Speeding Fines - well done Thai Police -or is it?

[krobert6]

I received my first ticket in the mail - I am pleased that They are finally taking notice of speeding but when I start to pay attention to speed limits I get harassed and passed by other Thai drivers zooming past me - then I read that some 13 million tickets were issued and only 2 million paid I get worried.

 

As for my ticket it was for doing 98 in an 80 zone - fair enough  but when you look at the photo on the ticked it clearly shows 90 painted on the road - I was going to notify the Traffic office but there are NO contyact details on the ticket.  My point is - if you are going to do it - Do it right

[richard_smith237]

We (Wife and I) have something like 5 outstanding traffic fines. 

3 for speeding on the expressway (125kmh and 126kmh on the 120kmh expressway) and 2 for crossing a fixed white line.

 

We haven’t paid either and won’t until we are forced to, its been well over a year and we’ve paid our tax last year without any indication of owing fines. My Wife has also received a letter threatening legal action over one of the fines (over a year ago).

 

No biggie, if pressed we’ll just pay them, but I’m kind of more interested to see what happens when we don’t or if we will ever be forced to pay them !

 

[Kwasaki]

Well don't pay it just like the other 11 million didn't.

[Kwasaki]

10 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

We (Wife and I) have something like 5 outstanding traffic fines. 

3 for speeding on the expressway (125kmh and 126kmh on a express way, crossing white line. 

 

That's what we have done 2 pix doing 80 on a 70 on a clear 4 lane road. 

It's just a western money maker idea. 

 

In the UK on M25 you could lose your DL for 6months in a day. ????

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by Kwasaki

[CharlieH]

10 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

That's what we have done 2 pix doing 80 on a 70 on a clear 4 lane road. 

It's just a western money maker idea. 

 

In the UK on M25 you could lose your DL for 6months in a day. ????

 

I know of a case of a rep that lost his job, home and marriage for that very reason. Got caught three times in one day on the M25, totting up lost his licence, the rest fell like dominoes.

[Kwasaki]

9 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

I know of a case of a rep that lost his job, home and marriage for that very reason. Got caught three times in one day on the M25, totting up lost his licence, the rest fell like dominoes.

Yes very sad I've been in that position myself in the UK on a speed fine,  I was lucky my company who I was driving for kept me on in the office until I got my DL back. 

 

The UK magistrates on the Bench don't give a dam about hearing out an ordinary working persons situation and find a way to be leanant.

Only the rich with a highly paid lawyer can get away with it as history can provide. 

[canthai55]

In BC now - if you are caught going 30 over, impound your vehicle for 30 days

[krobert6]

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Well don't pay it just like the other 11 million didn't.

MMm I paid before the cutoff date as I am not one to break laws (even if they are wrong)  I just can find a way to inform the Traffic office that the notice was wrong

[Kwasaki]

4 minutes ago, krobert6 said:

MMm I paid before the cutoff date as I am not one to break laws (even if they are wrong)  I just can find a way to inform the Traffic office that the notice was wrong

There must an office you can send the pic showing the 90 kph in the pic but Thailand would probably say you were  still 8 kmh over. ????

[thcosh]

haven't paid any fine since 20 years driving here, last fines last year, renewed tax again this year, no problem

[richard_smith237]

5 minutes ago, krobert6 said:

MMm I paid before the cutoff date as I am not one to break laws (even if they are wrong)  I just can find a way to inform the Traffic office that the notice was wrong

 

Erm... au contraire !!!... you received a fine, ergo, it would seem you are one to break laws !!! 

 

Thats not a bad thing, we all creep over the speed limit etc...   In the UK I was recently charged £100 for going 36 in a 30 zone - my bad (I was in Thailand by the time I’d received the fine, what a PITA dealing with that was), years before I was fined for doing 33 in a 30mph zone ! - No complaints no contest because other people do follow the traffic laws and driving in the UK is a far safer experience. 

 

In Thailand, I don’t care to pay the fine because the Police do nothing about all the ridiculous and dangerous driving I see on a daily basis, running lights etc etc - I have little respect for the system so don'’t want to pay into it if I’m not forced to  (or rather my Wife, because most of the fines are her’s !)

 

 

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

12 minutes ago, krobert6 said:

MMm I paid before the cutoff date as I am not one to break laws (even if they are wrong)  I just can find a way to inform the Traffic office that the notice was wrong

There must an office you can send the pic showing the 90 kph in the pic but Thailand would probably say you were  still 8 kmh over. ????

 

It would be interesting to see what would happen if the Op had received a fine for going 88kph and contested the fine on this basis !! 

 

Fortunately, there is no reason to contest the fine in a system which does not enforce payment. Not yet anyway, not to my knowledge when renewing out tax last year. 

[krobert6]

52 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

There must an office you can send the pic showing the 90 kph in the pic but Thailand would probably say you were  still 8 kmh over. ????

Yeah I guess that would be the case, If I had contact details I would contest it just to see what happened

[krobert6]

Here is the image on the Traffic Ticket

[krobert6]

My only other life fine was in OZ for not wearing a safety belt $160.  A month later I received a cheque saying there was a paperwork error - but they knew I did it ????

[Andyfez]

Am I mistaken in thinking that they won't renew your driving license until your fiines

are paid up to date?

[jackdd]

2 minutes ago, Andyfez said:

Am I mistaken in thinking that they won't renew your driving license until your fiines

are paid up to date?

Yes, you are mistaken

 

[ChrisKC]

Why are so many people in a hurry when they are not in a hurry? It costs nothing to stay within the law! It costs you just little time to stay within the law. Real easy for me!

[jackdd]

11 minutes ago, ChrisKC said:

Why are so many people in a hurry when they are not in a hurry? It costs nothing to stay within the law! It costs you just little time to stay within the law. Real easy for me!

It also costs nothing to break the law, this is Thailand.

[ChrisKC]

8 minutes ago, jackdd said:

It also costs nothing to break the law, this is Thailand.

So you don't need to care then!

 

It costs you a ticket then you may have to look over your shoulder for some time.

In my courtroom, if you are a persistent offender, and/or ignore paying the fine, you get charged with contempt as well.

[mrfill]

16 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

That's what we have done 2 pix doing 80 on a 70 on a clear 4 lane road. 

It's just a western money maker idea. 

 

In the UK on M25 you could lose your DL for 6months in a day. ????

 

And in the UK there were 1752 fatalities last year. Perhaps the draconian laws have a purpose.

[PGSan]

16 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Only the rich with a highly paid lawyer can get away with it as history can provide. 

Sounds like money well spent since you clearly need to ‘get away with it’!  

Otherwise, muse on: If you don’t want the time Then do kt do the crime!

[NE1]

Highway 7 going down to Pattaya , 120kph speed limit. Signs flashing on the side of the road 80 or 90 kph.

It has been like that for a few years now.

 

[Shannoblic]

Just as a point of interest [well I think so!] - in the UK I was at post-grad University with the Superintendent of traffic police for the county I lived in.

 

John always told us that the Government guide to traffic divisions was that there was an allowance on speed of 10% + 2.  This was to allow for speedo inaccuracies and other factors and was a 'fair' allowance.  Therefore - speeding in a 30 zone at 35 or less would not result in a fixed penalty notice or prosecution.  Over that and you are in s**t street!

 

This was some while ago and things in the UK may have changed.

[VocalNeal]

1 hour ago, ChrisKC said:

Why are so many people in a hurry when they are not in a hurry? It costs nothing to stay within the law! It costs you just little time to stay within the law. Real easy for me!

 

Excuse me while I turn down the chior music!

[VocalNeal]

32 minutes ago, NE1 said:

Highway 7 going down to Pattaya , 120kph speed limit. Signs flashing on the side of the road 80 or 90 kph.

It has been like that for a few years now.

 

 

Hmm? Maybe those signs were near a klong bridge where drivers stand on the brakes before bouncing over at 100 kph.

[4MyEgo]

17 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

No biggie, if pressed we’ll just pay them, but I’m kind of more interested to see what happens when we don’t or if we will ever be forced to pay them !

 

As there is no demerit system here or cancellation of license or car registration threats for not paying your fines, I doubt very much they will pursue the collecting the money on the fines, so enjoy it while it lasts, as it will eventually become law here that demerits points will be a real thing as will cancellation of licenses and car registrations.

 

Back in Sydney whenever I received a parking fine or a camera speed ticket in the mail, I used to fill in the section on the back that would say something like; if you were not the driver at the time, complete the details of the driver below and return or pay the fine within 21 days or nominate the matter to go to court if you wish to challenge the matter.

 

So what I used to do is fill it in, and pick a name out of a hat, e.g. Tom Jones United Kingdom,  address unknown and they used to accept it, until one day I got this letter from doing this for years, the letter said; under section bla bla you must provide the full details of the driver you nominated was driving at the time of the offence, failure to do so may warrant a $4,000 fine, therefore provide the address of Tom Jones in the United Kingdom, got to say I did panic for a minute and rang my older brother who put me onto this idea and he said; mate come on, go on Googles and find white pages for the UK, you will find thousands of Tom Jones addresses to choose from, and I did, so I picked one and filled it in and returned it, never heard anything further until I got another letter from another fine that I sent in a few months later.

 

This letter said pursuant to section bla bla as you are the registered owner of the vehicle, YOU must pay the fine, we no longer accept nominated drivers who may have been driving your vehicle at the time, however should you wish to dispute the offence in court you may complete the section below and we will advise you of a hearing date, should the court not find in your favour, you will also be liable for court costs.......bastards finally got me ????

 

[Bob12345]

17 hours ago, krobert6 said:

As for my ticket it was for doing 98 in an 80 zone - fair enough  but when you look at the photo on the ticked it clearly shows 90 painted on the road

Typical Thailand, here we have a road with signs saying 50, on the road they painted 70, my GPS tells me the maximum speed is 90, and everybody drives between 50 and 140. 

[Susco]

45 minutes ago, NE1 said:

Highway 7 going down to Pattaya , 120kph speed limit. Signs flashing on the side of the road 80 or 90 kph.

It has been like that for a few years now.

 

 

Highway7 is a tricky one to me.

 

I see above the road those speed signs that show the speed you are driving, and flash when you go over the limit, but there are 3 lanes and each lane has a different speed limit.

 

Someone can explain?

[petermik]

7 hours ago, Susco said:

 

Highway7 is a tricky one to me.

 

I see above the road those speed signs that show the speed you are driving, and flash when you go over the limit, but there are 3 lanes and each lane has a different speed limit.

 

Someone can explain?

Those speed signs were purchased on a free trial/free return basis and were graded as basic/standard and deluxe versions hence the variation in speed limits....