Warning - Police Ripoff On Beach Road

[anothertorres]

question.... did they park the bike and make you go to the station to pay before getting your bike back?

[Mobi]

You completely contradict yourself there. At first you say you always get stopped and fined, even if you have done nothing wrong and then you say 99% of the time they leave you alone.

You put it down to driving a BMW, but, have you ever considered that they are leaving you alone because you were doing nothing wrong?

I have been stopped many times but have never been fined for something I didn't do.

How can it be that it because I I have done nothing wrong, when 2 or out of the 3 times I have been stopped, EVERY SINGLE CAR ON THE ROAD HAS BEEN STOPPED, ALL THE DRIVERS OBLIGED TO PARK UP, AND ALL HAVE HAD TO PAY A FINE!!!!

Read what I say before you jump on your keyboard

Where's the contradiction????

I drive past police stopping cars 7 days a week and pass through road blocks on a very frequent basis.

In the past 6 years I have been stopped 3 times - as per my previous post.

You may not like it, but it's a plain fact of life. Up market vehicle, dark windows, and 99 % of the time you will NOT BE STOPPED!!!

I have driven 30,000 kms in the past year alone, and I can guarantee it.

(BTW, the dealer who sold me my car told me it is a fact that the police are less likely to stop beamers with Bangkok plates than those with Chonburi plates, so I ordered Bangkok plates. Put that in your 'righteous than thou pipe' and smoke it)

Maybe you a just a teeny bit jealous

[tropo]

It is important to abide by the laws in any country you visit, never assume anything.

What would you suggest beach goers do?...especially solo beach goers?

It's better to risk a fine than lose or damage your passport.

[tropo]

The OP is quite correct in as much as this is a source of income.

No Thai policeman can survive without his salary being supplemented by illegal means; this is a fact of life.

In any event the police throughout Thailand are simply organised Mafia and any 'genuine' police matters that they happen to conduct are simply incidental to, and a cover for their main activities, of extortion, bribery and other nefarious activities.

If they can find 'legal' reasons to extract money from punters, then so much the better, and it is a fact that all foreigners are legally obliged to carry their original passports with them at all times, although in practice, in all normal circumstances, copy passports, including the page with a valid visa is perfectly acceptable. I am not sure about the law on the carrying of valid driving licenses, but IMHO it is not an onerous chore to carry this small laminated document with you, and in fact in most situations a valid, original Thai license will be accepted in lieu of a passport, so it makes even more sense to carry it with you at all times.

But of course, even if you had carried both documents with you, they would have found another reason to extract a bribe - unsafe driving, mechanical defects etc. (I was once stopped and fined in a car because the cop said the number plate was too small, which I later found out was absolute "balls" when I checked at the vehicle registration dept.)

So to the "holier than thou" brigade who say that the victims should have recognised their legal responsibilities, I will assure you that these farangs could have been the most law abiding people ever to grace the sunny roads of Pattaya, and the cops would have still been more than able to extract donations to their Mafia benevolent funds.

To illustrate my point. A couple of weeks ago I drove from Chiang Mai to Pattaya. I was driving at the legal speed along the main highway from Nakhon Sawan to Bangkok, when suddenly ahead I noticed a long traffic jam. I slowed down, joined the back of the line, and slowly the traffic inched it's way forward, along what was otherwise, an empty road. At first I thought I was approaching major road works, or an accident, but eventually I saw that it was a road block that went right across the road, and all vehicles were being obliged to turn left into a side road which led to large layby. Outside the layby were dozens of cops, stopping and directing the traffic into parking areas. I wound my window down, a cop saluted and asked for my license and car documents. I produced them, all in order. Then he I told me in Thai that I had been speeding and that I had to park up and go over to the table and pay a fine of 200 Baht.

He walked away, without another word to stop and direct another motorist.

I parked up and looked around me for a few minutes and saw very clearly that EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE on the road had been required to park up and pay a fine.

Remember, I was the only farang there.

I went to the table and joined the queue, and had to wait about 10 minutes for my turn to pay. I saw that other drivers (Thais) were required to pay varying amounts up to 1,500 Baht depending on the nature of their 'offence'.

I duly paid my 200 Baht, was given an official receipt, returned to my car and was waved on my way, after showing my receipt.

You couldn't even begin to count the cost of this road block and consequent traffic delays on the main North/South trunk road.

The point is, it doesn't matter how legal you are, if the police need to replenish their coffers, you will end up paying.

And this behavior is not just reserved for farangs in Pattaya; it is endemic throughout Thailand. The last time I was stopped and had to pay in the manner I described above, I was way up-country in a rural area of Loei province.

The fact is that these miserable criminals all too often target the poorest amongst us, the truck drivers, pick-up drivers, the motorcyclists , because they are less likely to complain or have "friends of influence". (99% of the time, they leave me alone because I drive a black shiny beamer with dark windows, and they are not sure who is behind the wheel).

So stay legal, pay up and be happy.

TIT

This all irrelevant drivel. Let's not worry about what happens up country and concentrate on Pattaya.

I have never been stopped and asked to show a licence or passport in PATTAYA in 4 years and I only ride around Pattaya. This is definitely a recent police action and push to bolster the police coffers.

I have stuck my passport in my pocket to prevent this money grab.

One question for the OP: Do they accept an international licence without the International Driver's Permit?

[madjbs]

You completely contradict yourself there. At first you say you always get stopped and fined, even if you have done nothing wrong and then you say 99% of the time they leave you alone.

You put it down to driving a BMW, but, have you ever considered that they are leaving you alone because you were doing nothing wrong?

I have been stopped many times but have never been fined for something I didn't do.

How can it be that it because I I have done nothing wrong, when 2 or out of the 3 times I have been stopped, EVERY SINGLE CAR ON THE ROAD HAS BEEN STOPPED, ALL THE DRIVERS OBLIGED TO PARK UP, AND ALL HAVE HAD TO PAY A FINE!!!!

Read what I say before you jump on your keyboard

Where's the contradiction????

I drive past police stopping cars 7 days a week and pass through road blocks on a very frequent basis.

In the past 6 years I have been stopped 3 times - as per my previous post.

You may not like it, but it's a plain fact of life. Up market vehicle, dark windows, and 99 % of the time you will NOT BE STOPPED!!!

I have driven 30,000 kms in the past year alone, and I can guarantee it.

(BTW, the dealer who sold me my car told me it is a fact that the police are less likely to stop beamers with Bangkok plates than those with Chonburi plates, so I ordered Bangkok plates. Put that in your 'righteous than thou pipe' and smoke it)

Maybe you a just a teeny bit jealous

Thanks for proving my point. You regularly pass police checks and do not get stopped or have to pay anything, most likely because you were dong nothing wrong.

Ok, so you got stopped once up country and had to pay for something you didn't do. By your own admission that is usually not the case. So why do you have to go on about them "always" finding something to fine you for, when quite clearly, most of the time people are not even stopped if they were doing nothing wrong.

[Mobi]

Mobi... The OP is quite correct in as much as this is a source of income.

No Thai policeman can survive without his salary being supplemented by illegal means; this is a fact of life.

This all irrelevant drivel. Let's not worry about what happens up country and concentrate on Pattaya.

I have never been stopped and asked to show a licence or passport in PATTAYA in 4 years and I only ride around Pattaya. This is definitely a recent police action and push to bolster the police coffers.

I have stuck my passport in my pocket to prevent this money grab.

One question for the OP: Do they accept an international license without the International Driver's Permit?

You really do have it in for me don't you?

Every time I post you have to spew out your vitriol.

Your animosity appears to know no bounds.

Maybe you need psychiatric counseling

I was making valid points regarding the nature of the action and the fact that you will never beat them if they are determined to get into your wallet. The reasons for the fines are all bullshit.

As the OP says, the helmet scam is drying up so they try something else

I have never been stopped in Pattaya (in fact, as i keep saying 3 times in 6 years) but i have seen the police more times than I can count in Pattaya, and seen many vehicles being stopped, both around beach road and further inland.

It happens - you are just lucky.

Lucky on the roads, and offensive on the internet.

"May the force be with you."

Mobi 1 Kenobi

.

[patklang]

Just makes me wonder how farang complain about how the law is not enforce here...while at the same time complaining when the law is actually enforced. Make up your mind guys, 400 Baht is the bare minimum according to the law. Just my food for thought.

Totaly agree,these moaning gits are ok complaining until they get caught.The police are still not doing enough,as they should ban all farangs driving a high performance bike unless they can prove they are experienced.

Btw

I carry a 5 year driving license with me which should be enough for identification purposes,and thats from 2 cops.

[norwayeagle]

Yawn

[Mobi]

[

Thanks for proving my point. You regularly pass police checks and do not get stopped or have to pay anything, most likely because you were dong nothing wrong.

Ok, so you got stopped once up country and had to pay for something you didn't do. By your own admission that is usually not the case. So why do you have to go on about them "always" finding something to fine you for, when quite clearly, most of the time people are not even stopped if they were doing nothing wrong.

That is total and complete garbage, as any driver that spends any time at all on the roads in Thailand will tell you.

In fact when i arrived in Chiang Mai from Bangkok, everyone i spoke to was amazed that I hadn't been stopped at least once on the way up to pay a spurious fine. Unfortunately I copped it on the way back.

There is regular police hotspot on the highway from the Rayong turn off down to the Sukhunmvit flyover, as you enter Pattaya City.

The police stop and fine any vehicle that is driving in the outside lane, even though they are driving perfectly legally, within the speed limit, and are overtaking slower traffic. All the local road users always drive in the inside lane down this stretch of road to avoid being stopped. I have met so many drivers, farang and Thai, who have been incensed at being forced to pay at this hotspot, despite doing nothing wrong.

I was once with my wife, who was driving along this stretch of road, and she was stopped, as described above and the police told her she had been speeding. Of course, there is no way the police could know if she had been speeding as they had no cameras or other equipment to prove it. My wife is a very careful driver, and in fact a bit on the slow side. She told the police she was doing under 100 kms an hour, which was true. the cops told her in that case she was going too slow in the outside lane and still insisted on payment.

I was with a friend once, and he was stopped in Sukhumvit in Bangkok and accused of doing an illegal u-turn. He hadn't, and protested his innocence for 10 minutes. Things were starting to turn nasty so he paid the fine and we let it go.

There was a thread here a month or so back about a scam the cops were pulling on a Soi just off Beach road. As farangs turned the corner and stopped in the soi, a girl who was in league with the police jumped on the back of the bike and asked the farang for a lift. Then the cops then appeared out of nowhere and fined the farang for having a passenger without a helmet. This scam was well documented and dozens of\ farangs were caught and forced to pay. One guy called the tourist police who refused to help him.

These are just a very few of the incidents i could recount where the police are just out to scam the public. I could go on all night.

Dream on in your delusions that all is proper and legal with police on the highways and bi ways of Thailand.

Edited September 8, 2009 by Mobi

[doggie888888]

the OP says original passport. Is this really the case? I always thought a copy of passport was adequate, as long as I have my original Thai DL with me.

[SoiGirlHunter]

Are they stopping motocy taxis ??? i take motocy taxis exclusively but it may be a good reason to finally switch over to songtheaws, been meaning too for safety reasons.

And will stop me if i am just walking in pattaya/jomtien?

Also what is the fine for no passport? i carry a copy and refuse to carry original for the obvious reasons

Thanks

appreciate

[madjbs]

That is total and complete garbage, as any driver that spends any time at all on the roads in Thailand will tell you.

I do

I have never been fined for something I haven't done. I have been stopped for license checks as well and they always let you go once you show them what they want.

[imaneggspurt]

Mobi is the only one making sense here, its nothing to do with breaking the law and having a clean up, its a revenue collection,, period,...never in any other country have laws made to be broken as in thailand, //they love it...

[norwayeagle]

Short comment with overview.Pattaya is "burned out".Take it,or leave.

[imaneggspurt]

That is total and complete garbage, as any driver that spends any time at all on the roads in Thailand will tell you.

I do

I have never been fined for something I haven't done. I have been stopped for license checks as well and they always let you go once you show them what they want.

"I have never been fined for something I haven't done." Really ?.you must be the only driver in thailand then,

[Heng]

They rarely will stop anyone with 'auspicious' plates as well. 7, 8, 9, 777, 888, 999, etc. Although again, Bangkok plates tend to trump other provinces.

On a person to person level, people are slightly less likely to direct their road rage against you if you have Cholburi, Sa Kaew, and again Bangkok plates (the provinces most likely to have folks who are ready to shoot you), and again the more expensive your vehicle is, the more personal space you tend to get. There's an exception that trucks with the aforementioned 'auspicious' plates also often get a pass, especially when driven by a guy in a safari suit... that setup has 'someone's probably armed henchman' written all over it. Feel free to dispense info as you require on your barstools, kids.

Edited September 8, 2009 by Heng

[patklang]

That is total and complete garbage, as any driver that spends any time at all on the roads in Thailand will tell you.

I do

I have never been fined for something I haven't done. I have been stopped for license checks as well and they always let you go once you show them what they want.

"I have never been fined for something I haven't done." Really ?.you must be the only driver in thailand then,

I havent been stopped and fined for something i didnt do,and thats over 6 years.I could have been banned about 10 times if i had been in the UK

[monty]

Some of the people have been either very lucky, or haven't been much out of the center of town.

Inside Pattaya, you get only fined for breaking actual traffic laws. Almost without fault you'll get an official ticket and have to pay at the Soi 9 Police Station. Ever since the early 90's when corruption within Pattaya city limits was so rife that they had a massive clean up act of the police force...

Now as we know, there are laws and laws. Yes it is law that you have to carry your passport at all times. It is also hugely inconvenient. Passports are rather big and the risk of loss/theft is high, and the inconvenience of this happening is extremely high, much higher then the inconvenience for a Thai national losing his/her ID card. Loose your passport on a Saturday morning when flying out on Sunday and you are not going to be a happy camper!

In general, the authorities are very understanding on this issue and would hardly ever fine you for not carrying, as long as you at least take the effort to carry a photo copy.

Those are the laws, when enforced, will guarantee and ensure a massive revenue stream.

There are plenty of these antique laws around, which they can choose to start enforcing at any time.

Traffic wise, yep, you can drive 10 years inside Pattaya city and never pay a fine unless you break traffic laws.

Wander out on the highways, ruled by an entirely different police force, and the odds are that you will have to pay up when stopped, regardless if you were driving correctly or not. Those are most likely fines paid on the spot without tickets/receipts issued. You obviously have the choice of requesting a ticket, but you'll pay 5 times as much for your non offense, and be inconvenienced of having to go pay it at the police station and then recuperate your drivers license.

If they so wish, they could put out marine police and fine every foreign jets ski operator for not having the proper license.

Which admittedly would be a smart thing to do! But just to show that they are good making people getting complacent by not enforcing certain laws, to then crack down on them, not out of safety concern, but because of the revenue generated.

I'd rather see the police force ensure that every driver is properly licensed, insured and sober then having them fine people for not having their passports on them. The latter is not going to harm anybody.

[madjbs]

That is total and complete garbage, as any driver that spends any time at all on the roads in Thailand will tell you.

I do

I have never been fined for something I haven't done. I have been stopped for license checks as well and they always let you go once you show them what they want.

"I have never been fined for something I haven't done." Really ?.you must be the only driver in thailand then,

Nope.......

A lot of the time people think they have been fined for doing nothing when in actual fact they have broken some obscure rule (like motorbikes having to drive in the left lane or the no tinted visor rule). Yes, normally in those cases it goes into the policeman's pocket, doesn't mean you didn't do something wrong though.

I have said it before on this forum and I will say it again; a large number of problems farangs have and then come to moan about on here are caused mostly by their own misunderstandings or ignorance.

[Phil Conners]

The police are still not doing enough,as they should ban all farangs driving a high performance bike unless they can prove they are experienced.

Nonsense. I think it's more important to stop the cement trucks and tourist buses doing 120 km/h on Sukhumvit road, straight through red lights, horns blaring.

Edited September 8, 2009 by Phil Conners

[patklang]

The police are still not doing enough,as they should ban all farangs driving a high performance bike unless they can prove they are experienced.

Nonsense. I think it's more important to stop the cement trucks and tourist buses doing 120 km/h on Sukhumvit road, straight through red lights, horns blaring.

Didnt know tourists drive cement trucks and tourist buses,get em of the road ril ril.No wonder they are killing themselves every day.Sorry to be a pee take but this thread was about Beach Rd not suk rd,unless i am missing something.

[Phil Conners]

Who cares where it is, it's all pattaya and they're all cops. Lots of more important things to do for them.

[SHYTALK]

Only interraction I had with a pattaya cop was when I had been to the TMB in south pattaya second road,

I parked my motorbike in the sidestreet there at the side of the bank.

When I came out I set off down the sidestreet toward beach road.

A cop coming the other way on a motorbike waved me off to go off right down a small road that went to the next soi.

It was one way, beach road to second road.

Guess I got the good one, or the one whose boots were already full.

Oh my ex gf got nailed for no helmet, just picked her out in a line of similar offenders.

[anothertorres]

i will say, they've been out in force since the 1st of the month. Klang is has been bumping with a copper outside Carrefour and another opposite on the corner of 3rd/Klang. they've even been out once or twice on Soi Siam and the tracks.

[easyride]

It is important to abide by the laws in any country you visit, never assume anything.

What would you suggest beach goers do?...especially solo beach goers?

It's better to risk a fine than lose or damage your passport.

A conundrum indeed but where do you put your spending cash?

As far as I know the law states you must carry ID, not necessarily your passport.

I always carry a copy of my passport and they've got very shirty when I don't also

have a copy of the visa and in/out stamps. BUT, like I said the law states ID....

Open to correction of course.

[timi2546]

Always carry my drivers licence ,hospital cards and copy passport ,you are a guest here ,so should everyone,what happens if you were killed or badly injured in an accident,do you want to be thrown in the back of a pickup and taken to the local hospital .?

drive away or ..... BE FASTER !

[masonry]

The OP is quite correct in as much as this is a source of income.

No Thai policeman can survive without his salary being supplemented by illegal means; this is a fact of life.

In any event the police throughout Thailand are simply organised Mafia and any 'genuine' police matters that they happen to conduct are simply incidental to, and a cover for their main activities, of extortion, bribery and other nefarious activities.

If they can find 'legal' reasons to extract money from punters, then so much the better, and it is a fact that all foreigners are legally obliged to carry their original passports with them at all times, although in practice, in all normal circumstances, copy passports, including the page with a valid visa is perfectly acceptable. I am not sure about the law on the carrying of valid driving licenses, but IMHO it is not an onerous chore to carry this small laminated document with you, and in fact in most situations a valid, original Thai license will be accepted in lieu of a passport, so it makes even more sense to carry it with you at all times.

But of course, even if you had carried both documents with you, they would have found another reason to extract a bribe - unsafe driving, mechanical defects etc. (I was once stopped and fined in a car because the cop said the number plate was too small, which I later found out was absolute "balls" when I checked at the vehicle registration dept.)

So to the "holier than thou" brigade who say that the victims should have recognised their legal responsibilities, I will assure you that these farangs could have been the most law abiding people ever to grace the sunny roads of Pattaya, and the cops would have still been more than able to extract donations to their Mafia benevolent funds.

To illustrate my point. A couple of weeks ago I drove from Chiang Mai to Pattaya. I was driving at the legal speed along the main highway from Nakhon Sawan to Bangkok, when suddenly ahead I noticed a long traffic jam. I slowed down, joined the back of the line, and slowly the traffic inched it's way forward, along what was otherwise, an empty road. At first I thought I was approaching major road works, or an accident, but eventually I saw that it was a road block that went right across the road, and all vehicles were being obliged to turn left into a side road which led to large layby. Outside the layby were dozens of cops, stopping and directing the traffic into parking areas. I wound my window down, a cop saluted and asked for my license and car documents. I produced them, all in order. Then he I told me in Thai that I had been speeding and that I had to park up and go over to the table and pay a fine of 200 Baht.

He walked away, without another word to stop and direct another motorist.

I parked up and looked around me for a few minutes and saw very clearly that EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE on the road had been required to park up and pay a fine.

THank you for this post. It's a shame others less experienced tried to detract from it.

I've experienced the "anyone and everyone pull-overs" myself (occurred at night between chonburi and bang saen). Traffic backed up and everybody had "something" they had done wrong.

Also experienced the "when all things are in order, make up something" angle. Fined for having a license plate "too old" in chantaburi. The numbers hadn't worn off and it wasn't illegible, it was just, "too old".

[dsfbrit]

I dont see how this is a rip-off its just the police enforcing the law.

I always carry original of my passport and drivng licenses - both for my bike and my car - it is the law here - annoying but true. I wear a 'bum bag' to carry all the stuff I need and it really saves a lot of potential hassle.

In the Uk I was once given a parking ticket for the front wheel of my motorbike being over a yellow line by about 1 inch. That was 50 quid (2500 baht) - so please dont suggest the Thai officials are different to 'jobsworths' all over the world.

Edited September 9, 2009 by dsfbrit

[jaapfries]

I dont see any rip off here at all. The law states what you must carry. Seems to me too many people like the OP get used to the laid back attitude here and bitch when the laws are enforced. If I had my way I wouldnt allow tourists to drive motor cycles here, licence or no licence !

One sometimes wonders if the laid back attitude to law enforcement is maintained for this very reason. To lull residents/visitors into believing they don't need to bother and then......CRACKDOWN!!

Hey GMAC; you are giving these civil-servants (?) a heck-of-a-lot more credit than they deserve: you are, in fact, inferring that these guys can THINK, ergo: "PLAN AHEAD" . . . . . . . . .

You're diluting yourself; BUT I like the way you think !

Ha, ha, ha

[wackysleet]

I dont see any rip off here at all. The law states what you must carry. Seems to me too many people like the OP get used to the laid back attitude here and bitch when the laws are enforced. If I had my way I wouldnt allow tourists to drive motor cycles here, licence or no licence !

I am generally not an apologist for Thais but in this case I have to agree. If this had been USA there would probably have been no complaint.

The problem is that we get so used to the incompetence and lackadaisical approach to law enforcement that we learn to expect it. Then when the law is (arbitrarily, or even accidentally) applied properly, we feel disgruntled.

But we can't really complain if the BiB does its job right for a change, even if we suspect the motive. We (I include me in this) whinge loud and long when they don't do the job right, can't really grumble when they do, though we probably could grumble about the inconsistency of it all.

Your absolutely right and there is really no excuse for moaning if your breaking the law but it's their motives I suspect people are really pissed off about.