Thai Police See Role Model In Seoul

[bendejo]

The math so far:

let's see now, 5 accidents per day, so that's about 150 per month, and

> A new report shows a monthly average of 40 people died in traffic accidents in Seoul last year.

sounds like a high mortality rate.

But could this number involve those who get out of their car and beat the other driver to death in a fit of temper?

[Gsxrnz]

Slightly off topic, but I was stoped by the Police today for "failing to keep left while not overtaking". It was explained to me in pretty good English that my licence would be confiscated, I would have to pay the fine, and then return with a receipt to collect my licence, or collect it at the local police station tomorrow. My buddy said "can we pay now". The cop breathed a sigh of relief and replies "no problem, 200 baht". Currency changed hands, Sa-wat-dee-krups and Kohb-khun-krups all round, and off we go to the golf course. What impressed me the most was that I had a stack of 1,000's in my wallet (rent payment day) that the cop saw when I extracted my licence, but he chose not push for more than the 200. Integrity!!??

This is nothing new in Thailand I guess, but this was a significant event for me as it was my first exposure to direct corruption. In the past I've always got the ticket and had the hassle of paying the fine and tracking down my licence.

It will take 2 or 3 more generations before Thailand will even begin to extract itself from the quagmire of corruption and 3rd world status, not dissimilar to the American Wild west in the latter half of the 19th century. Aspirations of becoming a law-abiding and united country, but plagued by empire building sherrifs, marshalls, judges, governors and senators.....all hell bent on feathering their own nest.

My two penneth's worth.

[atyclb]

Korean society is a different animal. They have meaningful world class education, organization, efficiency and accountability. They are also technologically advanced. Korea is popular as a Thai tourist destination also. Most of all of greatest interest to Thai people is how "white" koreans are without whitening cream.

[fred110]

http://notthenation....-for-motorists/

Police Launch New EZ-Bribe Card For Motorists

15 Jul 2012

BANGKOK – Drivers in the capital will now enjoy the convenience of paying bribes to police electronically, according to a new system unveiled by the Bangkok Metropolitan Police yesterday.

The EZ-Bribe card is modeled after the EZ Pass that motorists have been using to pay tolls without having to stop. Similar to the EZ Pass system, the EZ-Bribe card is a stored value card that instantly deducts the price of a single-trip police bribe from the user’s account whenever the car passes a police checkpoint.

Please note SATIRE

You just gave the bib an idea!

[Payboy]

Seoul police can reach an accident scene within three minutes, he said.

Won´t happen in Bangkok.

Thats almost a 6 hour flight.

Edited July 17, 2012 by Payboy

[razer]

Seoul police also collect tea money

I lived and worked in Seoul. Two high ranking police inspectors were friends. When I asked why they don't carry guns their reply was they don't need them. They are Taikwando experts. Scarey. When I asked them about "tea money" they were offnded. They said any policeman who takes money brings shame to their country.

[JeffreyWitty]

Korean society is a different animal. They have meaningful world class education, organization, efficiency and accountability...

PFFT! Sorry. Can' help but laugh at that statement.

I currently live in South Korea - been here since 2003. I don't live in Seoul but I work of there from time to time. Everything Tuky says is TRUE. Additionally, the news article is the biggest pile of rubbish I have ever read!

I have been in 2 auto accidents here.

1st accident - underage kid on a motorbike T-Boned me (she had on no helmet either). I was found "More at fault". 2 reasons - because I was the dirty foreigner (whitey) and I was in a car. That was in 07.

2nd accident - Guy jumps out into traffic (not at a crosswalk) in front of my car - not paying attention - and I hit him. I was at fault cause "He's a pedestrian". To avoid the courts I had to kiss his ass and bring him ribs at the hospital where he was rehabilitating. The accident was at such a slow speed that I found his injuries highly dubious - as doctors here can be bribed to make it sound like you ar more hurt than you appear to be - hence opening up the ability to milk the insurance companies for more money while you chill out in a hospital bed from 9am to 5pm. That was in 2011.

By the way - you CAN kill someone driving here and if you pay enough "sorry money" you can avoid jail time altogether!

Lastly, I have never seen cops take bribes here nor have heard of it happening since the 80s. That part is true. They don't take bribes - cause they are usually too busy sleeping in their patrol cars!

[Keesters]

Stop all the underage children from driving their motorbikes until they are legally old enough to drive.

Jail and/or fine the parents who allow their children to drive motorbikes.

Edited July 18, 2012 by Keesters

[JulesMad]

So this year Seoul was the destination of choice. I'm still waiting for that free bicycle program to be implemented after that last excursion to Amsterdam.

Unfortunately the free bicycle program in Amsterdam did not work out... People (mostly tourists) thought they were 'free' and never returned them and smart-ass junkies took the 'free' bikes and sold them.

Still, in a world of honest people the program would work as designed

[barefoot1988]

Korean society is a different animal. They have meaningful world class education, organization, efficiency and accountability...

PFFT! Sorry. Can' help but laugh at that statement.

I currently live in South Korea - been here since 2003. I don't live in Seoul but I work of there from time to time. Everything Tuky says is TRUE. Additionally, the news article is the biggest pile of rubbish I have ever read!

I have been in 2 auto accidents here.

1st accident - underage kid on a motorbike T-Boned me (she had on no helmet either). I was found "More at fault". 2 reasons - because I was the dirty foreigner (whitey) and I was in a car. That was in 07.

2nd accident - Guy jumps out into traffic (not at a crosswalk) in front of my car - not paying attention - and I hit him. I was at fault cause "He's a pedestrian". To avoid the courts I had to kiss his ass and bring him ribs at the hospital where he was rehabilitating. The accident was at such a slow speed that I found his injuries highly dubious - as doctors here can be bribed to make it sound like you ar more hurt than you appear to be - hence opening up the ability to milk the insurance companies for more money while you chill out in a hospital bed from 9am to 5pm. That was in 2011.

By the way - you CAN kill someone driving here and if you pay enough "sorry money" you can avoid jail time altogether!

Lastly, I have never seen cops take bribes here nor have heard of it happening since the 80s. That part is true. They don't take bribes - cause they are usually too busy sleeping in their patrol cars!

i stayed in busan for quite some time and i had to say they had to be one of the most racist country in asia.

[orosee]

I lived and worked in Seoul. Two high ranking police inspectors were friends. When I asked why they don't carry guns their reply was they don't need them. They are Taikwando experts. Scarey. When I asked them about "tea money" they were offnded. They said any policeman who takes money brings shame to their country.

I'd say your police friends lied to you. Taekwondo in Korea is a sport for kids and foreigners, not a martial art to scare off armed or multiple attackers.About the tea money, well, one would have to bring it to the station because the Korean police seems to have a huge problem with getting off their a$$ and actually doing something outside, be it their job or collecting bribes. It's very hard to take them serious, most of them seem to be kids and none of them seems to be interested in doing, say, police work.The only real police here is the riot police, and even they usually bring 500 armor-suited officers to say a demonstration of 50 elderly women. Okay, they also have some violent stuff to deal with but they also bring water cannons and scores of armed buses. Nobody here (in Korea) respects the police. And most of them don't deserve respect.I think maybe what Thai police wants to look into are the uniforms, which show less body detail.

[orosee]

Korean society is a different animal. They have meaningful world class education, organization, efficiency and accountability...

PFFT! Sorry. Can' help but laugh at that statement.

I currently live in South Korea - been here since 2003. I don't live in Seoul but I work of there from time to time. Everything Tuky says is TRUE. Additionally, the news article is the biggest pile of rubbish I have ever read!

I have been in 2 auto accidents here.

1st accident - underage kid on a motorbike T-Boned me (she had on no helmet either). I was found "More at fault". 2 reasons - because I was the dirty foreigner (whitey) and I was in a car. That was in 07.

2nd accident - Guy jumps out into traffic (not at a crosswalk) in front of my car - not paying attention - and I hit him. I was at fault cause "He's a pedestrian". To avoid the courts I had to kiss his ass and bring him ribs at the hospital where he was rehabilitating. The accident was at such a slow speed that I found his injuries highly dubious - as doctors here can be bribed to make it sound like you ar more hurt than you appear to be - hence opening up the ability to milk the insurance companies for more money while you chill out in a hospital bed from 9am to 5pm. That was in 2011.

By the way - you CAN kill someone driving here and if you pay enough "sorry money" you can avoid jail time altogether!

Lastly, I have never seen cops take bribes here nor have heard of it happening since the 80s. That part is true. They don't take bribes - cause they are usually too busy sleeping in their patrol cars!

Yeah, the accident thing in Seoul is weird. Much of the time, the damages to the cars are split between the drivers, which means if you're in some cheap old junk and get (!) hit by an imported Lambo or Ferrari (lots of them here driven by late 20's and mid 30's good for nothings) that's guy will owe you $500 and you owe him $250,000. Neat. Police is doing nothing. People park their cars wherever they like, each red light is still passed by 2-5 cars, cars block pedestrian crossings and sidewalks, motorcycles race over the sidewalks (not a lot of helmets used either)- yeah, what city am I talking about, does that sound familiar?I have 13 years in Bangkok and now 5 in Seoul, I consider Bangkok to be the city with overall more traffic discipline. You see a lot less police here though, and next to no rip-offs. Would there not be a better role model in Singapore?

[orosee]

i stayed in busan for quite some time and i had to say they had to be one of the most racist country in asia.

While what you say is generally true and also was my very strong first impression of Korea and Koreans, I would like to add that in my travel experience inside Korea, Busan has been the most racist city.Fortunately, like all other cities in Korea that are not Seoul, it is also very boring after 36 hours. The best thing in Korea is the high speed internet and perhaps (for some) the fact that one can drink without limits for 24 hours a day and still remain socially acceptable. Many foreigners with higher ranking position seem to choose this way to deal with being stationed here.