Ripped off silom road for having beer In taxi

[stevymac]

So in taxi coming down silom road fri night around 10pm. Taxi gets stopped shines flashlight and sees me with a beer. Long story short me an m8 get out car. He has laminated piece of paper saying 10k fine and or 6 months in prison. I said 500 baht he said no . Then he said 5,000 and managed to pay 2000. Looking back should I of called his bluff and went to station? Any experience of this?

 

 

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[VocalNeal]

I believe open alcohol in a car is illegal. Even a taxi

[dabhand]

Think you were wise not to call his bluff. Penalty appears to be up to 6mths prison and/or a Bt60,000 fine.

 

http://www.richardbarrow.com/2012/08/now-illegal-to-drink-beer-in-vehicles-in-thailand/

[richard_smith237]

Wow... what a complete and utter shakedown.... 

 

The amount of times I’ve done this completely unaware of the risks...  I do it almost on a weekly basis when the wife is driving out to a restaurant.

 

I never knew there was such an extreme penalty for something so harmless, its completely out of balance with penalties for other ‘crimes’ such as the Taxi driver driving drunks or ripping off his passenger.

 

IMO this Cop knew what he was doing and looking for a foreigner to extort... (yes, I know extort is the wrong word because there is a law against carrying beer in a vehicle, but it would seem apparent that this Cop has found a ‘niche’ money maker and is exploiting it to its full potential - industrious fellow that he is).... 

[bluesofa]

I had to read it three times to realise you probably meant the police stopped you, rather than the taxi driver stopped and shone a torch into the back of his vehicle?

I thought the taxi driver was trying to rip you off, as the police weren't mentioned.

 

[poohy]

Hard luck pal , No beer in taxis ( it is a  law) i had staff member fined for just the same thing  years ago

[richard_smith237]

2 minutes ago, poohy said:

Hard luck pal , No beer in taxis ( it is a  law) i had staff member fined for just the same thing  years ago

 

Yep, ok, its the Ops hard luck. But have you never done this? 

 

Is the fine not extremely extortionate and out of proportion with penalties for other things? 

 

The BiB asked for 5000baht... Heck, they commonly get paid off similar amounts by guys who are so drunk they can hardly walk when they are driving. I’m not saying any of this is right - the law is the law...

 

......in this case to quote Dickens [Olive Twist’s Mr Bumble] ‘the law is an ass’..

[BobbyL]

Found out about this a year or so ago. Driving up to Asoke with two mates around 6pm we got pulled and all had a can each out. Ended up paying 500 each. I won't ever bother doing it again. 

[stevymac]

Sounds like I dodged a bullet then. Pardon the pun as they all had a gun on them as well. Weird thing is my mate that I was with said let’s just go police station then when he said 5000 baht and looked like he wasn’t going to budge on price and I said to cop 2k or that’s it and he quickly took it and put it under his book so maybe the cop didn’t wanna go station either. Was probably just happy to make the easiest 2k of his life. The fine and punishment like a few guys said above no where near matches the crime when u consider u can beat someone up and pay 500baht. Sometimes this country makes no sense.


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[simon43]

Jeez, what sort of people drink beer in a taxi <deleted>!

[roo860]

Jeez, what sort of people drink beer in a taxi !

Desperate ones.

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[thedemon]

4 minutes ago, roo860 said:

Desperate ones.

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Or ones that aren't boring old codgers.

[roo860]

Thankfully not me then.

 
Or ones that aren't boring old codgers.

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[stevymac]

Desperate ones.

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Ones that are thirsty


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[stevymac]

Jeez, what sort of people drink beer in a taxi !

Ones that like a nice cold refreshing beverage for what may be a good 30 minute journey squire.


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[VocalNeal]

Thirsty on Silom? How many bars are there?

[poohy]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Yep, ok, its the Ops hard luck. But have you never done this? 

In 13 years of working and debauchery in BKK ,actually no i have never had a beer in  a taxi 

 

Been delivered home in them passed out many times

[bluesofa]

From the way I read it, this particular law concerns 'vehicles'.

 

For a couple of years now the State Railway of Thailand has banned the sale of alcohol after a girl was raped and murdered on a train, by an SRT employee who was high on drugs and had also drunk some beer on the train.

I found it sad that everyone had to suffered because of one stupid person.

 

I also got the impression later that not only was the sale of alcohol banned on trains, but also the consumption.

Can someone confirm this, as for a couple of decades I used to enjoy a few beers on the overnight trains here.

 

Am I committing an offence by bringing and consuming my own beer in my compartment on the train, and what might the penalty be?

[richard_smith237]

21 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Jeez, what sort of people drink beer in a taxi <deleted>!

If ThaiVisa is useful for one thing alone it for understanding the vast gulf in opinions and attitudes of others...  It often helps me understand how different others can be....

 

For there was I thinking ‘Jeez, what sort of people think it’s not ok to drink a beer in a taxi <deleted>! 

 

 

[Stocky]

13 minutes ago, thedemon said:

 

Or ones that aren't boring old codgers.

Strewth, if drinking beer in a taxi is your idea of edgy excitement, I'll stick with boring old codger - kids, who'd have 'em.

[roo860]

From the way I read it, this particular law concerns 'vehicles'.
 
For a couple of years now the State Railway of Thailand has banned the sale of alcohol after a girl was raped and murdered on a train, by an SRT employee who was high on drugs and had also drunk some beer on the train.
I found it sad that everyone had to suffered because of one stupid person.
 
I also got the impression later that not only was the sale of alcohol banned on trains, but also the consumption.
Can someone confirm this, as for a couple of decades I used to enjoy a few beers on the overnight trains here.
 
Am I committing an offence by bringing and consuming my own beer in my compartment on the train, and what might the penalty be?

I used to use the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, could take your own beer, if that ran out go to the buffet car and have a right piss up, happy days.

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[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, Stocky said:

Strewth, if drinking beer in a taxi is your idea of edgy excitement, I'll stick with boring old codger - kids, who'd have 'em.

That’s not what he said...  he implied that it may be boring old codgers who consider enjoying a beer whilst stuck in a Bangkok traffic jam as not being acceptable...  he didn’t write that it was exciting !!!

 

Lets face it, with any degree of intelligent balance, where is the harm to anyone in benign able to enjoy a beer as a passenger ????? 

 

And who really thinks it’s wrong? 

... only boring numpties (well, and of course whoever agreed this daft regulation, which, I also think exists in the USA).

[RJRS1301]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Wow... what a complete and utter shakedown.... 

 

The amount of times I’ve done this completely unaware of the risks...  I do it almost on a weekly basis when the wife is driving out to a restaurant.

 

I never knew there was such an extreme penalty for something so harmless, its completely out of balance with penalties for other ‘crimes’ such as the Taxi driver driving drunks or ripping off his passenger.

 

IMO this Cop knew what he was doing and looking for a foreigner to extort... (yes, I know extort is the wrong word because there is a law against carrying beer in a vehicle, but it would seem apparent that this Cop has found a ‘niche’ money maker and is exploiting it to its full potential - industrious fellow that he is).... 

Says something that cannot not drink while being driven to dinner.

 

 

[Psimbo]

Please don't start a sentence with 'so'- it's very Millenial.

 

From your style of writing I take it you are from the US. I seem to recollect that there is an 'open container' law there so (note the correct placement of the word in a sentence!) why should you behave any differently here. You broke the law, even though YOU feel you were singled out.

[robblok]

24 minutes ago, thedemon said:

 

Or ones that aren't boring old codgers.

You mean boring old codgers can't be alcoholics ? Come on having to drink beer in a taxi that is desperate. 44 here not that old yet.

[RJRS1301]

38 minutes ago, simon43 said:

Jeez, what sort of people drink beer in a taxi <deleted>!

Agreed

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, RJRS1301 said:

 

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Wow... what a complete and utter shakedown.... 

 

The amount of times I’ve done this completely unaware of the risks...  I do it almost on a weekly basis when the wife is driving out to a restaurant.

 

I never knew there was such an extreme penalty for something so harmless, its completely out of balance with penalties for other ‘crimes’ such as the Taxi driver driving drunks or ripping off his passenger.

 

IMO this Cop knew what he was doing and looking for a foreigner to extort... (yes, I know extort is the wrong word because there is a law against carrying beer in a vehicle, but it would seem apparent that this Cop has found a ‘niche’ money maker and is exploiting it to its full potential - industrious fellow that he is).... 

Says something that cannot not drink while being driven to dinner.

 

I’m happy not to... just didn’t realise I couldn’t... 

 

In all likelihood though, if we’re heading out to dinner, I’ll probaly still enjoy a ‘carrier’ while my wife drives....   I see no harm in it (windows have 30% tint so the bib can’t see inside at night anyway!) 

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

I believe open alcohol in a car is illegal. Even a taxi

Same. 

 

Open is illegal in vehicles (any person in the vehicle, no matter what vehicles), also illegal to walk around public places drinking alcohol.

 

From memory these laws came into place at same time alcohol sales totally banned at service stations / service centers, and there have been reports that these laws did bring some reduction in alcohol related vehicle accidents. 

Edited February 25, 2019 by scorecard

[robblok]

9 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

That’s not what he said...  he implied that it may be boring old codgers who consider enjoying a beer whilst stuck in a Bangkok traffic jam as not being acceptable...  he didn’t write that it was exciting !!!

 

Lets face it, with any degree of intelligent balance, where is the harm to anyone in benign able to enjoy a beer as a passenger ????? 

 

And who really thinks it’s wrong? 

... only boring numpties (well, and of course whoever agreed this daft regulation, which, I also think exists in the USA).

It just should not apply to a taxi, I get why they apply it to cars. I see no safety aspect of it that makes it wrong. Just strange to drink in a taxi, just desperate. 

 

I mean drink at home, drink at a bar but a taxi.. that really sounds like dependance on alcohol. But safety wise nothing wrong with it and a stupid law (for taxi's)

[VocalNeal]

Just thinking about my two mates who got nabbed and fined 2000B each on Sukhumvit for littering. Maybe that was a rip off as well.