Just Got Pulled Over By Traffic Cop

[scratt]

Hi there,

We were just driving back from Chon-Buri and were on the expressway just North of Central Bangkok heading for Chiang Wattana..

As we slowed for the Toll Booths we saw a traffic cop look at our truck and start to make his way accross the toll boothes.. We both joked he was going to pull us!

Let me explain. I have a brand new Isuzu DMax, in tax, fully insured and regularly serviced. I have never felt so confident in my life that I have every piece of paper a police officer could need. I have also not been drinking. I am chilled and relaxed and have not cut anyone up (very hard in Bangkok), run any red lights or sped for the entire afternoon!

The officer was very nice, and very polite and spoke a little English.

We speak a little Thai and it was all in all a very pleasant exchange.

My truck has a bank of four lights on the roof for off roading.

The officer pointed to them and said he would have to write me a ticket for my lights.

I was suprised, said sorry for whatever I had done wrong and asked if they were on, checking the switches as I asked. They were not on.

He said they needed a sticker.

We both looked blank (my partner and I).

The officer pulled out his note book and ran down a list of what I presume are traffic rules, or infractions, and pointed to one and explained that our off-road light block needed a sticker and he would have to fine us.

This seemed fairly straight forward apart from the fact that our car is new, had the lights fitted by a dealer and only a month ago was inspected and licensed by the auto authority.

However, I do believe the police officer.

I was quite happy to be fined but was not really in the mood to have to go to a police station in Bangkok and pay a fine! Nightmare.

I decided to pull out all my documents to make a show of being responsible and in case I did indeed have a sticker or a certificate or a badge even to show it was ok to have the lights and offered them piece-meal to the officer.

He repeated very kindly and slowly that we needed a sticker on the lights and that because we didn't have one the lights should not be on the truck.

(I just want to add I have been driving this truck now since we had it all over Bangkok... to the airport... on the highways... in central bangkok.... on Chang Wattana... Been past hundreds of police road blocks... never been pulled over once)

I wondered if I was missing something here as this was taking such a long time but I am not really a supporter of 'alternative solutions' and would have felt saddened if I had had to resort to some other kind of 'fine paying'.

I said sorry again and waited to be written a ticket.

He then said 'You can go' and waved us on.

Overall a mildly amusing (in retrospect) and not unpleasant first scrape with traffic cops over here. I have to say I found the policeman professional and approachable.

I wonder if anyone can tell me if I indeed need a badge or certificate to have lights on my truck?

Is this one of those seldom unenforced rules?

I cannot believe that with all the various mongrel trucks zooming around Bangkok that all of them have this certificate, sticker or whatever...

However, if I need on I am more than happy to get one! I just have no idea what they are or where to go to get one!!

Any help, or opinions on what just happened would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

scratt

[lopburi3]

Don't know the law but have seen others post about being stopped for this infraction so suspect it is real.

[Ajarn]

Sounds like positive experience, and a worthy story to be told

[Begs]

Hmm, sounds strange....i wonder if they have to have the covers on?

The lights generally come with plastic covers that are removable for when they are being used. I always thought those plastic covers where just for show, maybe they are in some way mandatory on the Highway.

[samran]

I have to give credit where credit is due. When I have done somethng wrong on the road, the boys in brown have been entirely proffessional, given me either a warning or a fine. I never offered a bribe, and the whole thing interaction worked like a boy in blue back in OZ.

Even saw a policeman in Suk refuse a bribe when he pulled over a bad driver in a BMW.

Also had to mediate once for a bunch of Farang friends and a chinese shop keeper who didn't like the fact that the noodle stand had seated farangs in front of her shop.

The police were entirely professional, and one of them even made the comment to me that he hoped that from our dealings with him that our Farang friends could see that not all policemen in Thailand were bad as people said.

[Thetyim]

A Thai friend of mine was pulled by the cops for having two spotlights on his roof. The explaination given was that it is illegal for a 2WD vehicle to have working spots on the roof. He disconnected the wiring and the copper was happy.

If you have a 4WD drive Isuzu then I guess the previous suggestion of having to use covers when on the road sounds about right.

[scratt]

Thanks for the comments.

Yeah it is was a positive experience overall.

It bears repeating that every interaction I have had with Thai police has been positive.

I remember when we first got here we were basically jay walking on the side of Chang Wattana as the pavement ended and we wanted to get to a bank we thought was a bit further down. It was actually about three miles away!

A police man pulled over by us on his bike and I thought... 'Oh no here we go!'

He actually asked us where we were going and then hailed a cab... gave the cabby directions and wished us a good day.

In England I would not expect to be treated that courteously by our own police. Which is sad but true.

I am wondering if 'Sticker' which the officer kept talking about with us was him finding the best word he had to describe covers....

Which leads me to my next question...

Anyone got about 6 spot light covers for sale!?!???

[sendbaht]

My experience with the man in brown have been fair.

Only time I felted picked on was in Pattaya in the 80s, a policeman pulled me over for have two

girls on my bike, sounds about right, but passing us all over were family's of 4 on a bike,

anyway, he told me to take my motorbike to the corner police station and handed me

a ticket, I had to walk to the main police station, pay the ticket, show proof of payment

to the officer, and they gave me back my bike. Not a big deal really.

I should have knowen better, I surly could not do that here in the states.

I have never done it again, I learned my lesson and grew up as well.

[Axel]

My experience with the man in brown have been fair.

...two girls on my bike, sounds about right, but passing us all over were family's of 4 on a bike,...

Guess, this was your mistake.

Motorbikes in LoS are for family-outings of a minimum of 4, not to carry

2 girls.

But in general I agree, the boys in brown are not as bad as we like to think sometimes.

And btw, I heard it so often, spot-lights on the roof must be covered. Never made sense to me but well...

Use some old socks with a famous brand name?

[kenk3z]

Although I know nothing about the situation in Thailand with regard to auxiliary lights, some places in the USA require this kind of lighting to be covered when not in use (the lens). I can only speculate that the reason for this is to prevent reflections from them due to oncoming headlights at night, and possibly the sunlight during the day.

Do you get much use from them? If not, maybe removal is the answer, because they probably cut your fuel mileage a bit. If permanently mounted then you probably need covers. The dealer may be a source?

kenk3z

[siam]

Only ever been stopped once on a bike,Hired a blade 900 and on my way back Pattaya from Rayong near to Tesco/Lotus was pulled over by a Policeman on a bike,and said 1000k,

I went what,so he walked away and came back and said 500,I told him my brother inlaw was major/General in Police in Bkk,and i said i would phone him,

The Police man in question pulled all the bikes over about 6 of us Thai and Farang,

His excuse i was overtaking in the outside lane on a motorbike

When i spoke to Pii Toy my B in law,he just told me to ask for the guys number and Police station

Which i did and then the copper said no more overtake and let me go.

[OOLEEBER]

Hi Scratt,

I've been stopped at that exact tollway on the only 2 occasions I've driven north on it.

The first time without my Thai wife. The cop insisted that I was going over 100 but I was adamant that I did not exceed 80 and this was a fact. So then he called over his mate who rubbed his chin and looked around thinking for a while then eventually a little light must have popped on in his head. He pointed to another toll lane on the left with a sign that says TRUCKS. He was insisting I should have used that lane. I pointed out that this was a Toyota Hi Lux and my definition of a truck although vague, usually had either pretty high sides or 6 or more wheels.

Just then the exact car as mine passed us and I said "look SAME SAME".

He scratched his bonce again and then walked around the car. Then he gave me some BS about my chrome roll bars in the back changing (amazingly) my car into a truck. I had to pay a 500bt bribe to avoid returning 400klm to BKK to collect the licence. No receipt of course.

When I got home the wife said. "Maybe he had no money to feed his family today. What you worry you help him".

The 2nd time My wife was with me and when he saw her in the back with our twin babies he walked once around before making some excuse about the rear bumper slightly obscuring the numberplate but waived us on out of sympathy "this time".

Thousands of Pick-ups like mine have the same bars and anyway, when he waived us over it was from the front. What was he, pshycic.

I think its just a hot spot for pulling Farrangs and I bet these guys jump for joy when they see they've been rostered to work there.

We should start a topic just on this location and see how the numbers run.

Apart from that I actually like and respect them. I'd never want to do their job and when I smile at one I always get a smile back. After all, what would we do without them. I just get a bit peeved when I get ripped off.

Good luck all

[samran]

I think its just a hot spot for pulling Farrangs and I bet these guys jump for joy when they see they've been rostered to work there.

Not really, the guys who do the taking actually have to pass most of it up to superiors. Its all a part of the pyramid system which works in most corrupt offices. The actual taker is at the bottom of tree and gets very little, but if he wants to go anywhere in his career he is forced to go out and raise his quotas of bribes.

This is why I think that the argument that its OK to pay these people a little "tea money" cause they don't earn much is a load of steaming <deleted>. They don't see most of it.

It is very common at the senior level that the only way you become the top civil servant in a government department (ie a Ministry) is to pay your precessesor so that you get the position. You then spend the remaineder of your career trying to recoup your "investment" through high level corruption and dodgy deals.

For instance, the rates to become head of the either customs department or ports authority of Thailand are some of the highest in the land.

[Darknight]

Thanks for the comments.

Yeah it is was a positive experience overall.

It bears repeating that every interaction I have had with Thai police has been positive.

I remember when we first got here we were basically jay walking on the side of Chang Wattana as the pavement ended and we wanted to get to a bank we thought was a bit further down. It was actually about three miles away!

A police man pulled over by us on his bike and I thought... 'Oh no here we go!'

He actually asked us where we were going and then hailed a cab... gave the cabby directions and wished us a good day.

In England I would not expect to be treated that courteously by our own police. Which is sad but true.

I am wondering if 'Sticker' which the officer kept talking about with us was him finding the best word he had to describe covers....

Which leads me to my next question...

Anyone got about 6 spot light covers for sale!?!???

jezus guy's how long have you been in thailand????

They stop you at the toll boot because you have a farang face.

Then they start dreaming up some reason to fine you... then they want to give you a ticket but rather receive 2 to 400 bath under the dashboard.

If you complain or are to difficult they stop harrasing you because you might know somebody higher in the chain and they could get problems.

I had dozens of encounters already even with the same car it's always something else... sunblinds, lights i'm still waiting for one to say the colour of my car is wrong.

They are not professional , they are greedy , out for stealing your money , they don't know shit about their own traffic laws and if you need one to help try to find one.

Maybe you should start driving without your rosy sun glasses on.

And samran don't start it's probably cause you farang/thai that they get scared of you and never fine you unjustly, you probably represent the "Higher in the chain" connections...

[IsaanAlex]

Likewise I've seen most Thai police as being incompetants or 'corrupts'.

I've seen Thai police let tech school boys run through their checkpoints and do nothing more than give them a smack on the head with their clipboard, or watched as a Thai policeman stood idly by while one young guy on foot chased another on a motorcysle with a club.

I was also riding my motorcycle one day and was almost hit by a (civilian) car on a busy thoroughfare. I gave a quick beep of my horn to let the driver know I was there. He went crazy, drove even closer, and then waved me over. I figured I'd rather fight with 2 feet on the ground than get knocked off my bike...

So the guy aggressively walked up to me and started yelling "Why you honk horn at me" "I am policeman"

Me: "Um, I honked my horn because you almost hit me. I wanted to let you know I was there"

Him: "Yes, but why you honk horn. I am policeman?"

Me: <deleted>?

Here was a guy in a civilian car, in civilian clothes who almost hits me, but wonders why I would dare honk the horn because he knows he's a cop. How can you be so <deleted> stupid and hold a job at McDonalds in the west?

I also accompanied a workmate to a police station after he was involved in a motorcycle accident. There were a few issues involved...

Anyways, the policeman at the Tourist Police station was blind drunk...

And I wondered what the deal was when I went by a pub/restaurant and always saw tables of men in white shirts sitting around drinking beer in the middle of the day.-then I realised that it was the police, who would just pull down their police shirts and sit and drink in their white undershirts.

If any westerner thinks that the police in Thailand are really better than the ones from 'back home', I'm very curious as to what shithole you came from.

IA

[samran]

And samran don't start it's probably cause you farang/thai that they get scared of you and never fine you unjustly, you probably represent the "Higher in the chain" connections...

Called it as I saw it Darknight. I'm not so blind that I don't see whats going on, but my experience is what it is, and overall, it has been good. As for higher chain connections, well while I'd love to claim to have thai super conections, I don't have any.

As for Thai police not being as bad as overseas, well tell that to my friends mum who was put up on trumped up charges by the corrupt Mosman (Sydney) police in the early 90's, convicted by a judge in cahoots with the police and the mafia and only managed to get her name cleared after the royal (?) commission into the New South Wales police corruption.

[IsaanAlex]

As for Thai police not being as bad as overseas, well tell that to my friends mum who was put up on trumped up charges by the corrupt Mosman (Sydney) police in the early 90's, convicted by a judge in cahoots with the police and the mafia and only managed to get her name cleared after the royal (?) commission into the New South Wales police corruption.

Agreed that there is corruption and rot in the 'justice' system in the west as well, but it is still a way more professional setup-and abuses have much less frequently.

And this is coming from a person (myself) who was stomped by staff outside a pub owned by a high-ranking police official (in Canada), dumped in the drunk tank by police, even though I wasn't drunk, and denied any medical attention, even though I had a broken leg and 2 broken ribs...

And I'd still say the average cop on the beat in Thailand has the critical thinking skills of a 15 year old in the west and lacks, in most case, the morals required for the job.

IA

[Tarragona]

I got pulled over driving through Saraburi once. The officer wanted 200 baht as it would be more to pay the real fine etc. etc. I knew I didn't have anything smaller than a 500 note in my wallet so I wasn't about to pull that out. I went through my pockets, the glove compartment, door pockets pulling out coins and a couple of 20s, asked the wife if she'd got anything, until the officer had had enough and hissed (almost literally) something like "Just give me that." Grand total of 72 baht.

Other than that I've only had good experiences with traffic cops, including somewhere in Buriram when the sister-in-law was driving and it turned out that I was teaching (in Bangkok) the brother of the officer who had pulled us over. Small world.

[Begs]

I didn't have anything smaller than a 500 note in my wallet so I wasn't about to pull that out. I went through my pockets, the glove compartment, door pockets pulling out coins and a couple of 20s, asked the wife if she'd got anything, until the officer had had enough and hissed (almost literally) something like "Just give me that." Grand total of 72 baht.

He was obviously a man in need.

I trust that you went to change the 500 baht and returned to give him the 128 Baht you short changed him by!

[astral]

A lot depends on whether your really are doing something wrong.

With the spot lights it sounds very dubious to me.

In the other hand, if you are speeding and they catch you in radar trap, then fair enough.

That was how I learned about bribes,

First time I paid up on the spot, and got a receipt.

The second time I was asked for a 200 baht fine. I offered an a 500 baht note.

The cop politely reached into my wallet and took the only 100 baht note and said that would do. No receipt.

The third time I was told the fine would be 200baht.

I enquired if I would get a receipt, "Yes" was the answer.

I then asked if 100 baht and no receipt would be Ok. The answer was also "Yes"!

The rates may be higher now.

It cost me 200 baht on Friday because I forgot to put on my seatbelt.

Edited August 30, 2004 by astral