Warning - Pattaya Now Has Alcohol Breath Testing In Daily Use

[vtjforyou]

Luckily they never stop cars, especially the expensive ones...

[TheWalkingMan]

With all the drunk drivers in Pattaya, this is a good idea. If you want to drink, take a taxi home! Too many people die or are seriously injured because of over drinking.

[Markland]

Luckily they never stop cars, especially the expensive ones...

i think most cars generally harder to stop all the cars and pull them in on side of road

motorbike more easy obviously

but you say luckily ? i have a nice car but i would never drive it when drunk

so why luckily ?do you drive your car when drunk ?

[WyattEarp]

Nice bit of writing. My SEO copywriter would be proud.

The problem is they only enforce this once or twice per year when the big guns comes down from Bangkok. The rest of the year, even if you can hardly stand, they cops will help you into your car and sent you on your way with a smile and "please drive careful". Consistency is needed.

It is also first time I've heard they don't take bribes. The previous occasions it seems you were guided to a table where you were told "pay 10,000 baht now or go to court". Expensive, but a way out. But that's again the selective enforcement that seems to be common here.

I think the treatment is outrageous and I'm sure not providing you a translation of the proceedings and what you sign is probably against a dozen international human rights conventions.

Do you have any idea what a taxi charge you to take you from downtown to the dark side? Not all of us live in downtown Pattaya.

I live in siam royal view.I get a baht bus service that takes care of the hotel down the road near the railway crossing.2 hundred baht in tuk tuk.Would cost less if i took motorbike taxi but what is a hundred baht. From walking street back to home at 4-6 in the morning a tuk tuk costs me 3 hundred baht.

So 5 hundred baht.Which is nothing if you compare it to having a accident or causing someones death while in your car or on motorbike.

It certainly is better spending 5 hundred baht then getting locked up for the night or even worse dying.If you got a moto taxi probably hundred baht to walking street and 1-2 hundred baht going home.

People complain about that but will have no problem spending 2-10 thousand baht on a good night out.

dont drink and drive not worth it

If you spend " 2-10 thousand baht on a good night out" you are probably a tourist. I generally spend less than 1,000 baht on a night out, and spending an additional 500 baht going in and coming back is rediculous when you think of the official taxi (proper, air-conditioned sedans) prices in Bangkok. If you suddenly want to start enforcing the DD laws here then enforce the taxi laws as well while you're at it.

[vtjforyou]

Luckily they never stop cars, especially the expensive ones...

i think most cars generally harder to stop all the cars and pull them in on side of road

motorbike more easy obviously

but you say luckily ? i have a nice car but i would never drive it when drunk

so why luckily ?do you drive your car when drunk ?

No drunk driving also. but even, i hate talking to the hookers in brown...

[easyride]

What a fascinating story. I've always carried a copy of the main page of my passport as I believe the law says you must carry ID but from what you say it would have done me no good at all. I suppose none of the high profile 'farang volunteers' were available? Well done to you for spreading the procedure.

[Markland]

Nice bit of writing. My SEO copywriter would be proud.

The problem is they only enforce this once or twice per year when the big guns comes down from Bangkok. The rest of the year, even if you can hardly stand, they cops will help you into your car and sent you on your way with a smile and "please drive careful". Consistency is needed.

It is also first time I've heard they don't take bribes. The previous occasions it seems you were guided to a table where you were told "pay 10,000 baht now or go to court". Expensive, but a way out. But that's again the selective enforcement that seems to be common here.

I think the treatment is outrageous and I'm sure not providing you a translation of the proceedings and what you sign is probably against a dozen international human rights conventions.

Do you have any idea what a taxi charge you to take you from downtown to the dark side? Not all of us live in downtown Pattaya.

I live in siam royal view.I get a baht bus service that takes care of the hotel down the road near the railway crossing.2 hundred baht in tuk tuk.Would cost less if i took motorbike taxi but what is a hundred baht. From walking street back to home at 4-6 in the morning a tuk tuk costs me 3 hundred baht.

So 5 hundred baht.Which is nothing if you compare it to having a accident or causing someones death while in your car or on motorbike.

It certainly is better spending 5 hundred baht then getting locked up for the night or even worse dying.If you got a moto taxi probably hundred baht to walking street and 1-2 hundred baht going home.

People complain about that but will have no problem spending 2-10 thousand baht on a good night out.

dont drink and drive not worth it

If you spend " 2-10 thousand baht on a good night out" you are probably a tourist. I generally spend less than 1,000 baht on a night out, and spending an additional 500 baht going in and coming back is rediculous when you think of the official taxi (proper, air-conditioned sedans) prices in Bangkok. If you suddenly want to start enforcing the DD laws here then enforce the taxi laws as well while you're at it.

lived here for ten years and no not a tourist.If i go walking street it is easy to spend that amount of money

but if you do drink and drive i hope you don't have accident cause accident or get caught by the police.But anyway do not expect the laws to be enforced for long..it will last a week then they will stop checking again until Christmas and new year

[kevkev1888]

I am not so sure this is anything to do with the new chief of police but I think the regular Songkran and Christmas/New Years crackdown.

I had a similar experience last new Years, again there was no bribe going to keep me from an appearance in court but 5K baht did get me out of the cells after only 1 hour and I was allowed to make my own way to court the next afternoon. Official fine was 2700 baht and again another 5K to keep me from another night in the cells and a trip trip Immigration the next day.

One word of warning however and I hope I am wrong on this point, I was told the the trip to Immigration was not just a formality to check your visa status but that having now been convicted in court of a criminal offence that your visa would automatically be cancelled and you would be deported.

I would suggest having cash available, just in case it is needed and it would be great if you could update us on what actually happens.

The best of luck to you!

[petercool]

While it is true that a special blitz was on during Songkran - in many provinces - you can get caught driving drunk at many other check points at other times if the senior officer decides that this is part of that night's agenda.

I join others in congratulating the OP for his informative post and his overall attitude to being caught.

A couple of points on some comments made in replies...

1) Tourist police are seldom involved in Traffic stops or Soi 9 station duties

2) other foreign police volunteers who usually are involved are not working from April 12th to 19th inclusive

[lovetotravel]

Over the past year, I've heard of several instances of people being busted for drunk driving and NOT being allowed to bribe their way out. One is a very hi so Thai guy in BKK. He did get out of going to jail, but had to leave his car on the side of the road and no money would let his sober friend drive it home for him (nice Benz).

Another was a very wealthy Thai man who owns a beach front hotel here. Got caught in Khorat, had to pay a big fine on the spot and they towed his Benz. He had to go back several days later to pick it up. Seems they are tightening things up quite a bit...

[misterhe]

I am not so sure this is anything to do with the new chief of police but I think the regular Songkran and Christmas/New Years crackdown.

I had a similar experience last new Years, again there was no bribe going to keep me from an appearance in court but 5K baht did get me out of the cells after only 1 hour and I was allowed to make my own way to court the next afternoon. Official fine was 2700 baht and again another 5K to keep me from another night in the cells and a trip trip Immigration the next day.

One word of warning however and I hope I am wrong on this point, I was told the the trip to Immigration was not just a formality to check your visa status but that having now been convicted in court of a criminal offence that your visa would automatically be cancelled and you would be deported.

I would suggest having cash available, just in case it is needed and it would be great if you could update us on what actually happens.

The best of luck to you!

Yes - I believe there is a risk of immigration cancelling a Visa, so I'll have my immigration lawyer with me. He specialises in difficult cases and has told me "don't worry it's a small thing", but I'll be cashed up. I'm on a multi-entry Non-Immigrant B Visa, so we''ll see what happens. I will update the forum when I have more info.

[FarangBuddha]

Wow...thanks for the report and sounds great to me. Hopefully the word will get around in the farang and Thai drunk-driving communities and they will think twice, thrice, or even move times before they get behind the wheels of a vehicle when they are drunk. A B 200-300 songtow or B 50 moto fare seems like the way to go for this tee-totler!

One question: Where was Neils when you needed him?

[FarangBuddha]

Quite an ordeal.

I only drink at home, but these rubber boots, do they have a size eleven?

As to bribes, if the breatho units are new toys they probably have to generate some legitimate income for a while to cover the purchase costs..

I wonder how often they check the calibration on these units...I mean, it wouldn't be in their interest to have it set a little low now would it?

[somtampet]

About time too,we tend to scorn all the deaths during sonrkran but nothinbg is said the rest of the year.I have seen some pathetic sights were farangs cant even get on their motorbikes due to being pissed.

If the ones without brains want to continue to have a weapon whilst pissed then get a bail bond with your insurance,but even that might not be ok due to being drink.

The real hard culprits deserve everything they get but no doubt i will be a do gooder instead of a responsible person,but its always the pisshead drivers who complain

[Spellforce]

The problem is not getting back. The problem is getting INTO town from the darkside.

When I'm drunked, I take 2 taxidrivers (1 for my motorbike). My house is 5 km after Sukhumvit, I always paid 200 or 300 bahts.

When I wake up, I'm safe and I don't need to go back to Pattaya to bring back my motorbike.

[FarangBuddha]

wheww...thanks for the heads-up! Whereas it is possible to get a Baht bus in town to back home where I live, it is more or less impossible to get into town without your own ride. Around the darkside is no public transport whatsoever so no chance to go to a pub and get home unless you drive by yourself...

I would imagine it would still be wise to just leave one's car/bike in town for the nite and retrieve it the next day. Of course, there is also the option of just sleeping it off in town as short-time hotels/rooms are available all around town (some of the Thai market ones quite plush...uhem or so I have heard) for a few hundred baht for a few hours to 500-600 for the nite.

[FarangBuddha]

3) The conditions are poor, the lack of communication and access to lawyers was worse. There is even a very old sign up on the inside of the watch house in english explaining you get a phone call ... but that was not offered. There was no mention of rights, there was no ability to exercise or enforce rights (hence I think it would have been better if I could have got hold of a lawyer).

Funny how the right-wing nuts in the USA are always complaining about the ACLU.

[MJCM]

wheww...thanks for the heads-up! Whereas it is possible to get a Baht bus in town to back home where I live, it is more or less impossible to get into town without your own ride. Around the darkside is no public transport whatsoever so no chance to go to a pub and get home unless you drive by yourself...

I would imagine it would still be wise to just leave one's car/bike in town for the nite and retrieve it the next day. Of course, there is also the option of just sleeping it off in town as short-time hotels/rooms are available all around town (some of the Thai market ones quite plush...uhem or so I have heard) for a few hundred baht for a few hours to 500-600 for the nite.

that's a very good advice, but most people (that drink and drive) don't want to spend any money on Taxi Drivers or cheap hotel rooms they want to keep their money in their pockets (because they think it's a waste). And when they are too intoxicated that they don't care anymore about the consequences, they just take their bikes / cars / whatever and head on home. When they get home safely without getting caught or causing an accident, they say: "You see, I'm a good driver even when I'm intoxicated, so I can do the same again next time when I go out for a Drink."

Edited April 16, 2012 by MJCM

[raro]

The problem is not getting back. The problem is getting INTO town from the darkside.

When I'm drunked, I take 2 taxidrivers (1 for my motorbike). My house is 5 km after Sukhumvit, I always paid 200 or 300 bahts.

When I wake up, I'm safe and I don't need to go back to Pattaya to bring back my motorbike.

Generally not a bad idea, would they also be able to drive my CAR as I don't drive my motorcycle across Sukhumvit and have usually one or two guitars in the trunk.

And no, I do not blow out 2 to 10,000 Baht on a night out, rather a tenth of that amount...

sent from my Android phone

[Markland]

The problem is not getting back. The problem is getting INTO town from the darkside.

When I'm drunked, I take 2 taxidrivers (1 for my motorbike). My house is 5 km after Sukhumvit, I always paid 200 or 300 bahts.

When I wake up, I'm safe and I don't need to go back to Pattaya to bring back my motorbike.

Generally not a bad idea, would they also be able to drive my CAR as I don't drive my motorcycle across Sukhumvit and have usually one or two guitars in the trunk.

And no, I do not blow out 2 to 10,000 Baht on a night out, rather a tenth of that amount...

sent from my Android phone

Yes but some do which i guess is not the point so i shouldn't of mentioned it.

But driving when drunk is a irresponsible selfish act.So spending 5 hundred baht or less just to get some transport into town that may prevent your death your arrest of someones else's death is not a huge amount to pay.

I am sure that you easily can afford that

[MJCM]

Maybe off topic, but what happens if you take (when intoxicated or not) a MotoBike Taxi home and the MotoBike Taxidriver fails the Breathalyzer ? Who's responsible ? The Farang because he hired the MotoBike Taxi or the MotoBike Taxi because he got drunk ?

Edited April 16, 2012 by MJCM

[bridge2bridge]

Was in Cha Am for songkran and was walking in the main street and saw a thai man driving a pickup with 10 or 12 teenagers in the back.

he was drinking a JUG of beer, in eye sight of 6 policemen.

WHAT A JOKE THAILAND IS, when it comes to enforcing the law.

And they wonder why the road toll is high here.

[Soutpeel]

Quite an ordeal.

I only drink at home, but these rubber boots, do they have a size eleven?

As to bribes, if the breatho units are new toys they probably have to generate some legitimate income for a while to cover the purchase costs..

I wonder how often they check the calibration on these units...I mean, it wouldn't be in their interest to have it set a little low now would it?

And let the conspiracy theories start,

if the units are similar to what we use for offshore. The user cannot "set" anything a "little low", in fact they cant set anything, other than turn it on or off....its a BAC reading thats given....it not a go-no go type of instrument, calibration/calibration checks are carried out by the manufactuer/vendor typically on an annual basis

[raro]

The problem is not getting back. The problem is getting INTO town from the darkside.

When I'm drunked, I take 2 taxidrivers (1 for my motorbike). My house is 5 km after Sukhumvit, I always paid 200 or 300 bahts.

When I wake up, I'm safe and I don't need to go back to Pattaya to bring back my motorbike.

Generally not a bad idea, would they also be able to drive my CAR as I don't drive my motorcycle across Sukhumvit and have usually one or two guitars in the trunk.

And no, I do not blow out 2 to 10,000 Baht on a night out, rather a tenth of that amount...

sent from my Android phone

Yes but some do which i guess is not the point so i shouldn't of mentioned it.

But driving when drunk is a irresponsible selfish act.So spending 5 hundred baht or less just to get some transport into town that may prevent your death your arrest of someones else's death is not a huge amount to pay.

I am sure that you easily can afford that

The thing is, in Bangkok, it would cost me around 60 Baht in a metered taxi one way for the distance between my home and my pub.

We have metered taxis in Pattaya but they refuse using the meter. I'd be happy using them but I feel somewhat reluctant to pay more for the transport than for the booze. And again, there is no way I could get into town at say 9:30 pm by public transport. Neither would bar hopping on the dark side be possible.

...and as we're at it, I feel safer driving pissed out of my mind than on the back of Somchai's motorcycle.

sent from my Android phone

[davethailand]

Scary reading especially as on the 13th at around 430am I was on my way home down soi 17 and at the bend where the Lion pub is there was a police roadblock with a couple of pick ups which people hand cuffed in the back, by the time I saw them they had seen me so I just continued, they slowed the bike in front of me down and just waved me through, I had no helmet on and had been to Walking St working so I was most definitly have failed a breath test.

Over 10 years here now and have never worried about it and to be honest I was going to comment on the OP's post before reading it through but I will now be taking taxi's home.

[Markland]

well raro i wish no ill feeling towards anyone i just hope you never have a accident and if you are drinking and driving don't be speeding.I don't know how much you drink but if it is less then what you would pay for taxies then either you must not drink to much therefore are never " pissed out of your mind "

or you get a lot of free drinks

everyone just stay safe

Edited April 16, 2012 by Markland

[bartender100]

Thanks for the post MisterHe, I would imagine between 2am and 5am 90% would be over the limit in that area. I sometimes drive around Jomtien when I've had a couple, but that will stop now, thanks

Also just to point out the police are now often just on the road near the Marine hotel very late at night looking for hat-less riders

[Markland]

Scary reading especially as on the 13th at around 430am I was on my way home down soi 17 and at the bend where the Lion pub is there was a police roadblock with a couple of pick ups which people hand cuffed in the back, by the time I saw them they had seen me so I just continued, they slowed the bike in front of me down and just waved me through, I had no helmet on and had been to Walking St working so I was most definitly have failed a breath test.

Over 10 years here now and have never worried about it and to be honest I was going to comment on the OP's post before reading it through but I will now be taking taxi's home.

very lucky.I happy for you in a way

[davethailand]

Scary reading especially as on the 13th at around 430am I was on my way home down soi 17 and at the bend where the Lion pub is there was a police roadblock with a couple of pick ups which people hand cuffed in the back, by the time I saw them they had seen me so I just continued, they slowed the bike in front of me down and just waved me through, I had no helmet on and had been to Walking St working so I was most definitly have failed a breath test.

Over 10 years here now and have never worried about it and to be honest I was going to comment on the OP's post before reading it through but I will now be taking taxi's home.

very lucky.I happy for you in a way

I've been stopped there before and asked where I'd been and where work etc but at the end of the day it only takes one serious pull and theres no way i'd like to go through the ordeal that the op did.

[how241]

Thanks for info. Definately a wake-up call to all that want to listen. Easy/cheap solution- take a taxi.