Bengt Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 I know that many people here in Thailand have less respect for driving and been drunk and its a BIG problem here and the penalty is ridiculous compared to the crime. In almost all countries is strength forbidden to drive under influence of alcohol or other drugs but in many of those countries people drive anyway even if they become bad driver after some beers or drinks. I wonder how many people will commit this crime if the penalty was at least 2 months imprisonment in a Thai prison? I have many expat friends in this country that have their driving licenses revoked in their home countries and they dont have any respect for this kind of crime and drive anyway and the police here seems nice to farangs even if they are little drunk at the motobike,,I been stopped by the police at my motobike hundreds of times and only have to show my driving license a couple of times and mostly they use to say GO GO when they discover that I am blonde and farang. If you are in influence of "yabaa" for ex. then the law here sentence you to imprisonment and the narcotic laws here in Thailand are VERY strict compared to Europe for ex. If I try to talk to some about this matter then I will loose a lot of friends here so I better dont talk about this matter or crime but I am for sure that there are many people at this message board that agree that something have to be done to decrease the big problem whit drunken drivers. Some people here told me that ONE dies every hour in the traffic in Thailand and my friends in Sweden ask me how i dare to drive here and I use to answer that if I am sober I have a better chance to avoid an accident rather that I have been drunk in the same situation. I guess I talking in the air about this topic but I am for sure many people agree whit me in this case and i would appreciate to get some replies and debate in this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kedawi Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 The laws aren't strict, they're severe here. In most western countries the punishment is meant to be a balance of deterrent and prevention or rehabilitation....deterrents are notoriously ineffective for almost any kind of crime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 (edited) From what I understand there are new drinking and driving laws in place and if you are caught as a Farang, you can be wacked with a very big fine and deported, and guess you would spend some time in the nick until you are deported.. This is what is on paper but as always tea money can resolve a lot of things Edited September 28, 2008 by Soutpeel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khutan Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Some things that are self evident to me: Social responsibility is the main question for me, so if I killed or injured someone because I was drunk or even not completely in control, regardless of the penalty, the fact I had to live with what I did for the rest of my life is something I would rather not do. Being someone who likes a drink, I get on very well with Taxi drivers, and I know quickly who is in the scam and who is not. Taxi's in Thailand are so cheap that it really does not matter how far you go, you still can get a cheap ride home. As an example a Taxi ride from Bangkok to Surin is nearly the same as a ride from Sydney Airport to Hornsby in Sydney. That is comparing 30km to 450km. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Punishment for drunk driving is quite severe in Thailand especially when you are a foreigner. Not too long ago the law was changed to make drunk driving a criminal offense. Meaning if caught, you get arrested, after which you can post bail. You will appear before a judge who will convict you, most probably just a fine. The main problem is when you get convicted of a criminal offense, your visa gets immediately voided, practically this means you'll get arrested by immigration before leaving the courthouse to await deportation. You'll have to get your own ticket, apay for the deportation to the airport and leave Thailand. You will be able to come back, but rest assured funny it is not. Now we all know Thailand is slightly corrupt, so at the early stages (i.e. before getting officially booked at the police station) you'll get offered several ways out, but it will not be cheap as the coppers do know what hassle you'll go through if you go the court way... If you cause an accident resulting in injuries or deaths while drunk, you'd better have a ton of cash available on short notice! Even first class insurance can refuse to honor your bail bond insurance if you are drunk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEENTHEREDONETHAT Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 I'm curious, how do they check to know if you are drunk or not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 I'm curious, how do they check to know if you are drunk or not? Generally...smelling of booze, slurring of speech, blurry eyed, falling over, talking sh*t and trying to fight with someone are the give aways.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madjbs Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Punishment for drunk driving is quite severe in Thailand especially when you are a foreigner.Not too long ago the law was changed to make drunk driving a criminal offense. Meaning if caught, you get arrested, after which you can post bail. You will appear before a judge who will convict you, most probably just a fine. The main problem is when you get convicted of a criminal offense, your visa gets immediately voided, practically this means you'll get arrested by immigration before leaving the courthouse to await deportation. You'll have to get your own ticket, apay for the deportation to the airport and leave Thailand. You will be able to come back, but rest assured funny it is not. Now we all know Thailand is slightly corrupt, so at the early stages (i.e. before getting officially booked at the police station) you'll get offered several ways out, but it will not be cheap as the coppers do know what hassle you'll go through if you go the court way... If you cause an accident resulting in injuries or deaths while drunk, you'd better have a ton of cash available on short notice! Even first class insurance can refuse to honor your bail bond insurance if you are drunk. There has been quite a few stories on here about people getting arrested for drink driving. They had to go to court, pay a fine and do community service, but none were deported. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 As Monty has pointed out, the new laws have only come in quite recently...so would guess two things will happen, either a lot of the BiB will get a big increase in the amount of tea money they are collecting, or you will start seeing reports of people being deported, based on the the conviction and the fact they are morally corrupting Thai society... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OxfordWill Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 got stopped drunk driving with no license two nights ago. My last ditch attempt to swap seats with a license holder was spotted by the cop in question. It cost us 1000 baht, which is expensive. All this talk about severe laws and so on- its all just talk. You would have to be a very rude and stupid farang to actually get the punishment the law dictates in these situations. I do not condone driving under the influence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlbertWeinerschnitzel Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 LOL they couldn't give a shit if you are drunk, you are probably more sober than them! They don't bother breath testing, blood, urine, nothing..if you can hold a conversation with them without falling over..you are sober enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 I do not condone driving under the influence. Under the influence of what ?.....as you obviously condone driving under the influence of alcohol, after relating your story.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madjbs Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 As Monty has pointed out, the new laws have only come in quite recently...so would guess two things will happen, either a lot of the BiB will get a big increase in the amount of tea money they are collecting, or you will start seeing reports of people being deported, based on the the conviction and the fact they are morally corrupting Thai society... So if it was not a criminal offence at the time of those cases posted about on here, why were they sent to court and punished? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OxfordWill Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 (edited) No I dont, but sometimes one does regrettable things. That is, everyone apart from you it seems. Edited September 30, 2008 by OxfordWill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 No I dont, but sometimes one does regrettable things. That is, everyone apart from you it seems. Done plenty of things I regret.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kedawi Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 I'm curious, how do they check to know if you are drunk or not? Generally...smelling of booze, slurring of speech, blurry eyed, falling over, talking sh*t and trying to fight with someone are the give aways.. so I'm the only sober person on Thai Visa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priceless Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Have a look at this thread in the Chiang Mai forum and then think things through once again http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Drink-Drank-...il-t215262.html / Priceless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maizefarmer Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 It hasn;t had the social stigma attached to it in Thailand, that is experianced when caught and prosecuted in Europe or the USA. That though is slowly starting to change, and compared to 10 years ago, the average person in Thailand is now more aware of the potential consequences - both in been caught and/or in causing an accident. The law will in due course reflect that - just as it took a good few years for the law in Europe and the USA to reflect the true sevrity of driving under the influence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kedawi Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 I saw an anti DD ad on Thai TV the other day which clearly shows flaws in their approach. It showed a group of men - clearly paralytically drunk, making humorous mistakes (canned laughter was added) - each one a comical delay in reaction.....this culminated in a small boy being hit by the drunk driver who then applies the brakes too late. A stark message. Unfortunately anyone watching that ad who drinks will look at it and think to themselves... "Well I'm OK because I'm NOWHERE NEAR as drunk as those fools on TV" - it completely destroys the object of the exercise - assuming the object is to stop drinking and driving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkady Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I got breathelized in Petchburi Road, Bangkok, about 1.00 am. I had had two small beers over about three hours after dinner and felt reasonably confident of being under the limit but you never know, specially in Thailand. The funny thing was that the machine registered zero whereas i would have thought it should have detected something but below the limit, not that I am complaining. Maybe the cops didn't know how to use it but who cares with that result? Before I took the test, the cop wanted to make very clear that, if I failed, I would have to go to court where the fine would be B20,000. He paused and asked if I understood several times and it seemed like he wanted me to offer B20,000 to avoid taking the test at all. Perhaps he would have asked for more than that, if I had failed. My understanding is that the fine is a maximum of B20,000 in cases where no one is hurt or injured but the cop wanted me to think it was a standard fine of B20,000. I have heard stories of some one who was asked to wait 30 minutes because they were a little over the limit to see if things got better and of the opposite where some one was just under the limit and was asked to take it again in 30 minutes to see if things got worse. I know of one farant in Bangkok who failed the test and had to spend a night in jail before being fined in court. I don't know if he tried to bribe his way out on the spot or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaiPauly Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Drinking and driving would appear to be part of the culture , especially here in CM. It is very unusual to be stopped during the day or in the early evening,the police only seem to care to stop you if you are riding a bike without a helmet. As Priceless linked in the story about people being stopped up here a few months ago, that was just a bit of a blitz. When we had a restuarant out of town we had many Policemen as customers, they would be the worse at getting wasted then driving home As one BIB once remarked "drinking and driving in Chiang Mai-no problem as long as you don't have accident" The only car accident I have ever been involved in here was when a kid rammed into the back of my tuck. He split hs head open, but was absolutley off his face. The Police were called and he was whisked away to hospital. He admitted while he was lying on the ground that he was drunk. A month ago later I was summoned to the Police Station to sort all the insurance details out. The guy also had to collect his battered bike. He appologised to me for the trouble he had caused which surprised me. The guy had no insurance No license and was drunk at the time of the accident He had to pay a 500 BAHT FINE, and agree to pay for the repairs over a 24 month period directlty to the insurance company. Thats some deterent to stop people driving drunk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macb Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I'm curious, how do they check to know if you are drunk or not? Alcohol testing kits are now being used by the Royal Thai Police Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now