Crackdown On Drunk Drivers; Strict Law Against Drunk Driving

[gotlost]

I'll drink to this new attitude.

[friendineed]

A 5000 baht fine, and a night in jail should be enough deterent for any of us farang.

Once you have a criminal record, it is likely your visa will be revoked, and you will no longer be welcome in the Land of Smiles.

An acquaintance had a nasty surprise when he reurned to Thailand after a holiday abroad, only to be told that he couldn't enter as his passport had been blacklisted due to a misdemeanour offence for which he had been arrested a few weeks before.

(He'd slapped the wrong women's backside, and she took offence; leading to a criminal conviction - fine and one night in jail ...... no joke).

Think twice before you drink and drive.

[easybullet3]

As if not having a license would ever stop anyone from driving here.

perfect!!! well said!! hehe!!

[anthos]

I suggest admins make a special crackdown forum for crackdown news

[mortenaa]

Can somebody hazard a guess why 12,000 deaths and 100,0000 accidents cost the State 240,000,000,000 Baht?

That amounts to over 2,000,000 Baht on average, seems a huge amount,

Huge amount? I think that seems like a low amount. Think about all the resources, human, police, goverment, transport, hospitals, family, funeral etc etc etc that is involved in an accident.

In Norway, they estimate that one traffic death costs society more than 166 MB. Yes, thats 5 million USD..

[oops]

 My wife and I have been looking for a home in which we found one that seemed reasonably priced. 

MY wife and I pulled up and we commented that something seemed weired or out of place.  The home was at first obviously very beautiful but still we could sense something.  

After touring the home and talking with the man he explained that he has two babies he is now raising on his own.  His wife has three more that are staying up country with their grandmother.   Over the past 6 years he like most farangs who marry into this type of situation end up in one form or another being financially responsible for the extended family.  

Long story shortened;his wife was on her way home from work when struck by a car from behind, it is assumed the Thai man in the Mercedes was possibly drunk and racing his friend who came back to the scene where the two bodies were laying on the ground and his merc was completely smashed from the impact.  After a stroll over to the bodies he got in his friends car a left.  Never came back never arrested.  The Mercedes was taken to Sattahip Police department.   This Thai man has never been charged for leaving the scene of a fatal accident.  Never been charged with vehicular manslaughter. Never been fined yet he did send his girlfriend not even his wife to the funeral to offer 100,000 baht to her mother.  Never an offer to the farang who is now left with two babies.   Even if it was for all of them that would come out to less than 50baht a month for the next 17 years.  The Sattahip Police knows who he is and yet all they can tell this man is "don't worry he will eventually help offer you some help".    

It is very similar to the Pattaya boat accidents.  I can't remember if ALan is the victim or he is the brother,  But either way the media talks about the Governor of Pattaya being ultimately responsible for what the outcome will be on the court case that is now over two years  Yet  you know... the paper is to afraid to use the guys name or show a picture of the business owner of the Boat Company  And by the way it is my understanding that they let the driver of the boat go right back to work after a 2 year suspended sentence.   So what I am getting at is the justice is only just for a few, but not for the mases 

[LazarusLong]

So have they provided the BIB with breathalysers?

Or we still down to one unit at Din Daeng on a Saturday night.

I'm all for it.

Come on, is it April 1st. Booze going down in price.

It will never happen.

I got stopped outside of Pat Pong at 0100 hrs about a year ago and they had a hand held breathalyser. Unlike my girlfriend, I blew a zero. I also wanted to comment on the new fine. 5000 locals - - 20,000 farang ++

Well, and why not?

I am personally for "Don't drink and drive", but hey, to each his own and drunk driving IS somehow a sad custom in Thailand. However, biggest risk particulary on Samui roads are elderly gents on powerful motorbikes, boozed up without helmet and in flip-flops.

To get this straight...I LOVE motorbiking and I love my Singha, but c'mon...it's time to take some of these suicide bombers of the road. Drunk locals usually do not drive 100 hp bikes ;-)

As for the driving license, well, most Farang renting bikes do not have a license for bikes either - in most countries car licenses do not include motorbikes. Those who happen to have one often have no driving practice, so 9 out of 10 traffic-related deaths in Samui are Farang-related.

Yeah, I do have to smile as well about the frequent crackdowns, but at least they try to do something.

And as much as I try to avoid unnecessary expenses myself I'm all for it to charge the Farang more.

For serious criminal offenses the Germans usually impose penalties based on the individual daily income- that will guarantee that the welfare recipient with 25 Euros a Day is hurt the same way than the Executive (...theoretically, however the latter will likely have savings) with 500 Euros a day.

FYI - a fine of 60 daily incomes or more will get you a criminal record. One of the few things the Germans did get right.

Edited December 3, 2009 by LazarusLong

[Miami Bob]

Well I'm for just about anything that keeps drunks off the road [ like I occasionally was 30 years ago] but what I would like to know is when are they going to start checking the lights on motorbikes at all their checkpoints? It would only take a few seconds to look and see if the lights work and it would be another source of income for the state and individual cops and the public would be much safer, so why don't they do it! I suppose I'm making the mistake of expecting logic to influence Thai state/police decisions. My biggest fear in Thailand is pulling out in front of some stupid rider with no lights at night and he/she dies hitting my pickup and than I'm in deep doo-doo!

[Mapguy]

So have they provided the BIB with breathalysers?

Or we still down to one unit at Din Daeng on a Saturday night.

I'm all for it.

Come on, is it April 1st. Booze going down in price.

It will never happen.

I got stopped outside of Pat Pong at 0100 hrs about a year ago and they had a hand held breathalyser. Unlike my girlfriend, I blew a zero. I also wanted to comment on the new fine. 5000 locals - - 20,000 farang ++

There are a lot of rules on the books in Thailand that are not abided by. I hope this one sticks. It won't be easy. Whatever the fines for whomever, there is carnage on the highways due to bad driving habits too often complicated by drunks.

[Mapguy]

So have they provided the BIB with breathalysers?

Or we still down to one unit at Din Daeng on a Saturday night.

I'm all for it.

Come on, is it April 1st. Booze going down in price.

It will never happen.

I got stopped outside of Pat Pong at 0100 hrs about a year ago and they had a hand held breathalyser. Unlike my girlfriend, I blew a zero. I also wanted to comment on the new fine. 5000 locals - - 20,000 farang ++

Well, and why not?

I am personally for "Don't drink and drive", but hey, to each his own and drunk driving IS somehow a sad custom in Thailand. However, biggest risk particulary on Samui roads are elderly gents on powerful motorbikes, boozed up without helmet and in flip-flops.

To get this straight...I LOVE motorbiking and I love my Singha, but c'mon...it's time to take some of these suicide bombers of the road. Drunk locals usually do not drive 100 hp bikes ;-)

As for the driving license, well, most Farang renting bikes do not have a license for bikes either - in most countries car licenses do not include motorbikes. Those who happen to have one often have no driving practice, so 9 out of 10 traffic-related deaths in Samui are Farang-related.

Yeah, I do have to smile as well about the frequent crackdowns, but at least they try to do something.

And as much as I try to avoid unnecessary expenses myself I'm all for it to charge the Farang more.

For serious criminal offenses the Germans usually impose penalties based on the individual daily income- that will guarantee that the welfare recipient with 25 Euros a Day is hurt the same way than the Executive (...theoretically, however the latter will likely have savings) with 500 Euros a day.

FYI - a fine of 60 daily incomes or more will get you a criminal record. One of the few things the Germans did get right.

Interesting example of fines appropriate to financial circumstances, but still a very hard thing to do, especially in LDC Thailand. Germany has an unusual record over some 80 years of "citizenship." Get it ?!

Edited December 3, 2009 by Mapguy

[IvanDobsky]

A 5000 baht fine, and a night in jail should be enough deterent for any of us farang.

Once you have a criminal record, it is likely your visa will be revoked, and you will no longer be welcome in the Land of Smiles.

An acquaintance had a nasty surprise when he reurned to Thailand after a holiday abroad, only to be told that he couldn't enter as his passport had been blacklisted due to a misdemeanour offence for which he had been arrested a few weeks before.

(He'd slapped the wrong women's backside, and she took offence; leading to a criminal conviction - fine and one night in jail ...... no joke).

Think twice before you drink and drive.

Think twice before you smack that booty!!

Lots of people drink and drive here including the police. If you don't have friends in the right places, a wrong step can cost you a lot of money.

If you got caught drunk-driving, som nom nah! Pay up and go to jail, serves you right. Shame it's not one law for everyone.

[12DrinkMore]

Can somebody hazard a guess why 12,000 deaths and 100,0000 accidents cost the State 240,000,000,000 Baht?

That amounts to over 2,000,000 Baht on average, seems a huge amount,

Huge amount? I think that seems like a low amount. Think about all the resources, human, police, goverment, transport, hospitals, family, funeral etc etc etc that is involved in an accident.

In Norway, they estimate that one traffic death costs society more than 166 MB. Yes, thats 5 million USD..

I would really like to know how that figure is derived. If we talk about actual costs of deal with a dead victim.

If somebody is killed in an accident the hospital bills must be non-existent, like the victim is dead, a death certificate from a doctor is not that expensive.

Transport bills? Give me a break, transporting a corpse to a mortuary?

Funeral expenses? Well, why should it cost more to cremate a road accident victim than a heart attack victim?

Government Expenses? What????

Family expenses? Wills and heirs and arguments about who gets what?

Maybe the legal vultures circle around and boost the costs.

I suspect that the vast percentage of the cost has been worked out by some accountant as "future earnings potential which has been lost", and "lost value as a parent/offspring" and "lost value as a contribution to society". But all this is merely fictitious accounting nonsense.

There is no way that a road accident death will cost ON AVERAGE 5 million Dollars in CASH that HAS TO BE PAID. A ridiculous notion.

[tropo]

As if not having a license would ever stop anyone from driving here.

As if the licences are worth the paper they're written on.

Anyway...no licence, just another small fine.

[IvanDobsky]

Well I'm for just about anything that keeps drunks off the road [ like I occasionally was 30 years ago] but what I would like to know is when are they going to start checking the lights on motorbikes at all their checkpoints? It would only take a few seconds to look and see if the lights work and it would be another source of income for the state and individual cops and the public would be much safer, so why don't they do it! I suppose I'm making the mistake of expecting logic to influence Thai state/police decisions. My biggest fear in Thailand is pulling out in front of some stupid rider with no lights at night and he/she dies hitting my pickup and than I'm in deep doo-doo!

Spot on. you hit someone on a motorbike and you are in a car/pickup, it's your fault: I'm also paranoid about this.

Check their breath at the same time as their lights but I don't see either happening except at New Year and Songkran.

[damian5000]

You people really think this shit will make a difference ...even if it cuts down on drunk drivers. 80% of drivers on the road drive like they're drunk regardless if they are not.

I'm far more fearful of the idiots rushing here and there like there's no tomorrow. Start ticketing people for driving the wrong way, not staying on the right (left) side of the road, talking on cell phones, making illegal highly dangerous passes, speeding, running red lights, double and triple parking ...etc..police any one of these, and guarantee there'd be a far larger reduction in accidents than cracking down on drunks.

The fine is a ridiculous amount also.

Glad I'm in a place where they could give 2 shits if you're completely shit faced and driving, though looks like that might be changing soon from the sound of the trend.

Edited December 3, 2009 by damian5000

[hjvdhoef]

Good for the police.Get some extra pocket money.

[tropo]

12000 a year, that is a truly astonishing figure, I hope they actually bother to apply the law rather than see it as another chance for a bribe.

That is nothing compared to Brazil. In that country, 55,000 die every year on the roads (almost as many Americans who died in 13 years in the Vietnam war) as the result of being Brazilians.

The difference is not as great if you consider the 15 - 64 age population of Thailand is about 1/3 that of Brazil (46 million/136 million) and the percentage of car ownership is probably higher in Brazil and being such a large country the distances covered by the average motorist are probably a lot higher.

[yeeowww]

All it takes is a single cop with a loved one maimed or killed as the result of drunk driving and he can have no problem arresting the person. I know drinking and driving seems to be humorous for some, but it kills and injuries many people. Alcoholics often lose control and are unable to realize they are incapable of driving.

right... and what about all the other offenders who aren't drunk?... Why be prejudiced against only 1 group?! drivers on an agenda to get somewhere, speeding and driving like wild men, those who are sleep deprived yet hellbent on reaching their destinations, or emotionally distraught individuals, having had a fight or other altercation who just don't care or can't think straight behind the wheel... where are the laws to clamp down on those fcukheads?! My point is, it's not simply drunk drivers who should be singled out & pointed fingers at. If they're going to do it, do it across the board for ALL emotionally & physically challenged drivers. Every one of them is just as guilty and worthy of spending a night or two in jail.

[webfact]

one off-topic post deleted

[torresthemonster]

it's true. one of my thai colleague got caught and he had to fine 20,000 baht plus one night in jail. he also have to do some community work like reading books for the blind etc......

what i'm afraid is the harassment by the police at night......

Anyone knows if it remains criminal record??????

I got caught and only being fined.

[Tigs]

Can somebody hazard a guess why 12,000 deaths and 100,0000 accidents cost the State 240,000,000,000 Baht?

That amounts to over 2,000,000 Baht on average, seems a huge amount,

Huge amount? I think that seems like a low amount. Think about all the resources, human, police, goverment, transport, hospitals, family, funeral etc etc etc that is involved in an accident.

In Norway, they estimate that one traffic death costs society more than 166 MB. Yes, thats 5 million USD..

I would really like to know how that figure is derived. If we talk about actual costs of deal with a dead victim.

If somebody is killed in an accident the hospital bills must be non-existent, like the victim is dead, a death certificate from a doctor is not that expensive.

Transport bills? Give me a break, transporting a corpse to a mortuary?

Funeral expenses? Well, why should it cost more to cremate a road accident victim than a heart attack victim?

Government Expenses? What????

Family expenses? Wills and heirs and arguments about who gets what?

Maybe the legal vultures circle around and boost the costs.

I suspect that the vast percentage of the cost has been worked out by some accountant as "future earnings potential which has been lost", and "lost value as a parent/offspring" and "lost value as a contribution to society". But all this is merely fictitious accounting nonsense.

There is no way that a road accident death will cost ON AVERAGE 5 million Dollars in CASH that HAS TO BE PAID. A ridiculous notion.

12drinkmore

I repeat my post 59 after you asked the question last time

2M baht would be about right. The cost is determined by many factors, including total police and emergency time spent dealing with RTA's, the cost of 'productivity' and 'tax 'to the country, in many cases medical bills etc etc etc. The price of a death in the UK is about £5M per person, no sh*t.

Anyway as maths is not the strong point here then one solution to get an ambitious politician to call a stop to the whole thing is to give them the following Fact! Did you know that in the UK and USA approximately 33% of all road accidents are caused by drunk drivers! That means that 67% of road accidents are caused by sober ones! Therefore get everyone to drive drunk and you will cut down the accident rate by 67%! Lies Lies and dam_n statistics!

Do you get it?

The cost in any country of providing emergency services for a particular problem, divided by the number of accidents or deaths will give the starting point for the calculation. So if providing Road Traffic Police cost $1 Billion and there were 1000 deaths on the roads in the year, the starting cost per death will be $1 million. The Road Traffic police are there to provide safety and prevent accidents and fatalities on the road. It cost in the example $1 Billion a year, but easy to say $1 million per death or $10 000 per accident etc etc. The sums of money involved are vast. You cannot estimate the cost of travel to the hospital at say $10 per trip. If the ambulance only goes to two emergencies per day, you have still had to pay for two crew for 24 hours, fuel, holidays, pensions, vehicle and crew insurance blah blah blah. It is £5 Million per death in the UK!

you also say

"There is no way that a road accident death will cost ON AVERAGE 5 million Dollars in CASH that HAS TO BE PAID. A ridiculous notion".

Why the shouting? Nobody has said it is cash that has to be paid. Where did that come from?

Edited December 3, 2009 by Tigs

[uncletom]

No sh*t Sherlock! This has been happening to us for along time. Thais and so to speak non Thais have been subjected unscrupulous stuff for ever. Did you happen to be questioned by an officer who can speak English or not? Doesn't matter any way..

You drunk, maybe they like you, but really now days, blow into the prescribed measurer and take your chances. If they do not like you, bye bye, and if they do...walk

[ericthai]

As if not having a license would ever stop anyone from driving here.

hel_l, it dont stop repeat offender's in the USA. I read all the time of guys being arrested for the 4 or 5th time for drinking and driving, in which they dont have a license, so there is no way it will stop a drinker that wants to drive in Thailand. Also, 5K upto 20K, this is really cheap. My cousin was a arrested for drinking and driving, his lawyer fee was more than this, then court costs, school, getting his car out of impound etc, cost him over $5000 USD, made him think twice about driving and drinking again.

[skinnymilinky]

Do you think that these laws will extend to the drunken Policemen drivers like the one who crashed in to my car in Pai?!! He was so drunk that when the other police came to assess the damage, he denied that he had hit my car and said that he would have to drive down to have a look as he was too drunk to walk!!

There was no arrest for him, he hasn't even paid for the damage yet and it was 8 months ago!!

[SNGLIFE]

Hey! A new law which will be ignored. I'll drink to that!

[Phuket Stan]

Dont forget that when u go down for drunk driving and pay the fine the Immigration Police are waiting to be paid next or your Visa/Permission to stay is cancelled...happened here in Phuket last Songkran..going rate with Immigration Police was 10k

[orosee]

The 2010 FTA will affect several Asian countries. Expect big benefits from overtaxed alcohols such as wine. Finally we can afford better than what the French have scraped out from under their toenails and filled in an export bottle!

I do however never understand what's wrong with journalism today if people write rubbish such as "three times cheaper". Is it so hard to spell "third"? For example, imagine a bottle priced at 1,000 Baht. Now this shall become three times cheaper - as what? Do a little math:

Full price: 1,000 Baht

ONE time cheaper: 1,000 Baht - 1 x 1,000 Baht = 0 (FREE!!! BOOZE!!!)

TWO times cheaper: Now that can be anything from 1,000 - 2 x 1,000 = -1,000 (so you make money on the purchase) to 0 (by using another "1 times cheaper" on the 0 Baht obtained before).

Continue ad infinitum each new round of "times cheaper".

I'm surprised that this being Thailand, the writer did not put "three times more cheaper" since this is proper Tinglish.

[needforspeed]

Good to track this down but as many laws in Thailand who is going to enforced this .

[fishhooks]

This is now the norm in Korat. Every night their are numerous alcohol checkpoints with breathalyzers in hand. If over the .05 limit you are arrested and booked into jail, with a court hearing within 48 hrs............Quote barryofthailand

Hope with the numerous checkpoints in Korat, they also lend a hand to enforcing the speed along Mittrapharp Road, particularly along the main city stretch.

This road would quite possibly be one of the most dangerous in Thailand!

[hhiser]

Ok, 1 question who will administer the Breathalyzer test to the cops after they have set around drinking whiskey at the check points?