Farang Polices At Highway Patrol

[sriracha john]

Thanks for posting.

It confirms that no work permits have been or will be issued for these volunteers.... aka working illegally.

[JetsetBkk]

Thanks for posting.

It confirms that no work permits have been or will be issued for these volunteers.... aka working illegally.

Nonsense. They aren't working illegally, because they don't need work permits. Get over it SJ.

[BeauKarl]

Er..., I think you are talking about someone else's vehicle! I don't have any 'police' written on the sun visor! (That's where I carry my car insurance documents). The police volunteer stickers on the side of my pickup were placed there by my Thai supervisor, not by me. Why? Because that pick-up is used solely by me when I am on duty and the Phuket police wanted to reinforce the presence of the tourist police, especially in the north of Phuket where I live. All volunteers who had dedicated vehicles, including motorbikes, were encouraged to place tourist police volunteer stickers on their vehicles.

See? there is a reasonable explanation for everything

Simon

A farang next to my wives shop got one of those stickers to put on his car, from his friend TPV. When he handed it over, he said: Now you're ok to drive and park everywhere you want.

I'm not saying you're one of them Simon, but if you go to Walkingstreet in Pattaya, you can see TPV walking around with a bigger attitude then cops back home.

I've seen them trying to catch flower sellers, phototakers,...

Looks to me that most of them are so frustrated that they have nothing to say at home, so they wanna be playing cop and look important on the streets. Guess they miss the looks and laughs from farangs and Thais when they pass by

[Mosha]

Well surely the Volunteer police should have filled in this document, no?

http://www.thaiconsul-uk.com/pdfs/Ad%20%20...Information.pdf

[simon43]

Hi BeauKart - I can only comment about the Phuket volunteers and yes - I do hear some bad news about the Pattaya volunteers. Perhaps Howard from Pattaya should be commenting about their role etc, since I cannot.

I'm trying (almost single-handly it seems at times!), to improve the Phuket volunteer 'services'. I have just requested and been given responsibility for their official website. This means that I can hugely improve the content of that website to comprehensively inform the public about the role of the Phuket TPVs, and to provide useful information such as embassy and hospital telephone numbers.

Simon

[sassienie]

I have an aquantance that was in the Farang voluntary police in Chiang Mai from 2005 to 2007.

He only worked for 10 hours per month, than when TPVs were told that they would have to work 20 hours per month minimum, he gave it up.

During his time while serving with the TPVs, my friend would always wear the police hat when out, even when he wasn`t on duty.

I asked him why does he still wear the hat when not working, he replied, because it makes me feel good and gives a sense of power over people.

[Ricardo]

I honestly believe this has been done for pure language purposes.

No language barrier = higher fees (on the spot payments) because the violation was not lost in translation.

Of course it's to help with the language barrier.

As for your second point, I can assure you that all Thai police know how to scribble "2,000" on a piece of paper and then say "Baht" whilst holding out their hand.

Luckily I myself only speak Arabic, and we have different symbols, for the numbers !

[h90]

I don’t get it? what did you do wrong for them to stop you? Volunteer to break the law?

Maybe he needed 200 Baht....

[sriracha john]

Thanks for posting.

It confirms that no work permits have been or will be issued for these volunteers.... aka working illegally.

Nonsense. They aren't working illegally, because they don't need work permits. Get over it SJ.

Is there an exemption in the law for them? No.

[woody934]

what a load of rollocks, jumped up <deleted> in a t shirt uniform on a power trip, foreigners policing foreigners in a foreign land, have your holiday you power junkies and go home.

thailand if trucked

[simon43]

... jumped up <deleted> in a t shirt uniform on a power trip ...

[\quote]

Oh dear - another misinformed person

The 'policing' part is actually a pretty minor role. To give you an example:

3 hours before I posted this, I was wearing my police uniform and standing knee-deep in a rice paddy field in Phuket, (yes, there are still rice fields and buffalo in Phuket!). This was a cultural event to promote eco-tourism holidays to foreign tourists. The Phuket governor, myself and another foreign volunteer police officer cut rice for the TV cameras, threshed it, and then got covered in mud as we tried to catch catfish in the paddy field!

The purpose was to show that there is more than just beaches and bars in Phuket for tourists to visit.

So, no swaggering about in a tight unform, no power trip, just traditional Thai rural life and lots of fun

Simon

PS - note for Sricha John, yes I know that harvesting rice is a prohibited occupation for farang!

[mrtoad]

PS - note for Sricha John, yes I know that harvesting rice is a prohibited occupation for farang!

[neverdie]

Simon,

I'm not questioning your reasons for volunteering for this role nor am I critising you. In fact, if you are doing a good job, helping people....GOOD ON YOU !!!

One thing that springs to mind for me though, is getting involved in Policing activities can be relatively dangerous and many policing institutions world wide acknowledge that injuries are often occassioned to the Police Officers during the most simple and often routine jobs. Naturally in Devoloped nations, Police departments obviously spend a fair bit of time training their Police and in the event of injury they are processed through an insurance company and taken care of (as a rule). My question to you is, what has this Organisation done to protect you in the event that you are injured as a result of your duties???? If someone you are observing, lets say using the monkeys to earn money in photos (as you stated), suddenly came after you with a knife (what training do you posses to deal with that) and secondly if he jammed it into the base of your spine & as a result of this you lost the use of your legs/body or whatever, what is this organisation going to do for you and your family??

Theres probably heaps of other questions I would be asking before I voluteered to help these organisations (AND I WON'T BE VOLUTEERING), but having witnessed people putting themselves in poor positions for many years.....I often wonder what people are thinking or NOT thinking in doing so.

Anyway CHAP, Heres to you ! for remaining so positive and polite when so many ignorant people here have posted to the negative

[simon43]

Neverdie - the question about insurance is a very good one! In fact, the Phuket Tourist Police have made several enquiries about suitable insurance to pay for hospital costs etc should we suffer some injury in the course of our duties. (I have also made my own enquiries). The outcome is that there is no special policy available, and our existing medical insurance policy providers have confirmed that we are covered under our existing policy.

Nevertheless, I certainly would feel much happier if there was a specific insurance policy available.

As to training - yes, I have been trained in self-defence, disarming a knife attacker etc. I'm certainly no martial arts expert, and I would be rather p*ssed off (to say the least), if said monkey owner disabled me. But that risk is extremely low and (according to my own beliefs), is part of the 'risk of life'

But I'm sure many others do not share my point of view about the risks in life. Everyone has the right to their own opinion

Simon

[neverdie]

Neverdie - the question about insurance is a very good one! In fact, the Phuket Tourist Police have made several enquiries about suitable insurance to pay for hospital costs etc should we suffer some injury in the course of our duties. (I have also made my own enquiries). The outcome is that there is no special policy available, and our existing medical insurance policy providers have confirmed that we are covered under our existing policy.

Nevertheless, I certainly would feel much happier if there was a specific insurance policy available.

As to training - yes, I have been trained in self-defence, disarming a knife attacker etc. I'm certainly no martial arts expert, and I would be rather p*ssed off (to say the least), if said monkey owner disabled me. But that risk is extremely low and (according to my own beliefs), is part of the 'risk of life'

But I'm sure many others do not share my point of view about the risks in life. Everyone has the right to their own opinion

Simon

I hate to give advice online, SO I WON'T....Proceed as you have been, pictured below & GOOD LUCK !

[Neeranam]

I can't understand why any foreigner would want to help the police.

For a start, the real police don't want "farang" there but have to have them - orders from Bangkok.

As for police voluteers who can't speak Thai - a total waste of time.

Simon, I'm sure you're doing a good job as you speak Thai and are a valuable member of the society there.

The 'farang'(hate to use that derogatory term) are usually given the cases that no one else can be bothered with. The real police, when facing a problem with foreigner who cant speak Thai, phone the tourist police. If the Tourist police can't be bothered with Gunter fighting with Noi about whether it was short term or long term - then the expert volunteers are called.

I suspect EGO is the main reason musketeers volunteer to be Volunteers.

[OxfordWill]

Quite why they are unable/unwilling to do this for foreigners who gave up their own time (and money) to help out is beyond my comprehension...

Really? is it *really*? Or is it just that you don't want to have to acknowledge the truth as this may lead to a difficult decision on principles vs. love of the volunteer position you have?

And what's so wrong with having some bilingual farangs help police at checkpoints? Anyone complaining should think about how it might be their fault for knowing fuc_k ALL THAI despite having lived here for god knows how long. Honestly!

[khundon]

I doubt that "Farang Police" were acting alone but had Thai Police in charge of roadblock.

Having been stopped on several occasions with new car (red plates) by Thai police it would be helpfull if there was an English speaking policeman present to explain what I had been stopped for, luckily my Thai wife was with me and argued with officers who let us go on our way without any fines as we had not broken any rules and I had correct driving licence, road tax and insurance.

However I would not be happy if a Farang without any training or who had not been vetted for past crimes etc was given powers to stop and fine me.

[sriracha john]

PS - note for Sricha John, yes I know that harvesting rice is a prohibited occupation for farang!

That's good that you recognize your actions as a tourist police volunteer are breaking the law and that you are apparently willing to face the consequences of that. That's more than any other tourist police volunteer has ever been willing to admit in any other thread. Now if we could only get the other TPV's and their cheerleaders to acknowledge the same.

This was a cultural event to promote eco-tourism holidays to foreign tourists.

As for your activities, it is worth noting that other TPV elsewhere are involved in such activities as prostitution sting raids on foreign prostitutes and undercover narcotics purchasing, which don't exactly fall under the category of promoting eco-tourism.

[simon43]

Hmm:

.. never purchased narcotics undercover, (or even without cover!)

.. never performed sting operations on foreign prostitutes

All I get is standing in a muddy rice paddy whilst 200 local villagers laugh at my antics

Simon

[Neeranam]

Having been stopped on several occasions with new car (red plates) by Thai police it would be helpfull if there was an English speaking policeman present to explain what I had been stopped for, luckily my Thai wife was with me and argued with officers who let us go on our way without any fines as we had not broken any rules and I had correct driving licence, road tax and insurance.

It is a crime to drive with red plates after 6pm.

[neverdie]

Having been stopped on several occasions with new car (red plates) by Thai police it would be helpfull if there was an English speaking policeman present to explain what I had been stopped for, luckily my Thai wife was with me and argued with officers who let us go on our way without any fines as we had not broken any rules and I had correct driving licence, road tax and insurance.

It is a crime to drive with red plates after 6pm.

I have been told that it is OK to drive with the red plates at night. What is illegal tho, is when you purchase a new motorcycle and pay cash for it (you don't get any plate) and whilst waiting for your plate to arrive (which can take many weeks, especially if you were stupid enuf to order a special number or something), then you can only ride the Bike in the daytime, afterdark....ur ass is grass. If you a buying a bike, doing it monthly payments, then you get the special plate and can ride whenever you like.

[bunnaag]

Having been stopped on several occasions with new car (red plates) by Thai police it would be helpfull if there was an English speaking policeman present to explain what I had been stopped for, luckily my Thai wife was with me and argued with officers who let us go on our way without any fines as we had not broken any rules and I had correct driving licence, road tax and insurance.

It is a crime to drive with red plates after 6pm.

I have been told that it is OK to drive with the red plates at night. What is illegal tho, is when you purchase a new motorcycle and pay cash for it (you don't get any plate) and whilst waiting for your plate to arrive (which can take many weeks, especially if you were stupid enuf to order a special number or something), then you can only ride the Bike in the daytime, afterdark....ur ass is grass. If you a buying a bike, doing it monthly payments, then you get the special plate and can ride whenever you like.

No it is not ok.According to the law You can only drive a car with red plates from sun-up to sun-down.

[JetsetBkk]

PS - note for Sricha John, yes I know that harvesting rice is a prohibited occupation for farang!

That's good that you recognize your actions as a tourist police volunteer are breaking the law and that you are apparently willing to face the consequences of that....

Consequences: Zilch, nowt, nada. Working for the police without a work permit = breaking the law? Please file a complaint and see where it gets you.

...

As for your activities, it is worth noting that other TPV elsewhere are involved in such activities as prostitution sting raids on foreign prostitutes and undercover narcotics purchasing, which don't exactly fall under the category of promoting eco-tourism.

Nobody said that everything the TPV do falls under that category, which is what you are implying. Your logic is faulty and your obsessions are getting the better of you, SJ.

Having been stopped on several occasions with new car (red plates) by Thai police it would be helpfull if there was an English speaking policeman present to explain what I had been stopped for, luckily my Thai wife was with me and argued with officers who let us go on our way without any fines as we had not broken any rules and I had correct driving licence, road tax and insurance.

It is a crime to drive with red plates after 6pm.

Another "law" that is rarely enforced. I drove for three months with red plates - never a problem.

[myauq]

shouldn't the title of this thread be changed to reflect the correct grammar/spelling?

the plural of 'police' is 'police', not 'polices'. it seems from reading the thread that the op means 'police', and not 'policies'. 'policies' is the plural of 'policy', which is a statment of principals explaining or justifying actions (ie government policies).

i don't mind regional variations of english (ie english/american/singaporean/etc), but i've never heard of this one. perhaps someone could enlighten me.

[chickenslegs]

Perhaps there is a place named 'At' and a highway which leads to 'At'. On this highway there could be a corrupt or ineffective police patrol.

If a Farang has been appointed to monitor (or police - verb) the situation, then the statement "Farang polices At highway patrol" is not incorrect.

Hope this helps.

[sriracha john]

PS - note for Sricha John, yes I know that harvesting rice is a prohibited occupation for farang!

That's good that you recognize your actions as a tourist police volunteer are breaking the law and that you are apparently willing to face the consequences of that....

Consequences: Zilch, nowt, nada. Working for the police without a work permit = breaking the law? Please file a complaint and see where it gets you.

Thank you for finally acknowledging that it is indeed illegal... which you previously insisted it wasn't. That's been my only contention all along in these threads. If someone can at least recognize that what they are doing is illegal and still chooses to do it, then as I've repeatedly said, up to them. That's why I applauded Simon's admission. It was only those other often-repeated erroneous claims that their activities were conducted within the law, that I took exception to. This includes the false claims that they either were issued work permits (false) or that they were specifically exempted from the law (false). As for consequences, that should include the key phrase "yet..that we know of". The motorcyclist who had his head squashed yesterday last month in a car accident had no doubt repeated the same act of illegally jumping red lights previously and was no doubt confident nothing untoward would happen...until the consequence occurred. The whole issue of illegally working TPV's is just an accident waiting to happen.

...

As for your activities, it is worth noting that other TPV elsewhere are involved in such activities as prostitution sting raids on foreign prostitutes and undercover narcotics purchasing, which don't exactly fall under the category of promoting eco-tourism.

Nobody said that everything the TPV do falls under that category, which is what you are implying. Your logic is faulty and

< flaming snipped >

Not an issue of logic, simply one of completeness in discussing all the various activities various TPV's involve themselves with.

[sbk]

Lets stop with the pointless bickering, baiting and flaming please. I am not sure what it is about this topic that brings out the need to bicker endlessly, but please stop. Thanks.

[myauq]

Perhaps there is a place named 'At' and a highway which leads to 'At'. On this highway there could be a corrupt or ineffective police patrol.

If a Farang has been appointed to monitor (or police - verb) the situation, then the statement "Farang polices At highway patrol" is not incorrect.

Hope this helps.

in that case, if we're talking about a verb, then the addition of -ing would take care of the ambiguity: 'Farang policing at highway patrol'. isn't that a little clearer?

[LivinLOS]

Having been stopped on several occasions with new car (red plates) by Thai police it would be helpfull if there was an English speaking policeman present to explain what I had been stopped for, luckily my Thai wife was with me and argued with officers who let us go on our way without any fines as we had not broken any rules and I had correct driving licence, road tax and insurance.

It is a crime to drive with red plates after 6pm.

Another "law" that is rarely enforced. I drove for three months with red plates - never a problem.

But isnt that the nub of the issue.. Now we have laws that are to be enforced and laws that are to be ignored.. So judgement calls.

Now we have judgement calls being made, by unpaid, often non local speaking, non nationals on what is OK or not to ignore.. Theres no public mandate on what they can and cannot ignore, theres no clear information given ("TPV's will not.. etc" statements have continually been broken) and no recourse, process of appeal, etc.