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

[Classic Ray]

Maybe you should have had the light fixed as soon as you knew it was blown, then you could have avoided all this? I applaud the unusual and effective action by the police officer to ensure the defect was fixed, a practice often carried out in other countries where they will often stop you using the vehicle in a defective state. 

 

Perhaps you only complain because you expect to pay off any officers who stop you. They are not all corrupt.

[Berkshire]

OP this is normal.  I've been stopped before for a minor traffic infraction.  If they won't take the 200 bt payment on-the-spot (which they used to), they will issue you a ticket and confiscate your DL.  You simply head to the police station, pay your fine, and get your license back.  Your wife should know this.

[transam]

1 minute ago, Classic Ray said:

Maybe you should have had the light fixed as soon as you knew it was blown, then you could have avoided all this? I applaud the unusual and effective action by the police officer to ensure the defect was fixed, a practice often carried out in other countries where they will often stop you using the vehicle in a defective state. 

 

Perhaps you only complain because you expect to pay off any officers who stop you. They are not all corrupt.

The bulb could have blown on her way home. To me it is a grey area as to getting a fine,  should just be told to get it fixed the next day and present the ride at the police station for inspection and return of DL....

[edgarfriendly]

OP is right, these police are highway robbers!!

 

if i were OP id march straight down there and give them a piece of my mind!!

 

DO it, OP!!

 

take a spycam pen with you.... i could do with a good laugh!

 

#pepperyourangus

[crazygreg44]

1 hour ago, sirineou said:

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

 

The police keeps the driver license as a guarantee that the headlight will get fixed.

 

The policeman ruled that ONE broken headlight does not constitute the car to be completely road-unworthy. She was lucky!

 

If she only paid the fine and were sent on her way, how would the police make sure the light gets fixed?

 

By the way she still can keep driving while her license is in police custody, as she still owns a valid drivers license. Normally the police issue a receipt which she is to keep until the fine is paid. This receipt allows her to keep driving. I bet the TW was given a receipt

 

The police keeping the license is a normal procedure, even for minor offenses like a broken rear light. It is the only way police can make sure the offense is taken care of by the owner of the verhicle

[TKDfella]

I got stopped for going the wrong way down a one way street a couple of years ago. This was pure accident because there was a pole on the corner but the no sign. When I said that there was sign the policeman went to corner and brought it show me.It was there but on the ground (silly me I should have looked for it having seen a pole without a sign and me being new to the area). He took my license and told me to collect from the station after mid day. I got out of the car and locked it and he asked me what I was doing and that I should park around the corner in the parking lot. I replied that it would be illegal for me to drive the car without having my license. Strangely enough he laughed and I asked if he wrote (the Thai equivalent of) 'in lieu of' on my ticket I would do as he suggested. He did so and I got a 400 Baht fine at the station.

[wildewillie89]

No matter how minor the offence, if it warrants a fine, a ticket/receipt will be given and the police officer will take away the license. You go and pay the fine and get the license back. Something all Thai should know, and something so simple that farang should know - if they don't, then probably should not be driving on the roads. As when it happens to them, it seems they will become overly dramatic, stress about it continuously and not focus on, you know, actual driving. 

 

This forum is so on and off. Road deaths, dangerous driving, police corruption are a constant whinge. Police finally do the right thing and an even bigger whinge. 

[Falcon]

Thaifish,as has already been said, the police are allowed to hold the persons drivers license when issuing a fine of any kind, it’s usually the only way that they know it will be paid, otherwise, they’d make out a ticket, give it to you and it’d never get paid. It’s. It a big thing and it’s usually just a case of showing the officer who is holding the license ‘captive’ the receipt for the fine and then  the license is given back. It’s really not a big deal and done often. Occasionally though, It has been known for the police officer to not be at the station so, when you go down there with your wife to pick it up, you’d be better off having her call the station and ask if the officer is going to be there and, if not, where he will be at a certain time as, living 60km away, it’s be a pain in the arse to have to keep going down there to pick it up. Either that or get his mobile phone number and arrange to meet him somewhere to pick it up.

[vogie]

57 minutes ago, transam said:

The bulb could have blown on her way home. To me it is a grey area as to getting a fine,  should just be told to get it fixed the next day and present the ride at the police station for inspection and return of DL....

Exactly, I think the Thai Police maybe should prioritise a little.

[JSixpack]

1 hour ago, Gillyflower said:

Much Ado About Nothing!

 

I think the main issue here is actually that the police dared upset the TW, or so it seems.

 

Now, she knows quite well how things work. She could not possibly have been surprised, given that they did catch her in a violation. She was at most annoyed and chagrined. But that's somehow turned into "tears." How did that happen?

[Russell17au]

My suggestion to you is to get the TW to drop you off at a shop close by and for you to stay right away and don't show your face near the police station.

One thing that I have always practiced as a heavy vehicle driver was to walk around my vehicle every day and make sure all my lights were working and to always carry a space globe for each type of light. Even here I have a spare globe for each different light on my Isuzu and I check them every day before I drive anywhere, it only takes a couple of minutes to check them

[Boycie]

28 minutes ago, vogie said:

Exactly, I think the Thai Police maybe should prioritise a little.

I agree. All motorcyclists should wear a helmet 

[Sydebolle]

A man has to do what a man has to do.

In this case; sort out the matter and go for a drink and, yes, the BiB are pretty much above the law and, in all fairness, the amount in question is in no relation to the trouble. Pay up the B400 (which is indeed the official fine), collect a receipt and get on with life.

Of course this is ridiculous but so are many other things in this country; live with it! 

[Russell17au]

32 minutes ago, vogie said:

Exactly, I think the Thai Police maybe should prioritise a little.

This vehicle is not illegal. There is no weight restrictions or load limits on vehicles here. I am not sure whether it was when Thaksin was PM that the laws were changed. I know that this is just plain stupidity and that he would have no control of the steering of that vehicle and it is also with the large trucks and that is what destroys the roads

[gjoo888]

What you describe is what happens here in Bangkok if you get a ticket and the officer doesn't accept any tea money. They take your license, bring it to police station that has jurisdiction, and give it back to you when you come to pay the fine. 

 

It's not a big deal. I'm sorry your wife was so upset, she'll get her license back after you fix the headlight and go to the police station. Retaining a lawyer is nothing but a waste of time and money.

[tgeezer]

I don’t know why people have to be so judgmental, the poster merely asked if what happened was proper. How will we learn anything if to ask is to be criticized?


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[luv4get]

The other day I was in traffic when the next thing I heard a bang and looked and a motor bike hit my wing mirror, it was a policeman on a police bike.

i pulled over to the left and got out then he informed me of hitting his bike.

a Thai man came over and said say nothing, he spoke to the policeman who had 4 bags of shopping on his handlebars.

the Thai man came back and said “sorted”

i offered to take him for a coffee to thank but he declined, got back in his car and went on his way

[Peterw42]

Its standard practice, I had license taken at toll booth on an express-way, tax sticker out of date. Paid the fine at the post office and license was mailed back.

I have had 2-3 tickets in Pattaya for no helmut etc, and the same, they take license and you get it back when you pay.

I see it as a good thing, the old practices of corruption and pay then drive off are disappearing.

 

 

 

[LukKrueng]

10 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.

any time a police officer stops a driver and issues a ticket for any violation, the DL is being held by the police and kept at the station until the driver goes to pay the fine. There is no receipt - just the ticket. The driver can drive the vehicle and if asked to show a DL he/she can show the ticket and that will pass as long as it is within a reasonable time from the date the ticket was given. All you have to do is fix the light and go to the station to pay the ticket. The amount of the fine is written on the ticket so it won't make any difference if a Thai person or a foreigner shows up and pay.

[puffy]

15 hours ago, Russell17au said:

This vehicle is not illegal. There is no weight restrictions or load limits on vehicles here. I am not sure whether it was when Thaksin was PM that the laws were changed. I know that this is just plain stupidity and that he would have no control of the steering of that vehicle and it is also with the large trucks and that is what destroys the roads

How do you know it is not illegal, if you have not measured how far the load comes out from the back?

It looks very close to the legal limit, but I cannot be sure.

[krabi local]

Quite normal practice.

Your TW is still allowed to drive, she is not banned or suspended from driving.

The officer is just retaining the licence until the matter is resolved.

[shaurene]

Last year I was on my bike driving up from the beach, came to the main road and tried to take the short cut to my condo room and turned RIGHT I seen a cop on his bike coming down the road and pulled off. He gave me a ticket and took my Thai licence I had to go to his police office down the road. I went through n and showed the document, paid 200 they had to call the copper to come to the station with my license, he did and I got it back.

quite legal for them to do this.

[evadgib]

- Immediately copy any new licence (front, rear plus receipt) upon arriving home on the day it's issued.

 

- Carry a crossed copy in the car at all times; leaving the original at home.

 

- Replacing a lost/stolen licence is relatively easy at a cost of THB 115 or thereabouts.

 

- Light checks should be conducted regularly. They can be done by day or at night easily, even if alone by using windows or parked cars to reflect the light.

 

On the only occasion I encountered a problem with the police involving my licence being held for several days a 6 min dashcam clip of the entire shooting match proved invaluable re countering the blatant porkies on the ticket; as did the 'Under Duress' written beneath my signature after being asked (told!) to sign something I couldn't read...

 

I hope the above proves useful.

[NanLaew]

14 hours ago, ukrules said:

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

Or the swinging dick motorbike cop that pulled me over on the entrance ramp at Ploenchit because 'pickup cannot enter here!' and wanted my license. I explained I was headed for the airport and up country so paying at the local police station would be a challenge. Thereupon he suggested (I sh!t thee not) a 6000 baht spot fine... or else the license goes in his pocket. So I meekly surrendered my expired Louisiana DL.

 

Dick.

[DefaultName]

It does sound like the OP thought the licence was being revoked, not just held as surety until the defect was fixed and the fine paid.  Hopefully all explained now.

 

Personally, I'm almost looking forward to the next police stop.  On a bike, the first thing they do is take the keys out, I've got one of the keyless PCX's, so the wireless key thingy is in my pocket.  

[Monkeyrobot]

Just get her to apply for a new licence , say it was lost, don’t bother going back. 

[Russell17au]

2 minutes ago, Monkeyrobot said:

Just get her to apply for a new licence , say it was lost, don’t bother going back. 

The police will still have her license which has her license number on it and it would not take much to get her address from the records at the Land Transport office and then there would be more trouble than what it is worth. just go to the police station and show that the light has been fixed, pay the fine and collect your license

[transam]

12 minutes ago, Monkeyrobot said:

Just get her to apply for a new licence , say it was lost, don’t bother going back. 

The LTO is informed of non paid fines, so when it comes to renewing road tax you are sent to the police station to sort it..

[edgarfriendly]

sorry to threadjack but what is/are the local car parts shop called?

 

do scrapyards exist here?

 

 

[Russell17au]

40 minutes ago, edgarfriendly said:

sorry to threadjack but what is/are the local car parts shop called?

 

do scrapyards exist here?

 

 

I have not seen any parts shops like Repco, Autobarn or that type that we have in Australia and the only scrapyard that I have seen is in Udon Thani, I do not know of any others