Foreign Police Volunteers Based In Soi 9 Police Station

[monty]

The big roadblock on Sukhumvit is the only place where you'll get an official fine and only when you actually infringed on a traffic law.

ALL other highway police blocks you pay on the spot, no ticket issued, unrelated to the fact whether you did something wrong or not. Friend of mine mounted a handycam in his car after being fined 3 times in a day for either phantom speeding or phantom hugging the right lane.

I must admit compared to the highway department, the soi 9 BIB are choirboys....

[suiging]

There is very little wrong with the Thai Government employing people to assit with communications between law enforcement agencies and tourists, or workers from overseas who find their systems confusing or the language barrier is creating fear or mis-understanding.

The only problem I have ( Irony of the "blackshirts" aside ), is I am still not certain what legal powers these people possess.

I feel I need to know this before I or any other person is asked to hand over money to them or their friendly locals who are manni9ng any form of roadblock.

[Mobi]

The big roadblock on Sukhumvit is the only place where you'll get an official fine and only when you actually infringed on a traffic law.

ALL other highway police blocks you pay on the spot, no ticket issued, unrelated to the fact whether you did something wrong or not. Friend of mine mounted a handycam in his car after being fined 3 times in a day for either phantom speeding or phantom hugging the right lane.

I must admit compared to the highway department, the soi 9 BIB are choirboys....

Considering the amount of driving I've done in LOS through the years, I've been pretty lucky in avoiding being stopped at road blocks. In the old days, being a farang would help, but these days, the opposite applies. However, having a decent vehicle (i.e. not a pick up) with dark window glass, so that they can't see inside, usually gets you past most blocks unscathed.

However, on a number of occasions my luck has run out and I have been done, and only once did I have to go to the police station to pay, and this was because I foolishly challenged the alleged offence, which , believe it or not was that my number plate was too small! It was complete garbage, subsequently verified when I re-licensed the car, but the cop shop insisted that I pay the fine, so I wasted my time for nothing.

I can't say for sure that at official road blocks you will only be ticketed if you really have committed an infringement, but my experience is that even at these so-called 'official' blocks, you can always be on your way by palming the cops a few reds ones, rather than having to go pay at the station - innocent or guilty.

I was once stopped at an official block, way up country in Loei. Every vehicle had to stop, park up and the drivers had to get out of their vehicles and present their id's at an official Police desk set up in a side soi. There, we all paid a fine, and were issued with an official receipt. There was no explanation of the offence committed and no one was exempted. The girl who was accompanying me assured me that even though I was given a receipt, all the money would go into the pockets of the cops. And she was local, and was used to this practice.

I'm still mystified as to where the FPV's will fit into all this, and await developments with baited breath.

[clivemh]

Why can't they just fine everyone who doesn't wear a helmet?-easy! (Farangs or Thai)

[HarryHacker]

snip

ALL other highway police blocks you pay on the spot, no ticket issued, unrelated to the fact whether you did something wrong or not.

snip

That is why I work on the basis of always speeding....... where safe to do so. ;->

[Tim207]

I really don't see why some people have a problem with this. Using volunteers to help bridge language and cultural problems is a great way for the Thai police to head off miss-understandings and possible problems with tourists. It can also ease the mind of tourists in a totally foreign third world country when they are surrounded by police and have no idea why. As I read the original post they are only there to facilitate communication when necessary. Easy for the tourist to understand what is happening and and the police can move on to the next vehicle much quicker because they don't have to struggle to communicate.

I don't like the idea of farang police running around enforcing laws but this doesn't sound like that at all. It is more of a helpful service and I would think that non-Thai speakers would be happy the Thai police allow these guys to help them. Unless they are using the language barrior to their advantage, this is a helpful service.

[monty]

There is very little wrong with the Thai Government employing people to assit with communications between law enforcement agencies and tourists, or workers from overseas who find their systems confusing or the language barrier is creating fear or mis-understanding.

At a roadblock?

Pray tell me what is confusing at the need of having a drivers license when driving, at needing to wear your seatbelt when driving a car or wearing a helmet when on a motorbike, at needing to be sober when operating a vehicle, along with your vehicle being properly insured and road tax paid?

Is this so radically different then in the places these tourists and foreign workers hail from that the presence of volunteers able to converse in the native language of these foreign visitors is needed to inform them of these utterly confusing requirements?

I for one am positively confused here

[sriracha john]

I was once stopped at an official block, way up country in Loei. Every vehicle had to stop, park up and the drivers had to get out of their vehicles and present their id's at an official Police desk set up in a side soi. There, we all paid a fine, and were issued with an official receipt. There was no explanation of the offence committed and no one was exempted. The girl who was accompanying me assured me that even though I was given a receipt, all the money would go into the pockets of the cops.

Exact same experience in between Bang Saen and Chonburi several months ago in which every vehicle was pulled over and every driver fined and receipted. Our offense was driving in the right lane too long, even though it was stop and go traffic in all lanes due to the road block.

[sriracha john]

As I read the original post they are only there to facilitate communication when necessary. Easy for the tourist to understand what is happening and and the police can move on to the next vehicle much quicker because they don't have to struggle to communicate.

What role, if any, will the FPV play in the explanation of the fine structure, participation in the collection of fines, and explanation of the written tickets issued?

Given the highly dubious history and nature of these roadblocks, what are the FPV's personal opinion on how these road blocks are implemented and conducted?

[Tim207]

There is very little wrong with the Thai Government employing people to assit with communications between law enforcement agencies and tourists, or workers from overseas who find their systems confusing or the language barrier is creating fear or mis-understanding.

At a roadblock?

Pray tell me what is confusing at the need of having a drivers license when driving, at needing to wear your seatbelt when driving a car or wearing a helmet when on a motorbike, at needing to be sober when operating a vehicle, along with your vehicle being properly insured and road tax paid?

When tourists see everyone else ignoring the laws they may not understand that there is a law.

Is this so radically different then in the places these tourists and foreign workers hail from that the presence of volunteers able to converse in the native language of these foreign visitors is needed to inform them of these utterly confusing requirements?

When tourists see everyone else ignoring the laws they may not understand that there is a law.

I don't really care one way or the other but I am confused by the opposition to this. I really don't see a downside and I have yet to read any real argument from anyone against it other than "it isn't needed". Lots of things are not needed but if there is no downside then what is the harm and why the opposition?

Edited October 30, 2007 by Tim207

[Mobi]

I was once stopped at an official block, way up country in Loei. Every vehicle had to stop, park up and the drivers had to get out of their vehicles and present their id's at an official Police desk set up in a side soi. There, we all paid a fine, and were issued with an official receipt. There was no explanation of the offence committed and no one was exempted. The girl who was accompanying me assured me that even though I was given a receipt, all the money would go into the pockets of the cops.

Exact same experience in between Bang Saen and Chonburi several months ago in which every vehicle was pulled over and every driver fined and receipted. Our offense was driving in the right lane too long, even though it was stop and go traffic in all lanes due to the road block.

The wife was stopped a while back driving along the Rayong bound route 36 dual carriageway, between the Pattaya turn off and the Bangkok route 7 turn off - a very popular spot for augmenting police salaries. They told her she was driving too fast, which she vehemently denied. They then changed their tune told her she was driving too slow in the outside lane. Neither was correct, as my wife is a very safe responsible driver.But she paid up - of course.

There are a million road block stories in this corrupt land. This has been one of them

[Mobi]

There is very little wrong with the Thai Government employing people to assit with communications between law enforcement agencies and tourists, or workers from overseas who find their systems confusing or the language barrier is creating fear or mis-understanding.

At a roadblock?

Pray tell me what is confusing at the need of having a drivers license when driving, at needing to wear your seatbelt when driving a car or wearing a helmet when on a motorbike, at needing to be sober when operating a vehicle, along with your vehicle being properly insured and road tax paid?

Is this so radically different then in the places these tourists and foreign workers hail from that the presence of volunteers able to converse in the native language of these foreign visitors is needed to inform them of these utterly confusing requirements?

I for one am positively confused here

That's exactly what I was trying to say in an earlier post Monty.

If the police are so worried about tourists not realising that they have to obey the traffic laws, why don't they print a guidance leaflet on the subject and hand it out to tourists when they arrive at the airport, or require the hire companies to issue a leaflet when they rent out the vehicles. This is just one idea. I'm sure if they think outside the box there must be many ways they could inform tourists of their responsibilities when driving without resorting to having farang volunteers man police road blocks.

By far the greater need is to educate Thai drivers - many of whom have absolutely no idea of the rules of the road, and/or how to drive in a responsible manner and avoid accidents. This would be a much more worthwhile project.

[JaiDeeFarang]

There is very little wrong with the Thai Government employing people to assit with communications between law enforcement agencies and tourists, or workers from overseas who find their systems confusing or the language barrier is creating fear or mis-understanding.

At a roadblock?

Pray tell me what is confusing at the need of having a drivers license when driving, at needing to wear your seatbelt when driving a car or wearing a helmet when on a motorbike, at needing to be sober when operating a vehicle, along with your vehicle being properly insured and road tax paid?

When tourists see everyone else ignoring the laws they may not understand that there is a law.

Is this so radically different then in the places these tourists and foreign workers hail from that the presence of volunteers able to converse in the native language of these foreign visitors is needed to inform them of these utterly confusing requirements?

When tourists see everyone else ignoring the laws they may not understand that there is a law.

I don't really care one way or the other but I am confused by the opposition to this. I really don't see a downside and I have yet to read any real argument from anyone against it other than "it isn't needed". Lots of things are not needed but if there is no downside then what is the harm and why the opposition?

There may be resentment when a farang is fined un-necessarily for an offence he hasn't committed. He may be left wondering if the red backs he just handed over are split between the Highway Police and the FPV's for their Christmas party. They remind me of teachers pets or snitches, people bullied at school and now they have a limited authority they'll use it to make themselves feel important or possibly there are other alterior motives for trying to keep in with the police. Do these volunteers have background checks for illegal activities both here or in their home country? I'm not making any accusations here at all, just asking a reasonable question.

[sriracha john]

There may be resentment when a farang is fined un-necessarily for an offence he hasn't committed. He may be left wondering if the red backs he just handed over are split between the Highway Police and the FPV's for their Christmas party. They remind me of teachers pets or snitches, people bullied at school and now they have a limited authority they'll use it to make themselves feel important or possibly there are other alterior motives for trying to keep in with the police. Do these volunteers have background checks for illegal activities both here or in their home country? I'm not making any accusations here at all, just asking a reasonable question.

Additionally, the issue of work permits for the FPV was never fully answered in the other thread.

[suiging]

There is very little wrong with the Thai Government employing people to assit with communications between law enforcement agencies and tourists, or workers from overseas who find their systems confusing or the language barrier is creating fear or mis-understanding.

At a roadblock?

Pray tell me what is confusing at the need of having a drivers license when driving, at needing to wear your seatbelt when driving a car or wearing a helmet when on a motorbike, at needing to be sober when operating a vehicle, along with your vehicle being properly insured and road tax paid?

Is this so radically different then in the places these tourists and foreign workers hail from that the presence of volunteers able to converse in the native language of these foreign visitors is needed to inform them of these utterly confusing requirements?

I for one am positively confused here

One can only presume that in the recent past there has been confusion at these Roadblocks, else why else would they be there ? A cynic may think It's a good place to get them out of the way, however, the presense of Farang at the blocks may also hinder certain other rather prevalent practises which occur. You never know this may well be a consideration ?

[Mobi]

Pattaya is described by TAT as a "World Class" International tourist resort.

We all know that is a bit of a joke, but none the less, Pattaya is an important contributor to Thailand's economy.

What blows my mind, that a country that boasts a "world Class International Tourist resort" cannot find a small budget to put some young bright cops through a crash course in English and train them how to deal with tourists, as they would do anywhere else in the world.

I have asked this question before, and I will ask it again: Is there another country, that anyone is aware of, where the local police recruit a mish mash of inexperienced, untrained local foreigners to assist them in their duties? If there is, I would be delighted to hear about it.

And in a country where many foreigners are terrified of not having the correct visas, work permits (which at any time can be withdrawn on a whim or a reinterpretation of the rules), what sort of message is it giving to the outside world to put these people in black uniforms, with no work permits and have them man police road blocks with unspecified authority over their fellow farangs?

I am sure the farangs involved are doing it with the best of intentions, but quite frankly, if this story were to be picked up by a UK tabloid, they would be the laughing stock of the world - as the Thai Police were when they decided to make ''naughty' policemen wear 'Hello Kitty' badges.

[suiging]

Agree with all of that.

[plasticpig]

JaiDeeFarang' date='2007-10-30 11:46:31' post='1623673']

There may be resentment when a farang is fined un-necessarily for an offence he hasn't committed. He may be left wondering if the red backs he just handed over are split between the Highway Police and the FPV's for their Christmas party. They remind me of teachers pets or snitches, people bullied at school and now they have a limited authority they'll use it to make themselves feel important or possibly there are other alterior motives for trying to keep in with the police. Do these volunteers have background checks for illegal activities both here or in their home country? I'm not making any accusations here at all, just asking a reasonable question.

That's the spirit.

Edited October 30, 2007 by plasticpig

[Tony Clifton]

whats the point of having day only road blocks?

What's the point of having road blocks period?

Roaming police patrols would be far more effective. Road blocks are easily avoided, encourage spot compliance ("Oh, we're coming up on a road block, I'd better put my motorcycle helmet on, but it's alright because 30 meters after it, I can take it off again.") and require huge personnel resources.

Will the FPV explain to foreigners how much tea .... oh, never mind.

Roadblocks... Hundreds of road blocks at Songkran every year with each about 10 policemen, meanwhile, the carnage still goes on between roadblocks. Still, they still think they're doing a mighty fine job despite the hundreds of dead over a few days.

I think I drove through one of these a few days ago in Pattaya. They had traffic on Sukhumvit, between Central Road and South Pattaya Road, backed up for one kilometer with traffic cones blocking some of the lanes and lots of police and Thai volunteer police standing around doing nothing.

I noticed lots of farangs in black shirts standing around drinking coffee.

Seemed like just a novel approach to more confusion in the traffic flow.

Whenever policemen decide to manage traffic here, they somehow always manage to cause congestion and their setup often creates dangerous opportunities for accidents which they are supposed to prevent in the first place.

[ThaidleHands]

Assigning FPVs to roadblocks is tremendous waste of time. The vast majority of tourists simply don't drive. If you see a foreigner behind the wheel, there's a high probability he's an expat and it's his duty to have a sufficient command of Thai to interact on a basic level.

[HarryHacker]

As a side issue, will the attendance of the FPV at these roadblocks build up resentment from the Thai drivers stopped?

[suiging]

I have lived in Asia for nearly twenty five years. It may be a duty in your mind, but I can honestly say that more than fifty percent of long term expats in say HK do not have a word ( other than a swear word.........everyone can manage that ) of Cantonese. I can't speak with such authority about Thailand, but would imagine the guys out in Chonburi on short term contracts who may commute from East Patters may be just the same.

Edited October 30, 2007 by suiging

[astral]

It does seem at first glance that the rules of the road are similar between Thailand and Western countries but there is one major difference. Very few of the rules here are documented, taught and enforced and most are open to interpretation. Even a basic principle such as driving to the left of the line is openly disregarded often.

The major offenders are the Thai, not tourists!!

You will not see any fines being collected at a proper highway police roadblock. Any motorist who has infringed the road rules will be issued a ticket, and he/she will have to go to the local police station to pay the fine.

IME Official Highway Police road blocks are usually manned by a senior officer

who will accept the payments on the spot and issue a receipt.

Unless there is a receipt book on show, any "fine" you pay will really be bribe.

For instance many people either are unaware or just don't care that people are not allowed to ride in the back of a pickup truck unless you have yellow commercial plates, so when stopped at a checkpoint because children are riding in the back of your pickup truck the FPV volenteers explain the law especially to foreigners that have been stopped.

Barry

I wonder why the Thais do not know about this law?

Without using the back of the pickup, my Thai family could

not possibly go around together..........

They have never been stopped either.

On the few times I have been stopped by the Highway police

it has generally been a scam.

"You were going too fast"

"No, I was driving at the limit of 90kph"

"Oh! Then you were in the righthand lane"

"Yes, I was overtaking a lorry"

"Oh" "OK you can go.

If you are accused of speeding then ask how fast you were going.

If the answer is 97, or something exact like that, then they have you bang

to rights, as they used a radar gun. But I have not seen that lately.

IME the Highway officers do speak enough English to do the job.

Given all this I can see little to justify the use of FPVs

[hm1973]

I suppose I shoudn't really get involved in this thread but I feel I have to comment and what better place to do than here......

As co-Group Leader of the FTPA (Foreign Tourist Police Assistants)...I have to say that I really don't see how they can improve things. The Highway Police normally run a checkpoint in front of their South Pattaya Office which comes under the jurastiction of Banglamung Police, by the way, because it is located on the Eastern Side of the Sukumvit. There work at Soi 9 Police Station is proving to be invaluable and they are really starting to make a difference there. They are a great help to us when we have to bring a foreigner to Pattaya Police Station for whatever reason and we are more than happy to hand the cases over to them, if required. Most of the Highway Police work is taken place outside the boundaries of Pattaya by patrol cars who will often set up speed traps and pull over people not wearing seat belts. The reason why these checkpoints are located outside of Pattaya is because any fines have to be paid for in Chonburi District and cannot be paid at Pattaya Police Station so as to provide maximum inconvenience to the driver. A good tip for all car and truck drivers....always belt up when you leave Pattaya, especially during the day!!!!

Both groups primary role is to assist the Tourist, that is why we are based mainly at Walking Street and the FPV's are based at Soi 9. It would be a shame if FPV's are taken out of Soi 9 to work with the Highway Police, who, in my experience, can take care of themselves and their English skills are adequate. I hope that the FPV's good work at Soi 9 is not affected by this extra duty for them.

Finally, I don't mean to sound patronising, but the FPV's are a new group with limited experience "in the field". Take some time to learn how Pattaya Police operate and get some cases "under your belts" before you diversify into other things such as the Highway Police. Trust me, there is a lot to learn and even after more than 5 years as an FTPA, I learn new things every day. Basically....'don't run before you can walk" otherwise mistakes will be made which could affect your reputation and could ruin all the good work you guys have done so far.

Howard

[Pattaya_Fox]

The OP stated that this situation will arise due to the request of the Highway Police Chief.

One would assume that he has a good reason for making this request.

[GooMaiRoo]

The OP stated that this situation will arise due to the request of the Highway Police Chief.

One would assume that he has a good reason for making this request.

Yeah I wonder, why be a busy fool, when others can do it for you? If he was a businessman and he may well be also, he'd be saying "turnover is vanity, profit is sanity" There really is still no excuse for the gustapo, facist looking outfits that Baronet Oswald Mosely would be proud of. Sieg Heil!

[sriracha john]

I suppose I shoudn't really get involved in this thread but I feel I have to comment and what better place to do than here......

As co-Group Leader of the FTPA (Foreign Tourist Police Assistants)...I have to say that I really don't see how they can improve things. The Highway Police normally run a checkpoint in front of their South Pattaya Office which comes under the jurastiction of Banglamung Police, by the way, because it is located on the Eastern Side of the Sukumvit. There work at Soi 9 Police Station is proving to be invaluable and they are really starting to make a difference there. They are a great help to us when we have to bring a foreigner to Pattaya Police Station for whatever reason and we are more than happy to hand the cases over to them, if required. Most of the Highway Police work is taken place outside the boundaries of Pattaya by patrol cars who will often set up speed traps and pull over people not wearing seat belts. The reason why these checkpoints are located outside of Pattaya is because any fines have to be paid for in Chonburi District and cannot be paid at Pattaya Police Station so as to provide maximum inconvenience to the driver. A good tip for all car and truck drivers....always belt up when you leave Pattaya, especially during the day!!!!

Both groups primary role is to assist the Tourist, that is why we are based mainly at Walking Street and the FPV's are based at Soi 9. It would be a shame if FPV's are taken out of Soi 9 to work with the Highway Police, who, in my experience, can take care of themselves and their English skills are adequate. I hope that the FPV's good work at Soi 9 is not affected by this extra duty for them.

Finally, I don't mean to sound patronising, but the FPV's are a new group with limited experience "in the field". Take some time to learn how Pattaya Police operate and get some cases "under your belts" before you diversify into other things such as the Highway Police. Trust me, there is a lot to learn and even after more than 5 years as an FTPA, I learn new things every day. Basically....'don't run before you can walk" otherwise mistakes will be made which could affect your reputation and could ruin all the good work you guys have done so far.

Howard

Sadly, as with all other threads regarding FTPA and FPV... there are lots of questions with precious few, if any, real answers.

Edited October 31, 2007 by sriracha john

[NanLaew]

Additionally, the issue of work permits for the FPV was never fully answered in the other thread.

And no matter how much you beat your gums on this issue, it never will.

[NanLaew]

There are a million road block stories in this corrupt land. This has been one of them

Here's one from up country. Yesterday, the Udon police turned off the traffic lights on Phosi Road between the Fountain Circle and Soi Nong Bua and had a field day catching the motorcycles without helmets, papers, etc.. Normally they would set up ticket writing stops at the traffic lights and the offending drivers could see them a mile off and have enough time to grab their helmet or take off down a side soi before being nabbed. Yesterday, with these bikes all riding non-stop, concentrating on driving by the 'ever diminishing gap' they didn't have their eyesight set far enough ahead and the cops who were randomly located had easy pickings.

Edited October 31, 2007 by NanLaew

[piker]

Went to Soi 9 police station last night and met with the FPV who were extremely helpful. Bravo to Pattaya. At least they're there. When I've tried to get something out of TPV (dial 1155), it wasn't always prompt nor helpful.