Motorists Urged To Report Handphone Misuse To Traffic Police

[beano2274]

Pedestrians stand a better chance to get pics and also disappear into the crowd to avoid road rage. Has road rage become a way of life in Bkk yet?

I agree about the road rage, people will be jumping out of their cars, and trying to grab the evidence. Imagine a farang being beaten up for taking a picture of a driver with a phone in his hand, oh not again.

Maybe security at Condos should get involved, and also the government should use private companies if the police cannot handle it, then maybe something might be achieved, more money in the old coffers

If I remember correctly, In Europe if the engine is switched on you cannot use a phone, unless you are on a motorway or main road where you have to pull over, and switch on your hazard lights, but here that would be no good as people would think you were driving straight on (seems to be what hazards means)

Edited March 12, 2008 by beano2274

[nahkbin]

An eagle eye on motorists

BANGKOK: -- Those who witness motorists using mobile phones while driving can now submit pictures as evidence at the Traffic Police Division's website, www.trafficpolice.go.th, a senior traffic police officer said Tuesday.

However, Police Lt Col Phanu Kerdlarpphol did not say if these good Samaritans would be rewarded for participating in this "Golden Eye Traffic Policemen" project.

Violators will be given these photos along with their traffic tickets and will be required to pay the fine when they renew their annual vehicle registration papers.

-- The Nation 2008-03-11

LOL the only way this idea will work, is to offer a 1M baht reward after conviction of said person, for the person who takes the picture of someone using a cell phone while driving.

This is a great new law, but like every other law in Thailand, it'll never fly-

[RigPig]

Well I read alot but don't post as often as I should but this one got me! I live in Phuket and the times I see all the people on bikes parked up around the corner from a police check point because they haven't got helmets or licenses is a joke. One policeman would only have to go a hundred yards and they would make their wage for a month ! How many times do you see someone with no helmet ride past a cop and nothing happens ? As for the helmets (ice cream buckets)...They past laws for the carriage of gas cylinders in special vehicles but mine is still delivered on a motorbike ! Thailand is seen to be caring and responsible I guess. But...if you really want things to be the same as your home why live here ? This is the way it is and we choose to stay here, you must take the good with the bad. The reasons everyone bitches about things in Thailand are also the reasons we stay. I was happy to bump the guy off an air flight for 500 baht cause I knew the score and he didn't, or pay the tout 500 Baht for the girl sitting on the fat guys lap that thought all his xmases had come at once. We all do it and too heavy a crack down would spoil the place for me. I take the bike to the 7 eleven with no helmet too. But right now (as I am visiting my family in Aus) I am terrified I may go 4 K's over the speed limit and my son will get a fine in the mail after I leave ! I don't know guys (and gals) which is the lesser of the 2 "evils" why do you live here if you are not happy. Thailand will catch up soon enough enjoy it while it is still a child, watching it grow up is fun, what else would you have to bitch about.....

[KKK]

Not thought this thru too well have they

When do they ever!!

[KKK]

Mind you, we also see many police driving the wrong way down roads, driving with no helmets etc. Where do these pictures go?

Send in photos of those as well. Just make sure you get the badge number. The police as law enforcers need to learn that they are not above the law.

[AndyCherry]

An eagle eye on motorists

BANGKOK: -- Those who witness motorists using mobile phones while driving can now submit pictures as evidence at the Traffic Police Division's website, www.trafficpolice.go.th, a senior traffic police officer said Tuesday.

However, Police Lt Col Phanu Kerdlarpphol did not say if these good Samaritans would be rewarded for participating in this "Golden Eye Traffic Policemen" project.

Violators will be given these photos along with their traffic tickets and will be required to pay the fine when they renew their annual vehicle registration papers.

-- The Nation 2008-03-11

Does this include motorcyclists?

Especially the ones with no helmet, 3 on the back, plastic bags on the handle bars and talking on a mobile phone.

[AndyCherry]

An eagle eye on motorists

BANGKOK: -- Those who witness motorists using mobile phones while driving can now submit pictures as evidence at the Traffic Police Division's website, www.trafficpolice.go.th, a senior traffic police officer said Tuesday.

However, Police Lt Col Phanu Kerdlarpphol did not say if these good Samaritans would be rewarded for participating in this "Golden Eye Traffic Policemen" project.

Violators will be given these photos along with their traffic tickets and will be required to pay the fine when they renew their annual vehicle registration papers.

-- The Nation 2008-03-11

Oh I forgot.

It will only apply to a few well educated Farangs.

Why - The Traffic Police Web site is only in Thai (no English option) and most of the links (I blind clicked) don't have anything in the drop boxes.

[Woofer]

An eagle eye on motorists

BANGKOK: -- Those who witness motorists using mobile phones while driving can now submit pictures as evidence at the Traffic Police Division's website, www.trafficpolice.go.th, a senior traffic police officer said Tuesday.

However, Police Lt Col Phanu Kerdlarpphol did not say if these good Samaritans would be rewarded for participating in this "Golden Eye Traffic Policemen" project.

Violators will be given these photos along with their traffic tickets and will be required to pay the fine when they renew their annual vehicle registration papers.

-- The Nation 2008-03-11

I hope this ban includes those driving motor cycles. Seeing motor cycle driver using hand phone is a real worry to me as they are bad enough drivers with two hands let alone one!

[nookiebear]

An eagle eye on motorists

BANGKOK: -- Those who witness motorists using mobile phones while driving can now submit pictures as evidence at the Traffic Police Division's website, www.trafficpolice.go.th, a senior traffic police officer said Tuesday.

However, Police Lt Col Phanu Kerdlarpphol did not say if these good Samaritans would be rewarded for participating in this "Golden Eye Traffic Policemen" project.

Violators will be given these photos along with their traffic tickets and will be required to pay the fine when they renew their annual vehicle registration papers.

-- The Nation 2008-03-11

I hope this ban includes those driving motor cycles. Seeing motor cycle driver using hand phone is a real worry to me as they are bad enough drivers with two hands let alone one!

At least you can see them on M/C's,most vehicles have their windows blacked out to such a degree you have a job to see if anyone is inside them let alone on a mobile phone!!!!!!!!!!!!

[toss]

Could someone advise the actual link on their 'Thai Only' (Keep out farangs) Website, please?

[donna]

i agree with this law. i actually have a hands free thingy in my car so i can still actually concentrate on the road instead of fumbling around with a phone in my hand. if they were to outlaw that, then so be it. i still wouldnt have a problem with it. the law is the law.

[thewzd]

Well I read alot but don't post as often as I should but this one got me! I live in Phuket and the times I see all the people on bikes parked up around the corner from a police check point because they haven't got helmets or licenses is a joke. One policeman would only have to go a hundred yards and they would make their wage for a month ! How many times do you see someone with no helmet ride past a cop and nothing happens ? As for the helmets (ice cream buckets)...They past laws for the carriage of gas cylinders in special vehicles but mine is still delivered on a motorbike ! Thailand is seen to be caring and responsible I guess. But...if you really want things to be the same as your home why live here ? This is the way it is and we choose to stay here, you must take the good with the bad. The reasons everyone bitches about things in Thailand are also the reasons we stay. I was happy to bump the guy off an air flight for 500 baht cause I knew the score and he didn't, or pay the tout 500 Baht for the girl sitting on the fat guys lap that thought all his xmases had come at once. We all do it and too heavy a crack down would spoil the place for me. I take the bike to the 7 eleven with no helmet too. But right now (as I am visiting my family in Aus) I am terrified I may go 4 K's over the speed limit and my son will get a fine in the mail after I leave ! I don't know guys (and gals) which is the lesser of the 2 "evils" why do you live here if you are not happy. Thailand will catch up soon enough enjoy it while it is still a child, watching it grow up is fun, what else would you have to bitch about.....

I dont post very often either, but...

I know this paragraph here is a little off topic, but i totally agree with RigPig. I'm in Phuket too, and it's amazing to watch the Thai police stop all the motorcyclists riding down Karon Beach road only to get stopped whether you're wearing a helmet or not. The police have no excuse to stop people unless the Police see that they might be doing something wrong, but hey, where there's a motorcyclist, there's a potential fine, right? And while all these bikes are being stopped (and sometimes staying stopped for not carrying a driving license), the cars and 4x4's and the commercial vehicles all pass on by without any checks being imposed. Think out of the box a little bit here and wonder who's targetting all the bad, crazy, dangerous drivers in Phuket... let alone all of the vehicles that push out so much dangerous fumes, we can hardly see the road in front of us some times.

As for the comment about Thailand 'growing up', I've said many times to all of my Thai friends that being here is like de ja vous. I feel like everything that's happened (some for the better, but mostly for the worse) in the UK over the last 15yrs, is all starting to happen here. Becoming westernised isn't just stopping at the shopping mall where we can buy all the mod-cons, it's coming at us from all angles and it's all so familiar.

Back on topic now, I strongly agree about the hands-on use of mobiles, and that people are better concentrated when using a hands-free version (or at best, not even talking on the phone at all)... but it's a fact of life that people talk when driving. Whether it's to the person next to you, or on the phone, the talking will happen. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same level of competency during multi-tasking, so to point the finger at the nation is surely just another reason to turn policing into profiteering.

What I'd like to see is something that TEACHES people about something they did wrong and the dangers that were implied to the other road users around them. Something like a Highway Patrol Car looking out for dangerous driving, and stopping the driver/rider to explain why something should be done differently next time. Take note tho, I'm not saying that this should be to FINE people, it should be there to INFORM/TEACH/THREATEN based on seeing what happened. An by threaten, I mean that the culprit could have his cards marked (you know what I mean) which can then accumulate to a point where an action is taken to enforce the license re-take or something like that. Everyday, we see somebody driving in a way that clearly demonstrates disregard of their own life and everyone else around them. Giving someone a spot fine of 300 THB doesnt fix anything, and them not being stopped at all, just leads to the same mistakes being made time and time again.... until which point another fatal accident happens (just like 2 nights ago when someone hurtled past me on a bike at high speed and no helmet, then 3 minutes later we see him dead in the road from a head on collision!). Whilst some accidents are real accidents, some accidents are dam_n right inevitable. The thing is, we do choose to live here, and RigPig says that we should take the good with the bad. The only thing to consider with that comment is that one of these bad things is that the actions of everyone around you on the roads can lead to whether you live or die.

So do we opt for some kind of enforcement, which means fines.... or should there be a flood of goverment tv and newspaper marketing to teach people about the results of their actions on the road. I'm not a smoker, but even I dont like the photos of the rotten teeth on packets of cigarettes. Why not take this approach with road users and impose video-clips during tv's commercial ads and show accidents that've happened, or video of them happening, the results and then WHY it happened. Food for thought, for everyone, and maybe it'll be in it will spark in someone's mind as they're driving aggressively or in their own little telephone world.

Prevention is the best cure... do it through teaching, not profiteering.

[steinyphil]

Got to say, this is a step in the right direction. We down here (Phuket) see far too much death on the roads. Hope the cameras at traffic lights is next, and speed cameras. I love the idea of someone applying for their vehicle registration once a year and finding a few hundred bahts worth of fines.

Surely, most of these cement trucks and sand and balast tipper trucks are going to be badly affected.

Mind you, we also see many police driving the wrong way down roads, driving with no helmets etc. Where do these pictures go?

[peter991]

How about the many motorcycle taxi drivers who can drive through Bangkok traffic and use their mobile phones to send multiple SMS at the same time and still deliver me home safely?

Peter

[steinyphil]

:D :D

Got to say, this is a step in the right direction. We down here (Phuket) see far too much death on the roads. Hope the cameras at traffic lights is next, and speed cameras. I love the idea of someone applying for their vehicle registration once a year and finding a few hundred bahts worth of fines.

Surely, most of these cement trucks and sand and balast tipper trucks are going to be badly affected.

Mind you, we also see many police driving the wrong way down roads, driving with no helmets etc. Where do these pictures go?

As with MOST theories,the theory is great in theory.BUT,, the reality is usually beyond the mere mortals amongst us "super in telly gents "...

In Aussie, yapping on the maxwell smart phone is a no-no.

In NZ recently, an idiot ,whilst " txt'ing" on his mobile phone and also being Drunk and driving his pickup truck at the time,KILLED AN ELDERLY COUPLE , when

he smashed into their car at an intersection !!!!!

The Gov't cretins there in NZ are still dragging their heels regarding " banning mobile phone use & driving at same time !!!!!

GOOD ON THAILAND's move in this area. BUT, the " photographer stoolie" who snaps the " perp" better be on foot at that "snapshot time" eh ???

[Suzy]

I NEVER use my mobile phone when I'm driving the car. I find the signal interferes with my TV reception!

[Felt 35]

Well I read alot but don't post as often as I should but this one got me! I live in Phuket and the times I see all the people on bikes parked up around the corner from a police check point because they haven't got helmets or licenses is a joke. One policeman would only have to go a hundred yards and they would make their wage for a month ! How many times do you see someone with no helmet ride past a cop and nothing happens ? As for the helmets (ice cream buckets)...They past laws for the carriage of gas cylinders in special vehicles but mine is still delivered on a motorbike ! Thailand is seen to be caring and responsible I guess. But...if you really want things to be the same as your home why live here ? This is the way it is and we choose to stay here, you must take the good with the bad. The reasons everyone bitches about things in Thailand are also the reasons we stay. I was happy to bump the guy off an air flight for 500 baht cause I knew the score and he didn't, or pay the tout 500 Baht for the girl sitting on the fat guys lap that thought all his xmases had come at once. We all do it and too heavy a crack down would spoil the place for me. I take the bike to the 7 eleven with no helmet too. But right now (as I am visiting my family in Aus) I am terrified I may go 4 K's over the speed limit and my son will get a fine in the mail after I leave ! I don't know guys (and gals) which is the lesser of the 2 "evils" why do you live here if you are not happy. Thailand will catch up soon enough enjoy it while it is still a child, watching it grow up is fun, what else would you have to bitch about.....

Please post again when someone have driven you down a couple of times and asked YOU to pay their bill for their own mistakes.

[mitrapaap]

There are quarter of a million Police officers in Thailand, one of the biggest Police forces in the World per capita and they are asking for assistance from the public to do their job properly?

Shows how inept and impotent they really are I suppose.

Don't think that impotence will affect their job... Also wonder how you know...

[DavidS]

I NEVER use my mobile phone when I'm driving the car. I find the signal interferes with my TV reception!

Then you should do like the Japanese chap I saw driving on New Petchburi Road last Sunday afternoon.

Red light, I was in the back of a cab, looked over and saw him reading a manga comic, both hands on the wheel, comic between them.

Light turns green, he moves off with the comic still in place, glancing up and down trying to keep an eye on the road and read the comic at the same time.

They do say reading is better than watching TV.

[Arkady]

I agree with the law but the article doesn't say whether the use of handsfree attachments will be banned as well. The idea of the photographs is ludicrous. Is it legal to take a photograph with a phone while driving but not to talk into it? Even if a photograph were sent in that accurately recorded the offence and license plate, it would be hard to prove that the person sending in the pictures had not tampered with the date i.e. it could have been taken before the law came into force.

Use of handsfree is actually a big problem too as it creates an equal amount of distraction even tho the driver's hands are free to hold the wheel and his or her head can move freely if not glued to the damned phone. Apart from the distraction of holding a conversation with some one who can't see when the traffic conditions require extra attention (unlike a passenger) fumbling to dial look up numbers or insert a handsfree plug can easily cause accidents. Oh, and what about texting while at the wheel? But handsfree use and texting is very hard for police to see and they have not said it will be illegal to listen to music through ear phones while driving.

Why have they not banned drivers watching TV? In other countries it is illegal to have a TV in the front unless it is automatically disabled when the car is moving. But in Thailand, a taxi driver in motion while watching his favorite soap and arguing with a girlfriend on a hand held phone at the same time is not an unusual sight.

[barky]

There are quarter of a million Police officers in Thailand, one of the biggest Police forces in the World per capita and they are asking for assistance from the public to do their job properly?

Shows how inept and impotent they really are I suppose.

Couldn't agree more. What an utter joke.

Not content to be the instigators of almost everything evil in Thailand they now want the citizens to "rat-out" each other. The Romanian and East German police tried this and as history shows the tide will ultimately turn for these low-lifes as well.

Unfortunately I probably wont see the day when their tyrannical days will come to an end.

[Businessman]

Does this include motorcyclists?

Especially the ones with no helmet, 3 on the back, plastic bags on the handle bars and talking on a mobile phone.

ummm... let's see jr, a motorcycle has: a motor, some wheels, number plates. Does that sound like a motor vehicle to you?

on the lighter side, what I want to know is: by wedging phone between ones helmet and ones ear ( as I have seen recently), does that qualify as hands free? Perhaps car divers will start to wear helmets to jam their phones inside. No batteries, adds safety... ah but it messes your hair, so it will never catch on!

[Yatsam]

Does this include motorcyclists?

Especially the ones with no helmet, 3 on the back, plastic bags on the handle bars and talking on a mobile phone.

ummm... let's see jr, a motorcycle has: a motor, some wheels, number plates. Does that sound like a motor vehicle to you?

on the lighter side, what I want to know is: by wedging phone between ones helmet and ones ear ( as I have seen recently), does that qualify as hands free? Perhaps car divers will start to wear helmets to jam their phones inside. No batteries, adds safety... ah but it messes your hair, so it will never catch on!

It's very interesting. In the area I am staying, people usually use one hand to drive on motorcycle. They are either talking on the mobile phone or holding some bulky stuff or holding an umbrella. Should it behavior count too?

[jerrylee]

are these of any use ? please visit album http://www.ipernity.com/doc/jerry_lee/album/35002 to see evidence in large sizes ..

Edited March 12, 2008 by jerrylee

[jaiyen]

Here in Western Australia you may use a mobile phone only if you are stationary and parked or off the road. Thats OK but in Bangkok where the hel_l could you find somewhere to pull over and park when your phone rings !! This is a stupid idea that will never be accepted by anybody. Next thing will be the satellite navigation screens on the dashboard. I wonder what comical law they will think up for that !!

[thaimiller]

this is brilliant news, i am taking my camera everywhere with me from now on, i am fed up of nearly being knocked of my bike by thai's and farang driving while using a phone. look out chiang maifor a fat man pulled up at the side of the road facing you with a camera pointing at you.

[JetsetBkk]

The police have no excuse to stop people unless the Police see that they might be doing something wrong

Please try that argument the next time you are stopped.

[ianc66]

Looks like the the place to do the reporting is here http://www.trafficpolice.go.th/questions.php reached via the eye on the left side of the homepage, could somebody who reads Thai confirm?

BTW I'd like to nominate http://www.trafficpolice.go.th for, that hotly contested prize, worst Thai website. Just love the flickering twirlies, broken links and empty drop down boxes. I would particularly commend the copyright notice that has not been updated since 2002, shows you have a webmaster who just does'nt care.

[Payboy]

i've caught one guy already...

maybe the police can trace him through his laundry...

[Gravelrash]

I NEVER use my mobile phone when I'm driving the car. I find the signal interferes with my TV reception!

Very good