Drivers licence physically removed by police from my TW for a blown headlight

[Thaifish]

My TW has just returned in tears after driving to see her Son who has been drafted in the army first time after 3 months. Police stopped the car at a road block and pulled it over for a blown headlight. Yes the light is blown and accept responsibility for that even though I keep a good eye on the car. The Police would not accept 200bht tea money for the infringement. Instead the Policeman physically took and kept my TW licence saying it would not be returned until she showed that the headlight had been repaired and inspected by him and that the fine would be 400 bht.

Is this for real. Can a Policeman take  your licence away for such an infringement?

Tomorrow the light will be repaired for about 200Bht and my TW and I will have to drive 60km back to the Police station to get this sorted out and pay the lousy 400 Bht for the inconvenience. (I will actually drive as like she said "I no have licence now").

I am seriously thinking of having legal representation for my TW while at the Police station. This is Thailand but surely the cops cannot take a licence away for such a minor infringement. 

[ukrules]

I've heard of this before. Forget legal representation it's the way it works here when you get an honest cop like Denim pointed out.

 

You're lucky she was only 60 km away as you can't go to the police station to pay the fine until the next day when this happens.

 

Imagine you were driving one way from the deep south to the far north of the country and got stopped somewhere in the middle....

[observer90210]

Yup happened in France also a few years back.

 

The cops once took my car keys and licence and asked me to get them back at the precinct, next day at daylight as my head lights had all failed. No fine but the condition was either get an expensive tow truck to move the car or wait till next day. The deal was good so naturally I kept my mouth shut.

[Thaifish]

Thanks for your comment Denim. It really does not help my quest for an intelligent answer to my scenario and why I posted it on the Thai Visa Forum for good advice. I'm not looking for English comparison. Please. I posted this on Thai Visa for help.. 

[Thaifish]

Ok I eat my hat and will do the drive and pay the fine.....For one blown headlight and the TW still in tears.....TiT

 

[naboo]

In tears for getting pulled for a blown headlight? She'd have more tears if she'd hit someone head on who tought she was a motorbike.

 

Fix the car, don't moan about it and tell your poor wife to 'toughen up princess'. If anything, the policeman should have demanded she get it fixed before continuing her journey.

[Thaifish]

Half way through chewing through my hat. This is Thailand. To the Platinum members and Titanium Members thank you for replying so quickly. I am only a new member and read posts rather than answer to them. I have found this forum full of constructive information which has helped me undoubtedly with many of the issues I have been living here for 5 years (only). I'm the fellang and should not be here anyway, I admitted above the light on the car was blown unknown to me until TW showed me otherwise it would have been repaired at the earliest... I will fix that and pay the fine.. Do the crime and pay the Fine!!

 

My issue is that do police in Thailand have the power to remove your licence for such a pitty offence of a blown light. If you test positive to Drugs or Alcohol then fair enough remove your licence.

 

My "Issan Love Machine" is tougher than every Western Lady I have ever met and does not need to toughen up... Without question.???

 

My reference question above is to Thailand not some other country which you had a similar experience with police taking your licence.

 

Please I appreciate advice relating to my question above without innuendoes.

 

 

[chickenslegs]

19 minutes ago, Thaifish said:

My issue is that do police in Thailand have the power to remove your licence for such a pitty offence of a blown light.

Yes they do have the power. It is normal procedure here for the police to keep the driver's licence until the fine is paid.

 

She should have been given a receipt, which allows her to drive until she gets back her licence.

 

Many people are not aware of this, as so many police officers are willing to overlook the traffic infringement in exchange for a bribe.

Edited November 26, 2017 by chickenslegs
I should have said "correct procedure". Normal procedure is to take the tea money.

[Thaifish]

Chickenslegs.. Thank you for reply.. So they do have the power to remove licence until fine is paid...!! It is so hard for a westerner to understand that a licence can be removed for such a menial infringement. No receipt was given and I will have to drive on my Thai licence just to make sure Insurance is covered while we drive to Police station to pay the fine. Sometimes you just bang your head against the wall...!

[chickenslegs]

16 minutes ago, Thaifish said:

Chickenslegs.. Thank you for reply.. So they do have the power to remove licence until fine is paid...!! It is so hard for a westerner to understand that a licence can be removed for such a menial infringement. No receipt was given and I will have to drive on my Thai licence just to make sure Insurance is covered while we drive to Police station to pay the fine. Sometimes you just bang your head against the wall...!

The receipt is part of the ticket.

[Thaifish]

So if no receipt was given from Thai ticketing Police Officer. Which wasn't...and I go and pay the fine in return for the TW drivers licence...  Maybe just another way of getting Tea Money.

[cyberfarang]

5 hours ago, Thaifish said:

So if no receipt was given from Thai ticketing Police Officer. Which wasn't...and I go and pay the fine in return for the TW drivers licence...  Maybe just another way of getting Tea Money.

The police here can do what they bloody well like, they have draconian powers, the law is what the officer says the law is, you won`t win.

 

My advice: as a Farlang you are best to stay out of sight from the police, otherwise if they see you the price will go up. Let your wife go into the police station alone and deal with it, give her apologises, pay the couple of hundred baht fine, get her license back and have done with it.  Thai on Thai is better then Farlang on Thai. If you go in with a self righteous attitude, you`ll make matters 10 times worse, otherwise up to you and good luck.

[PoorSucker]

Sorry @thaifish, this topic made my day.... ?

[tgeezer]

So if no receipt was given from Thai ticketing Police Officer. Which wasn't...and I go and pay the fine in return for the TW drivers licence...  Maybe just another way of getting Tea Money.

Are you sure that there was no ticket given to your wife? As pointed out before you are better advised not to get involved and let your wife handle it because I don't know how they are going to know what the infringement is if the policeman isn't at the police station when she goes to prove that the light is fixed.
Incidentally the on the spot fines are issued by police in order to cut down paperwork and for the convenience of everybody because to follow the law is impractical. In this case the policeman is following the law because he could, if it were not a local situation he would have probably accepted a fine.


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[OmegaRacer]

If you get all worked up for such a minor thing, you better stay out of sight and let the TW handle it. Legal action for 400baht....pffffahahaha

[jacko45k]

Sounds like you are being a bit overly dramatic!

How long did you know about the blown headlight before this incident?

 

I am quite pleased to hear they did not accept the bribe attempt and insist you get it fixed. I wish this happened more frequently, along with those who drive without any lights!

 

I presume this happened at night and your wife was a danger to other road users driving on a single headlight. Never know if a motorcycle or a car is heading towards you plus she could not see the road ahead properly.

 

Taking the licence is common practice here and there is no reason why your wife cannot drive, the policeman should have given a ticket which could be shown if she was stopped again.

[r136dg]

I don't know about taking the license, but; I have to say that's a step in the right direction for the cops to cite people for operating vehicles that are not safe. You have to admit, it's almost impossible to not know you have a headlight out. Tail light maybe, but still, those things should be inspected now & than. If the cops start penalizing people for these things it's incentive to keep your vehicle safe & others safe that are sharing the road with you.

Kudos to the cop!

[steve187]

7 hours ago, Denim said:

What an eloquent post.

 

Nonetheless , I can assure you that 35 years ago that is exactly what happened. Whether they have the power to do so now I cannot say since I have not lived there for 30 years.

the British police have no power or have a system in place to seize driving licences, at that time in the UK there was an option for the police to issue a vehicle rectification ticket , to have a repair made and a check at a MOT station, on returning the ticket pending prosecution was cancelled.

 

op just suck it up and do the repair and pay the fine. and your wife can drive, you getting involved will only complicate the issue. getting a solicitor involved for such a trivial matter is well, i'm lost for words.

Edited November 27, 2017 by steve187

[Bob12345]

Quote

the Policeman physically took and kept my TW licence saying it would not be returned until she showed that the headlight had been repaired and inspected by him and that the fine would be 400 bht.

Please bring this policeman a gift basket also for doing his job correctly.

Good to hear that there are actually cops doing their job correctly and I hope he will have a good career at the police force and gets in charge soon.

 

Only thing he could have done better is let your wife park the car at the spot and take a taxi home as she stil jeopardizes others while driving back home in the dark with only 1 headlight. But I guess that would be a bit too much to ask for. Wish more police officers would take their job so seriously, it would lower the dead count overnight.

 

I have no good words left for someone who knowingly drives around with a blown out headlight at night.

Plus I have no good word left for someone perpetuating corruption in this country.

You do realize your wife is part of the problem in Thailand?

[Orac]

Would love to be a fly on the wall at the police station should the OP try to lodge a complaint that one of their officers wouldn't take a bribe.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed, this is not about UK police and their procedures. 

[cnx355]

38 minutes ago, r136dg said:

I don't know about taking the license, but; I have to say that's a step in the right direction for the cops to cite people for operating vehicles that are not safe. You have to admit, it's almost impossible to not know you have a headlight out. Tail light maybe, but still, those things should be inspected now & than. If the cops start penalizing people for these things it's incentive to keep your vehicle safe & others safe that are sharing the road with you.

Kudos to the cop!

I agree the cops should start enforcing the rules so the road are safer.  But this incident gave me an idea for myself. I will buy a spare bulb for my headlights and keep it in the car.  

And the cop taking the license until you pay the fine happened to me in the past.  Seem commons in some area.

Final comment, let the Thai wife pay the fine  at the police station sometimes  it is worst if a foreigners show-up...

[reargunnerph3]

Thai police do it a lot, maybe the only way to get fines paid. I got stopped on Soi Hua Yai and as I didn't have a copy of my cars blue book or insurance the Police Officer took my license and gave me a ticket. Had to go to Police Station on HWY 331 to pay the fine and get my license back. They got my license from a box with 100's of drivers licenses from around the world in it. 

[dotpoom]

11 hours ago, Thaifish said:

Thanks for your comment Denim. It really does not help my quest for an intelligent answer to my scenario and why I posted it on the Thai Visa Forum for good advice. I'm not looking for English comparison. Please. I posted this on Thai Visa for help.. 

The post from "Denim" does not show on my device....has it been deleted for some reason......just wondering?

[JSixpack]

12 hours ago, Thaifish said:

Can a Policeman take  your licence away for such an infringement?

2

 

Yep, normal. And they did, didn't they? Don't you trust your TW?

 

Quote

Tomorrow the light will be repaired for about 200Bht and my TW and I will have to drive 60km back to the Police station to get this sorted out and pay the lousy 400 Bht for the inconvenience.

 

 

 

9 hours ago, Thaifish said:

No receipt was given and I will have to drive on my Thai licence just to make sure Insurance is covered while we drive to Police station to pay the fine.

 

But you've got the ticket and that serves as receipt for the license. After you pay, you'll be given a receipt. Actually since you can legally drive using that receipt (for up to 3 days? Somebody knows.) insurance should not be a problem. Seems you're just grasping for reasons to whinge now.

 

8 hours ago, Thaifish said:

I go and pay the fine in return for the TW drivers licence...  Maybe just another way of getting Tea Money.

1

 

Your TW offered B2000 as tea money earlier. If the police took it, then we'd have 5 pages of victimism, paranoia, conspiracy theories, and finger-pointing about police corruption. Here you'll pay B400, the normal fee for this admitted violation, and you'll be given a receipt for payment. But you may regard it as tea money if just really want to of course, as it seems you do. Certainly any self-respecting member of the mighty TVF Tea Money Chorus would get around the issue of what merely looks like a reasonable, standard, documented procedure by claiming the receipt is fake. You'd really need to digitally tag the money and follow it to a bank account and then get a record of the withdrawals and investigate those. Easier just to chant the chant, eh. Any money paid to the police for any reason whatsoever has just got to be tea money! The Thai gov't lets the police put all of it into their personal accounts! So there.

 

Edited November 27, 2017 by JSixpack

[sirineou]

I feel like such a dinosaur, but what the heck is a TW ? a google search  returned Terawatts and Trigger Warning. 

as to the subject , how could the police remove someone's licence and then allow them to drive home without a licence.

 

[transam]

They keep your license until you pay the fine, on payment you will get your stuff back with a receipt...

[transam]

3 minutes ago, sirineou said:

I feel like such a dinosaur, but what the heck is a TW ? a google search  returned Terawatts and Trigger Warning. 

as to the subject , how could the police remove someone's licence and then allow them to drive home without a licence.

 

Tee Whack...

[vogie]

4 minutes ago, sirineou said:

I feel like such a dinosaur, but what the heck is a TW ? a google search  returned Terawatts and Trigger Warning. 

as to the subject , how could the police remove someone's licence and then allow them to drive home without a licence.

 

Thai Wife

[Gillyflower]

Much Ado About Nothing!