Children Under 18 To Face Curfew In Bangkok

[slapout]

The proposed curfew appears to have good intent and purpose. The potential/probable BIB enforcement, application, is probably what worries most of us who otherwise support it.

When are the powers that be in this country going to approach the real root of many problems? The BIB? It is a sad state of affairs when various laws, lack of, or enforcement, is so dependent on on a group/organization which is so distrusted by the general public.

[Steele404]

I can see a lot of disappointed old men with the 18 below curfew

Edited January 14, 2011 by Steele404

[rubl]

I can see a lot of disappointed old men with the 18 below curfew

I can see a lot of disappointed young men with the 18 below curfew

[coma]

Just as they announce that they are going to cut crime by 20% within the next six months. They go and make more pathetic laws that cannot be possibley be enforced without a major draw on already lacking police manpower.This law in itself will raise criminal acts in Bangkok 10 fold with the ammount of youths out after 10pm. I mean.... Please!

Give them a break, they are trying to do something, anything to get youth crime down to a minimum. Many countries around the world have somewhat similar curfews. To do nothing is a crime. Do you know where your children will be after 10:00 PM? If you have any.

yes I agree Thailand may not be your country it may not have the resources your country has or the man power behind the police forces. Listen I have only lived in Thailand 3 years (not long I know) but in them years I have seen the same as you people.

I.E: corruption, stupidity, prostitution, crime, and much more but I also see very warm people who are kinder than most in the UK and to us these ideas may be insane or stupid or your country may have tried it and not worked but give THAILAND a break people. I would not like my 2 boys out after 10pm under the age of 18 thats just bad parenting in my country. but here in thailand i say try anything and if it helps even a little then it was worth the effort.

and please stop berating the Thai police YES they are corrupt and so would you be if you had to carry a gun and risk your life for PEANUTS. I would be corrupt too come on people get honest you want to live in a poor country then corruption and everything else comes with it so lets give thailand a break.

by OZ

:jerk:

[llopatka]

This would be laughable if it weren't so pathetic. Love to hear the PM explain this is was this announced by some rogue cop? Unbelievable.

So I would guess that your thinking is the young adults or children are better off roaming the streets late at night. Force the parents to get off there dead ars and pick up there kid from the police station and explain why there 15 year old was on the street at 1:00 AM. Your right it is pathetic only because some people think this is all laughable.

With some estimates placing up to "800,000 minors under the age of 18" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Thailand) in Thailand's sex trade, you can be sure that impacted parties will have their investments locked up safely in their brothels.

Keep problems behind closed doors.

Hail the Great Leader!

Edited January 14, 2011 by llopatka

[spectre324]

What a third world country Thailand is trying to be. This is the stupidest things I have heard for a long time. So now when one of these poor children are out after 10:00pm they will end up with a criminal record? That should really help there future when looking for a job.

Wasn't it a few days ago that this Government declared that Education should be first in line? Yeah this really helps that.

God I whish I could afford to get out of this backwards Country now.

And to all of you with children, what a sad day this is when the police can just hand out Criminal Records to children.

If you could afford to get here in the first place, surely you can get out of here as well.

In a word, Bye, adios, sayonara, so long!

[SSBK]

What a third world country Thailand is trying to be. This is the stupidest things I have heard for a long time. So now when one of these poor children are out after 10:00pm they will end up with a criminal record? That should really help there future when looking for a job.

Wasn't it a few days ago that this Government declared that Education should be first in line? Yeah this really helps that.

God I whish I could afford to get out of this backwards Country now.

And to all of you with children, what a sad day this is when the police can just hand out Criminal Records to children.

If you could afford to get here in the first place, surely you can get out of here as well.

CLEVER ! I like your reply

*personaly I do agree with this action from Thai law

I am Thai but live in England, when I was young there is no 'law' force children to stay at home after 10 pm, but there is a 'Rule' from my parents

not out of the house after 8 pm unless got permission which RARELY if we are not out with adult or our parents

the crimes or problems in the past much less than nowadays.

if any one is not happy to live in the law that trying to protect them, their children from danger then they should move to live some where else

Edited January 14, 2011 by SSBK

[tigermonkey]

Just to correct your misinformation -- you are correct that children are allowed ro work in Thailand, from the age of 13 (for "light work") -- however , it is illegal for an employer to employ children between the hours of 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM. You should also know that the legal age for driving in Thailand is 18.

ok driving but I was correct on the working part which is what the two of us are discussing in these post. So if they are at work until 10pm how do they get home before the curfew?

This rule is not a bad idea but like with many things here it has been poorly thought through.

I give you my personal gripe with this rule;

My daughter is 17 and will be 18 in 7 months she is trustworthy and responsible and also hard working with a strong work ethic she likes to work with her Aunt in the evening to earn some extra pennies I am proud of her for this fact.

Now under this new law she could possibly become a criminal , a criminal record would be with her for life and for what showing a willingness to work?

.

I am sorry but even if she is "trustworthy and responsible" , " hard working with a strong work ethic " and " showing a willingness to work ", if she works after 10:00PM before she is 18, she is breaking the law. There is no difference here from the parent who allows their underage child to drive, because he/she is "a very good and careful driver"

who said she was working after 10pm?

I said if she was travelling home after working , if she helps for a couple of hours say from 7.30 to 9.30 it takes an hour for her to get home therefore she is breaking the curfew.

Sorry I misconstued your post, but you did not in fact, say if she was working or travelling after 10:00PM. Personally, as a parent, I would provide transportation for her , as I did with my own daughter ( picked her up in the car) -- but perhaps this is not possible for you.

Edited January 14, 2011 by tigermonkey

[diehard60]

An enforced curfew? I have my doubts that this will work.

TheWalkingMan

I agree with you 100%. The bad kids will be there anyway. It won't help.

[indothai]

The group of people that came up with this law:

a) Never bullied in high school and this is the best they can come up with.

Bullied in high school and trying to use logic against people who just don't give a crap.

ok..ok..so it's better than nothing.

The biggest problem we have here are the BIB's inept ability to enforcing the law....

Why not tackle that problem first?

... better than nothing... this law was probably borrowed from Singapore, but it was a success there.

[tracer5050]

I guess we will see.But dont hold your breath

[sfm]

What is the lessor evil?

That groups of kids can hang around everywhere, and do everything as long as they are not getting caught in something currently illegal?

Or that the police now can take action against troublesome groups and individuals, and contact their parents that their kid is in trouble with the curfew-law?

In my own experience, most policemen on the street are nice people with a genuine interest in keeping things running without trouble.

Giving them power to act on dubious kids hanging out in the night might be a very good idea to reduce crime and saving some youngsters from getting on the wrong track.

[OzMick]

Hold on a sec , you mean to tell me at 17/18 years of age you were home before 10pm!!!!

At age 17, thats correct sir. The only time I may have been out later than 10pm whilst 17 was when working late, but I would make my way home immediately from there - NO EXCEPTIONS. It never did me any harm, but I had alot of respect for my elders and understood the rules were there not only to protect me but to make a better person of me.

"The only time I may have been out later than 10pm whilst 17 was when working late", well you were out later than the 10!!

As I said in my post " but at an age when you are legally entitled to work and drive its a little silly "

Twice you have stated that under 18's can drive legally in Thailand. NOT TRUE

[ginjag]

What is the lessor evil?

That groups of kids can hang around everywhere, and do everything as long as they are not getting caught in something currently illegal?

Or that the police now can take action against troublesome groups and individuals, and contact their parents that their kid is in trouble with the curfew-law?

In my own experience, most policemen on the street are nice people with a genuine interest in keeping things running without trouble.

Giving them power to act on dubious kids hanging out in the night might be a very good idea to reduce crime and saving some youngsters from getting on the wrong track.

Why couldn't the police take action before, if they were on the streets in the first place, surely they would have seen what was going on. Do they need to be 'woken up' to act ?? So they were on the wrong track before eh !! who let them ??? these mad splashes amaze me. But it would be good to see a SUSTAINED improvement. kid street sellers, Seems to be a minors problem in Thailand. I would have dropped it a year, or 2. could have better results at 16 -give it a go cops-results or get out of the force.

[ginjag]

Hold on a sec , you mean to tell me at 17/18 years of age you were home before 10pm!!!!

At age 17, thats correct sir. The only time I may have been out later than 10pm whilst 17 was when working late, but I would make my way home immediately from there - NO EXCEPTIONS. It never did me any harm, but I had alot of respect for my elders and understood the rules were there not only to protect me but to make a better person of me.

"The only time I may have been out later than 10pm whilst 17 was when working late", well you were out later than the 10!!

As I said in my post " but at an age when you are legally entitled to work and drive its a little silly "

No, no, back to the original article for you. Children on the way home from uni, legit reasons are exempt. There might be people at that age working at 11pm, so beit, as they leave work they obtain the necessary documentation & make their way directly home, EASY.

As I said, in another group of threads we had certain social bleeding hearts stating that children (under 18's) can't be held accountable for their crimes etc, so perhaps they shouldnt be on the street until their old enuf, which according to the bleeding hearts is 18.

ha ha ha :lol: :lol:

[thaibeachlovers]

If it stops those young kids being exploited by having to sell chewing gum etc in the bar areas it'll be a good thing. However, as they are always accompanied by a parent, they'll probably be allowed to continue being abused.

[sirchai]

again the rich against the poor. the students who can afford to go to tuition classes (and have spare cash from mummy and daddy to buy cigarettes, booze and the odd gram of cheap powder) will be free, but the poorer kids will be picked up. same old.

Piya said if police found children under 18 hanging out at night without justified reasions they would be takenn to police stations and they would be have criminal records and their parents would be called to pick them up.

I started to "hang out" when I was 13. You can't take their freedom, when they're old enough....Kau tchai Boo??:jap:

[swillowbee]

... more Thai laws! ... more "crackdowns"! ... oh, puh-leeeze!

... all the laws in the world will solve no problems in this country ... laws are not enforced in Thailand ... anyone with half a brain knows that Thai laws are selectively used by the Royal Thai Police to extort! ... the Thai religion is money, and Thais are religious zealots!

... enough of the sanctimonious outrage over teen behavior ... laws ... or, no laws ... there is no difference! ... they'll all grow up to be crooks, just as Thai society teaches them to be.

... this all an academic argument only.

Edited January 14, 2011 by swillowbee

[OzMick]

This law seems to have been about for quite a while. It appears that a decision to enforce is part of the 20% crime reduction promise, and may well work in a way similar to zero tolerance policies in US cities where it was found stopping minor (pun intended) crime leads to a reduction in major.

Personally, until 18 I was expected to be home in bed after 10pm, with a couple of hours slack on non-school nights. Being able to stay awake in school does help.

As for tuition classes, I doubt you will find many wealthy students in them, more for the upwardly mobile classes. Will we miss the child flower sellers, or the little morons showing us how well they can do wheel-stands through the bar areas?

Somebody mentioned BIB sleeping on the job - on Samui they work 24-hour shifts. Try it sometime.

Edited January 14, 2011 by OzMick

[mca]

I don't know about Bangkok but ( outside of a road block stopping motorcycles or a police pickup at the scene of an accident ) you've got more chance of seeing Bishop Desmnond Tutu riding a unicycle singing " 4 and 20 Virgins " in Khon Kaen at night than a police patrol. It always amuses me when you watch " Cops " or " Road Wars " on True and the caption says " Denver, Coloarado - 3 AM - Street Patrol " or the like. In Khon Kaen it would read " Thanon Sri Chan, Khon Kaen - 6 PM - Officer Chaiasit going home to get drunk and stand in his soi firing his service revolver in the air threatening to kill his neighbours "

[ginjag]

I don't know about Bangkok but ( outside of a road block stopping motorcycles or a police pickup at the scene of an accident ) you've got more chance of seeing Bishop Desmnond Tutu riding a unicycle singing " 4 and 20 Virgins " in Khon Kaen at night than a police patrol. It always amuses me when you watch " Cops " or " Road Wars " on True and the caption says " Denver, Coloarado - 3 AM - Street Patrol " or the like. In Khon Kaen it would read " Thanon Sri Chan, Khon Kaen - 6 PM - Officer Chaiasit going home to get drunk and stand in his soi firing his service revolver in the air threatening to kill his neighbours "

Isn;t if funny when we always laugh at the truth. :lol: :lol:

[mca]

Yeah. I only changed his name.

[dumpling]

Hold on a sec , you mean to tell me at 17/18 years of age you were home before 10pm!!!!

At age 17, thats correct sir. The only time I may have been out later than 10pm whilst 17 was when working late, but I would make my way home immediately from there - NO EXCEPTIONS. It never did me any harm, but I had alot of respect for my elders and understood the rules were there not only to protect me but to make a better person of me.

"The only time I may have been out later than 10pm whilst 17 was when working late", well you were out later than the 10!!

As I said in my post " but at an age when you are legally entitled to work and drive its a little silly "

Twice you have stated that under 18's can drive legally in Thailand. NOT TRUE

its a quote of the first post not a second posting so no need for a red card but here this is a yellow for you

[sydneyjed]

Or the kids in the Hua Hin,Samui and every other place where money is to be had!How long will the police put up with being 'baby sitters' for?Probably till the first publicity segment shown on Ch 7..and then back to normality!Love the hard nosed attitude'we will arrest them and call their parents'..Can just visualise it now a police station with cells full of school kids screaming their heads off ...mean while the real rat bags are out there having a field day!

My very first post!! Do you think the curfew will applied to the 6-11yr olds who work in Bangla Rd (Patong) selling merchandise?

Edited January 14, 2011 by sydneyjed

[Tanaka]

And how the h*ll are they going to enforce it, and on what basis would someone be given a criminal record ?, I always thought it was a court of law who decided not the police,

Seems to me this is a revenue making exercise for Thailand's finest...who decides what are the "justified reasons"....let me guess.... the BiB...

And you presence on the streets after 22:00 will be justified after a small contribution to the policemans ball

Once again another hair brained scheme brought to you with compliments of the RTP..

So what do we have this week ?

Reduce crime by 20% in the next 6 months in BKK

All 18 years old off the streets by 10:00pm

A crack down on drugs

These boys are going to be busy

You are not saying they would actually leave the office, are you?

[peacefulwarrior]

What a neat controlled society Thailand has become, jaywalking laws, crackdowns on this and that every day. More H2O headed ideas coming out everyday. It was better when there was more of the military <deleted> threatening the country with a coup every once in a while when a generals shag was a bit to good.

This whole Agenda they drive is copied from the textbooks of the U.N. , Huxley & Orwell. Society will get digital IDs , eventually they'll have it with their censorship crap, that like in China you have to present a passport when going to net cafes. There is so much repression, especially for the media; it is ridiculous as is the fact that the corrupt Abhisit government already been found guilty for taking a few hundred million to much in party contributions still has not been gotten out of power. Shooting 88 people , err, terrorists I mean, sending the Lao Hmong back to a hostile regime, same as with the Burmese and getting cought torturing them, I don't know but Thailand has some serious problems including of course highest level corruption.

Sorry for being so rude about Thailand but the barrel has gotten the final drop. This is getting so weird it reminds one of dark sci-fi novels at times.

[roadking96cube]

Also what about the 4 to 6 year olds out begging up and down soi 4 Nana. I have seen one of these kids flogged by it's mother because she missed a farang that walked passed her.These are the kid's that should be in bed at home not begging selling chewing gum or roses.Or wont they count as they are with one of their parent's.I also say it dosent happen in Bangkok but in every major town in the country.Ihad one try to sell me roses in Chang Rai at 2.30 a.m. and it was plain as day she was knackered and wanted to sleep

[TAWP]

I love this part of the article:

Wallop also pointed out that it would be very sensitive if police conducted body searches on girls or took them to police stations for unclear reasons.

Either it's true and Thailand is a shame

or

not true and the sentence is insulting against officers.

Ask girls or women around you how police treat them.

A few years back my gf and friends was playing cards - no money involved - and had the room raided.

The officer asked if they [the women] wanted to go to the cold room [short-time motel] and warm room [jail].

They all opted for the latter since they knew they had done nothing illegal - but they all had to spend the night in a cell anyway before being released without charges the next morning.

[TAWP]

Many municipalities here in Southern California have the same ordinance ... these curfews are usually start at 10 PM during the weekdays and midnight on the weekends. Statistics have shown that juvenile delinquencies and teen-committed crime rates were down since instituting such ordinances.

Yes, how very great.

And rape-assaults (i.e. unknown assailants outside in a park etc) will go down if women are not allowed to leave the home with out being accompanied by their husband, father or brother.

Next step?

[TAWP]

That groups of kids can hang around everywhere, and do everything as long as they are not getting caught in something currently illegal?

Imagine if someone exchanged the word 'kids' with 'foreigner' and you will see why, yes, that is exactly how it should be...people are allowed to 'hang around' as long as they are not doing something illegal.

Fascism is only fun when it happens to others, eh?