter) will not revolutionize road safety in this country. start with motorcycle riders who cross red lights, ride on the footpath, don't wear safety helmets, ride against traffic, etc; drivers who beat the red light, ignore street/road signs (no U-turn, no overtaking, no parking, etc), and a wave of change in driving habits will soon emerge. there is so much ignorance on thai roads, that radar guns (overpriced or not) are the least of what thailand needs. but hey, what do i know? i'm just a foreigner here...

[ExpatOilWorker]

Is Thailand slowly turning into a nanny-state?

No speeding, No smoking on beaches, No drones, No alcohol commercials, No, No, No......elections.

[Destiny1990]

So who is selling them? No bulk discount? 

[4MyEgo]

Just wondering if radar detectors are illegal in this country, because I knew years ago when the radars were in, we would outsmart the cops with radar detectors, i.e. they would beep beep beep when a radar was in sight, providing us enough time to slow down.

 

Gotta look into this, because Thailand is fast becoming another Australia, not that there is anything wrong with wanting to reduce speeding motorists, but I do like my 20 kmph above the speed limit on open roads.

[XJ650]

So who is going to use these fantastic things? I never see any police on or on the side of the road.

 

Put a couple of police at a traffic light and they can take at least 100 people going through red light within 10 minutes..

 

So far after 15 years I haven't seen one person get caught crossing red light.