Nice Thai Policemen - Your Stories

[draftvader]

I wanted to start this topic because I have just had another nice interaction with a policeman here in the Land of B200 fines. Yes, I have had MANY interactions that involved lining the pockets of Thai policemen, but I have also had lovely interactions with genuinely helpful and friendly people.

I was just on my way back from Panthip to Bangplad. Being a nice day I took a little scenic detour through some of the prettier parts of town. Finishing my little blip around the Grand Palace and the like I headed back over Pinklao bridge. Heading down the Pinklao side I was doing around 90km/h on my motorbike when I saw a piece of cloth in the road. There was no option but to go straight over it. Suddenly my rear wheel locked up. Sliding side to side I managed to get the bike to the side of the road and got off. The cloth was wrapped firmly around my engine's cog teeth and chain, my bike was going nowhere. Buses, taxis, motorbikes and tuktuks continued their way around me and I had no idea what I was going to do.

I quickly called my wife to explain why I would be late back (by the way she is English too, so there was nothing she could do). Nothing for it I started to push my bike down the road and off the bridge. Not so easy when your rear wheel won't spin.

As I pushed the bike down off the bridge I saw a bike pull up behind me with a couple of it. The man jumped off and asked me what was wrong. I showed him the problem and he helped me move the bike off the bridge. Whilst we were moving the bike I spotted his police badge on his t-shirt sleeve.

To cut the story short he and I tried to remove the cloth by force, but nothing was budging. So he left me with his girlfriend/wife and headed off to borrow a spanner to open up the engine compartment covering. 10 minutes of hot, oily, sweaty work later and we had the cloth out. He headed off to return the spanner to its owner and I decided to wait to see what the "donation" would be.

On return he asked me if I was alright, apologised for the piece of cloth being in the road, advised me to sort out the flat-out on my rear tyre from the lock-up and wai'ed me. I wai'ed back, we shook hands and he held the traffic back for me to rejoin. No sign of a donation being required.

So, come on, there must be more of these kinds of stories. Yes, we can all give plenty of negative stories, but lets just improve our view on this country with some positive ones.

Looking forward to them.

[bkkjames]

After getting my wallet lifted near pratunam/pantip, the nearest tourist police I found near world trade center said-be careful over there.

[Gaccha]

On arrival back from abroad, my friend's father-- a general-- kindly provided a chauffeur (a police sergeant) and transport ( a very plush car) through the traffic to my place.

[Kwasaki]

Get to know Police friend's telephone numbers no more fine's job done.

[GuestHouse]

Back in my single days I had a number of pleasant experiences with a young Thai police officer, but don't ask me for details, I have no intention of betraying her confidence.

Edited January 15, 2012 by GuestHouse

[jvs]

A few years ago already we were on our bikes to a meeting in Chiang Mai,we decided to spend the nite in Kampheang Phet because we do not like to ride after dark.We rode around for awhile and did not see any hotels so we stopped at the local police station.We had to sit down and have a drink with them and after we explained what we were looking for one of them decided to show us the hotel.After some of the policemen had checked out the bikes(they loved the open pipes),we followed the officer towards the hotel.We reached a busy road and he stopped the traffic to let us cross,soon we came to the hotel and he went inside with us and helped us check in.They let us park the bikes next to the entrance and the security guard promised us he would sleep next to the bikes!

No money was expected from us and the policeman told us to have a nice trip and drive safely.

I also have met some other policemen and i do not have open pipes anymore,the times they are a changing.

[skippybangkok]

This is gonna be a short blog !

[draftvader]

This is gonna be a short blog !

Would it make you happy to be right? (anyway, it is a "thread")

[MrJohnson]

I have read numerous threads/posts on this site over quite a long period that were most disparaging to the BIB.It is clear that police here are involved in all sorts of scams, take downs, protections and extortion. The problem for me is that I have never been subject to any of these kinds of activities. I read some of these posts and they read like some kind of conspiracy theory as if the Thai police target foreigners specifically. I drive a car, ride a motorbike, occasionally go out late at night, drive past the Asoke intersection (supposedly where many shake-downs occur) and have never been stopped, harassed or otherwise. I have, on two occasions, been stopped riding my scooter for traffic infringements, both of which I was guilty of. I paid an 'on the spot fine', by choice mind you and left after an amicable and friendly exchange. I got to know the traffic cops near my kids school. They have always been friendly and polite. I bumped into one in the street far from the school one day. He said "hello" but I did not recognize him because he was off-duty and strolling along with his family. He introduced his wife and daughter to me and then we went our separate ways. BTW - I am not a hi-so, do not have special phone numbers, police escorts etc. Just an ordinary Joe who is polite and civil. I find that, generally speaking, that is what I get in return from police and other Thais in general. I'm sure I will think of some other specific instances which I will post at a later date, if for no other reason than to ensure that a positive thread continues to have legs.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I have read numerous threads/posts on this site over quite a long period that were most disparaging to the BIB.It is clear that police here are involved in all sorts of scams, take downs, protections and extortion. The problem for me is that I have never been subject to any of these kinds of activities. I read some of these posts and they read like some kind of conspiracy theory as if the Thai police target foreigners specifically. I drive a car, ride a motorbike, occasionally go out late at night, drive past the Asoke intersection (supposedly where many shake-downs occur) and have never been stopped, harassed or otherwise. I have, on two occasions, been stopped riding my scooter for traffic infringements, both of which I was guilty of. I paid an 'on the spot fine', by choice mind you and left after an amicable and friendly exchange. I got to know the traffic cops near my kids school. They have always been friendly and polite. I bumped into one in the street far from the school one day. He said "hello" but I did not recognize him because he was off-duty and strolling along with his family. He introduced his wife and daughter to me and then we went our separate ways. BTW - I am not a hi-so, do not have special phone numbers, police escorts etc. Just an ordinary Joe who is polite and civil. I find that, generally speaking, that is what I get in return from police and other Thais in general. I'm sure I will think of some other specific instances which I will post at a later date, if for no other reason than to ensure that a positive thread continues to have legs.

+1 ! My experiences are similar.

[Gaccha]

Sorry to butt in again, but I've just remembered another nice incident.

My friend-- the General's daughter-- went up to some cops slurping noodles at 5am on a street stall, and they very kindly drive her, me and a friend around town until they found the 24 hour disco we were looking for. They then-- much to my surprise-- took off their tops, and joined us for whisky and soda in the disco for a few hours.

[pattayadingo]

I was sat in a small restaurant one evening, a place I used quite often before moving to Pattaya and 4 policemen were sat nearby. An 'escort girl' and her friend that I also knew walked in and sat at a table near me. We chatted a bit and then one of the police officers walked over and asked if I would join him and his colleagues at their table. I was hesitant after hearing various stories about the Thai police but he was quite insistent.

I joined them at their table and the waitress brought my drinks over. It turned out these policemen were Tourist Police and they had hardly seen or spoken to any English speaking people and they wanted to talk to me to learn more about us and what we are like and to be able to speak in English. I had a great evening with these guys. When the time came for me to leave they insisted on paying the bill and one gave me a card with his number on it, telling me to phone if I ever had any problems in the future.

Not all the police are on the take and trying to scam us. I too have been stopped and paid the fine for speeding or whatever excuse while driving my car. But these guys in the restaurant were very pleasant.

[SimonD]

My TGF fell ill at a party a few years back and quickly became unconcious (I believe her drink was spiked). We got her into a friends car and sped-off to the nearest hospital. The Thai driver put his foot down as I gave her mouth-to-mouth as she was barely breathing. Next thing we know is we were pulled over by a police pick-up and as soon as the officer saw the reason for us speeding, he jumped back in the pick-up, put the red lights and the siren on and cleared the way for us to get to hospital in record time. We could barely keep up with him.

He was genuinely concerned and stayed with us until she was out of danger and transferred to a private room. He wouldn't take anything for his trouble and left. He came back to the hospital the next day to see how she was getting on. I thought that was quite touching.

[denboy]

A Positive police story,

I travel frequently the route Pattaya to Sarakhan on route 304 via Korat. On a recent trip I suffered a rear wheel blow out just as I had finished ascdending the mountain road and approaching the first village ( don't know the name). Because of the nature of the single twisting road plus the heavy traffic, for safety's sake I kept driving for a hundred meters to a safe flat spot in the village.

As I stepped out of the car there was a policeman standing across the road, he looked over and I immediatly thought, here we go, he sees a falang and smells the tea money.

To my suprise he came across and asked what is the problem, I pointed to the flat nearside rear wheel. He called on his radio the station house located just over the road and 6 more policemen including a one with pips on his shoulder board came acrros.

They requested my jack and wheelbrace and they would'nt let me touch anything. I was standing there wondering how much tea money is this going to cost.

Being stopped numerous times for tea money on this route I keep a few hundred baht notes above the sun visor for easy access. I offered them three hunded baht for tea money for their help and I was gob smacked when the refused anything at all.

They wished me a good journey, stopped the traffic and waved me out back into the traffic stream.

Quite a refreshing change to the usual demand for so called on the spot fines demaned by the BIB on this route.

So there is hope yet for the BIB,

[tombkk]

Like Mr Johnson, I have never been scammed by police. I have been driving my car here for over 20 years, and I hear many stories from people who get stopped and fined for made-up reasons, I only got fined when I indeed violated the traffic rules.

Once I was stopped because the tax sticker in the windshield had expired. So he wanted to fine me, which was his duty. I know nothing about these things, so I called to my secretary and let her speak to him. She told him that the sticker was on her desk, and she apologized to him for having forgotten to give it to me. He let me go, saying that I should come the same way tomorrow so he can check then.

Not as dramatic as emergency assistance, but nice nevertheless.

[BookMan]

A Positive police story,

I travel frequently the route Pattaya to Sarakhan on route 304 via Korat. On a recent trip I suffered a rear wheel blow out just as I had finished ascdending the mountain road and approaching the first village ( don't know the name). Because of the nature of the single twisting road plus the heavy traffic, for safety's sake I kept driving for a hundred meters to a safe flat spot in the village.

As I stepped out of the car there was a policeman standing across the road, he looked over and I immediatly thought, here we go, he sees a falang and smells the tea money.

To my suprise he came across and asked what is the problem, I pointed to the flat nearside rear wheel. He called on his radio the station house located just over the road and 6 more policemen including a one with pips on his shoulder board came acrros.

They requested my jack and wheelbrace and they would'nt let me touch anything. I was standing there wondering how much tea money is this going to cost.

Being stopped numerous times for tea money on this route I keep a few hundred baht notes above the sun visor for easy access. I offered them three hunded baht for tea money for their help and I was gob smacked when the refused anything at all.

They wished me a good journey, stopped the traffic and waved me out back into the traffic stream.

Quite a refreshing change to the usual demand for so called on the spot fines demaned by the BIB on this route.

So there is hope yet for the BIB,

Nice story, good to hear

[StreetCowboy]

I or the person I have been with (colleague, taxi driver) have been stopped in total, three times, all for offences of which we were guilty, and which I am sure a magistrate would find more significant than either we did, or the policeman.

The last time, I found myself on a long walk home due to problems with the banking system and stopped to make sure one of the trees on Sukhumvit Road was well watered. Seconds later, a policeman popped by. I explained my predicament (by shaking my wallet upside down) and he laughed and wished me a good evening.

SC

[draftvader]

I am very pleased I started this thread. I know that I will be "stung" again soon, but for now I am positive and I will wake up tomorrow with a lighter step. Thank you to everybody who has responded with a decent story so far. Looking forward to many more.

[mca]

_{I did an illegal u-turn in Khon Kaen once and got pulled by a couple of cops at the side of the road whom I hadn't noticed. One walks up all stern in his shades until I put the window down and he saw I was a westerner. He then starts stammering"You...you...Mister.....er........er...." wracking his brains for all the English he could muster and much to the merriment of his colleague who stood just bhind him. He then come up with "You....U Turn.......Bad man...No good" causing his colleague to convulse in hysterics,me to start laughing and then himself to join in before waving me on still giggling.}

[StreetCowboy]

People go on about how they would rather pay a 200 baht tea-money than face prosecution... but my experience in the UK is that for petty misdemeanours most police will make sure that you know that what you did was wrong, and drop it there. They are lucky that their salaries are sufficient that they can display common sense, while Thai police need appreciate additional support from the public to display the same. Though as the posts above show, that common sense does not rely on our contributions, though I am sure they are much appreciated.

SC

[tombkk]

I or the person I have been with (colleague, taxi driver) have been stopped in total, three times, all for offences of which we were guilty, and which I am sure a magistrate would find more significant than either we did, or the policeman.

The last time, I found myself on a long walk home due to problems with the banking system and stopped to make sure one of the trees on Sukhumvit Road was well watered. Seconds later, a policeman popped by. I explained my predicament (by shaking my wallet upside down) and he laughed and wished me a good evening.

SC

I like your wording.

[skippybangkok]

Like Mr Johnson, I have never been scammed by police. I have been driving my car here for over 20 years, and I hear many stories from people who get stopped and fined for made-up reasons, I only got fined when I indeed violated the traffic rules.

Once I was stopped because the tax sticker in the windshield had expired. So he wanted to fine me, which was his duty. I know nothing about these things, so I called to my secretary and let her speak to him. She told him that the sticker was on her desk, and she apologized to him for having forgotten to give it to me. He let me go, saying that I should come the same way tomorrow so he can check then.

Not as dramatic as emergency assistance, but nice nevertheless.

Tom, if you drive a Rolls Royce, it dont count !.......

When i switched from a well kept Range Rover ( bought 2nd hand, velly velly good price ) to my Camry, i noticed a big difference in highway hold ups.

I notice they pick alot on pickup trucks, as they assumption is they are poorer and have less contacts

[StreetCowboy]

I or the person I have been with (colleague, taxi driver) have been stopped in total, three times, all for offences of which we were guilty, and which I am sure a magistrate would find more significant than either we did, or the policeman.

The last time, I found myself on a long walk home due to problems with the banking system and stopped to make sure one of the trees on Sukhumvit Road was well watered. Seconds later, a policeman popped by. I explained my predicament (by shaking my wallet upside down) and he laughed and wished me a good evening.

SC

I like your wording.

When we write in text, wording is the greatest courtesy that we have, and I like to think that mine is as good as I can manage, though I fear sometimes I let opinion overcome compassion

SC

[tombkk]

Like Mr Johnson, I have never been scammed by police. I have been driving my car here for over 20 years, and I hear many stories from people who get stopped and fined for made-up reasons, I only got fined when I indeed violated the traffic rules.

Once I was stopped because the tax sticker in the windshield had expired. So he wanted to fine me, which was his duty. I know nothing about these things, so I called to my secretary and let her speak to him. She told him that the sticker was on her desk, and she apologized to him for having forgotten to give it to me. He let me go, saying that I should come the same way tomorrow so he can check then.

Not as dramatic as emergency assistance, but nice nevertheless.

Tom, if you drive a Rolls Royce, it dont count !.......

When i switched from a well kept Range Rover ( bought 2nd hand, velly velly good price ) to my Camry, i noticed a big difference in highway hold ups.

I notice they pick alot on pickup trucks, as they assumption is they are poorer and have less contacts

LOL! I used to drive a Toyota Corolla in the 1990s, upgraded to a Camry in the early 21st century, and am now back to a Corolla Altis as I am no longer employed but have my own company. My next car will not be my dream car (BMW) but a Nissan Teana, as approved by my company's budget committee for Q1/2012.

I guess it's easier with a Rolls Royce, but being not in that class, it just may come down to the way one carries oneself and how one talks to the police officer.

[CWMcMurray]

I received a package from Family back in the US and needed to go pick it up at the local post office. I had never been there before and did not know where it was and no phone number on the slip received in the Mail.

I asked a round a bit and was given directions by a neighber (which eneded up being wrong) and drove out to the area advised, but could not find it anywhere...

I stopped at a gas station coffee shop to ask directions and there was a police officer also in the coffee shop.

He was very helpful and offerred directions (which were correct) and even went one step further by giving me his mobile number and told me to call him if I got lost on the way and he would help.

There were a few twists and turns, but followed the Police officers directions and found the post office without a problem. Once finding it, I called the Police officer to let himn know that I found it and to thank him again for his help.

He told me to keep his number and to call him any time if I ever needed his help with anything or even if I just had a question about anything in Thailand.

All in all, a very helpful Police officer and there was never any feeling that he had any motive other than to help.

[GooEng]

riding my motorbike back from samut prakan to bkk i once inadvertently rode up onto one of the car only tollways.

realised after a bit that i was the only bike on the road and decided a to carry on the the gate and risk the consequnces rarher than try a u-turn and run back up the hard shoulder to the on-ramp.

got to the toll gates and a fat and very cheery officer happily relieved me of the last 300 baht i had in my wallet and the drew me a map showing how to get back to sukhumvit road, all the while doling out advise on how the roads in thailand were a nightmare and so on.....

i had no sooner hit sukhumvit when i was flagged down at on of the standard end-of-the-month type BiB roadblocks, and the young cop started his shakedown routine - i explained in thai to him my recent balls up on the tollway and that his "p'chai" up at the tollbooth had all my money and if he wanted some to ask him - he cracked up and waved me on my way.

not exactly a pleasant experience but beats the normal callous, bragging sort of thuggishness you normally encounter.

[draftvader]

I have another one from a year or so ago. Again in Pinklao. I was heading from my gym to Central and had just gone round from Sirin Thon to Boromorachachonani (I doubt I have spelt that right as I have NEVER said it right). The road from that point to the junction with Charan Sanit Wong is a nightmare of buses fighting it out over the 2 left hand lanes, so I did the safe thing and moved over to the right hand lane. 10 seconds later and I see the BIB waving me down. My standard routine is to pull the bike up, make it safe (full stand...just to take more time), remove my helmet with a big smile and then get my licence (with standard B100 kept with it) out of my seat (by the way the time thing is an old customer service trick where you slow down an interaction to calm the person and change their attitude).

As soon as I removed my gloves the policeman spotted my wedding ring. Immediately he started with the "you married?". "Yes" I replied. Still with a serious look on his face he stated "Thai girl?". "No", I replied "Khun Angkrit" and showed him the picture of my wife on our wedding day. A huge smile erupted across his face and then.....he hugged me! Right there, in the middle of the road block he hugged me. I told him to "Get off me you nutter" (with a smile, but quite serious, after all, what is the difference between a hug and restraining if it isn't the uniform?) and we broke the hug up with a lot of laughter. He told me my wife looked like Lady Diana (well, she is blonde and white....I guess), saluted me and sent me on my way.

These friendly policemen aren't quite as rare as unicorns.

[zzaa09]

Kudos goes out to the Sukhothai Police and Tourist Police.

Years ago when I was residing in Sukhothai....I found myself 2-and-a-half years overstayed.

Whoops....

In those days, greater Sukhothai was a closer-knit community than today.

They all knew I was waaaayyy overstayed, yet nothing came of it.

Added, I was best mates with the commander of the provincial prison.

Had been known to socialize with these gents in brown.

[somchai74]

I was in thailand for my father's funeral, at the dutch embassy we try to call my mother and try for over an hour and they couldnt get her number.

A few days later i was in the lobby of the hotel and meet a thai police officer, he saw my gold necklace with a buddha and asked if he could see it.

I showed him my buddha and after that he showed me his buddha's he had 7 buddha's on his necklace.

We started talking up to a point he asked me what i was doing here (not a place where most foreingers go) i told him what happend and what im doing here.

He asked where is your mother? i told him she live on the other side of the country and i wasnt able to contact her.

He asked me some info about her then he made a few calls in like 5 min i was talking to my mother.

Last year i was in chiang mai/ san kamphaeng with my niece when a policemen pulled us over asked my niece if i was her new boyfriend (he is a friend of my niece and her husband) he looked pretty serious at me until he knew i was her family i didnt know what was going on

I tought i would have to pay because i wasnt wearing a helmet

[toybits]

On my way home from work early evening, I was driving my old Toyota Corolla in front of Lumpini Police Station. A BMW was stationary in the median section between the north-bound and south-bound lanes. I had right of way. BMW lurched in front of me and I had no distance to brake on time - hit the BMW causing some denting on that car but really smashing the front end of my Toyota. My face must have turned white when a man in policeman's uniform alighted from the car. My face must have even turned whiter than white when the Policeman accepted that it was his fault and would cover damage to my car. He did so without me having to spend a salung to repair the car. This happened around 17 years ago.