Bangkok Highway Police Shakedowns

[GREGORYNINE]

I've been driving between Pattaya and Bangkok for years on the motorway without problems. I'm a cautious driver, and always drive slowly and carefully.

Two months ago I became aware of numerous motorcycle Highway Police waiting at the Bang Na toll plaza (direction to Pattaya). They are on foot and randomly stop a large number of cars usually including me. I'm never at fault of any kind, and indeed the first they see me is when I'm actually stopped picking up the toll card.

The routine is always the same. They signal me to stop, come up and demand my license (I have a Thai one). Then they make up some sort of offense ("You took the card too fast", "You started too fast after you got the card", You were approaching the toll booth too fast"). Then they tell me that I'll have to drive to some far-away police station in 2 days to pay the fine and retrieve my license. Of course, I offer to pay the fine immediately, and they demand 500 THB. It's always settled at 200 THB, and I go on my way with my license.

I realize every expat sometimes has this experience, however the frequency of it happening has increased at a astonishing rate. And it's ALWAYS the same toll plaza, and the same officers. I feel that Thai government officials and high ranking police are not aware of this "feasting" on our wallets by a group of dishonest police in the same place day-after-day. Has anyone had the same experience at the Bang Na toll plaza heading towards Pattaya? (It's on the elevated motorway in Bangkok where you pick up a toll card, not pay).

I've had positive experiences with the police in Thailand the past 5 years, and find them to be generally good natured and helpful. It's a shame that this pack of greedy Motorcycle Highway Police are soo agressive.

Can someone help alert the authorities?

Gregory

[thaicbr]

Yep thats where i got a 500b fine for having a bike in the back of the truck that did not have a cover OR side bars on the truck. The fuc_ker started at 2,000b told me i had been speeding and that i was not allowed to travel in the right lane. wanke_rs. next time i take the ticket and complain.

[MJo]

Most of the money goes to these high ranking officers. Montly take is divided between them based on rank...

[Gary A]

This is one of the major accomplishments of the new government. The police are even more corrupt than in the past.

[MJo]

This is one of the major accomplishments of the new government. The police are even more corrupt than in the past.

I doubt the government has anything to say how much the BiB extract from motorists. Or are you saying the government will take their share of the on the spot team money they collect ?

[ahkuoi]

dont know about that but i have heard they take money at Nongkhai too, from a chinese passport holder, on his visa run, he said he had to pay ฿400 for exit stamp and on the way back in he paid another ฿50

last year on my way to laos from chiang khong(chiang rai). they were asking lunch money. when i refused they got angry and told me to get a bank statement, thats when i asked to talk with superiors.. luckly the big seravat(officer) was in the office , when he heard me shouting came out and asked about problem. after hearing both sides he said something in northen thai dialect to other guys and matter ended there.

[Gary A]

This is one of the major accomplishments of the new government. The police are even more corrupt than in the past.

I doubt the government has anything to say how much the BiB extract from motorists. Or are you saying the government will take their share of the on the spot team money they collect ?

I have no idea how they split the money. If the government doesn't control the police, who does? Paying tea money if you are guilty is one thing, BUT, many times the driver has done nothing wrong especially on the tollway.

[Mario2008]

Can only advise to file a report with your embassy everytime it happens. While your embassy will not do anything, they might have a word with the Thai government if they get loads of reports about the same situation.

[MJo]

This is one of the major accomplishments of the new government. The police are even more corrupt than in the past.

I doubt the government has anything to say how much the BiB extract from motorists. Or are you saying the government will take their share of the on the spot team money they collect ?

I have no idea how they split the money. If the government doesn't control the police, who does? Paying tea money if you are guilty is one thing, BUT, many times the driver has done nothing wrong especially on the tollway.

IMO there is plenty of cases where the government has not been able to control the police or the military. Starting from coups to airport closures and ASEAN meeting as seen lately. Same as military, they do not like it if the government mixing up with their business

But seriously, you are right that the government controls them and maybe appoints their own guys at the very top but tea money from motorists is usually "local" business meaning each station has their own turf to "tax". Bit like regular street gangs in US. Less fights on territory though.

Most of the tea money requests are based on fake offences where they set up road block and "tax" as many bikes or cars as they can for couple of hours and then disappear back to the station to share the money. Higher ranks are part of it and sometimes seen supervising the operation in the roadside. Occasionally if they see you breaking the law they stop you if they feel bored and give you a ticket or ask tea money. However i saw few BiB's on Rama 9 expressway a month back with speed gun radars and in next toll booth they had officers writing speeding tickets. First legit operation i've seem in 8+ year of driving around bangkok.

Edited June 13, 2009 by MJo

[onnut]

I was taking my ticket at the toll booth a few months back and one coper waved me on and as I drove off and my window was just going up another copper shouted to me to stop! he only said that because he saw the farang! so I carried on driving at normal speed, anyway he moved over to where I was and took down my number plate but I never heard anything after that. so thats it, I will not stop anymore now, unless I have broken the law maybe.

[TVmonitor]

I posted about this very thing before - I was told too fast and in ewring lane BEFORE i drove up to the booth - how the hel_l he could even see through the booth is a joke!

we started at one thousand - I had 3 Thais in the car who were a bit too quiet for my liking - but in the end he settled for nothing!

so long as the subjects of Thailand are prepaedto accept this behaviour from every single police officer in the country, Thailand will NEVER function as a true democracy. The amouint of money that is creamed out of the economy by curruption and nepotism keeps thailand from developing - the money is all in the hans of the powerful and consequently the rich.

[Smithson]

I had 3 Thais in the car who were a bit too quiet for my liking - but in the end he settled for nothing!

He probably settled for nothing because the Thais didn't get involved. The BiB will find it difficult to ask for money from a farang, so they try and use the Thais as a go-between.

I don't believe the pick on farang, actually the opposite. The prefer to pick on working Thais in pick ups, as they can be sure the drivers have no high up connections.

[asiascharlie]

take their photo and see how all of a sudden you didnt do anything wrong

[Curt1591]

take their photo and see how all of a sudden you didnt do anything wrong

Or, see how fast a camera can break!

OOPS!

I have found that, if innocent, calmly denying any wrongdoing always works for me. The only time I have been ticketed, or paid an on-the-spot "fine" was when I was actually in violation, something very easy on a motorcycle.

Edited June 16, 2009 by Curt1591

[EvilDrSomkid]

I've been driving between Pattaya and Bangkok for years on the motorway without problems. I'm a cautious driver, and always drive slowly and carefully.

Two months ago I became aware of numerous motorcycle Highway Police waiting at the Bang Na toll plaza (direction to Pattaya). They are on foot and randomly stop a large number of cars usually including me. I'm never at fault of any kind, and indeed the first they see me is when I'm actually stopped picking up the toll card.

The routine is always the same. They signal me to stop, come up and demand my license (I have a Thai one). Then they make up some sort of offense ("You took the card too fast", "You started too fast after you got the card", You were approaching the toll booth too fast"). Then they tell me that I'll have to drive to some far-away police station in 2 days to pay the fine and retrieve my license. Of course, I offer to pay the fine immediately, and they demand 500 THB. It's always settled at 200 THB, and I go on my way with my license.

I realize every expat sometimes has this experience, however the frequency of it happening has increased at a astonishing rate. And it's ALWAYS the same toll plaza, and the same officers. I feel that Thai government officials and high ranking police are not aware of this "feasting" on our wallets by a group of dishonest police in the same place day-after-day. Has anyone had the same experience at the Bang Na toll plaza heading towards Pattaya? (It's on the elevated motorway in Bangkok where you pick up a toll card, not pay).

I've had positive experiences with the police in Thailand the past 5 years, and find them to be generally good natured and helpful. It's a shame that this pack of greedy Motorcycle Highway Police are soo agressive.

Can someone help alert the authorities?

Gregory

I have seen those dicks at the Bang Na tollplaza many times, too.

However, I have never been stopped by them. Don't know why. I do/did come into the tollplaza at high speed, take my ticket quickly and if possible floor it out of there.

However, everytime I made eye contact I gave them a BIG smile and a nod, they waved hello sometimes as well.

I have torn past police at high speed, left and right, so many times and never understand why they don't do anything.

I have been pulled over just one time and that was at the end of the Chonburi bypass right before it joins the 7 towards SriRacha/Pattaya. Real dangerous place to stop vehicles, but Thai people have no concept of danger anyway.

The BIB was very polite and smiley, I was very polite and smiley, wais all around and the excuse was I overtook on the left. Likely I did. Kui gan nit noi, showed him my license including the prerequisit 100 note and I was on my way.

First rule is do not talk about ... errrr, I mean: be very polite and smile. If you disagree, stay calm, insist "mai chai khap", and they will likely let you go.

[Smithson]

I have torn past police at high speed, left and right, so many times and never understand why they don't do anything.

What type of car do you drive?

I've got a brand new pick up with red plates, so there's always something they can get you for. The other day I was stopped 6 or 7 times between Kalasin and Khorat. The third time I was given a B400 speeding ticket (114kmh), seems they have radars set up.

Once you've been booked once, they take your license and give you a receipt, making it difficult for other BiB to book you on the same day. So sometime it's better to get the ticket than 'talk'.

After passing a few checkpoints, I noticed the traffic slowed to around 100kmh and there were no tailgaters.

I'm happy to see them doing the job and making roads safer, but being constantly stopped for no reason is annoying.

[EvilDrSomkid]

I have torn past police at high speed, left and right, so many times and never understand why they don't do anything.

What type of car do you drive?

I'm happy to see them doing the job and making roads safer, but being constantly stopped for no reason is annoying.

Then, it was a 2001 Altis 1.8. One of the most common cars around.

Making the roads safer? Hardly. If they would really be serious about making roads safer, then they would arrest 80% of truckies, bus drivers, van drivers and every single kid on a motosai.

The BIB don't give flying f*** about safety as long as they get their money.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

What happens if you are in such situation and, instead of giving them your real (Thai or foreign) driving license, you hand over a photocopy? Because i am fed up with them by now as well, as soon as they got your license in hand they have a way of squeezing that money out of you.

I have to pass Srinakarin road every evening these days, and every other week one day they will set up one of their road blocks and stop just about every motorbike that passes. ONLY motorbikes. And EVERYBODY pays for some reason or other! Last week they got me, too. So let's see.

- I was wearing a helmet.

- The visor is neither tinted nor reflective.

- I HAVE a Thai driving license.

- It is NOT expired.

- Bike is insured and taxed.

- Copy of green book and insurance paper at hand.

- Lights available and working.

- I did NOT run a red light.

- I was on the left-most lane of the road, and had been for a couple of kilometers.

- I did NOT cross any white lines or other signs.

- I did NOT wear slippers.

- My exhaust, although quite loud and obviously a racing exhaust, is type approved and legal.

- My bike's colour, although custom, matches what's written in the book.

- Engine and frame numbers match, too.

Not much left to scam me, what? Oh hold on, fantasy knows no limits. So i was "fined" 400 Baht for "illegal modifications" - my additional headlights or rather the "angel eyes" in them!! Which are there since well over a year, have passed thousand police checks and two DLT checks (those which are done when you have to pay the tax).

So my options were (this happened on Srinakarin road!) to go the Rama IV (!!!) police station to pay the "official" ticket (400 Baht) or the usual 100 Baht on the spot (negotiated by my Thai boyfriend over the phone as that cop didn't speak a word of English and i happen to forget all Thai when i see a uniform, that works sometimes but not in this case).

Why whine over 100 Baht? Because if i give them to that beggar on the pedestrian flyover near my place i get some nice music in exchange. From the cop i get nothing at all, only waste my time.

Next day i photocopied my licenses and i am thinking of giving them only that copy when they stop me again. But what could happen..?

Best regards.....

Thanh

[Theyreallrubbish]

I've found that I only have to pay the police about 1 times in 4.

What I do is deny being able to speak Thai. When they tell me what I did wrong, almost always speeding, I whole heartedly agree with a big smile. They then repeat the accusation. I agree again but say I thought the speed limit was close to the speed I'm being accused of doing. I'm almost always accused of doing 126 for some reason.

They then tell me what the speed limit. I say I didn't know and thank them for telling me.

They usually then wave me on.

I was stopped in Bangkok a couple of weeks ago and there was a new twist. He took out a blurred photo of a completely different car and said I'd been photographed by a speed camera and had to go to the police station. I paid him the usual amount in the end and he promised me he would "erase" the picture from the computer

[TVmonitor]

"Paying tea money if you are guilty is one thing, BUT, many times the driver has done nothing wrong especially on the tollway."

i find that a particularly disturbing comment - ARE YOU A MODERATOR??????

If you pay "tea-money" you are breaking the law too.

I know that most people do it but that does in no way justify this sction.

Why do we do it? Because the police can make life "difficult" for those who don't. in short it is an infringement on your basic internationally regognised human/civil rights - you do it because of the implied threat from the police.

As for ridiculous excuses...I heard of someone getting stopped and "fined" for no helmet - only thing is they were in a car!

[Thanh-BKK]

Hmm.

We all know that paying a bribe ("tea money") is against the law. But so is fining people for nothing! But what choice do we, normal people and Farangs on top of that, have against a bunch of cops..?

Like my case, i know giving him the 100 Baht was breaking the law. The alternative would have been a 20 kilometer trip across all of Bangkok (Srinakarin to Rama IV cop shop!) to pay a 400 Baht "fine" for an item that has been inspected before and not found illegal.

The main problem is that, if they want money, they make up offenses and/or rules "on the fly" and you can not do anything about it. "Illegal modifications" could be just about anything. I am sure he wouldn't write on his ticket "additional head lights modified to include light rings" (while some cars, notably BMW which actually invented them, have this out of the factory!) but simply "illegal modification".

So of course i paid the 100 Baht right into his pocket instead of the 2-hour waste of time to get to Rama IV and back and paying 300 more for nothing whatsoever.

It's the cop who broke the law in first place (i am sure the Thai law has a paragraph that says something about "stealing" or "extortion") and what i did was damage control. As it is what most, who are stopped at random and fined for entirely made-up offenses, do.

Those who were indeed speeding or running red lights, yes, they do effectively break the law by paying "tea money" instead of fines.

Best regards....

Thanh

Edited June 17, 2009 by Thanh-BKK

[Smithson]

I have torn past police at high speed, left and right, so many times and never understand why they don't do anything.

What type of car do you drive?

I'm happy to see them doing the job and making roads safer, but being constantly stopped for no reason is annoying.

Then, it was a 2001 Altis 1.8. One of the most common cars around.

Making the roads safer? Hardly. If they would really be serious about making roads safer, then they would arrest 80% of truckies, bus drivers, van drivers and every single kid on a motosai.

The BIB don't give flying f*** about safety as long as they get their money.

After one month of driving a pick up I've been stopped more times than ten years in a Corrola!

I agree that they couldn't care less about making the roads safer, however the other day I noticed the hwy traffic was running smoothly at around 100kmh. The only reason I can think of is because of the radars.

[moo9]

[However i saw few BiB's on Rama 9 expressway a month back with speed gun radars and in next toll booth they had officers writing speeding tickets. First legit operation i've seem in 8+ year of driving around bangkok.

I was stopped there as well, speeding, he told me me I was driving 120 km/h or so.

They took a picture of me, I was too lazy to get out and see it.

I asked him "How much"......

1,000 baht and need to pick up license at the police station....I said that I have no time, so we settled for 500 Baht.

I know I was a littele bit too fast...so there was not much to argue. The next time I will slow down before the toll plaza.

Anyway in Pattaya it is worse. I got stopped x times on my bike because it is "too loud". Usually 200 - 300 baht, but one time I resisted, ended up at the police station at had to pay 1000 baht (which is the official fine for modifying a motorbike!).

TiT, but if people complain too much, they should think about reulations, fines etc. in their home countries.....not funny as well.

[Crushdepth]

Don't give a bribe. Get your ticket, go pay it the legal way. If it really is the same cops stopping you all the time eventually they'll realise its a waste of time and leave you alone.

[Thanh-BKK]

Don't give a bribe. Get your ticket, go pay it the legal way. If it really is the same cops stopping you all the time eventually they'll realise its a waste of time and leave you alone.

Hmm.

Ok let's do that. From now on i let them give me a ticket for their entirely made-up excuses, pardon offenses, and i will forward all them tickets to you. You can go to the station where ever they chose and pay them out of your pocket. Deal?

Problem with the "wasting time" theory is that it is not THEIR time that is wasted but OURS. It takes them 3 minutes to make up an offense and write a ticket. But it is me who has to go all the way to some cop shop on the other end of town, wait in line for 45 minutes to pay, wait in another line for another 45 minutes to collect my license and get back home. Plus i have yet to find that money-tree that some seem to have.

I happily pay a ticket if i actually did something wrong, don't misunderstand me here. However this extortion racket that's going on doesn't get my support.

Regards.....

Thanh

[Bangyai]

The routine is always the same. They signal me to stop, come up and demand my license (I have a Thai one). Then they make up some sort of offense ("You took the card too fast", "You started too fast after you got the card", You were approaching the toll booth too fast"). Then they tell me that I'll have to drive to some far-away police station in 2 days to pay the fine and retrieve my license. Of course, I offer to pay the fine immediately, and they demand 500 THB. It's always settled at 200 THB, and I go on my way with my license.

Gregory

They tried this on a friend and I as we were driving to Future Park Rangsit. Despite being the slowest car on the highway he said we were speeding. Same deal,far away police station, licence to be retrieved in 2 days....velly inconvenient ..

" So how much is the on the spot fine cuntstable ? "

" Er.......1500 baht "

We both burst out laughing at this and so agreed to give him the licence and we would retrieve it from wherever. But first we will need your name , number and rank and we'll just take a quick picture of you please.

" Why ???? "

" Because, if we have to go to get the licence they will ask who took it and where so we'll need some details "

Now followed some back peddling.

" Well, I've never taken anybody's licence before because it is sooooo inconvenient "

" But we havn't got 1500 baht "

" How much have you got ? "

" Not much, we were going to the bank at Future Park to get some . "

" How much is not much ? "

After a quick rumage through my emptyish wallet

" 68 baht "

" Well, just give me the 60 and I'll let you go this time "

" Thanks cuntstable. "

And that was it. Farsical nonsense but we had a bit of a laugh over it anyway. Could have been worse.

To the O.P . If you know where they are going to be, use another route or stay off the tollway for a while.

[EvilDrSomkid]

The routine is always the same. They signal me to stop, come up and demand my license (I have a Thai one). Then they make up some sort of offense ("You took the card too fast", "You started too fast after you got the card", You were approaching the toll booth too fast"). Then they tell me that I'll have to drive to some far-away police station in 2 days to pay the fine and retrieve my license. Of course, I offer to pay the fine immediately, and they demand 500 THB. It's always settled at 200 THB, and I go on my way with my license.

Gregory

They tried this on a friend and I as we were driving to Future Park Rangsit. Despite being the slowest car on the highway he said we were speeding. Same deal,far away police station, licence to be retrieved in 2 days....velly inconvenient ..

" So how much is the on the spot fine cuntstable ? "

" Er.......1500 baht "

We both burst out laughing at this and so agreed to give him the licence and we would retrieve it from wherever. But first we will need your name , number and rank and we'll just take a quick picture of you please.

" Why ???? "

" Because, if we have to go to get the licence they will ask who took it and where so we'll need some details "

Now followed some back peddling.

" Well, I've never taken anybody's licence before because it is sooooo inconvenient "

" But we havn't got 1500 baht "

" How much have you got ? "

" Not much, we were going to the bank at Future Park to get some . "

" How much is not much ? "

After a quick rumage through my emptyish wallet

" 68 baht "

" Well, just give me the 60 and I'll let you go this time "

" Thanks cuntstable. "

[Smithson]

If they give you a ticket the station boss gets half and I suppose some flows to the lower ranks. So a B400 ticket is the equivalent of paying B200 on the spot.

There is no need to go to the station in person, you can do it via the post, still a hassle, but usually easier. Apparently the tickets are valid for 7 days, during which time the other BiB can't do much to you as there's no license to take away.

[Gary A]

I find it very disgusting that some cops are worse than common thieves. At least a common thief will simply steal. The corrupt cops lie AND steal.

[regedit]

Don't give a bribe. Get your ticket, go pay it the legal way. If it really is the same cops stopping you all the time eventually they'll realise its a waste of time and leave you alone.

Absolutely ! I love showing them my Thai license with a points mark on the back. When they expire I'm not even going to get them taken off - they are a real bonus. Once the cops know you are happy to pay the official fine they usually just wave you on and go chasing their rmoney elsewhere. If you surrender your license they give you a ticket - just photocopy that for the next time they stop you and ask politely if they will kindly give you the same same And you don't even have to go in person to collect your license from that far away police station - send a motorbike taxi with a letter to say he's acting on your behalf.