My experiences with Thai Police

[partjfos]

The lack of enforced laws is one of the attractions of Thailand.  There are basic wrong things that one should not do; kill, rape, steal etc.  The majority of the rest of the laws are enacted by self-serving bureaucrats and do more harm to society than good by slowing down the economy so nothing gets done.  If you work on the basic principle that most people are good, society governs itself, you don't need to be like the UK, USA where your every muscle twitch is recorded and you need a license to fart.

[simoh1490]

3 hours ago, partjfos said:

Very strange because the OP is driving a car and reports getting stopped everyday.  Maybe pickups aren't targeted.

Stopped means stopped, zero mph and a conversation of some sort between the stopper and the stoppee. 

 

In my Chiang Mai that doesn't happen to me, it never has and I don't see it happening to very many other drivers of 4 wheeled vehicles, given the absence of any replies to the points raised methinks the OP is perhaps a troll.

[ravip]

the officers can tell at a glance if you're worth further investigation

 

This is where all the whingers /Thai  bashers fail dismally.  Their ego just can't accept the truth. 

 

[My Thai Life]

Is this post designed to increase clicks? 

 

Would the OP like to say a bit more about his driving habits and locations?

 

Maybe he's being stopped at his moo ban gates?

[KhaoYai]

6 hours ago, partjfos said:

The lack of enforced laws is one of the attractions of Thailand.  There are basic wrong things that one should not do; kill, rape, steal etc.  The majority of the rest of the laws are enacted by self-serving bureaucrats and do more harm to society than good by slowing down the economy so nothing gets done.  If you work on the basic principle that most people are good, society governs itself, you don't need to be like the UK, USA where your every muscle twitch is recorded and you need a license to fart.

Whilst I agree that some countries are over regulated (in the UK we have laws about laws) and in Thailand its sometimes better to get a small fine for a minor infraction, with respect, that's a ridiculous attitude.  This thread is about motoring and the police and that is one area that is sadly lacking in regulation.  In 2017 around 1700 people died on UK roads where overall the traffic moves at faster speeds. In Thailand there were over 24,000 road deaths.  In my opinion that is entirely down to lack of laws in the first place and lack of enforcement by those that are supposed to administer the rules that do exist.  If over regulation would save over 22,000 lives, bring it on!

[Beautifool]

On 6/25/2018 at 7:07 PM, Stubby said:

...... Still, they have forced more folks to wear motorcycle helmets from 9am to 3pm, though, so that's a good thing.  

 

Stubby

Why they wear helmets only from 9am to 3 pm????

[amexpat]

On 7/5/2018 at 5:53 PM, partjfos said:

The lack of enforced laws is one of the attractions of Thailand.  There are basic wrong things that one should not do; kill, rape, steal etc.  The majority of the rest of the laws are enacted by self-serving bureaucrats and do more harm to society than good by slowing down the economy so nothing gets done.  If you work on the basic principle that most people are good, society governs itself, you don't need to be like the UK, USA where your every muscle twitch is recorded and you need a license to fart.

Hold my beer and watch this! 

[kmw]

I have been living in Thailand for the last 3-4 years in chiang mai, only ever been stopped twice, I dont have a thai license  but have an Australian license, never been an issue as I assume they think I am a tourist 

[misterfloppy]

Got stopped last Wednesday between pubs. My mate, on his bike, hadn't his helmet, but they were just looking for drugs, and quickly sent us on our way. I was expecting a check for alcohol, and our licenses, as a minimum.

Biggest potential problem: a couple of years ago a police roadblock at San Sai, on the outer ring road, had a volunteer policeman, proper uniform and everything (though I don't remember seeing a gun, thank goodness!) who was an American. He helpfully (!) explained that I should have been carrying my passport, or at least a copy of the page showing up-to-date 90-day registration. All while carefully checking my pupil size!

IMHO Thai police have a lot more to teach those in the US, rather than the other way round; the local ones are particularly friendly. Not so sure what they'd be like should they be called upon to do something more difficult, though.

[The Deerhunter]

Waved through (almost) every time.  We feel it does help in dealing with the police if you have a camo peaked cap in the middle of the dashboard front windscreen. At a distance of ten metres it could be an army cap,  but it isn't!  On the rare occasions where they get beyond the automatic wave through from ten metres before even reaching them, the window is rapidly opened and they see a late middle aged white guy and their instant response is the wave through.  Not worth the wasted time, agro and misunderstandings.  Question: How to ask to see a driving licence in English? Answer:  "Go. Go. Go."

[ChakaKhan]

On 7/5/2018 at 6:53 AM, partjfos said:

The lack of enforced laws is one of the attractions of Thailand.  There are basic wrong things that one should not do; kill, rape, steal etc.  The majority of the rest of the laws are enacted by self-serving bureaucrats and do more harm to society than good by slowing down the economy so nothing gets done.  If you work on the basic principle that most people are good, society governs itself, you don't need to be like the UK, USA where your every muscle twitch is recorded and you need a license to fart.

Whats the fine if I dont have a license to fart?   I did get my FIRST police checkpoint since getting back to CM today at usual nimman spot..I got to try out my IDP and it worked!!!!  Happy! He laughed cos I was wearing a bicycle helmet!

[Teak]

4 hours ago, The Deerhunter said:

Waved through (almost) every time.  We feel it does help in dealing with the police if you have a camo peaked cap in the middle of the dashboard front windscreen. At a distance of ten metres it could be an army cap,  but it isn't!  On the rare occasions where they get beyond the automatic wave through from ten metres before even reaching them, the window is rapidly opened and they see a late middle aged white guy and their instant response is the wave through.  Not worth the wasted time, agro and misunderstandings.  Question: How to ask to see a driving licence in English? Answer:  "Go. Go. Go."

 

I have watched roadblocks 'curbside' in CM to determine what is the process?  Family of 5 on a motorbike waved through, 3 cute girls with no helmets stopped. Two old Farrangs  in their 80's (tourists) no helmets waved through. Then a boss arrived and stood back and would yell into a walkie talkie 'FARRANG, FARRANG ! The BIB stopped the Farrang. Boss left and then it was hit and miss again. I have been stopped lots on m/c and usually guilty of a crime...no IDP or helmet etc.. Then we discuss the fine. This one fine fellow kept showing me a card in English and Thai that I was to pay the officer 500  Baht. I said no, and in Thai I said "come with me to the police station'. Okay 200 Baht. I said , no, please get on my motorbike with me and we go to the police station. I will pay there. We settled on 100 Baht. Now, I simply keep my IDP (Internatonal Driving Permit) in my shirt pocket and drive slowly and hold it up, with a smile and a semi salute of respect. I have received proper salutes back with broad smiles. 

Up country I was riding with my daughter (born in Canada) but has Thai citizenship. I was waved through and she was stopped. However, she cannot speak Thai....just looks Thai. Old dad had to go back and explain the situation to the BIB in my broken Thai. They thought this was hilarious. 

Most every Thai cop/army fellow still has his roots in some village. Being polite, respectful and with a sense of humour and not afraid to tease them softly, has always worked for me.

[Loaded]

What I've noticed is that every farang that's stopped, is a 'victim'.

Sent from my CPH1701 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[cmsally]

A lot of the police check points that are set up are clearly targeting tourists. If they were serious about enforcing rules or acting with regard to the welfare of the tourists, they would be enforcing the rules in a different manner.

All they would need to do is emphasize that tourists need the proper licensing when renting out the bikes. At the moment they are just happy to collect money and send tourists on their way, still neither without a license  nor (probably) accident insurance.

[The Deerhunter]

15 hours ago, Teak said:

 

I have watched roadblocks 'curbside' in CM to determine what is the process?  Family of 5 on a motorbike waved through, 3 cute girls with no helmets stopped. Two old Farrangs  in their 80's (tourists) no helmets waved through. Then a boss arrived and stood back and would yell into a walkie talkie 'FARRANG, FARRANG ! The BIB stopped the Farrang. Boss left and then it was hit and miss again. I have been stopped lots on m/c and usually guilty of a crime...no IDP or helmet etc.. Then we discuss the fine. This one fine fellow kept showing me a card in English and Thai that I was to pay the officer 500  Baht. I said no, and in Thai I said "come with me to the police station'. Okay 200 Baht. I said , no, please get on my motorbike with me and we go to the police station. I will pay there. We settled on 100 Baht. Now, I simply keep my IDP (Internatonal Driving Permit) in my shirt pocket and drive slowly and hold it up, with a smile and a semi salute of respect. I have received proper salutes back with broad smiles. 

Up country I was riding with my daughter (born in Canada) but has Thai citizenship. I was waved through and she was stopped. However, she cannot speak Thai....just looks Thai. Old dad had to go back and explain the situation to the BIB in my broken Thai. They thought this was hilarious. 

Most every Thai cop/army fellow still has his roots in some village. Being polite, respectful and with a sense of humour and not afraid to tease them softly, has always worked for me.

My point was that the army run the country now, not the civilian police.  The police always seem dead scared to do anything to upset "the ruling class" so several years ago we decided to experiment with exploiting this fear.   We have not run a control car without a cap but based on our results it does seem to work.  The boss you saw might like them to exploit the Farangs but the average cop just wants an easy hit for his money.

[NancyL]

6 hours ago, cmsally said:

A lot of the police check points that are set up are clearly targeting tourists. If they were serious about enforcing rules or acting with regard to the welfare of the tourists, they would be enforcing the rules in a different manner.

All they would need to do is emphasize that tourists need the proper licensing when renting out the bikes. At the moment they are just happy to collect money and send tourists on their way, still neither without a license  nor (probably) accident insurance.

Absolutely right.  If they really wanted to solve the problem, all they'd have to do is require the shops that rent the vehicles to ask for a proper license and sell insurance.  If someone is stopped without these important items, then the vehicle should be impounded with the owner, ie. the rental shop, responsible for claiming it, not the tourist.

[cmsally]

7 minutes ago, NancyL said:

Absolutely right.  If they really wanted to solve the problem, all they'd have to do is require the shops that rent the vehicles to ask for a proper license and sell insurance.  If someone is stopped without these important items, then the vehicle should be impounded with the owner, ie. the rental shop, responsible for claiming it, not the tourist.

Bizarrely what is happening at the moment is that the bike rental place, rents out the bike then tells the tourist where the nearest check point is. Tells them to go past and pay the fine (get a ticket to cover the number of days they need) and voila , on their way. I spoke to tourists who told me this and they were actually confused enough to think it was some sort of tax ! 

I spoke to other tourists who were smarter and one step ahead, hence left for Pai at 0600 (police not out of bed yet ) !!

[NancyL]

Amazing Thailand -- my first thought.

 

My second thought is who in their right mind would get up at zero-dark-stupid to drive a small rental motorscooter to Pai?  I'm just now reconsidering a couple days in Pai for a people-watching holiday now that I have word that my friends, the two Cessa Caravans airplanes that kick around Northern Thailand, have found a home with a new airline.  That's the only way to travel from Chiang Mai to Pai.

[luther]

This thread should be shut down.  First of all, the original poster says he is stopped once a day.  Total BS.  Second, it's 12 pages in and he has never commented again.  He is trolling.  There's nothing criminal about that, but the quality of the Thai Visa Forum has gone so far down hill in the last few years you would think the moderators would be trying to reverse things.

[nausea]

No problem. Couple of 200 baht fines cos my SO was driving without a licence, that's about it. Oh, she has the licence now, I paid for it. Still, half her family are police, the other half are criminals, no conflict of interest there, ha!

[gunderhill]

I only drive at night when blind  drunk and leave the lights off to confuse them so they think I'm Thai.

Never been stopped once as I keep the pedal to the metal, had  a few bumps on the way and had to pick off parts of Policemens uniforms out of whats left of the front grill.

I guess I just  acclimatise too well in foreign lands.

[gunderhill]

On 9/16/2018 at 8:15 PM, luther said:

This thread should be shut down.  First of all, the original poster says he is stopped once a day.  Total BS.  Second, it's 12 pages in and he has never commented again.  He is trolling.  There's nothing criminal about that, but the quality of the Thai Visa Forum has gone so far down hill in the last few years you would think the moderators would be trying to reverse things.

Rule No. 118677/2-22 thou shalt  not discuss M********ion.

[kannot]

Just now, gunderhill said:

Rule No. 118677/2-22 thou shalt  not discuss M********ion.

Masturbation??????

[delphioracle]

Nowt wrong with a bit of sarcastic satire, or in simple terms, ''piss taking.''

[EricTh]

I am frequently stopped at least once a week in CM even though I wear my helmet with full gear on my motorbike. Once I show them my license and tax, they wave me through.

 

I guess they like to target motorcyclists.