Bribespot - will it work?

[dezeure]

This will just result In a map full of red markers. In fact only between the buffalo fields will there be some free space or will there?

And what is the point of this? So it shows where someone once took a bribe. Name a place in Thailand where that HASN'T happened???

[Ulic]

Glad someone is trying but it will be a multi decade battle to get anywhere. Well worth the fight.

[bigdod]

Yep, I agree. Good luck....you're going to need it

[aussieinthailand]

I like it and hope there is support from TV members, one hell of a job but you gotta start somewhere.

[tingtongfarang]

PS..just seen the stream above...yes it is available as an app for both Android and iOS smartphones.....for Thai language download the Bribespot Thailand app but for English perhaps better to go for the international Bribespot version...

What happens after all the bribe reports? is any kind of action taken?

[impulse]

Next we need an app for all the boyfriends back home to post a picture of their Thai girlfriend. With facial recognition so we can figure out if we (or more accurately, they) are getting double dipped.

[mikemac]

This will just result In a map full of red markers. In fact only between the buffalo fields will there be some free space or will there?

Actually, no. You can still pay/take bribes in the middle of a buffalo field. In Surin province anyway.

[dave2]

re

Wonder what the people in the photo would do when they ilegally park

they didnt ! .. that day

they parked in a gas station for a break and had a coffee

after that they went down towards chiang

klan road

dave2

[marell]

One way to gauge it's success will be to see how long it operates as advertised. If it proves popular and effective, it will be compromised, diverted or just shut down.

[Chao Lao Beach]

Police Launch New EZ-Bribe Card For Motorists

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.

To accommodate the new system, police checkpoints will now have a dedicated EZ-Bribe lane, where member motorists can drive straight through. Those without an EZ-Bribe sticker on their windshields will have to use the manual lanes and haggle over bribes in the traditional manner.

Opening promotional prices have been set at Bt100 per private passenger car, Bt60 for pickup trucks, Bt30 for motorcycles, and Bt200 for any vehicle carrying a Serpico sticker.

Luxury cars costing over Bt12 million, such as the Mercedes S500 and the BMW 7 Series will, as always, be exempt from all bribes, interference, and law.

Kamronwit also pointed out that the EZ-Bribe system works in the rain, which makes it superior to actual police officers.

Source Here

[Chittychangchang]

The flaw i see is if a police officer has the app and put's up red herring's directing everyone into a bottle neck ambush.

The other downside is the amount of time and fuel used to avoid the black spots.

However, i do think it's a good idea if a tad unworkable.

I'm sure the company can iron out the creases.

Btw Is this thread for real or a wind up?

CCC

Edited August 18, 2013 by Chittychangchang

[kimamey]

It's great that you have caught the news of Bribespot Thailand so quickly! Good for you! Can I just clarify one thing......internationally Bribespot.com has indeed been around for a couple of years, but Bribespot Thailand was only officially launched in Bangkok less than 2 weeks ago and our first regional roadshow is indeed here in Chiang Mai...I hope your post attracts attention and I would be more than happy to interact with you on this. Please go ahead and ask any questions...and keep checking out our Facebook page (Bribespot Thailand) for updates

It certainly looks like a good idea and I wish you well with it even though I know it's going take a long time to make any difference.

Something that does puzzle me looking at the pictures in the OP. It's all in Thai which is fine for a start but Bribespot Thailand is in English in large letters. It seems to be a Thai tradition in print media to have headings in English and the rest of the body text in Thai.

Anyway good luck.

[kimamey]

Next we need an app for all the boyfriends back home to post a picture of their Thai girlfriend. With facial recognition so we can figure out if we (or more accurately, they) are getting double dipped.

You're just an old romantic really aren't you?

[rjcampbe]

LOVE THIS!

Wanted to see an app like this in Thailand for a while.

I've already installed it on my phone and will be a faithful user and promoter.

The Thai bashing and negative comments have already started on this thread... to those people, all I can say is you can sit around and bitch and be a part of the problem or you can contribute to the solution by raising awareness of this issue and providing real details on the magnitude of the problem.

Someone said that this will only change when the people stand up and make it stop. They are absolutely right... and this kind of app is the first step in giving them the voice and platform to stand up and say ENOUGH!

If you think this kind of social media action doesn't have real results in the political world, you have been living under a rock the last year or two.

To Bribespot Thailand,

You are doing a great thing with this app. Welcome to Thailand!

[Mitch Harrington]

Thanks for ignoring me.

An Australian university is named, the subject and department identified (meaning the individual could be inferred), and accused of bribes for grades. How can you allow such a claim to be made?

Do you think this is a good idea?

Are you swimming in DMCA notices?

Why so angry, Bangkockney? From what I remember, there was actually an official news story running in Australia a couple of months ago about this professor - he DID take bribes, got caught in the act and was prosecuted. So no need to worry about slander here.

As for the DMCAs, from what I know they only apply to a copyrighted content, e.g. books, films, music and so on. None of that is featured on the website - it's only crowdsourced reports, so I think the people behind this project should be alright. At least for a while.

[Bribespot Thailand]

Didn't want to ignore you, Bangkockney, or anybody else...just not enough hours in the day to do everything right now. For sure our system may not be perfect and there indeed some changes that we in Thailand would have liked to have made but were unable to do so as ownership is still with the Europe-based Bribespot NPO. However, we feel that we are off to a good start and have, overall, had some very encouraging comments whilst we have been on the road in Chiang Mai...and a sudden influx of FB Fan page 'likes' from non-Thais...Little by little...

[kimamey]

I've just had time to look at this again and I scanned the QR code in the picture. It took me to the FB page OK and I clicked on more information and then view website. I then got this message.

Oops Google Chrome could not find www.bribespot.con

Did you mean bribespot.com

I hope this isn't a clue to it's validity.

[harrry]

I've just had time to look at this again and I scanned the QR code in the picture. It took me to the FB page OK and I clicked on more information and then view website. I then got this message.

Oops Google Chrome could not find www.bribespot.con

Did you mean bribespot.com

I hope this isn't a clue to it's validity.

con or com.....probably both.

[Beetlejuice]

I watched the video on the blindspot.com website and the founder speaks like Arnold Schwarzenegger. I almost expected him to say; I’ll Be Back, at the end.

But placing the humour aside, this is a brilliant project and I will definitely be making a donation.

This project has the approval of many police here in Chiang Mai, although there have been no official comments made from the heads of departments.

My advice is, use it if need be and lets help bury bribery and corruption once and for all, or at least name and shame these people and give a warning to those who could find themselves at the receiving end of injustice and corruption, whether it be from the lowest up to the highest levels of society.

[A1Str8]

Dave2 from the Chiang Mai forum brought this to my attention though seems to have been around a couple of years.  The photos below supplied by Dave2 show the road show in Chiang Mai.  So, what do you think - will it help or will people be too afraid of the dark forces to use it?

 

{style_image_url}/attachicon.gif bribespot1.jpg  {style_image_url}/attachicon.gif bribespot2.jpg

 

Bribespot.com

"What Wikipedia did for education, Bribespot could one day do for corruption monitoring"

 

Chiang Mai Road Show

 

 

 

When first heard about it I thought cool, we are going to have spots set up all over the the city, giving us a chance to bribe authorities.

But then they talk about tracking my bribes online?

Whats happening to the world?

Sent from one of my devices using the internet

[razorramone]

I see quite a few reports listed for Bangkok. Looks like it is working already.

Bribespot 01.png Bribespot 02.png

At least the bribes are low, if those reports are accurate.

100 baht isn't going to screw anyone's month up.

In Colombia or Venuzuela the police will happily <deleted> you over, take 1500-3000 baht a time.

[GrantSmith]

At least it gives us an indication of the going rate...

Old mate driving down North Sathorn last night without license, coughed up 300 instead of a ticket and 1,000 and then on their merry little way...

As Charlie Sheen would say "winning"

[rjcampbe]

At least the bribes are low, if those reports are accurate.

100 baht isn't going to screw anyone's month up.

In Colombia or Venuzuela the police will happily fuc_k you over, take 1500-3000 baht a time.

@razorramone

This is exactly the kind of thinking that keeps this going on here and around the world... Corruption is CORRUPTION. It doesn't matter if it is $1, $10, or $10 thousand.

The ability for police to abuse their power and extort money from people for no reason, and for people to have NO option but to pay, and NO RECOURSE when it happens, is unacceptable. The amount paid is completely irrelevant.

When you have to give police a couple of hundred baht at a bogus checkpoint for no reason, just because it's easier to give them the money than to try to stand up for what is right, the system is fundamentally broken. And when people praise that system because it is cheaper than paying a fine "back home", or because it lets them get away with driving without a license, or driving drunk, or whatever, they are just as much a part of the problem as the BIB.

Left unchecked, corruption takes root quickly and becomes a part of every aspect of law enforcement... "You got robbed? Well, if you make a contribution to my mia noi fund I'll pretend to do my job, if it's not too much trouble... but if I accidentally catch somebody and he pays me more, or is better connected than you are, he will get off anyway..."

If you think there is an ounce of difference between a system that allows you to pay tea money to get out of a speeding ticket and one that allows you to avoid responsibility for vehicular manslaughter, or worse, because you can afford a Lamborghini and you have a famous last name, you are either being intentionally stupid or you are in serious denial.

Law and order is a fundamental necessity to protect people's rights and to create an environment for growth and development.

I've lived here long enough to know the magnitude of the problem... I'm not blind or stupid. And I sure as hell don't expect it to change in less than a couple of generations... at least... But neither will I stand by and accept and condone it by making idiotic excuses for inexcusable actions.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

[Beetlejuice]

There are many flaws and dangers I can see in this cunning project.

For example:

Lets say you know of an offence taking place in Thailand, would you give your name and details for a report, if living or working in Thailand? Especially if it involved the police, officials or the authorities, for obvious reasons.

What about protection of privacy and the confidentially of those who submit a report and wish to remain anonymous?

How secure is blindspot.com databases and what assurances can they give that their security is, well, secure?

What about if some make false reports, give misinformation, not accurate or are mistaken and the names and details of innocent people are published on the website? Is each and every report properly investigated prior to publishing any details? Somehow I doubt it.

Who is ultimately responsible for publishing the reports and is there any laws covering the victims who suddenly find themselves given star billing on blindspot.com, under defamatory or liabilities to ensure that the data published is correct?

This appears to be something like a self appointed online vigilante group and I am guessing that this is either a business or going to turn into a lucrative business later on, something like a chatroulette map, or name and shame website with no legal liabilities imposed on the goons who are running this show.

Earlier I was all for this. how wrong I was. Have since done a complete U turn after delving into it more and now find all this rather scary.

[Mitch Harrington]

Beetlejuice, all these questions you are referring to are actually covered in some length on the website, which is - by the way called Bribespot.com, not Blindspot. But to save you time browsing here are quick explanations to your points.

Lets say you know of an offence taking place in Thailand, would you give your name and details for a report, if living or working in Thailand? Especially if it involved the police, officials or the authorities, for obvious reasons.
We specifically ask people to omit any names or personal information and then we also run some algorithms to remove the names automatically in case people still decide to go ahead and include them and top of that we also check incoming reports manually in case some names still slip through the filters. You as a visitor can also help us remove names by flagging suspicious reports.

What about protection of privacy and the confidentially of those who submit a report and wish to remain anonymous?

Well, if you would go through the process of actually submitting a report, you would notice that nowhere in the process are you asked for any information about yourself. So the only thing we know about people submitting reports are their IP addresses which we scramble to prevent somebody from tracking them back. So I think this question is misdirected.

How secure is blindspot.com databases and what assurances can they give that their security is, well, secure?

Hm, provided you are talking about Bribespot, we use SSL certificates to encrypt all the data transfer and run some secure servers located in a country with very strong privacy laws prevent any legal challenges making us turn the data over. Of course, in today's world no database or server is inherently secure (just ask Pentagon about that after Chinese hackers hacked into the system), but we think that the biggest protection we can offer website users is not to store any information about them in the first place.

What about if some make false reports, give misinformation, not accurate or are mistaken and the names and details of innocent people are published on the website? Is each and every report properly investigated prior to publishing any details? Somehow I doubt it.

Well, I think we already cleared up the issue with names and personal details above. Now what concerns rogue reports, sure, there might appear reports like that, after all, the system is open and anybody can use it anonymously. This is why we also repeat throughout the website that confidence in reports grows with their number, e.g. the more people report specific location or specific scenario, the more likely it is true. Why? Simply because it takes a lot of effort to fake something from multiple smartphones, over extended period of time, with uniquely composed comments. Plus, we run some sensible security algorithms in the back to identify and suspend especially "diligent" contributors.

Who is ultimately responsible for publishing the reports and is there any laws covering the victims who suddenly find themselves given star billing on blindspot.com, under defamatory or liabilities to ensure that the data published is correct?

Are you still talking about Bribespot.com? OK, I assume you do, then are we through with the issue of personal names? Let's say we are. So what is the problem exactly then?

This appears to be something like a self appointed online vigilante group and I am guessing that this is either a business or going to turn into a lucrative business later on, something like a chatroulette map, or name and shame website with no legal liabilities imposed on the goons who are running this show.

Well, it is a philosophical question really, which does not have a satisfactory answer. As an organization that employs talented developers, runs code on secure servers, invests into developing new functionalities, consults with specialized lawyers, and engages in public promotion, we naturally incur ongoing costs.... that need to be covered somehow. And while one-off grants or public subsidies are fine in the short term, in the longer term we would like to be self-sustainable, which means finding a business model to finance our activities. Will that be a lucrative business? Not that I can imagine, but I do hope that this business will help us cover the basic costs.

As for imposing legal liabilities on the "goons running this show", I assume you refer to corrupt officials. But here my question would be - if all law-enforcement agencies of Thailand, with all the legal power, physical headcount, and technical resources available to them were not capable to stamp out corruption over the several decades, why would you think that a small group of technical people would be able to step in their shoes and do their work? Besides, isn't it a bit arrogant to expect foreigners come and "instil order"? Wouldn't it be much more appropriate for Thai people themselves sort out the deep-seated problem of corruption in a way that proves sustainable and legal? I hope that answers your conjecture about "self-appointed vigilantes".

Earlier I was all for this. how wrong I was. Have since done a complete U turn after delving into it more and now find all this rather scary.

Well, we all are scared at some point or other. It's important though to be scared about the things are indeed scary

Edited August 21, 2013 by Mitch Harrington

[VocalNeal]

LOVE THIS!

Wanted to see an app like this in Thailand for a while.

I've already installed it on my phone and will be a faithful user and promoter.

The Thai bashing and negative comments have already started on this thread... to those people, all I can say is you can sit around and bitch and be a part of the problem or you can contribute to the solution by raising awareness of this issue and providing real details on the magnitude of the problem.

Someone said that this will only change when the people stand up and make it stop. They are absolutely right... and this kind of app is the first step in giving them the voice and platform to stand up and say ENOUGH!

If you think this kind of social media action doesn't have real results in the political world, you have been living under a rock the last year or two.

To Bribespot Thailand,

You are doing a great thing with this app. Welcome to Thailand!

Absolutely magic, but if you get your wish soon you will be stopped on the motorway by a guy on a motorbike for doing 5 kph over the limit and have to go to court, pay a fine and get points deducted from your license.

The system the police have now is OK and for the most part works, they catch guys on motorbike carrying drugs etc. Ok some guys on bikes have to pay 100 baht every now and again.

Bribes happen everywhere, just in western countries at a very high level.

I can't believe people come here to escape the western world and then complain it isn't like where they came from.

Ridiculous social media will be the ruin of us all.

[Regyai]

<deleted> its a bit of fun

If you want to report with teeth, camera up the drivers window and post the incriminating on YouTube and start the ball rolling

No stomach for that

Stick a l'll flag on Bribespot (its all in good fun and the Boogie Man most likely wont get you)

.

[VocalNeal]

<deleted> its a bit of fun

If you want to report with teeth, camera up the drivers window and post the incriminating on YouTube and start the ball rolling

No stomach for that

Stick a l'll flag on Bribespot (its all in good fun and the Boogie Man most likely wont get you)

.

Its F'ing nonsense at least for traffic stops. The little flags say things like 6 police 200B but they don't say why the tagger was stopped or what the offence was etc.. Oh driving with no insurance 200B Oh and get some insurance as quick as you can. In a "real' system that would be "sorry sir you'll have to leave the car here and get a tow truck at your expense". Or not road tax 200B in a "real' system that would be ??? or Sorry sir you were driving at 160 . 200B again in a real system that would be Sorry sir I am confiscation your license and you will have to accompany me to the police station.

I suspect the people who think all this is wrong have no idea how good they have it and would gasp in disbelief if they knew what the alternative could be. Higher taxes, etc al.

Sure it a bit of fun now as were the riots in Egypt and the war in Syria. Give <deleted> an Iphone and Facebook/Twitter and look what happens.