Tea Money Advice

[kevdulounge]

Hello,

I was wondering how to react when I'm stopped by the police, and haven't done anything wrong.

Should I fold a 100B bill when handing my license ? Should I wait for a "request" for money ?

If I feel they want a little "help", how much should I give ?

Should I except more trouble while driving with red plates ?

Thanks for your advices

[sweetchariot]

No, wait to see their reaction first, before any money changes hands. Sometimes they will wave you on, if not they will need to explain what the problem is (normally BS). Personally I then say 'sawng roi baht?', and the answer has always been OK. Maybe I pay too much, but I reckon if you insult them with a derisory offer you could potential make things worse.

Not been stopped in over 12 months (blacked out windows) so maybe the price has gone up?

[wca01]

No problems with the red plates! If you are stopped by the cops, listen what they have to say.

Don't argue, just wave 200 Baht (if you are a falang). In 99,999% this trouble shooting will help.

Blacked out windows seems to be a good weapon to avoid cop harassements.

WCA

[Cuban]

If you are stopped by the cops, listen what they have to say.

Don't argue, just wave 200 Baht (if you are a falang). In 99,999% this trouble shooting will help.

I would strongly advise against just waving 200 Baht at any police officer.

There are 100% straight police in Thailand and if you appear to attempt to bribe them you may be arrested. (Two months ago happened to a guy outside Pattaya, stopped once for speeding, paid 400 baht "fine", was stopped an hour later and offered the 400 Baht too quickly.)

When stopped, drop your window and remove your sunglasses. Smile.

I suggest you do not speak Thai - even if you can, this forces the police to do the work.

You are likely to be asked for driving licence - details on this issue are covered on other TV threads.

Maybe Passport again details on this issue are covered on other TV threads.

If you are told that you were speeding, wrong lane, etc etc. act surprised and say sorry a lot, explain that you not drive much, tourist etc.

If you are told that there is a fine for the "offence" it will probably be 400 Baht and must be paid at the police station. Sometimes the traffic police just want to tell you off, sit there and take it - it doesn't take anything but your time. *

At this point if the policeman talks about the fine, ask if there is any way that you could pay the fine here and now because you are busy, going the wrong way or only have a little money with you.

If the policeman says no - you know he is straight and you will have to pay the 400 Baht, if he knows a way that you could pay the fine to him and avoid having to write up one of those nasty tickets you now know that the situation has changed to one where you are into negotiation on price.

The typical speeding stop for a Thai will incur a 100 Baht fee, aim for this but accept 200 Baht. Don't spend ages arguing over 100 Baht but this should be your target figure. I keep a separate wallet in the car with a fee hundreds and twentys for this purpose. Also avoids you paying a 200 Baht fine with a 1,000 Baht note.

Don't wai the guy, just say thanks, smile and drive.

* Time: While he is talking to you he is not stopping other traffic and so therefore wasting his busy fine-time, if you are a complete loss trying to understand he's English, like when I showed my Passport three times when he asked for money, you might find you are just waved on. It's easier for you to disappear than remain a pain for him to deal with.

Remember that you are talking to a policeman, he can cause hassle for you if you provoke them. Also consider that he may be under supervision of a senior policeman or have someone else watching what is going on, so sit back and don't be in a hurry to wave 100 baht notes around, you might just get a talking too, much cheaper.

[kevdulounge]

Many thanks for these advices.

Really helpfull

[JimsKnight]

Hello,

I was wondering how to react when I'm stopped by the police, and haven't done anything wrong.

Should I fold a 100B bill when handing my license ? Should I wait for a "request" for money ?

If I feel they want a little "help", how much should I give ?

Should I except more trouble while driving with red plates ?

Thanks for your advices

Just give it a big, dumb, tourist-style grin and play it (nice guy style) like you don't know what the fck he's on about!

Don't speak any thai and see what happens...

If after 5 minutes he still won't let you go or wants you to head off to the nearest police station just hand over 100 baht discreetly.

If he won't accept it, then it's time to head off to the local cop shop (it very rarely comes to this though).

[swain]

Hello,

I was wondering how to react when I'm stopped by the police, and haven't done anything wrong.

Should I fold a 100B bill when handing my license ? Should I wait for a "request" for money ?

If I feel they want a little "help", how much should I give ?

Should I except more trouble while driving with red plates ?

Thanks for your advices

Just give it a big, dumb, tourist-style grin and play it (nice guy style) like you don't know what the fck he's on about!

Don't speak any thai and see what happens...

If after 5 minutes he still won't let you go or wants you to head off to the nearest police station just hand over 100 baht discreetly.

If he won't accept it, then it's time to head off to the local cop shop (it very rarely comes to this though).

I have lived in Chiang Mai almost 5 years now and the traffic cops I have seen I could count on one hand. With the way some people drive around here I wouldnt mind seeing more of them. Never have been pulled over, am I just lucky or is it just Chiang Mai.

[torrenova]

I just act dumb but won't accept crap when I've done nothing wrong. Agreed to speak in English. I also keep some Bt100s in various places in the car.

I know some people advise keeping Bt100 behind your license but I've never bothered.

[Gearhead13]

Hey,

I agree with all those guys. Just wanna tell us about two funny incidents.

1. I was sitting with a friend in his Jeep Cherokee and up ahead we noticed a cop flagging us down. My buddy didn;t even bother stopping, he just deccelerated slightly and rolled his windows about two centimeters down propping out a 500baht bill. The cop's mean face turned into a grin as he grabbed the bill when we rolled by. I looked back and he was saluting us....hahahahhahaha

2. I was in the same friend's toyota mid 90's corrolla. We were stopped on the motorway somewhere near minburi. The cop said we took an illegal u-turn. If changing lanes is called an illegal u-turn, I guess we were guilty. Anyway, as he was talking to us, he was describing the car to his colleague on the radio, and then I heard his colleague shoot back (I understand thai), "light gold!!!! NOT WHITE, you dumb shit!!" That was the exact transliteration. hahahahhahhahaha

[LivinLOS]

Hold on a second..

How to pay if you have done nothing wrong.. If you have done nothing wrong why the hel_l pay ?? I will not pay when I am not in the wrong.

Of course if I was without a seatbelt, speeding, the car was out of tax or something.. Then sure I would pay a bribe to not have to deal with it, but when your 100% in the right.. Not a chance.

[Flatouthruthefog]

Hold on a second..

How to pay if you have done nothing wrong.. If you have done nothing wrong why the hel_l pay ?? I will not pay when I am not in the wrong.

Of course if I was without a seatbelt, speeding, the car was out of tax or something.. Then sure I would pay a bribe to not have to deal with it, but when your 100% in the right.. Not a chance.

Much appreciate you standing on principle like that, but it could cost you time and money and MORE if you tend to be on a short fuse.

'Cuban' is bang on the money (pun intended!), credit to you man! My many years on 2 and 4 wheels throughout the realm proves you are 100% right.

If you are guilty of a minor matter, a smile, a wai and an offer to pay the 'fine' then and there can save hassle. If he insists you pay at the station, accept it and go, no matter how inconvenient. I have had to do this just once and was told "you have apologised and been very polite. This is a warning. Now you can go."

Free!

If you are NOT guilty of a major matter, yes, be firm and stick in there. But DO still try to maintain good manners and respect.

Let none of us forget that it is a legal offence in Thailand to be 'disrepectful' to an officer in uniform, police or army.

[LivinLOS]

I wouldnt be disrespectful.. But I also am not going to pay for nothing..

I wont subscribe the the farang ATM idea that I have to, the car is legal, I am legal, and if nothing is wrong thats about as much as I am paying.

[Gearhead13]

I wouldnt be disrespectful.. But I also am not going to pay for nothing..

I wont subscribe the the farang ATM idea that I have to, the car is legal, I am legal, and if nothing is wrong thats about as much as I am paying.

Yeah eventhough you've done nothing wrong, there really are no options though. There is no way top prove the cops wrong and eventhough there is an avenue for that, it will cost you even more to put forward a legal process. Yes, I'd also be respectful and stall as much as I can until he gets sick of me and lets me go (can't count on that all the time though).

Sounds bad but what I do sometimes is just evade them and scram when I see them waving me down. Of course I have to do it safely. Everytime I did that I never believed they'd had a reason to pull me over anyway.

[happylarry]

One more tip that I would add is if you are a long way from home then dont tell them. Say you are staying nearby somewhere.

On the way back from a trip to Isaan I was stopped on a motorway somewhere in the north of bangkok. I have to admit I did change lanes at the last minute because we had missed a signpost and saw at the last minute. Anyway got pulled over and when he wanted to give me a ticket my thai wife explained we were from Samui and could we settle it there and then. Soon as he heard the magic word Samui you could almost see the smile on his face. 2,000 baht I tried to get it down to a more realistic figure but to no avail.

As for LivinLOS's principles on not paying. If I had not paid up then it would have cost me a hel_l of a lot more to travel up from Samui (plane or car) to Bangkok to pay the fine the following week. Now had the windows blacked out so hopefully..........

Be happy....Larry

[Jimmyd]

I agree with most of the above. However, when pulled over, I speak Thai with the guy. Most of the time he asks where I'm going, I tell him and he waves me on. If I've done something wrong, I ask if I can avoid the hassle of going to the police station by paying on the spot. Usually works, though once I had to beg as the guy already had written a ticket. I was a Sunday and 150 km from home, I didn't know where the police station was, etc. so I just begged the guy to take the money and pay the ticket for me. He graciously accepted.

Acting like I can't speak Thai wastes my time as much as the cop's, and there is no way to know for sure whether it is more effective. I just try to be really nice to the guy and to hope that he's not a jerk and I can quickly be on my way. By and large, things work out ok. I've probably spent 2000 baht in 8 years of driving on tea money and fines--almost all of that of for legitimate driving mistakes on my part. 250 baht a year, not bad--less than a quarter tank of gas.

[Cuban]

I'm surprised more people have not added to this thread, as it is an interesting subject. I feel the thing for the new driver to do is be stopped a few times and see what what works for them.

Has anyone used any form of offical documentation or a personal connection to avoid such "fine" ?

I have a friend with a royal connection who used that to make a traffic police situation disappear some years ago, I understand that is was to be a large fine, he used his connection as it was more serious than a few hundred Baht.

We have relations that say their military IDs are accepted as "Get Out Of Jail Free" cards when stopped for traffic issues.

Any police volunteers care to comment?

[chavy]

I agree 100% with livininlos. I don't get pulled over too much but when it does happen I act dumb, usually this works & waves me on. The last resort is telling them where I work & I'm late for a meeting.

[Gearhead13]

I agree 100% with livininlos. I don't get pulled over too much but when it does happen I act dumb, usually this works & waves me on. The last resort is telling them where I work & I'm late for a meeting.

What I did once was tell the cop I'd lost my license and that I'm in the process of doing a police report and getting a new license....and I get to take a hike. I have a photocopy of my license as well, laminated and with the same dimensions as the original. Depending on the circumstances, if I have to give 'something', i give them that copy and tell them thats the only one i keep in the car because I've lost the original quite too often. This avoids me having to go and retrieve it and pay the fine. WIll the fine catch up on me? I doubt it. I know people who does the same trick and never get a bill when they reregister their cars. But you never know...They can be serious whenever they want to.

[snowflake]

I just pop down to the local Cop Shop once a month and hand out 1000B to each BIB that I can see for future wrong doings... That helps, so they will not stop me and when they do, I just laugh and ask if they want a toffee...