New Acting Pattaya Police Chief “lays down the law” to his officers

[slygeeza]

what I dont understand about the motorbike fines is why it is legal for the rental companies to rent a bike to someone that doesnt have a legal license? do they not insure the bikes?

[SheungWan]

So every Gogo bar and beer bar in Pattaya will be closed now since prostitution is illegal?

Corruption and bribery keeps most Pattaya businesses open. I guess Pattaya is closed now?....

Dancing or working in a go-go bar or beer bar is not prostitution.

I'm aware of that convenient loophole but it goes without saying that the bars are an intentional space to facilitate the meeting of prostitutes with customers. At the very least it is aiding and abetting. Every cop is knowingly allowing a criminal activity to go on by allowing these venues to operate.

Pattaya exists on a foundation of corruption. Without corruption there would be no Pattaya in the form that it takes.

When Thaksin was PM, his 'home' minister Purachai wanted to ban women from wearing spaghetti strap dresses on the grounds that this aided and abetted prostitution....You might have wholeheartedly approved of that. Giddy up on that high horse.

[Bernard Flint]

"If your tourist friend didn't want to pay a fine to the officer all he had to do was ask for a ticket which he could then pay at the police station and be given a receipt. As it is, by agreeing to pay a fine at the scene your pal was just as corrupt as the police officer."--MMalow

Hello Earth to MMalow----have you ever actually got a ticket, ?? Do you think you just get back onto your motorbike & say--yes officer I will pay this, the correct amount, down at the station. Too-da-loo........

How do you think you are going to get there MMalow ??----because its not on your motorbike. That stays where you have been stopped, even if its 10 miles from the police station. Make your own way there, and back....yes fighting corruption, It all sounds very good MMalow---to people who have not actually lived in the real world.

Yes, I have had more than one ticket that I have paid at police stations. The way it works is the police take your licence and keep it until you pay the fine at the police station. And regardless of what your uninformed opinion is, yes they do let you drive away. If you don't have a licence and you refuse to pay the unofficial on-the-spot fine you will be arrested. Simple as that, bit like you.

hAS sANUK EVER BEEN TO tHAILAND???? What drivel

[brewsterbudgen]

Funny to see so many quoting the myth that the oldest profession in the world is "illegal" in Thailand. There are plenty of laws regulating prostitution but it certainly isn't illegal! Perish the thought!

[Bernard Flint]

what I dont understand about the motorbike fines is why it is legal for the rental companies to rent a bike to someone that doesnt have a legal license? do they not insure the bikes?

mOST BIKES ARE NOT INSURED, TRY SMASHING ONE AND TAKE IT BAK, YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR REPAIRS,

Probably for the other car/bike you smashed

[Bernard Flint]

Funny to see so many quoting the myth that the oldest profession in the world is "illegal" in Thailand. There are plenty of laws regulating prostitution but it certainly isn't illegal! Perish the thought!

Prostitution IS illegal in Thailand

have a bar with a st room upstairs, much more difficult un less you pay the cops.Its not allowed on the darkside, by the lake

[Bernard Flint]

So every Gogo bar and beer bar in Pattaya will be closed now since prostitution is illegal?

Corruption and bribery keeps most Pattaya businesses open. I guess Pattaya is closed now?....

Dancing or working in a go-go bar or beer bar is not prostitution.

You won't find many girls working in those places they do not practice prostitution....

Amazingly, that is exactly why they are there. The big money is in the late night bumpity bump...not in drinks.

Amazingly, the point is that they are not prostituting themselves in the bars, that may or may not happen later.

many workers in beer bars/ go-go bars dont go with customers

[slygeeza]

the fact that they fine you if you have the wrong licence but allow to to continue riding shows that the law is for revenue collecting and nothing to do with public safety, and also shows what the real job of the Thai police is

[7Heaven]

Hi. Wikipedia certainly is not the reference for Thai laws & justice... General laws are one thing; application perimeters another.

For the Thailand:

On one side there is the "Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act, 1996" who forbid prostitution, yes, but only in public places (mainly streets) and in prostitution establishments.

On the other side there is the "Entertainment Places Act, 1966" who exclude all agogos and bars from the definition of prostitution establishments.

For more details, better to see a lawyer... Not simple laws.

Prostitution is illegal in Thailand and thats why you pay the girls and not the bar owner.

read more here

http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-prostitution-thailand

Edited June 7, 2014 by 7Heaven

[Pattaya46]

Prostitution is illegal in Thailand and thats why you pay the girls and not the bar owner.

read more here http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-prostitution-thailand

Please read it again, and you will notice it refers to the 2 documents I cited above.

Yes the initial idea of the law probably was to forbid prostitution, all prostitution,

but there are so many imprecise terms that, practically, you easily are out of the law perimeter.

Extract of the link you gave:

this qualifier on the crime of solicitation by a prostitute suggests that enforcement of this law may be difficult

in situations where solicitation is discreet or subtle as might often be the case in private establishments.

The only point where the law is clear is about underage people. A good thing.

[brewsterbudgen]

Funny to see so many quoting the myth that the oldest profession in the world is "illegal" in Thailand. There are plenty of laws regulating prostitution but it certainly isn't illegal! Perish the thought!

Prostitution IS illegal in Thailand

have a bar with a st room upstairs, much more difficult un less you pay the cops.Its not allowed on the darkside, by the lake

It's not illegal it's regulated. There is nothing illegal about paying for sex in the privacy of your own hotel or home. Just as in other countries like the UK.

Running a brothel IS illegal.

(Edit: of course it's important to check that your prostitute is 18 or over, or it would be illegal, with serious consequences).

Edited June 7, 2014 by brewsterbudgen

[7Heaven]

Prostitution is illegal in Thailand and thats why you pay the girls and not the bar owner.

read more here http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-prostitution-thailand

Please read it again, and you will notice it refers to the 2 documents I cited above.

Yes the initial idea of the law probably was to forbid prostitution, all prostitution,

but there are so many imprecise terms that, practically, you easily are out of the law perimeter.

Extract of the link you gave:

this qualifier on the crime of solicitation by a prostitute suggests that enforcement of this law may be difficult

in situations where solicitation is discreet or subtle as might often be the case in private establishments.

The only point where the law is clear is about underage people. A good thing.

What we are speaking about is the law that make prostitution illegal. Not the enforcment of the law

“Any person, being over sixteen years of age, [sic] subsists on the earning of a prostitute, even if it is some part of her incomes [sic], shall be punished with imprisonment of seven to twenty years and fined of fourteen thousand to forty thousand Baht, or imprisonment for life.”7 - See more at: http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-prostitution-thailand#sthash.kUqu7tk8.dpuf

Edited June 7, 2014 by 7Heaven

[brewsterbudgen]

Prostitution is illegal in Thailand and thats why you pay the girls and not the bar owner.

read more here http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-prostitution-thailand

Please read it again, and you will notice it refers to the 2 documents I cited above.

Yes the initial idea of the law probably was to forbid prostitution, all prostitution,

but there are so many imprecise terms that, practically, you easily are out of the law perimeter.

Extract of the link you gave:

this qualifier on the crime of solicitation by a prostitute suggests that enforcement of this law may be difficult

in situations where solicitation is discreet or subtle as might often be the case in private establishments.

The only point where the law is clear is about underage people. A good thing.

What we are speaking about is the law that make prostitution illegal. Not the enforcment of the law

“Any person, being over sixteen years of age, [sic] subsists on the earning of a prostitute, even if it is some part of her incomes [sic], shall be punished with imprisonment of seven to twenty years and fined of fourteen thousand to forty thousand Baht, or imprisonment for life.”7 - See more at: http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-prostitution-thailand#sthash.kUqu7tk8.dpuf

Read your own link. The law does not state that prostitution is illegal in Thailand, however, many aspects surrounding it are.

Thailand’s Penal Code6 does not explicitly state that prostitution is illegal in Thailand - See more at: http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-prostitution-thailand#sthash.kUqu7tk8.QiRyZAyA.dpuf

Edited June 7, 2014 by brewsterbudgen

[7Heaven]

Read your own link. The law does not state that prostitution is illegal in Thailand, however, many aspects surrounding it are.

Thailand’s Penal Code6 does not explicitly state that prostitution is illegal in Thailand - See more at: http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-prostitution-thailand#sthash.kUqu7tk8.QiRyZAyA.dpuf

Yes and one aspect are to recive money .Difficult to prostitute when you can not get paid

“Any person, being over sixteen years of age, [sic] subsists on the earning of a prostitute, even if it is some part of her incomes [sic], shall be punished with imprisonment of seven to twenty years and fined of fourteen thousand to forty thousand Baht, or imprisonment for life.”7 - See more at:

Edited June 7, 2014 by 7Heaven

[brewsterbudgen]

Read your own link. The law does not state that prostitution is illegal in Thailand, however, many aspects surrounding it are.

Thailand’s Penal Code6 does not explicitly state that prostitution is illegal in Thailand - See more at: http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-prostitution-thailand#sthash.kUqu7tk8.QiRyZAyA.dpuf

Yes and one aspect are to recive money .Difficult to prostitute when you can not get paid

“Any person, being over sixteen years of age, [sic] subsists on the earning of a prostitute, even if it is some part of her incomes [sic], shall be punished with imprisonment of seven to twenty years and fined of fourteen thousand to forty thousand Baht, or imprisonment for life.”7 - See more at:

It doesn't say the act of prostitution is illegal.

[7Heaven]

Read your own link. The law does not state that prostitution is illegal in Thailand, however, many aspects surrounding it are.

Thailand’s Penal Code6 does not explicitly state that prostitution is illegal in Thailand - See more at: http://www.impowr.org/content/current-legal-framework-prostitution-thailand#sthash.kUqu7tk8.QiRyZAyA.dpuf

Yes and one aspect are to recive money .Difficult to prostitute when you can not get paid

“Any person, being over sixteen years of age, [sic] subsists on the earning of a prostitute, even if it is some part of her incomes [sic], shall be punished with imprisonment of seven to twenty years and fined of fourteen thousand to forty thousand Baht, or imprisonment for life.”7 - See more at:

It doesn't say the act of prostitution is illegal.

Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual relations in exchange for payment^[1][2] or some other benefit. Prostitution is sometimes described as commercial sex.

and that is illegal see my post above.

But if you want to belive is legal is up2u

[brewsterbudgen]

Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual relations in exchange for payment^{%5B1%5D%5B2%5D} or some other benefit. Prostitution is sometimes described as commercial sex.

and that is illegal see my post above.

But if you want to belive is legal is up2u

Yes, this is boring. Let's agree to disagree.

[slygeeza]

heres an idea for the new police chief, a phone number we can actually call the police on, 1155 looks cool on the posters etc but never works in reality, nice try I suppose but can we get real sometime soon?

Edited June 7, 2014 by slygeeza

[manarak]

"...any officer suspected of being involved in corrupt activities of any kind will be investigated and could ultimately be fired."

How about prosecuted and jailed.

actually "fired" is a big step forward, until now they were just transferred to another job.

[Strangebrew]

Oh and how about one those several Russian owned bars that are covers for drug dealing Went in to one seen drugs sold openly over the bar.

[kap]

what I dont understand about the motorbike fines is why it is legal for the rental companies to rent a bike to someone that doesnt have a legal license? do they not insure the bikes?

IMHO it's nothing more than a pretty transparent excuse for the BIB to line their pockets. If they really wanted to discourage unlicensed motorbike usage, then when they found an unlicensed rider (of a rental bike), they would go back to the rental shop and hit them with a fine too. In fact if the shop owners were held liable, then there would be far fewer unlicensed riders (tourists at least!).

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