Public Penalty Act: no imprisonment for minor offences, fines only

[fredwiggy]

6 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Considering some US cities you do not get arrested for less than $1,000 (UK I think £200) I'd say chuck ALL thieves in the clink for a week for every $100/£80 they steal - if they know that the penalty is basically nothing , they'll carry on doing it all day ! First time , sure, fine them - then if they have not learned, lock them up until they do

Where we pay for them to stay there, and they get into a system some never get out of. Losing money is the best teacher for most. Especially for a first offense. Of course repeat offenders they'll have to up the ante. Locking people up doesn't teach them much besides hatred for those that did it. We're talking about non violent offenses where no one else is involved besides them and maybe a retail outlet.

[RobU]

All depends on the opinion of the police. This is a very bad thing with a police force noted for its corrupt activity It now opens the door for extortion i.e. give me money and I will let you off with a warning as long as you dispose of the body safely.

[jacko45k]

Just now, fredwiggy said:

Where we pay for them to stay there, and they get into a system some never get out of. Losing money is the best teacher for most. Especially for a first offense. Of course repeat offenders they'll have to up the ante. Locking people up doesn't teach them much besides hatred for those that did it. We're talking about non violent offenses where no one else is involved besides them and maybe a retail outlet.

For the young offenders I always felt the sharp shock of a short spell in jail might be a good lesson too. Turning a blind eye to minor crimes is not doing San Francisco any favours.. society needs protection from all crimes, not only violent ones!

[NE1]

So the guy who used the government vehicle for his trips to the golf course will be released from his max. 50 years in prison and fined 5,000-10,000 baht ?

[cracker1]

"The order can be downloaded using the QR code provided at the end of this document, reported KhaoSod."

 

Did anyone find the QR Code ?

[sandyf]

4 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Gawd, they're publicly legalizing extortion!

You mean like other countries.

In 1973 we were stopped for speeding on the autobahn somewhere near Cologne, probably because I had "GB" on the vehicle. The policeman said 60 DM, my friend who was driving started to speak, the policeman said 70 DM, my friend said "but" and the policeman said 80 DM.

At that point we decided to get the wallets out.

[Cabradelmar]

All this does is increase the pool of money that police can put directly in their own pockets. No record of the offense means no record of the fine as well. Police graft has never been easier. The upside is maybe the police will start doing actually enforcement. But be careful what you wish for... not to mention fines aren't really a deturant so I doubt any of this leads to any real public safety change at the end of the day. 

[retarius]

I guess Mr Red Bull is off the hook then. 1000 baht fine or so should cover his offence.

[LALes]

Is this the public's version of transfered to an inactive post?

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

Need details here - what exact offences would have their punishment replaced from arrest to a fine??

I clicked on the full story link and it only mentions kids up to 12 years old.

Edited October 26, 2023 by brianthainess

[Rampant Rabbit]

Im all for it pay and go and pay in CASH perfect sod the digikal economy, currently in the UK doing my  anuual "see if Mum is  still alive trip", the amount of  petty rules here is incredible the amount of regulation is stifling, 20mph speed limits over a  lot of Wales, do 25mph in the zones and its 3  points £100 fine 12  points is  banned and thats temporary to give people time to acclinatise to it soon itll be 23mph I can run faster, bikes whizz  past the cars, there's bugger  all in service, everywhere is stupid machines to pay,  everything is stupifyingly expensive, dont whinge about Thailand too much , sure there are some dumb aspects of  Thailand and they drive like selfish 3  year old retards but here trust me  everyone is so sheite scared of dong 33in a  30 that now on  a  long distance trips many people just do 45mph in 60 zones, it took me  over 4  hours to get to my Mothers  house on roads Ive driven down for 40 years and which was done usually  in 2.5 hours. Theres  more white paint and road signs than road.

Sadly Thailand is catching up, Id  take the roadkill over the stifling UK whose policy is zero road deaths where the signs  in Wales  say move over for tractors as theyre the ones going the fastest. Welsh govt spent £30 million changing the 30 signs to 20 no vote on it a  petition was  set uip and got 440k signatures in 5  days to reverse it, I spoke to locals who say they hate it.

The point I guess, dont knock Thai regualtions on some things too much, although their need for ridiculous tree destruction paperwork is obscene.

[Thumbs]

Good idea in principle but this will quickly turn into a corrupt method of subsidizing and individuals police salary. The police chief keeps demanding that the public trust his officers, but that’s impossible with a different police corruption or criminality scandal every week

 

they only way to sort this is to drastically reduce the size of the police force especially senior officers, pay the police a better salary, issue police weapons (police currently get huge discounts on guns, these will often be sold on for a profit after the holding period. I like to see every gun involved in a crime investigated to see who originally purchased it) separate agency promotion exam boards so only the youngest and brightest get promoted instead of the one with biggest pocket. Police complaints procedures, so those incompetent officers can be weeded out after a certain amounts of public complaints, stop this moved to an inactive post and terminate their employment. The police and thai people have forgotten that the police are public servants and are employed at the will of the people 

[maddox41]

He only been back a couple of months and all change 

Let the Russians take over Pattaya and Phuket give them a 90 day visa on Arrival. 

Now give the RTP carte blanche to fleece the general population  bring in the foreign tax laws and all done from his hostipal bed . 

Didn't take long did it the fat cats stay fat 😂 gives me less of a reason to come back to Thailand to live

[LudwigK]

5 hours ago, Martyjustice said:

So what is the fine for murder?

Depending ok personal wealth.... Ask red Bull idiot

[Seeall]

Main flaw with your Farang logic is : it only works on farang....  

[OneMoreFarang]

The problem with prison is that once people were in prison, they have often problems finding work, etc. And then they commit crimes (again).

So, if it possible to keep people out of jail and still punish them that makes sense.

 

IMHO that should not be used for serial offenders. If it is obvious that people commit crimes again and again, then lock them up! 

[paul1804]

Did you really expect anything different, it will just increase the amount of brown envelopes of which the RTP will be the beneficiaries!

[newnative]

     It's all rather short on details--what's considered petty and what will be the fines charged, rather than prison time.  I  imagine the police are going to love it.  Likely the criminals, too.  The actual crime victims, not so much.  Steal something and sell it for, say, 100,000 baht.   Maybe a few days later get caught for the theft.  Pay, I'm guessing, maybe a 1,000 baht theft charge, net profit, 99,000 baht.  A penalty fine, if they even catch you, but no jail time.  Someone could possibly get a nice little earner going, depending on the details. 

   Perhaps mot quite as good as parts of the USA, though, as I've posted before.  In my brother-in-law's jurisdiction, you can steal up to $150 from a store and the police will not respond at all if you phone to report the theft.  Nada.  Don't bother to even pick up the phone.  They don't want to hear it, and certainly don't want to investigate it.

    So, make the rounds of a couple dozen or so stores each day in that jurisdiction, steal $150 or less worth of merchandise at each, and, there you have it, another nice little earner, with no penalties at all.  Use what you want, sell the rest.  Some of the CEO's of the biggest retailers are starting to finally publicly squawk about the huge theft problem, cutting deeply into their bottom lines, so maybe things might change a bit--but I doubt it.

[PingRoundTheWorld]

8 hours ago, rwill said:

This link explains it much better:  Disciplinary fine in Thailand

Thank you. So assuming that's how it'll be applied - minor offences that would result in a fine anyway - like not having a driver's license or smoking in a non-smoking area - will result in a fine but no police record or court proceedings. Sounds like a good idea and save up on paperwork and resources, in theory, assuming it doesn't get abused.

[Caldera]

It would be nice if they had given some examples. Offenses and the respective fines.

[off road pat]

9 hours ago, IndomitableSpirit said:

Cha-ching...cha-ching...chaaaa-chingg! 🤑 🤑 🤑

 

[Purdey]

Why is there a bunch of BiB outside my office high-fiving?

[sidneybear]

11 hours ago, Martyjustice said:

So what is the fine for murder?

It depends on who died.

[sidneybear]

Thaksin's lot are trying to turn Thailand into a mirror image of the lawless and degenerate west. Hopefully they'll be thrown out before long.

[The Joker]

The past ones they have been enforcing how has it been working? Or is it another posture to gained public trust.

[pedro01]

A good move in my opinion but it really depends on the offences included.

 

California is suffering from an epidemic of shoplifting after the passing of Prop 47 in 2014, which made shoplifting items valued at more than $950 a misdemeanor in California. 

 

Not quite the same thing but if you give a get out of jail free card for some crimes, it's reasonable to expect them to occur more frequently. 

[Pilot3Boz]

I am all for reform... My concern is in the interpretation of the new rules and regulations at the officer level.. This will be interesting to watch it play out... 

[thailand49]

Official business as usual different day same old <deleted>.🤑

[Reigntax]

21 hours ago, rwill said:

This link explains it much better:  Disciplinary fine in Thailand

the detail in the link was about as vague as what one would expect