Police Check-Point for motorbikes around the Moat

[andersonat]

 

Today I was stopped at a roadside Police Check-point. I was riding a motorbike, but I didn't have my motorbike driving-licence with me (only my car licence).

The (masked) Policeman pointed out to me ( - by showing me a printed card) that the fine for this infraction was Bt1,000, but I was asked to pay Bt500.

I told him that I wanted to pay the Bt1,000 and get a ticket.

I gave him the Bt1,000, and he walked away for a few steps, then he turned around, came back and told me that he wouldn't give me a ticket, and waved me away  -  keeping the Bt1,000.

 

 - "Police Reform" ? --- Don't make me laugh.

 

[FolkGuitar]

Hmmmm.... I thought the fine was only 400 Baht.

I watched them giving tickets, taking money, and giving receipts when I stopped to get some sewing done by the woman in the booth behind the officer's desk.

Why did you leave without a ticket or receipt? Especially for such an outrageous amount?

Edited April 24, 2018 by FolkGuitar

[andersonat]

FolkGuitar  -  The Policeman showed me a card, and pointed to the section with a Bt1,000 fine ( - I didn't know what the real/official fine was). As the Policeman waved me away, I was truly speechless (and angry) at the gall and the corruption.  ---  And looking back, l would have to have got off my bike, walked back to him, and then found the right words to tell the Policeman that he had ripped me off by too much compared to the "normal" corrupt amount, and then ask him to return Bt500 of my Bt1,000  -  but ... I didn't do it.

Edited April 24, 2018 by andersonat

[Sp4wnY]

Well, you are driving without a license, making an easy target. Why complain about the corrupt police, when you can not even be bothered following the law?

 

[andersonat]

Sp4wnY  -  I wanted and tried to pay the "official" fine *and get a ticket* that would be "valid" for the rest of the day, because I was in the wrong.  

Edited April 24, 2018 by andersonat

[naboo]

You should have gone to the desk to pay your fine. If you give the guy money directly, its going in his pocket.

[andersonat]

Naboo  -  thanks for the info ... I didn't know that I should have paid the fine at the desk; the Policeman never mentioned this to me.  -  I naively (and stupidly) assumed that after I told the Policeman that I wanted to pay the full amount for the fine and get a ticket from him, I expected that after I gave the Bt1,000 for the fine to the Policeman, the Policeman would then write out the ticket for me.

Edited April 24, 2018 by andersonat

[daoyai]

I call BS ... because as we all know our saintly PM has abolished corruption.

[sammieuk1]

From little acorns grow huge watch collections take comfort that you helped in a small way to get off the Cassio ladder.

[NancyL]

And I love the way that the OP wanted the ticket so that he could continue to drive the rest of the day without having to go back home and get his motorcycle license (if indeed he has one).  Interesting how a ticket serves as a "temporary license" here.  

[andersonat]

3 hours ago, NancyL said:

And I love the way that the OP wanted the ticket so that he could continue to drive the rest of the day without having to go back home and get his motorcycle license (if indeed he has one).  Interesting how a ticket serves as a "temporary license" here.  

 

NancyL  --  I had planned on spending my motorbike-day visiting various places around the Moat. I was fined on my way "out" from home, before my first port of call: even if I had cancelled all of my arrangements, I still had to get "back" home (via the Moat).

 

My understanding of the Ticket-system in Thailand is that the Law/RTP is sufficiently generous that an Offender will be only fined *once* each day for a particular offence (eg not having a helmet, not having a license, broken light-bulb  -  but *not* speeding), and not *multiple* times at *multiple* check-points throughout the day for the same offence.

It is my belief that Thai People use Tickets in this way, and that it is *not* considered as "gaming The System", rather it is a feature built into The System that The Little People might use.

(This is also how The System works in Europe.)

 -  On the other hand, you would appear to consider that the use of this facility *is* "gaming".

 

  --  But you have been living in Thailand for much longer than I have, and so I invite you to correct my knowledge on this point if I'm wrong.

 

 

I think that I've been clear in my post(s) here that I was in the wrong, and I'm *not* complaining about being stopped and fined.

Rather, my complaint lies elsewhere.

 

[And the number of my Motorcycle License is 5xxxxxx7  -  it is valid from June 2009 until September 2020].

[jenny2017]

14 hours ago, andersonat said:

Naboo  -  thanks for the info ... I didn't know that I should have paid the fine at the desk; the Policeman never mentioned this to me.  -  I naively (and stupidly) assumed that after I told the Policeman that I wanted to pay the full amount for the fine and get a ticket from him, I expected that after I gave the Bt1,000 for the fine to the Policeman, the Policeman would then write out the ticket for me.

1,000 baht would be for speeding over 130 km/h. You seem to have some credit now....lol

[andersonat]

10 minutes ago, jenny2017 said:

1,000 baht would be for speeding over 130 km/h. You seem to have some credit now....lol

 

Jenny - I really had no idea what the "official" fines *were* for the various infractions. 

 

I was sufficiently naive/stupid to believe what the Policeman told me (ie that what he was telling me was the truth, because he was a Policeman). 

 

But I have learned from what Naboo wrote above  ---  ***pay at the Desk***. [Perhaps the Policeman at the Desk is more likely to tell me the truth.]

 

Edited April 25, 2018 by andersonat

[andersonat]

6 hours ago, daoyai said:

I call BS ... because as we all know our saintly PM has abolished corruption.

 

 - I *truly* also wish that it *was* BS.

[johng]

 

 
[And the number of my Motorcycle License is 5xxxxxx7  -  it is valid from June 2009 until September 2020].

So not a Thai motorcycle licence...they still might have found some "problem" with it.

[simoh1490]

There's a chalk board in the police station opposite the flower market showing the various fines for different driving infractions, one price for Thai's, a different price for foreigners, neither one shows 1,000 baht.

[stevenl]

16 hours ago, andersonat said:

Naboo  -  thanks for the info ... I didn't know that I should have paid the fine at the desk; the Policeman never mentioned this to me.  -  I naively (and stupidly) assumed that after I told the Policeman that I wanted to pay the full amount for the fine and get a ticket from him, I expected that after I gave the Bt1,000 for the fine to the Policeman, the Policeman would then write out the ticket for me.

And you told him you wanted to pay the fine in full and get a receipt in which language?

[andersonat]

12 minutes ago, stevenl said:

And you told him you wanted to pay the fine in full and get a receipt in which language?

 

Our entire conversation was in English.

I am certain that the Policeman's knowledge of English was sufficient to understand exactly what it was that I wanted - there were *no* "misunderstandings".

 

 

Edited April 25, 2018 by andersonat

[johng]

 
there were *no* "misunderstandings".  

Seems there was "misunderstanding" on your side.

[kalbo123]

the fine for driving without license is 400 Baht.

 

[NancyL]

2 hours ago, andersonat said:

 

NancyL  --  I had planned on spending my motorbike-day visiting various places around the Moat. I was fined on my way "out" from home, before my first port of call: even if I had cancelled all of my arrangements, I still had to get "back" home (via the Moat).

 

My understanding of the Ticket-system in Thailand is that the Law/RTP is sufficiently generous that an Offender will be only fined *once* each day for a particular offence (eg not having a helmet, not having a license, broken light-bulb  -  but *not* speeding), and not *multiple* times at *multiple* check-points throughout the day for the same offence.

It is my belief that Thai People use Tickets in this way, and that it is *not* considered as "gaming The System", rather it is a feature built into The System that The Little People might use.

(This is also how The System works in Europe.)

 -  On the other hand, you would appear to consider that the use of this facility *is* "gaming".

 

  --  But you have been living in Thailand for much longer than I have, and so I invite you to correct my knowledge on this point if I'm wrong.

 

 

I think that I've been clear in my post(s) here that I was in the wrong, and I'm *not* complaining about being stopped and fined.

Rather, my complaint lies elsewhere.

 

[And the number of my Motorcycle License is 5xxxxxx7  -  it is valid from June 2009 until September 2020].

You're right, this is my understanding of the system, too, and I know that Thai people use it this way.  I have a Thai friend who lives in deadly fear of the police checks and I couldn't understand her problem for the longest time since she always wears a helmet.  Then I learned she doesn't have a license.  Wonder how many others like her are driving around.  

[andersonat]

38 minutes ago, johng said:

 

 

Seems there was "misunderstanding" on your side.

 

Johng,

 

Yes, you are absolutely correct  --  I should have written "there were no *language* misunderstandings".

 

[andersonat]

I'd now like to end this particular thread.

 

Thanks to everyone who took the time to post something here.

 

 

Here's what I now understand from this incident:-

 

The Policeman was correct to tell me that I would/should be fined for not having my motor-cycle license with me.

 

When he showed me the card which showed that the "official" amount of the fine was Bt 1,000, I now understand that I was supposed to negotiate a lower (unofficial) amount with him.

 

When I didn't do this, he was then in a jam. [Clearly he didn't have much/any experience with people who *didn't* try to negociate with him.]

 

He couldn't tell me that [1] he'd made a mistake with the amount, and that the fine was only Bt400 (?), and [2] he couldn't arrange for someone to write out a Ticket for me, because the Ticket would have been paper-proof that I had been overcharged for the infraction ( - does a Policeman have to identify himself on the Ticket when he writes it out ?). 

 

Under the circumstances. the Policeman did the *only* thing that he could  - [1] he *had* to keep the money (because that was the amount that he had shown/quoted to me), and [2] he *had* to get rid of me, as quickly as possible, without arranging for a Ticket to be written out.

 

 - The "joys" of Officialdom's "Face"; and the "Face" of Traffic Police corruption.

 

I have learned several new things from this incident.

 - Thank you for your help/attention.

 

[And if the Policeman has children ... I'm sure that they'll grow up being very proud of him.]

Edited April 25, 2018 by andersonat

[idman]

Thank you very much for bringing this innane post of yours to its end.  Regardless of your admissions or excuses or attempt at clarification you were stupid enough to leave home without a proper motorbike license.  Case closed, anything after that is on you.

[andersonat]

13 hours ago, idman said:

Thank you very much for bringing this innane post of yours to its end.  Regardless of your admissions or excuses or attempt at clarification you were stupid enough to leave home without a proper motorbike license.  Case closed, anything after that is on you.

 

Oh dear, I've fallen foul of TV's Inane-Police.

[Note: the word is spelled "inane", and not "innane": I used to work for TV's Spelling-Police.] 

 

I understand that working in the Inane-Dept. is a truly thankless task: one has to spend one's free-time reading all-the-way-through one's quota of threads (especially those in which one has absolutely no interest), checking their level of inaneness, and then taking the time to post one's conclusions.

 

I salute your level of commitment.

 - Keep up the good work, and hopefully we can all contribute towards an inane-free environment.

 

[IsaanFam]

13 hours ago, idman said:

Thank you very much for bringing this innane post of yours to its end.  Regardless of your admissions or excuses or attempt at clarification you were stupid enough to leave home without a proper motorbike license.  Case closed, anything after that is on you.

 

Right, the corruption problems in Thailand are caused by a Falang who forgot his motorbike license.

[EricTh]

On 4/24/2018 at 10:45 PM, andersonat said:

FolkGuitar  -  The Policeman showed me a card, and pointed to the section with a Bt1,000 fine ( - I didn't know what the real/official fine was). As the Policeman waved me away, I was truly speechless (and angry) at the gall and the corruption.  ---  And looking back, l would have to have got off my bike, walked back to him, and then found the right words to tell the Policeman that he had ripped me off by too much compared to the "normal" corrupt amount, and then ask him to return Bt500 of my Bt1,000  -  but ... I didn't do it.

I think there might be some miscommunication between you and the police.

He's probably wondering why you gave him 1000 baht instead of the half price.

 

Next time, ask somebody to take a video of him secretly. 500 baht is too much, should be lower like 100 baht.

 

Most people here would want to avoid the hassle of going to the counter to pay for just 100 baht. After all, the police gets a lot of traffic offenders everyday.

Edited April 27, 2018 by EricTh

[EricTh]

6 hours ago, IsaanFam said:

 

Right, the corruption problems in Thailand are caused by a Falang who forgot his motorbike license.

Everybody do make mistakes, we are all humans. He was willing to pay the fine.

[terminatorchiangmai]

How difficult is it toe keep your motorbike license together with your car license ?

If for any reason i forget my wallet which has both licenses in it , i still have a copy of my license in my car or under the seat of the bike.