Big Police Checkpoint Up At The Y Sai Yuan And Kata-Rawai Rd.

[NamKangMan]

I've often wondered what obscure law the BiB would enforce if everyone was wearing their helmet and had a licence and they were not making any money.

I fear the "foreigner must carry passport" fine might come out.

Well judging by the endless stream of motorbikes heading that way with no helmet and probably unlicensed/incorrectly licensed tourists, I doubt they will ever need to invent reasons. Although one time they told me that I didn't signal when the copper waived me over.

The law about carrying your passport is actually a combination of two laws. I have posted them here before. The immigration law states you must be able to prove to a competent official othat you "entered the country legally." That doesn't specifically mean you have to carry your passport with you, but it means that if the cop doesn't accept a photo copy as proof, you may need to go get it or have someone bring it to you, and in the mean time you may need to wait at the police station. Your not arrested, just detained pending investigation. But they cannot cite you for not carrying your passport. But they can cite you for violating the Thai ID act which requires every person to carry legal identification on them at all times. This can be in the form of your passport or your Thai drivers license.

"must be able to prove to a competent official" - well, no one should have a problem then, as there are no competent officials in Thailand. :)

"Thai ID act which requires every person to carry legal identification" - this is the Thai ID Act, not The Alien ID Act. :)

[steelepulse]

This is a tangent to the OP, but today at the police station helping a friend sort out an accident, a policeman tries to park one of those new small police cars in front of the office where there is a dropoff to the side of the parking spot, and this wonderful law man drove over and off the side of the curb three times before finally being able to park correctly. I had to keep my laugh down to a quiet cackle. Unbelievable that these are the appointed ones to uphold the law and regulations.

They aren't appointed, they have to pay for their position here in Phuket! They must have made their quota fairly quickly as there was no checkpoint by a bit after 2 PM. But of course it was hot out by then!

Yes I know that, but they want you to think they were appointed, not annoited (via 400K to get the posting here).

[Jimi007]

This is a tangent to the OP, but today at the police station helping a friend sort out an accident, a policeman tries to park one of those new small police cars in front of the office where there is a dropoff to the side of the parking spot, and this wonderful law man drove over and off the side of the curb three times before finally being able to park correctly. I had to keep my laugh down to a quiet cackle. Unbelievable that these are the appointed ones to uphold the law and regulations.

They aren't appointed, they have to pay for their position here in Phuket! They must have made their quota fairly quickly as there was no checkpoint by a bit after 2 PM. But of course it was hot out by then!

Yes I know that, but they want you to think they were appointed, not annoited (via 400K to get the posting here).

We've been here too long...

[eezergood]

Is a valied Thai drivers license an acceptible form? As have gotten tired of having pockets full of photocopied passport pages.....

[stevehaigh]

I've often wondered what obscure law the BiB would enforce if everyone was wearing their helmet and had a licence and they were not making any money.

I fear the "foreigner must carry passport" fine might come out.

You wouldn't want to be the Police Officer walking upstairs empty handed one month.

Fact of the matter is that the police in any country could 'find' any number of reasons to arrest or fine an individual. The no helmet or no licence is an easy method here in Thailand. Quotas are easily made. i worry more about the bigger 'hits' where drugs might be planted on an individual and big money extorted. My wife tells me about a new one - the pump attendant plants some drugs inside the fuel flap, phones the police friend with reg number, and a road check up the road find the drugs. She mentioned this when we were on the way back from Krabi last week and there was an unusual checkpoint on that busy highway with only selected vehicle being pulled over.

really? is this true or an urban myth? if true i guess we need to start checking the fuel filler after each fill.

[stevehaigh]

actually, i've never had a problem at a police check point when i've had all my paper work in order. the other day at a check point on the 44 highway through surat the police guy said i had been driving too fast. i told him that i never drive over 100kph and he believed me and let me go.

[starkey_rich]

I've often wondered what obscure law the BiB would enforce if everyone was wearing their helmet and had a licence and they were not making any money.

I fear the "foreigner must carry passport" fine might come out.

You wouldn't want to be the Police Officer walking upstairs empty handed one month.

Fact of the matter is that the police in any country could 'find' any number of reasons to arrest or fine an individual. The no helmet or no licence is an easy method here in Thailand. Quotas are easily made. i worry more about the bigger 'hits' where drugs might be planted on an individual and big money extorted. My wife tells me about a new one - the pump attendant plants some drugs inside the fuel flap, phones the police friend with reg number, and a road check up the road find the drugs. She mentioned this when we were on the way back from Krabi last week and there was an unusual checkpoint on that busy highway with only selected vehicle being pulled over.

really? is this true or an urban myth? if true i guess we need to start checking the fuel filler after each fill.

That's an old one.Heard it many times.Don't know how true it is but could well believe it.

[noob7]

Is a valied Thai drivers license an acceptible form? As have gotten tired of having pockets full of photocopied passport pages.....

Let me guess: You have a phone with a average display size? Average these days, even apple means about 4'' now.

What is the paper in your pockets for?

[hansgruber]

Is a valied Thai drivers license an acceptible form? As have gotten tired of having pockets full of photocopied passport pages.....

Let me guess: You have a phone with a average display size? Average these days, even apple means about 4'' now.

What is the paper in your pockets for?

Thats why i keep a photo of my passport pages, visa and photo page in my phone. Helps in so many ways.

Lost my cards and everything in Europe, emailed the passport pics from my phone to the bank and had emergency cards sent. Saved me lots of crap.

[Ping]

In my home country I respect the authorities, but I'm no fan of the BiB here (I particularly despise their corrupt monthly collections from shops/bars, etc), but I would think that if any of them systematically set-up farangs for the purpose of extortion, it would soon become very well known. Afer all, if in a short period, one officer has three or four complaints against him for a particular unlawful practice, it would soon become very widely known. I don't believe it is helpful to anyone to start baseless rumour-mongering. What would be helpful is for people to provide facts about these types of matters in which people have had personal experience.

[noob7]

In my home country I respect the authorities, but I'm no fan of the BiB here (I particularly despise their corrupt monthly collections from shops/bars, etc), but I would think that if any of them systematically set-up farangs for the purpose of extortion, it would soon become very well known. Afer all, if in a short period, one officer has three or four complaints against him for a particular unlawful practice, it would soon become very widely known. I don't believe it is helpful to anyone to start baseless rumour-mongering. What would be helpful is for people to provide facts about these types of matters in which people have had personal experience.

Well, start with the shop and bar owners. Let them complain, and see what's happened.

Wait, I remember about a year ago.

All the stall owners in Karon where complaining. About the Karon major and the police.

Public, in Phuket town, with pictures in the news. And tellin everyone, that this people are charging money on monthly base.

Let me think, about any changes, so far,....

.

.

.

.

.

(Sorry, still thinking)

[NamKangMan]

Is a valied Thai drivers license an acceptible form? As have gotten tired of having pockets full of photocopied passport pages.....

Let me guess: You have a phone with a average display size? Average these days, even apple means about 4'' now.

What is the paper in your pockets for?

Thats why i keep a photo of my passport pages, visa and photo page in my phone. Helps in so many ways.

Lost my cards and everything in Europe, emailed the passport pics from my phone to the bank and had emergency cards sent. Saved me lots of crap.

What happens if your phone is lost or stolen?

I store copies of my documents in a secure vault in cyberspace.

[hansgruber]

Is a valied Thai drivers license an acceptible form? As have gotten tired of having pockets full of photocopied passport pages.....

Let me guess: You have a phone with a average display size? Average these days, even apple means about 4'' now.

What is the paper in your pockets for?

Thats why i keep a photo of my passport pages, visa and photo page in my phone. Helps in so many ways.

Lost my cards and everything in Europe, emailed the passport pics from my phone to the bank and had emergency cards sent. Saved me lots of crap.

What happens if your phone is lost or stolen?

I store copies of my documents in a secure vault in cyberspace.

I have copies saved in a email folder. Just composed an email with ID attached but didnt send to anyone.

[noob7]

Is a valied Thai drivers license an acceptible form? As have gotten tired of having pockets full of photocopied passport pages.....

Let me guess: You have a phone with a average display size? Average these days, even apple means about 4'' now.

What is the paper in your pockets for?

Thats why i keep a photo of my passport pages, visa and photo page in my phone. Helps in so many ways.

Lost my cards and everything in Europe, emailed the passport pics from my phone to the bank and had emergency cards sent. Saved me lots of crap.

What happens if your phone is lost or stolen?

I store copies of my documents in a secure vault in cyberspace.

For android? Vaulty!

[Guest]

What happens if your phone is lost or stolen?

I store copies of my documents in a secure vault in cyberspace.

For android? Vaulty!

Dropbox & boxcrypto works for me. Easy to edit files on laptop to encrypted directory and still have the possibility to access the files with Android.

[KarenBravo]

You could of course.........email them to yourself??

[NamKangMan]

You could of course.........email them to yourself??

Emails can be "intercepted." Saving them to draft is a little safer than emailing them to youself, but I prefer a secure online storage vault. To access the vault is the same security as accessing your internet banking. Nothing is 100% secure, but not too bad.

[David006]

don't spend a lot of time on Phuket but had my share of being checked out by police road blocks...been fined for expired rego and once for parking but found the BIB very polite and affable...always got a receipt.

Amazingly once offered a cop a drink after paying the fine at the cop station.( he had led me there on his bike as I had no idea where it was)..he refused.."no thank you have salary".

Although the somewhat silly checkpoint at Saracin bridge and other cones in the road for no apparent reason road blocks are annoying , it seems to me judging by the reports from Bangkok et al, that Phuket is pretty good by comparison.

Maybe I am just lucky or maybe it is the ancient retarded look on my face as we pass these checks...

Had a local Trang boonies cop stop me to check license......told me it had expired ...but then apologized when challenged..did not know what year it was I guess?

[Chainsaw]

Sure tea money is running out!

Nothing to do with tea money.

Explain?

Just normal law: you don't comply with the law so you get a fine. The fine will be the exact amount it is supposed to be, and you can not get away with an offer to pay less. And you get a receipt.

WRONG! I was stopped for no helmet at this Y junction.

Went to pay my fine of 500 baht only to realise that I only had 400 baht in my wallet. The money collector accepted that no problem AND I got a receipt!

I had a similar experience in Kata a few years back when I only had 20 baht in my wallet. They just waved me on. I didn't get a receipt that time.

[NoshowJones]

I've often wondered what obscure law the BiB would enforce if everyone was wearing their helmet and had a licence and they were not making any money.

I fear the "foreigner must carry passport" fine might come out.

Well judging by the endless stream of motorbikes heading that way with no helmet and probably unlicensed/incorrectly licensed tourists, I doubt they will ever need to invent reasons. Although one time they told me that I didn't signal when the copper waived me over.

The law about carrying your passport is actually a combination of two laws. I have posted them here before. The immigration law states you must be able to prove to a competent official othat you "entered the country legally." That doesn't specifically mean you have to carry your passport with you, but it means that if the cop doesn't accept a photo copy as proof, you may need to go get it or have someone bring it to you, and in the mean time you may need to wait at the police station. Your not arrested, just detained pending investigation. But they cannot cite you for not carrying your passport. But they can cite you for violating the Thai ID act which requires every person to carry legal identification on them at all times. This can be in the form of your passport or your Thai drivers license.

"must be able to prove to a competent official" - well, no one should have a problem then, as there are no competent officials in Thailand.

"Thai ID act which requires every person to carry legal identification" - this is the Thai ID Act, not The Alien ID Act.

Are you talking about immigration officials or police officers? My brother in law is a police officer, and is competent, I know because my wife told me.

[NoshowJones]

Why don't you just wear your'e helmet and save yourself a lot of hassle?

[TaoNow]

Reply to Chainsaw (#49):

I agree with StevenL that if you get a receipt, there is no graft (i.e., corruption).

In my post of several years ago ("fined in Kata") I described how the police handle the fine. They can charge from 200 to 500 baht depending on discretion of arresting officer. My ticket had two boxes checked: one for no helmet and one for no registration. But the officer never asked for the registration document. I decided not to argue.

So I took the ticket to Chalong and paid a 300 baht fine. Now I wear the helmet.

Think of it this way -- the check points are like innoculations (booster injections for, say, tetanus). They are not for boosting the sludge fund of the local police -- as long as a receipt is issued.

[hkt83100]

Dropbox & boxcrypto works for me. Easy to edit files on laptop to encrypted directory and still have the possibility to access the files with Android.

And in case of emergency the files are accessible from an internetcafe or any computer with internet connection.

[NomadJoe]

Reply to Chainsaw (#49):

I agree with StevenL that if you get a receipt, there is no graft (i.e., corruption).

In my post of several years ago ("fined in Kata") I described how the police handle the fine. They can charge from 200 to 500 baht depending on discretion of arresting officer. My ticket had two boxes checked: one for no helmet and one for no registration. But the officer never asked for the registration document. I decided not to argue.

So I took the ticket to Chalong and paid a 300 baht fine. Now I wear the helmet.

Think of it this way -- the check points are like innoculations (booster injections for, say, tetanus). They are not for boosting the sludge fund of the local police -- as long as a receipt is issued.

Actually, police work on a commission system here. It's a system that would appear abhorrent to any modern police force. A portion of each fine actually goes into a pool and is disseminated to the officers and brass. Each type of arrest made also gets a commission.. The more severe the crime, the greater the commission.

Is a valied Thai drivers license an acceptible form? As have gotten tired of having pockets full of photocopied passport pages.....

The Thai DL is good for fulfilling the Thai ID Act, but not the "prove you entered the Kingdom legally". BTW, you can fly domestically with your Thai DL. Done it many times.

Edited March 14, 2013 by NomadJoe

[NomadJoe]

I've often wondered what obscure law the BiB would enforce if everyone was wearing their helmet and had a licence and they were not making any money.

I fear the "foreigner must carry passport" fine might come out.

Well judging by the endless stream of motorbikes heading that way with no helmet and probably unlicensed/incorrectly licensed tourists, I doubt they will ever need to invent reasons. Although one time they told me that I didn't signal when the copper waived me over.

The law about carrying your passport is actually a combination of two laws. I have posted them here before. The immigration law states you must be able to prove to a competent official othat you "entered the country legally." That doesn't specifically mean you have to carry your passport with you, but it means that if the cop doesn't accept a photo copy as proof, you may need to go get it or have someone bring it to you, and in the mean time you may need to wait at the police station. Your not arrested, just detained pending investigation. But they cannot cite you for not carrying your passport. But they can cite you for violating the Thai ID act which requires every person to carry legal identification on them at all times. This can be in the form of your passport or your Thai drivers license.

"must be able to prove to a competent official" - well, no one should have a problem then, as there are no competent officials in Thailand.

"Thai ID act which requires every person to carry legal identification" - this is the Thai ID Act, not The Alien ID Act.

Are you talking about immigration officials or police officers? My brother in law is a police officer, and is competent, I know because my wife told me.

Definition of COMPETENT

1

: proper or rightly pertinent

2

: having requisite or adequate ability or qualities : fit <acompetent teacher> <a competent piece of work>

3

: legally qualified or adequate <a competent witness>

[NomadJoe]

I've often wondered what obscure law the BiB would enforce if everyone was wearing their helmet and had a licence and they were not making any money.

I fear the "foreigner must carry passport" fine might come out.

Well judging by the endless stream of motorbikes heading that way with no helmet and probably unlicensed/incorrectly licensed tourists, I doubt they will ever need to invent reasons. Although one time they told me that I didn't signal when the copper waived me over.

The law about carrying your passport is actually a combination of two laws. I have posted them here before. The immigration law states you must be able to prove to a competent official othat you "entered the country legally." That doesn't specifically mean you have to carry your passport with you, but it means that if the cop doesn't accept a photo copy as proof, you may need to go get it or have someone bring it to you, and in the mean time you may need to wait at the police station. Your not arrested, just detained pending investigation. But they cannot cite you for not carrying your passport. But they can cite you for violating the Thai ID act which requires every person to carry legal identification on them at all times. This can be in the form of your passport or your Thai drivers license.

"must be able to prove to a competent official" - well, no one should have a problem then, as there are no competent officials in Thailand.

"Thai ID act which requires every person to carry legal identification" - this is the Thai ID Act, not The Alien ID Act.

Thai ID Act requires anyone in the country, whether Thai or foreigner, to identify themselves to police.

[grumpyoldman]

O.K., as I live in this hood, I'll step up and tell my story regarding this checkpoint.

99.5% of the time (these days as years prior I was guilty of riding alot without), I wear my helmet whilst riding.

.5% is when I go up the street to 7/11.

The other day I get to 7 for a bag of ice..............they're out of ice. O.K., well, next nearest 7 is down at the threeway, and yes, you guessed it I headed there sans the brain-dish and got pinched.

Get to the table with the two cops 500thb. "WHAAAT" ! I exclaim, "it's 300thb and thats what I've been paying for the last 8 years, when this has happened prior". They look at me and say "500thb or you need to go over there to talk to top cop captain chief". O.K. fine, I'll talk to the big cheese.

Head honcho looks at me and says "you need to pay 500thb". I say "look, I've always paid, 300thb, I live here and I pay taxes here unlike these other lemmings on holiday. Due to the fact I pay income tax here I think 300thb is fair". He agreed and I was out the door less 300thb, damn expensive bag of ice.

[IrishIvan]

I've often wondered what obscure law the BiB would enforce if everyone was wearing their helmet and had a licence and they were not making any money.

I fear the "foreigner must carry passport" fine might come out.

Well judging by the endless stream of motorbikes heading that way with no helmet and probably unlicensed/incorrectly licensed tourists, I doubt they will ever need to invent reasons. Although one time they told me that I didn't signal when the copper waived me over.

The law about carrying your passport is actually a combination of two laws. I have posted them here before. The immigration law states you must be able to prove to a competent official othat you "entered the country legally." That doesn't specifically mean you have to carry your passport with you, but it means that if the cop doesn't accept a photo copy as proof, you may need to go get it or have someone bring it to you, and in the mean time you may need to wait at the police station. Your not arrested, just detained pending investigation. But they cannot cite you for not carrying your passport. But they can cite you for violating the Thai ID act which requires every person to carry legal identification on them at all times. This can be in the form of your passport or your Thai drivers license.

"must be able to prove to a competent official" - well, no one should have a problem then, as there are no competent officials in Thailand.

"Thai ID act which requires every person to carry legal identification" - this is the Thai ID Act, not The Alien ID Act.

Are you talking about immigration officials or police officers? My brother in law is a police officer, and is competent, I know because my wife told me.

I think that every farang man in Thailand is related to a policeman aren't they? In my home country I would be ashamed to admit I had to call on a family member policeman for a bit of back up for a trivial matter. In Thailand it appears to be a badge of honor. Sort of like a psuedo cop syndrome

[grumpyoldman]

I'm really missing a gal that used to work in our accounting office. Her uncle (really, not pseudo cop or "friend" - leung), worked at the Chalong station. Used to be able to hand her the paper and 100thb and was good2go.

[IrishIvan]

I'm really missing a gal that used to work in our accounting office. Her uncle (really, not pseudo cop or "friend" - leung), worked at the Chalong station. Used to be able to hand her the paper and 100thb and was good2go.

and it probably took you 200 bahts worth of gasoline for the round trip. IMO the less you have to do with police in any country the better. On the odd occasion I have had to pay tea money I get the TGF to do it. The less they see or know about me the better