Gobsmacked

[Soi Sauce]

Got stopped by the cops for jumping a red light, hell, everybody does it, just off Rama 4 near Kwa Nam Thai, but was not allowed to pay the guy who stopped me! Instead I had to surrender my licence and go to the station to pay me fine the next day.

What is happening? Not only did it cost more than the customary 200b backhander, it was a lot more inconvenient.

Bring back the real Thai cops soon, please.

[karlos]

LOL, looks like the 'anti corruption' measures are really coming into affect

[VocalNeal]

Nah. It's all the beigists who have come here and whinge about it not being safe and laws not being enforced, dangerous drivers et al..

They'll ruin it for everyone as here will become like the places they left to live in paradise.

Edited January 13, 2013 by VocalNeal

[richard_smith237]

Good on the Cops...

You on the other hand appear to be very much the fool.

[loserlazer]

Normally you need to leave your license to policeman ans need to go to the police station he is bound to pay the fine and to receive you license back. It is a part of the punishment i guess!

I never pass a red light, do not go from wrong direction or pavements etc. So do not have a problem with police as they start to take these serious. A lot of riders stopped and fined harshly last two months about these. Which is good man as passing a red light or going from wrong direction for a rider is seriously and i think the most dangerous!

All i do sometime is using tunnels and overpasses and using the outer lanes and scissoring in the traffic and they do not stop me for these for a long time which i do not remember my last mandatory police stop!

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect App

Edited January 13, 2013 by loserlazer

[Semper]

Got stopped by the cops for jumping a red light

Yes, and?

[Soi Sauce]

Got stopped by the cops for jumping a red light

Yes, and?

Please read the rest of the post! It will tell you about the "and."

[YipYipYa123]

every cop must give out 100 "official tickets " per month

the rest can go in his back pocket

he gets 200 anyway when you pay 400 at the station so it makes little differnce to him

[Briggsy]

Previous poster has it right.

There are ticket quotas for individual cops and more importantly for stations.

[Soi Sauce]

Previous poster has it right.

There are ticket quotas for individual cops and more importantly for stations.

That's good as I now know I'm doing my civic duty by helping the cops achieve their targets. Heard their cut was 10% of fines, however, not 50. If it was the latter, there'd be no point in taking roadside contributions.

[YipYipYa123]

Previous poster has it right.

There are ticket quotas for individual cops and more importantly for stations.

That's good as I now know I'm doing my civic duty by helping the cops achieve their targets. Heard their cut was 10% of fines, however, not 50. If it was the latter, there'd be no point in taking roadside contributions.

my x gf was married to a cop before i met her and she says he gets half of the money he can earn from tickets ,

so thats why he wouldnt accept the 200 i tried to give him from my wallet because he probably hadnt reached his monthly quota yet

he did motioned to accept the 500 note i had on me but i just smiled and said too expensive and put that back in my pocket

then he smiled and wrote me a ticket for 400 and confiscated my licence

try bribing them with more than 200 if you dont live beside the station and you have a higher chance of it being accepted but again ,they

have to hit the monthly quotas anyway so sometimes bribes just dont work,esp on larger checkpoints where a superior officer might be overseeing things

[transam]

You ran a red light . AND your telling us.

[BSJ]

Jumping a red light may not be the stupidist thing to do but it could be dangerous. I'd never do that!

[Semper]

Got stopped by the cops for jumping a red light

Yes, and?

Please read the rest of the post! It will tell you about the "and."

Yes I did read the whole post, and what I understand you're not happy that you couldn't pay a bribe on the spot. Instead you had to go to the Police Station and pay your fine. I'm really sorry for your inconvenience.

In some countries, you would be without a DL (if youhave one) for a month + fines for this.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Semper

[YipYipYa123]

Got stopped by the cops for jumping a red light

Yes, and?

Please read the rest of the post! It will tell you about the "and."

Yes I did read the whole post, and what I understand you're not happy that you couldn't pay a bribe on the spot. Instead you had to go to the Police Station and pay your fine. I'm really sorry for your inconvenience.

In some countries, you would be without a DL (if youhave one) for a month + fines for this.

in the uk it could be licence revoked for a year if you get 12 points iirc

[transam]

Hmmmmm OP, yesterday l did a left turn on MY green light, half way and a twonk came sailing through on his red, l ''nearly'' wiped them out. You folk make me .

[mania]

I remember awhile back a guy getting cut in two by a tractor trailer who was late & going thru after his green went red.

The guy who got hit may have been early off his red light too?

I always think of that when I see guys going when the light is still red.

Sure it looks clear in the direction traffic is "supposed" to come from.

But TIT it is not uncommon for someone to be going down any street the wrong way

I usually also like to let a few scooters go first as bait no matter what after light goes green

I know I am going to sail by them in a few seconds anyway. But I like letting someone else test the waters.

Sorry I know that sounds bad

[YipYipYa123]

I remember awhile back a guy getting cut in two by a tractor trailer who was late & going thru after his green went red.

The guy who got hit may have been early off his red light too?

I always think of that when I see guys going when the light is still red.

Sure it looks clear in the direction traffic is "supposed" to come from.

But TIT it is not uncommon for someone to be going down any street the wrong way

I usually also like to let a few scooters go first as bait no matter what after light goes green

I know I am going to sail by them in a few seconds anyway. But I like letting someone else test the waters.

Sorry I know that sounds bad

the amount of times ive witnessed a speeding pick up charging towards the intersection as he sees 5,4,3,2, etc and instead of braking to a stop he puts the boot to the floor and hammers through the intersection

i usually let it go green for a couple of seconds also and then i can take off ,you dont get two chances on a bike vs a pick up so a couple of seconds to wait is nothing

after a couple of hundred of metres i can pass all the scooters safely anyway so there is nothing to be gained and everything to lose by being first off at the lights like a moto gp racer

[Phronesis]

Last year I had a traffic cop in Phuket town screaming at me because I wouldn't drive through a red light at busy intersection.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Phronesis

[Soi Sauce]

Having done 120,000k plus in 10 years on me 2 bikes, still have 2 legs, and the cost of petrol could not

more than 50k, I find the faux moralizers hard to take. ie those in cars and spending shed loads on air con.

U destroy the World; I'll jump a lite when there is nothing visible for 200 meters and I'm nowhere near a main road.. Cost me less than u 4 wheelers spend in a day on pollution.

There was humour in the op. Please get some in your lives,

[Hili]

Always nice to see at a intersection. Idiots who are starting earlier green and idiots passing red. In the end they will meet in the middle, sometimes they are lucky sometimes not. Have seen many crazy maneuvers resulting from it. I am waiting cause in the end iam passing them anyway.

That they take the license it's the official way of a ticket, the good thing is you have to go to pick it up from the station the cop is from haha. Once they put a yellow sticker on my licsene after paying the fine. Asked them about it and nobody could tell me any details. Seems something like points....

[Thailaw]

Having done 120,000k plus in 10 years on me 2 bikes, still have 2 legs, and the cost of petrol could not

more than 50k, I find the faux moralizers hard to take. ie those in cars and spending shed loads on air con.

U destroy the World; I'll jump a lite when there is nothing visible for 200 meters and I'm nowhere near a main road.. Cost me less than u 4 wheelers spend in a day on pollution.

There was humour in the op. Please get some in your lives,

There are no "moralizers" here, just people, unlike you, with some common sense. You "jump a lite" for what? To save 4 or 5 seconds? Is you day so filled with things to be done that 4 or 5 seconds is worth the risk of your life and safety and, more importantly, someone else's? Or is it just some bizarre thrill you get by breaking the law in an otherwise totally empty life? Bikes can be great transportation if used wisely. Unfortunately, there are just too many people in Thailand that ride bikes recklessly -- jumping red lights, driving on the wrong side of the road, and passing slow moving traffic with on-coming cars and bikes, and other foolish and dangerous stunts -- making driving a motorbike more dangerous for all of us. Hopefully for all of us, your trip to the police station and the inconvenience it caused (forget the money, you apparently have too much of it) will encourage you to drive more safely for the benefit of alll of us driving on the roads in Thailand. It is you, I think, that needs to get something in your life and stop getting your thrills by driving your motorbike like an idiot and then complaining about the inconvenience because you can't bribe your way out of it!

[VocalNeal]

I think that the phrase "jumping" a light may be in appropriate in this case, if I understand correctly.

Sounds like a deserted traffic light where the OP got frustrated waiting when there was no traffic. Slightly different that speeding across an intersection when the light is red.

Locals would turn left on red then do a U turn, then turn left again. See it everyday.

[robblok]

I think that the phrase "jumping" a light may be in appropriate in this case, if I understand correctly.

Sounds like a deserted traffic light where the OP got frustrated waiting when there was no traffic. Slightly different that speeding across an intersection when the light is red.

Locals would turn left on red then do a U turn, then turn left again. See it everyday.

That i might understand but really jumping red lights when busy like some Thais do... that is just crazy and if you defend that.... draw your own conclusions.

I like it that they start to enforce trafic laws like not letting people drive drunk, and jumping lights on busy intersections is alwo something they should get people for.

Once on my bike i almost got T boned by a red light jumper, real dangerous.

[VocalNeal]

I like it that they start to enforce trafic laws like not letting people drive drunk, and jumping lights on busy intersections is alwo something they should get people for.

The question is who are "they".

The laws and enforcement of those laws is up to the police, and up to the people of Thailand to obey them.

It is not my place as a "visitor", albeit long-term, to complain about such stuff. This line of thinking is no different from buying a house near an airport and then complaining abut the noise.

My philosophy is; When in Rome, do what the Romans do. The place was functioning long before I got here and will probably continue to do so after I have gone.

[robblok]

I like it that they start to enforce trafic laws like not letting people drive drunk, and jumping lights on busy intersections is alwo something they should get people for.

The question is who are "they".

The laws and enforcement of those laws is up to the police, and up to the people of Thailand to obey them.

It is not my place as a "visitor", albeit long-term, to complain about such stuff. This line of thinking is no different from buying a house near an airport and then complaining abut the noise.

My philosophy is; When in Rome, do what the Romans do. The place was functioning long before I got here and will probably continue to do so after I have gone.

Ah yes but even this place evolves with or without us. We are not the ones changing it. So in a way the locals want change and you will have to obey following your logic.

[VocalNeal]

Ah yes but even this place evolves with or without us. We are not the ones changing it. So in a way the locals want change and you will have to obey following your logic.

As a person more famous than me once said "Rules are for the guidance of wise men and obedience of fools"

We should all continue to follow the laws of the land.

[richard_smith237]

Having done 120,000k plus in 10 years on me 2 bikes, still have 2 legs, and the cost of petrol could not

more than 50k, I find the faux moralizers hard to take. ie those in cars and spending shed loads on air con.

U destroy the World; I'll jump a lite when there is nothing visible for 200 meters and I'm nowhere near a main road.. Cost me less than u 4 wheelers spend in a day on pollution.

There was humour in the op. Please get some in your lives,

The global warming debate bears no relevance whatsoever to jumping a red light...

Attempting to use such an arguement to moralize the stupidity of jumping a red light leads to conclusions of a suspect intellect.

I hope no one else is hurt when Darwinism takes effect.

[richard_smith237]

I like it that they start to enforce trafic laws like not letting people drive drunk, and jumping lights on busy intersections is alwo something they should get people for.

The question is who are "they".

The laws and enforcement of those laws is up to the police, and up to the people of Thailand to obey them.

It is not my place as a "visitor", albeit long-term, to complain about such stuff. This line of thinking is no different from buying a house near an airport and then complaining abut the noise.

My philosophy is; When in Rome, do what the Romans do. The place was functioning long before I got here and will probably continue to do so after I have gone.

Think about that next time you go through a green light.

Someone going through on red might be thinking 'when in Rome'.... It's little consolation if you are hurt.

I care about those around me which is why I pass on my opinion, especially when it comes to subjects as uncontroversial as road safety.

[Soi Sauce]

Having done 120,000k plus in 10 years on me 2 bikes, still have 2 legs, and the cost of petrol could not

more than 50k, I find the faux moralizers hard to take. ie those in cars and spending shed loads on air con.

U destroy the World; I'll jump a lite when there is nothing visible for 200 meters and I'm nowhere near a main road.. Cost me less than u 4 wheelers spend in a day on pollution.

There was humour in the op. Please get some in your lives,

The global warming debate bears no relevance whatsoever to jumping a red light...

Attempting to use such an arguement to moralize the stupidity of jumping a red light leads to conclusions of a suspect intellect.

I hope no one else is hurt when Darwinism takes effect.

there is a connection as I use less gas if I'm not idling at a light, thereby lessening GW.

Would have thought the highly evolved would have worked that out quickly, but it seems Darwinsm moves at different speeds even within the same species.

Junp a light and catch up with the rest of the race.