Cigarette Police On Sukhumvit Road

[Livinginexile]

I was walking along Sukhumvit Road today from Times Square and Soi 8 when one of those cigarette police guys trotted past me, walkie talkie in hand and stopped at one of the road side stalls near the Bangkok Bank.

The stall owner greeted him with the same red walkie talkie in hand and pointed to a Farang couple walking down the street.

He then trotted down and “arrested” the couple and escorted them back to the little “police box” near the park. I followed them back where I watched them extort money from them. They showed them a sign written in English with various amounts written on it. The elderly tourist couple looked quite distraught!

So….the stall owners are in on the scam too! They must use them as spotters and are obviously on a commission.

You know, there was several stall owners nearby smoking and dropping their butts on the street in plain view of the cigarette police (who did nothing).

The corruption in this country is incredible!

We have the Thai PM going public a week or so ago saying corruption is out of control and getting worst and yet he can’t even control petty theft from officials ripping off tourists!

Edited June 23, 2010 by Livinginexile

[yabaaaa]

Im sure the "reds" will stop all this though???

[Bluepotion]

I'm not sure what is the "reds" you are talking about.

but in this case you can call 191 from your mobile phone for some help.

I'm sure those guy are not a real policeman.

[avcomth]

Im sure the "reds" will stop all this though???

I think you got this the other way around. The Thai police and the red shirt thugs are on the same side, that little helper in the stall was probably a red too.

Thailand's only hope lies with the "yellows", but in light of the fact that the police are not on their side, things looked pretty groomy here...

Edited June 23, 2010 by avcomth

[Livinginexile]

Im sure the "reds" will stop all this though???

Absolutely!

Thaksin was clamping down bigtime on governmental corruption when he was in power.

Now it's back to normal I quess

[cdnvic]

Lets keep the red/yellow talk out of it shall we?

[TheAceFace]

I had the same thing happen near Emporium, its a big set-up. Funny thing was I had my leg in plaster at the time and I thought the officer was helping me across the road, which to my surprise was told to pick my butt out of about 10 or so that were scattered on the floor TIT. 1000BHT sting

[7by7]

On my first visit to Thailand, over 10 years ago, I dropped my cigarette end on the ground and was approached by a Thai man. He told me that he was an off duty policeman and that littering was an offence, with an on the spot fine of 1000baht. He suggested I pick it up and put it in a bin, which I did.

So, it's not a scam and it's not new.

Disappointing if the police were ignoring Thais doing the same; though as they were at work maybe they swept up after themselves later? (Don't laugh!)

Littering is an antisocial menace, and wherever I am these days my fag ends go into a bin, or at least down a drain!

And don't get me started on those sticky spots of chewing gum that cover the pavements everywhere in the UK!

[philliphn]

Though it is very nasty to have stall owners acting as spotters, getting a kick back from a fine, while targeting "farangs".

The moral of the story is don't litter.

I for one am sick and tired of smokers who think it is their God given right to litter wherever they go.

For example, you go to a beutiful beach to find that cigareatte smokers have deposited a days worth of stinking buts on the white sand, turning the beach into an ashtray. Don't you even dare say a word about it to them. You will just likely get a very hostile response from them.

Cigareatte buts take a very long time to biodegrade. So they have polluted the beach for many years by their careless thoughtless selfish act.

Is it really so difficult to take the trash with you and deposit it in an acceptable receptackle? Trash cans are located in many places these days. If a trash container is not conveniently located take your crap home and throw it in your trash can!

[SamuiHomemadeFood]

The fine should be upped to 10,000 baht a go till smokers get the message that just dropping their butts wherever is not acceptable.

[robblok]

Though it is very nasty to have stall owners acting as spotters, getting a kick back from a fine, while targeting "farangs".

The moral of the story is don't litter.

I for one am sick and tired of smokers who think it is their God given right to litter wherever they go.

For example, you go to a beutiful beach to find that cigareatte smokers have deposited a days worth of stinking buts on the white sand, turning the beach into an ashtray. Don't you even dare say a word about it to them. You will just likely get a very hostile response from them.

Cigareatte buts take a very long time to biodegrade. So they have polluted the beach for many years by their careless thoughtless selfish act.

Is it really so difficult to take the trash with you and deposit it in an acceptable receptackle? Trash cans are located in many places these days. If a trash container is not conveniently located take your crap home and throw it in your trash can!

My sentiments exactly

[gotlost]

:bah:Stop smoking

[Insight]

Im sure the "reds" will stop all this though???

Absolutely!

Thaksin was clamping down bigtime on governmental corruption when he was in power.

Now it's back to normal I quess

:lol:

Where you actually here?

[dsprtliving]

Is it really so difficult to take the trash with you and deposit it in an acceptable receptackle? Trash cans are located in many places these days. If a trash container is not conveniently located take your crap home and throw it in your trash can!

Have you ever seen a public "acceptable receptackle" on the streets of Bangkok?

A friend of mine and I were walking down Sukhumvit away from the Emporium past the park, and he made the mistake of lighting a ciggie just as we passed the little box. Little alarm bells starting going off in my head, so a few steps later I looked over my shoulder to catch a cop on a little push bike slowly tailing us like a hungry vulture or shark. I mentioned it to my friend and he turned to look and the cop was suddenly gone. So we go a few more steps and i turn again to catch the cop peeping around the side of a building at us as he crouched very tactfully crouched in a little alleyway just off the footpath. Was amusing and terribly disconcerting at the same time.

My friend squeezed the but out into a drain and we ducked into a tailor shop that had been our original destination and the nice guys that run the shop were concerned about us getting fleeced once we finished our business there in the store. The guys in the shop informed us that if we quickly exited the store....and made a retreat straight across Sukhumvit to the other side of the road that we'd be safe. Apparently, the opposite side of Sukhumvit is another district and the police aren't as predatory.

[bkkjames]

The fine should be upped to 10,000 baht a go till smokers get the message that just dropping their butts wherever is not acceptable.

As a smoker I agree that we should not be dropping butts everywhere. But as a concerned person, I suggest you worry about all the plastic bags on Samui first. Perhaps you should open a free consultation office to educate the locals on how to use garbage cans.

Regarding the Smoking Police, with tourist numbers down (and their residual income) they are on the serious lookout for any potential opportunities.

I am just waiting for a fight to break out between two of them. He's mine, no, he's mine I saw him first...

[Ricardo]

An optimist might hope, the local-authorities would fund some litter-bins, to put this litter in?

A realist would point out, this would cut the income of the BIBs and their friendly co-operative stall-holder finks, so will never happen.

[Sir_Sanuk]

Regarding bins... there are usually 2 ash tray bins outside the skywalk entrance to MBK. One day I noticed that they were missing and then saw two policemen hiding around the corner waiting for a tourist smoker to drop their butt on the floor. They deliberately removed the bins so that they could fine more people...

[Samuian]

Another creative Ministry to create income at will.

[Wolfie]

Also, as a FYI, throwing the cigarette butt down the drain is also considered littering, i got collared for that a few months back.

I wish there were more litter bins in Bangkok

[Boater]

they have them everywhere !, the motorbike taxis at the end of soi 4 outside nana are in on it 2

[shaunoro]

Bins have been removed because they make nice hiding places for bombs.

Nice to see the nicotine Nazis are awake.

The smoking police on Sukhumvit are really litter police.

No problem smoking but don't throw the butt on the ground.

I use a wrigleys doublemint metal container as a mobile cigarette butt container.

Yes clean up the plastic bags.

[carmine]

Im sure the "reds" will stop all this though???

Absolutely!

Thaksin was clamping down bigtime on governmental corruption when he was in power.

Now it's back to normal I quess

He was clamping down on everyone else because he was the only one allowed to be corrupt i think you'll find

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

We have the Thai PM going public a week or so ago saying corruption is out of control and getting worse

<snip>

Are you referring to what he said at the "Prime Minister Meets Investors" meeting?

In response to the question: "What is the PM doing to reform the police so that they do their duty?" he replied that this was clearly a reference to the events of October 2008 and the failure of the police to eject the PAD from Government House.

He finished his reply with "We are doing the best we can <grin>". Meaning he doesn't have a chance of reforming a group who are a dämn sight more powerful than him.

[CHdiver]

Maybe we could get away by setting a Tyre on fire and burn our Cigarette buts in there. Nothing left of the Buts after, thats for sure.

[Wolfie]

Lets keep the red/yellow talk out of it shall we?

Agreed, there are enough political threads out there for you guys to discuss politics, lets not derail this thread by bringing Reds, Yellows, Thaksin or Abhisit into it. Consider this a public warning

[TheLaughingMan]

<br />

<br />Is it really so difficult to take the trash with you and deposit it in an acceptable receptackle? Trash cans are located in many places these days. If a trash container is not conveniently located take your crap home and throw it in your trash can!<br />

<br /><br /><br />Have you ever seen a public "acceptable receptackle" on the streets of Bangkok?  <br /><br />A friend of mine and I were walking down Sukhumvit away from the Emporium past the park, and he made the mistake of lighting a ciggie just as we passed the little box.  Little alarm bells starting going off in my head, so a few steps later I looked over my shoulder to catch a cop on a little push bike slowly tailing us like a hungry vulture or shark.  I mentioned it to my friend and he turned to look and the cop was suddenly gone.  So we go a few more steps and i turn again to catch the cop peeping around the side of a building at us as he crouched very tactfully crouched in a little alleyway just off the footpath.  Was amusing and terribly disconcerting at the same time. <br />My friend squeezed the but out into a drain and we ducked into a tailor shop that had been our original destination and the nice guys that run the shop were concerned about us getting fleeced once we finished our business there in the store.  The guys in the shop informed us that if we quickly exited the store....and made a retreat straight across Sukhumvit to the other side of the road that we'd be safe.  Apparently, the opposite side of Sukhumvit is another district and the police aren't as predatory.      <br /><br /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

I find it absolutely fascinating that with a police officer obviously stalking you 2 your friend STILL littered and threw it down a drain forcing you to get all "mission impossible" and use various strategies to evade and escape the police. Is your friend mentally disabled because maybe holding onto the butt while you walk into your store and putting it in a bin would have made....oh I dont know, some sense?!!?!

Amazing, and you guys were thinking the police officer was behaving strangely.

[sanook2me]

I got caught and fined for dropping my cig butt on the floor years ago...have never been caught since and learnt my lesson.

This was over 7 years at Bang kapi...not exactly a high farang tourist area !

This is not just a tourist thing but the fines maybe higher for farangs...

However, people walking and smoking is just anti social and if they drop their butts they deserve the fine...stinking smell.

[bkkjames]

I wish they could fine people for doing the following as well

1. Farting while on the lift / skytrain and not admitting it
2. Walking like turtles side by side while holding an umbrella and mobile phone
3. Bicycles on the sidewalks ; motorbikes are bad enough
4. Flyer persons at the bottom of the skytrain stairs who try to shove that junk mail in your face
5. Mobile Ice cream vendors  that play that stupid walls music over and over and over again
6. Loud mouth mobile users on the skytrain 
7. ...... add your own here

We can submit the signed list to the Ministry of Public Complaints.

[carmine]

I wish they could fine people for doing the following as well

1. Farting while on the lift / skytrain and not admitting it
2. Walking like turtles side by side while holding an umbrella and mobile phone
3. Bicycles on the sidewalks ; motorbikes are bad enough
4. Flyer persons at the bottom of the skytrain stairs who try to shove that junk mail in your face
5. Mobile Ice cream vendors that play that stupid walls music over and over and over again
6. Loud mouth mobile users on the skytrain
7. ...... add your own here

We can submit the signed list to the Ministry of Public Complaints.

Walking down the road drinking a bottle of beer.

Throwing down any litter, it's not necessary.

[Tod Daniels]

The mindless nonsense some posters spew out is just over the top sometimes. How did a thread about what you call the ‘cigarette police’ turn into a pissing match about politics and the plethora of shirt colors the differing factions wear? Sheesh, get a frickin’ grip will you?

The guys who you refer to as 'cigarette police', are employees of BMA (Bangkok Metropolitan Authority, the people who run Bangkok) and are city code inspectors/enforcers, for cleanliness. They are immediately differentiated from police by the fact they don't carry firearms. In thai they're called เทศกิจ (for those who live here yet can't read thai, the karaoke engrish is like this; 'thet-sa-gid').

They routinely apprehend the all too many tourists who litter whilst making their way down the Sukhumvit. FWIW their little headquarters is just in front of Sukhumvit Plaza (Little Korea) near Soi 12 next to the Tourism Authority of Thailand's info booth. They're the exact same group of guys working there since I've lived in this area (nearly 5 years now). The area they enforce is from just in front of Times Square down to Soi 8, and then another groups area starts.

They have a laminated sheet which outlines in engrish the various fines for discarding garbage, cigarette butts, (even spitting and/or blowing your nose) on the ground. The fine for dropping something on the sidewalk is posted at 2000baht, and if you slyly decide to drop waste into the sewer drains that carries a HIGHER penalty (up to 5000 baht).

As an aside, there are garbage receptacles at the mouth of Soi 12 in front of the 7/11, in the old Leader Price shopping area, at Times Square and just inside Little Korea Town too. There's also one right on the top steps of Bangkok Bank just after Chuwit park, so really I don't see any reason to litter. There are signs stuck on poles in several places between Soi 12 and Chuwit Park in ENGLISH and THAI which state it is illegal to litter and you can face a fine of 2000 baht or more. (If you don’t believe the veracity of my statements I’ll go out and snap some mobile pix this afternoon)

I've also seen them stop moto-taxi guys who are using the sidewalk instead of the road and fine them too when the mood strikes them. I think the guy they work with is the key cutter who sits just behind the bus stop before Bangkok Bank, as he's got one of their walkie-talkies sitting on his table.

In all honesty, they're nice guys who just happen to have the bull-shit job of apprehending foreigners who litter. I've shared a drink with them many times after their shift was over and they were waiting for traffic to die down before heading home. I've also sat next to their booth for a couple hours just shooting the shit with them and watched them apprehend and fine more people than I care to count. From my observations they write receipts for the people they fine, and if you just talk to them politely the fine can and often does go down precipitously, sometimes to a couple hundred baht or even a 'stern warning' if you're really polite. However, if you even start copping the slightest attitude with them, raise your voice or act in any way disrespectful, you're in for the max fine as they don't take that shit off foreigners AT ALL. If the truth were to be told and I was in their shoes; I wouldn't take any attitude from a tourist either.

Possibly the reason they don't target thais is that few if ANY thais are gonna have a spare 2000 baht in their pockets to cough up for being stupid and littering. Then again, even a semi-sensible person might argue, that this being the glorious “Land ‘O Thais”, if the thais wanna let other thais litter, well I guess it's their country to do so in, just as it's their country to enforce the city's anti-littering code as they see fit.

Don't like it, don't frickin' litter. Sheesh, have some cheese with your whine. Oh the terrible injustice of it all. .. ...

You did give me a good idea though, and when I go out this afternoon, I'm gonna ask them if they offer a commission if I spot littering foreigners for them. I've got nothing to do and wouldn't mind doin' my part and maybe make a few baht to boot. ..

Edited June 24, 2010 by tod-daniels