Traffic lights working beach Rd

[InMyShadow]

The traffic lights and crossing signals are now working on beach Rd

 

However the traffic is partially complying

 

Some of cars are stopping at the red.

Baht buses slowing to a crawl but crossing on red

 

Mototaxis flying through.

[champers]

Mototaxis are exempt from any and all traffic regulstions.

[joepattaya1961]

Some of the traffic lights are working during the week.

Weekends they're turned off......."they'll distrupt the traffic flow" 

[janclaes47]

That's the problem in Thailand, if you enable traffic lights you make it more dangerous for the average road users, because non of the Thais respect those lights.

 

Best solution would be to place at each traffic light a copper with a shotgun, and a lot of ammunition.

[NanLaew]

There are no 'average' road users in the whole of the realm. If one assumes that one is above average by dint of a foreign drivers education and overseas license, good luck with that when faced with the simply overwhelming amount of locally educated and licensed drivers vehicle operators.

 

The problem with the Pattaya pedestrian crossing lights is one chief cop turns them on and after a few days, typically after a busy holiday weekend, another chief cop claims they disrupt traffic and turns them off.

 

If they left the bloody things on, there's a chance that the > 4-wheeled motorists will get used to them. However, positioning cops at strategic locations with shotguns will still be needed for those errant 2-wheelers. Rubber bullets would be best though.

[soistalker]

The ironic thing is that there is a lot of money in enforcing the traffic laws. And it would be a great public service in deterring those who don't follow the rules of the road. But that would take actual policework. It is much much easier to spot a white guy on a moto and pull him over to get money. 

[JSixpack]

1 hour ago, soistalker said:

It is much much easier to spot a white guy on a moto and pull him over to get money. 

 

 

Enough with the farang victimism. Been discussed countless times, for example,

 

On 8/30/2015 at 12:01 PM, richard_smith237 said:

They are preying on anyone, not just foreigners... unless of course the last 10 times you were stopped the others who you saw pulled over were only other foreigners.

It does seem that when some Westerners are stopped by the BiB they claim they are being specifically targeted for being 'Farang'... In reality the Police are much more indiscriminate in their attempts to secure a little 'tea money'... they are pretty much happy to target anyone regardless of nationality... They may be more wary when stopping the drivers or more expensive vehicles.

 

On 8/30/2015 at 2:41 PM, JingerBen said:

Beat me to it.

I was going to say "hogwash."

Look at any checkpoint where a lot of people are being stopped. Many more Thais than farangs are being shaken down.

 

It wouldn't make sense to stop "only white guys" as there are vastly more Thais than farangs on the road. And they don't. Having driven (the word "driven" has already been litigated, BTW) a bike many years in PTY I can verify the truth of the above. In fact I posted about this recently.

 

 

On 10/4/2017 at 5:33 PM, JSixpack said:

 

I doubt you have the whole story. Lies and misunderstandings abound.

 

Once a month an old work colleague of mine comes in from BKK for a brief visit. After a late breakfast we typically sit for a couple of hours in the Red Cat bar just up from the police station to which you refer. Watching the police stopping motorcyclists there is some entertainment while knockin' back a few cold ones. 

 

Go do that yourself. What you'll see is police stopping both Thais and farangs. If the license/insurance/helmets/driving are in order, they're quickly sent on their way. Otherwise, they're issued a ticket and told to go inside the station to pay it. Watch carefully; no bribes are being paid. If you're really curious, you may go ask any of the "criminals" what the offence was. But let's not let mere facts get in the way of a bashfest.

 

If you're a motorcyclist you can reduce your chances of being stopped by riding solo; riding a smaller older bike; wearing a helmet, goes w/o saying; not driving fast; driving in the middle lane (lane split and stay beside a car or truck); and not look like tourist. As for the latter, cops have a fantastic instinct for quick detection. The chances are just much greater that a tourist won't have all quite in order. But if they do, they're quickly let go.

 

Big sports bikes, esp those traveling fast in the fast lane, are often stopped. Extremes draw attention: I remember a skinny bespectacled Harley driver, white beanie, skinny red pants and matching red sneakers who obviously needed a check. And cops seem to love a fat, complacent old farang fart, plaid collared shirt, cargo shorts, (white) socks and sandals, riding on big new scooter, maybe w/ bar girl on the back.

 

You can take evasive tactics. Saw two young Russians (I guess) on a  big sports bike, no shirts or helmets, do a quick U turn and speed into Soi 8. You can run: saw three Thai guys on old bike, no shirts or helmets, speed by the cops and ignore their warnings to stop. Cops didn't give chase or, it appeared, radio ahead. Or you may quickly pull off and park and enjoy beers & wimmen till the coast's clear. Pattaya!

9

 

 

 

[bert bloggs]

Yes i saw that they were working yesterday, they were on red as we all drove through

[InMyShadow]

Just imagine 2 cops at each light, one of them 100 meters down the road and walkie talkies to nab every red light runner.

If flicking a cigarette butt is 100k then red light runners should be at least double. [emoji3]

[Henryford]

I was nearly run over crossing at a zebra crossing on beach road. Avoid them as it just gives a false sense of security. The bikes just fly through.

[topt]

1 hour ago, Henryford said:

I was nearly run over crossing at a zebra crossing on beach road. Avoid them as it just gives a false sense of security. The bikes just fly through.

if you have only just discovered this you either have not been here very long or not paying attention

[NanLaew]

13 minutes ago, topt said:

if you have only just discovered this you either have not been here very long or not paying attention

...or simply the proverbial accident just waiting to happen.

[tropo]

16 hours ago, JSixpack said:

 

Enough with the farang victimism. Been discussed countless times, for example,

 

 

 

It wouldn't make sense to stop "only white guys" as there are vastly more Thais than farangs on the road. And they don't. Having driven (the word "driven" has already been litigated, BTW) a bike many years in PTY I can verify the truth of the above. In fact I posted about this recently.

 

 

 

 

 

There are two different types of stops. There are the organized roadside checks where many cops stop most everyone, and there are the isolated cops, usually working alone or with one or two others that focus on foreigners and they usually come out of hiding to signal you to stop. They are definitely on the hunt for tea money and have little interest in Thais.

[JSixpack]

8 hours ago, tropo said:

There are two different types of stops. There are the organized roadside checks where many cops stop most everyone, and there are the isolated cops, usually working alone or with one or two others that focus on foreigners and they usually come out of hiding to signal you to stop. They are definitely on the hunt for tea money and have little interest in Thais.

 

 

The third type of stop, which you may see at Soi 9, is where they don't stop most everyone and they do stop selectively both farangs and Thais. The fourth type of stop is on the lesser scale of just looking for a particular type of violation, such as a left turn at a "no left turn on red" intersection. This fourth type, even more than the third type, is usually falsely claimed to be a "farangs only" stop. In fact they catch Thais at such stops as well. Thai friend of mine got caught turning left from Third to Central on red, got ticketed, and did pay B400 at the station. The backup TVF Poster finger-pointing argument is that the farang got stopped for the left turn while ignoring a Thai with no helmet who didn't turn. That noob argument reflects a misunderstanding of how Thai police operate (and in general the Asian mentality of "focus on one thing at a time"). So if police only target farangs, then Thais shouldn't have any negative feelings at all about them. Such is far, far from the case.

 

Yeah, "isolated cops" may sometimes target tourists for the same reason that Willie Sutton robbed banks. So speed traps in small towns on the east coast of the USA used to target New Yorkers in fancy cars on their way to vacationing in Florida. Some of those traps were fairly notorious. But they may target Thais as well. Talk to a Thai taxi driver sometime--you'll find he's been shaken down on more than one occasion. But the "isolated cops" with a minuscule proportion of total vehicle stops don't warrant the silly little paranoid bash that none of the Thai police does any policework but only targets "white boys." And that was my point of course.

 

 

Surveillance bunker deep within Nirun Condo manned by overstayer

 

"Farangs targeted" intelligence gathering off Soi Buakhao

Edited October 22, 2017 by JSixpack

[tropo]

2 hours ago, JSixpack said:

 

The third type of stop, which you may see at Soi 9, is where they don't stop most everyone and they do stop selectively both farangs and Thais. The fourth type of stop is on the lesser scale of just looking for a particular type of violation, such as a left turn at a "no left turn on red" intersection. This fourth type, even more than the third type, is usually falsely claimed to be a "farangs only" stop. In fact they catch Thais at such stops as well. Thai friend of mine got caught turning left from Third to Central on red, got ticketed, and did pay B400 at the station. The backup TVF Poster finger-pointing argument is that the farang got stopped for the left turn while ignoring a Thai with no helmet who didn't turn. That noob argument reflects a misunderstanding of how Thai police operate (and in general the Asian mentality of "focus on one thing at a time"). So if police only target farangs, then Thais shouldn't have any negative feelings at all about them. Such is far, far from the case.

 

Yeah, "isolated cops" may sometimes target tourists for the same reason that Willie Sutton robbed banks. So speed traps in small towns on the east coast of the USA used to target New Yorkers in fancy cars on their way to vacationing in Florida. Some of those traps were fairly notorious. But they may target Thais as well. Talk to a Thai taxi driver sometime--you'll find he's been shaken down on more than one occasion. But the "isolated cops" with a minuscule proportion of total vehicle stops don't warrant the silly little paranoid bash that none of the Thai police does any policework but only targets "white boys." And that was my point of course.

 

 

 

"Farangs targeted" intelligence gathering off Soi Buakhao

4

On my bike, I have been singled out of a line of Thais on a number of occasions over the years, so I know from personal experience that it happens. Sometimes they are sneaky about it and they stop some Thais for show.

 

I know those cops waiting for illegal turns. As it happens, I got ticketed at the same place your Thai friend was for turning right onto 2nd Road from Pattaya Klang. It is not for turning on red, but not waiting for the green arrow. One time a cop tried to get me for an illegal left turn on red (3rd Road/Pattaya Tai intersection) when I actually turned from the opposite direction (turned right). He was so focused on Farang that he wasn't even paying attention to where I turned from. Going up Pratunnak Hill, another fat cop (he's legendary in this area) tried to get me for the illegal right turn (every man and his dog used to turn right at this intersection) - only he didn't realise that I turned left from the other side. He was also so focused on catching a Farang that he wasn't paying attention. I talked my way out of these two tickets by strongly professing my innocence, but at the end of the day it's his word against mine, so in reality, I can be ticketed for no offence at all and there's nothing I can do about it.

 

There were many other incidents over the years, but there are plenty of cops attempting to fleece foreigners - still. I don't get stopped much these days as I avoid certain areas at certain times of the day and always keep my eyes peeled for the rogue, hidden cops LOL... plus I know all the shortcuts.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎10‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 1:15 AM, janclaes47 said:

That's the problem in Thailand, if you enable traffic lights you make it more dangerous for the average road users, because non of the Thais respect those lights.

 

Best solution would be to place at each traffic light a copper with a shotgun, and a lot of ammunition.

In Riyadh when they first installed traffic lights none of the Saudis would stop for the red light. They solved it by posting a policeman with a load of rocks at the lights .

 

If they gave the cops a cut of a 500 baht fine for driving through red, problem solved in a day.

[LongTimeLurker]

I saw a cop on a motocy stop at the pedestrian crossing and signal the lanes of traffic either side of him to stop also.

 

So there's 1 out there who knows what these lights are for.

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

I saw a cop on a motocy stop at the pedestrian crossing and signal the lanes of traffic either side of him to stop also.

 

So there's 1 out there who knows what these lights are for.

They used to post people with flags to stop the cars after they first installed them, but then they just turned the lights off, instead.

[scubascuba3]

I was nearly run over crossing at a zebra crossing on beach road. Avoid them as it just gives a false sense of security. The bikes just fly through.

Yeah sorry about that, at least the op has told me people are stopping now

[JSixpack]

On 10/20/2017 at 4:33 PM, InMyShadow said:

The traffic lights and crossing signals are now working on beach Rd

 

 

Sure are. Never knew there were so many!

 

Quote

However the traffic is partially complying

 

Some of cars are stopping at the red.

Baht buses slowing to a crawl but crossing on red

 

Mototaxis flying through.

3

 

I found everyone slowing and looking for people crossing or seemingly intending to do so but going on thru if they weren't.

 

They could use a few more of those on 2nd Rd.

 

[whitemouse]

Yup, traffic light on Beach Rd at Mike's Shopping Mall worked over a month ago, but seems they turn it on at random. What's surprising, most cars stop at red, and people crossing only have to watch out for bikes, especially moto taxis who never stop. So in a way it makes crossing more dangerous, just sit at MovieManiac or Coffee Bean, and observe how close some bikes come to hitting a pedestrian,  who thinks it's safe to cross at green pedestrian light

[scubascuba3]

Yup, traffic light on Beach Rd at Mike's Shopping Mall worked over a month ago, but seems they turn it on at random. What's surprising, most cars stop at red, and people crossing only have to watch out for bikes, especially moto taxis who never stop. So in a way it makes crossing more dangerous, just sit at MovieManiac or Coffee Bean, and observe how close some bikes come to hitting a pedestrian,  who thinks it's safe to cross at green pedestrian light

Its getting better, more vehicles stopping then I've ever seen. I always make a point of stopping even if the Thais don't, but they are improving

[whitemouse]

On 10/21/2017 at 10:49 AM, InMyShadow said:

Just imagine 2 cops at each light, one of them 100 meters down the road and walkie talkies to nab every red light runner.

If flicking a cigarette butt is 100k then red light runners should be at least double.

 

Hopefully they'll figure it out some day! But probably not, road blocks are much more effective

[whitemouse]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

5 minutes ago, whitemouse said:

Yup, traffic light on Beach Rd at Mike's Shopping Mall worked over a month ago, but seems they turn it on at random. What's surprising, most cars stop at red, and people crossing only have to watch out for bikes, especially moto taxis who never stop. So in a way it makes crossing more dangerous, just sit at MovieManiac or Coffee Bean, and observe how close some bikes come to hitting a pedestrian,  who thinks it's safe to cross at green pedestrian light

Its getting better, more vehicles stopping then I've ever seen. I always make a point of stopping even if the Thais don't, but they are improving

 

True. And thank you! Nearly all cars are stopping lately, it took good drivers like you to show that red light means Stop, and after few good drivers started stopping, rest of the drivers had no choice but do the same. Taxi boys will never stop though, they sneak by even 'important' lights at Klang etc

[scubascuba3]

 
True. And thank you! Nearly all cars are stopping lately, it took good drivers like you to show that red light means Stop, and after few good drivers started stopping, rest of the drivers had no choice but do the same. Taxi boys will never stop though, they sneak by even 'important' lights at Klang etc

Isn't it nice to read a positive post. I've got an idea lets change this forum from being negative to positive hurrah