CM Fuzz - Let Us Prey

[femi fan]

Did you ever get booked when you hadn't committed an offence? It doesn't matter how trivial it is, here or anywhere else in the world you'll get a ticket. No offence, no ticket. The only tickets I ever got were for commiting an offence. I actually got done for not wearing a seat belt. "Fair cop", I say, and it's only 400 baht or whatever. It'll teach me a lesson, and I should wear a seatbelt. Points on my licence and minimum 2500 baht , or more , back home.

Well we fundamentally disagree on being interfered with in one's daily life for causing nobody any harm whatsoever by state operatives (employees if you prefer). You're happy to hand over your free will and choice to wear a seatbelt or not to the state. They say you have to wear one, you accept it. I don't. I hate wearing seatbelts and i do not believe it is the state's right to tell me how to live my life.

And i hope this does not induce the cliched stuff about me costing the state when i have an accident, because then we need to talk about cigarettes and shitty toxic food foisted upon us by governments in the pockets of the corporations who seek our money any which way.

Fair cop, no way at all mate! Not for me. Tell me, why should you or me or anyone wear a seatbelt if we don't want to? We're adults, and we should be able to make our own choice.

And yes, points and criminally high fines back home. Even more wrong. Outrageous how citizens who cause no harm to anybody else can get hard-earned money removed from them by outrageous useless irrelevant laws.

[femi fan]

My son is a police officer in Chiang Mai and asked me to inform the OP that the police have not been made redundant yet and it`s business as usual, so for the OP`s own benefit he is advised to abide by the laws at all times.

No, the Thai Army hasn't made them redundant.

A large percentage have made themselves redundant by failing the public trust and becoming an alternative form of criminality.

Spot on.

Some of the responses to this topic show very clearly the mindset of so many farangs here.

These mealy-mouthed goody two-shoes' with their supine acceptance of state-extortion have made their own countries unliveable with their petty rules, regulations, permits, and licences for everything.

Where I grew up in Westchester County, north of New York City, you now can't do even minor repairs to your own home without a village permit, and the work has to be done by a licenced contractor at grossly inflated prices.

Is that what we want Chiang Mai to become?

Applause to you, and you are spot on too. Let's hope this orwellian debacle that has infested western nations does not progress too much or too fast here.

And earlier i called the whole thing a 'game' because the ones collecting and stealing the money off the ones who break the 'laws' will and do happily break the law themselves. Thais don't like pesky stupid laws passed by their government getting in the way of their lives. It's great but it looks like this cultural gene is being challenged. Bad news.

I used to go by the maxim in the UK, when i lived in that orwellian state, that if i got stopped by the police i would simply pay anything i had to for my crime rather than try and get off by smiling or being nice to a man who was trying to rob me when i'd done no harm to any other citizen.

I"ve been done about five times in 12 years of driving here, and each time it's to the station for me. I don't want to perpetuate a practice such as the one that chiang mai citizens are facing every day. I live in hope that the locals will increase their resistance to this removal of their money.

[Chiengmaijoe]

Did you ever get booked when you hadn't committed an offence? It doesn't matter how trivial it is, here or anywhere else in the world you'll get a ticket. No offence, no ticket. The only tickets I ever got were for commiting an offence. I actually got done for not wearing a seat belt. "Fair cop", I say, and it's only 400 baht or whatever. It'll teach me a lesson, and I should wear a seatbelt. Points on my licence and minimum 2500 baht , or more , back home.

Well we fundamentally disagree on being interfered with in one's daily life for causing nobody any harm whatsoever by state operatives (employees if you prefer). You're happy to hand over your free will and choice to wear a seatbelt or not to the state. They say you have to wear one, you accept it. I don't. I hate wearing seatbelts and i do not believe it is the state's right to tell me how to live my life.

And i hope this does not induce the cliched stuff about me costing the state when i have an accident, because then we need to talk about cigarettes and shitty toxic food foisted upon us by governments in the pockets of the corporations who seek our money any which way.

Fair cop, no way at all mate! Not for me. Tell me, why should you or me or anyone wear a seatbelt if we don't want to? We're adults, and we should be able to make our own choice.

And yes, points and criminally high fines back home. Even more wrong. Outrageous how citizens who cause no harm to anybody else can get hard-earned money removed from them by outrageous useless irrelevant laws.

I don't get interfered with. I slow down, and they invariably wave me on. Unlike you, I'm not outraged either. Maybe I should stop wearing my seatbelt and start being outraged. I'll mull that one over later.

[true blue]

unfortunally this place chiang mai is begining to get more and more like europe with public servants realising that there is a cash cow on there public roads,i blame it on the popularity off cnx,with it being advertised all around the world,more people more services required.sure it wasnt like this years ago,are well, progress i suppose they call it???

[Chiengmaijoe]

One of the problems with pensioners is that they don't like change. It bothers them and they get all agitated and start becoming irrational. Blaming all the changes in Thailand on the nasty West, is a manifestation of that.

When there were so fewer vehicles on the road, be they motorbikes or cars, the need for rules were not so great. The increase in car and bike ownership since I first came here is phenomenal. The resulting number of road deaths were alarming, so people started thinking that maybe we need some rules, with the loudest calls probably coming from foreigners. It is nothing to do with Thailand being influenced by the west but rather Thailand reaching the same conclusions based on the same problems. Road deaths were out of control, so people suggested the government should do something about it and that included helmets, seat belts and alcohol checks. It may not suit you, but you do have choices. You could ignore the rules and pay the occasional small fine, you could follow the rules or move on to somewhere less developed.

[femi fan]

Road deaths are out of control so stop people and fine them if they dont' have a photocopy in their car. Chain up their wheels if their car is parked in the right place but pointing the wrong way.

At the heart of one argument is whose decision is it that a person should wear a seatbelt or a helmet. Some believe the state's (presumably because they're little busybodies wanting other people to be controlled), while i'm one of those who considers himself an adult (nowhere near a pensioner age yet) who should make the choice himself.

But in any case, road deaths come from poor driving. Fix that. And if an adult wants to risk their own death by not wearing a helmet, what is wrong with that? His or her choice.

Why is it Chiengmajoe that YOU want OTHERS to be wearing seatbelts and helmets? Of what possible concern or business is it of yours? You are an interferer no doubt, just like the state operatives that go about messing up people's financial lives for causing no harm to anybody. Shame on you.

[and it's not a small fine at all for thai people, or had you forgotten about them?]

Edited June 26, 2014 by femi fan

[MisterTee]

First of all, let me acknowledge how wrong I was about there being fewer police checkpoints now in Chiang Mai.

My judgement was based on the fact that I haven't been seeing them as often in Nong Hoi [where I live], and inside the SE Katam corner.

Otherwise, I'm glad I was able to provoke such a lively discussion about a topic that affects us all to one extent or another - namely, the predatory nature of so much police activity in Chiang Mai; and whether or not the military presence has curtailed it.

The consensus seems to be, as venerable poster Beetlejuice said, "business as usual". That's a disappointment to me, and I'm sure to others who appreciate the degree of personal freedom that Chiang Mai has given us for so many years.

The Thai Army has shown signs of wanting to crack down on corruption in high places. A laudable aim, and I hope they succeed; but I also hope they don't forget the low places as well, and get these highwaymen off our backs and out of our pockets.

Never knowing when you will have to stop and dance a minuet for these clowns makes driving in town a real hassle.

Thanks for the enthusiastic response from both sides.

[northernjohn]

Well, it appears you have your nose a bit out of joint. Perfectly understandable considering having to trek to the police station.

But what's unjust? There is no game if you know and follow the law You were nabbed quite legitimately for some minor infractions as I have in the past. The difference seems to be that I have never ever even been asked for any sort of bribe in several years.

Do people bribe their way out? Apparently so, but that game takes two players. So, pay or play, if you choose. If traffic fines and penalties were anywhere near as stiff in Thailand as elsewhere, there would be considerably less gaming. I have paid a few tickets!

By the way, I have always kept a copy of the blue book in the car (as well as proof of all insurance). It is the same thing, really, as keeping a copy of a car registration establishing ownership in the glovebox. Not very odd. The first request in a routine traffic stop in the USA is "License and registration, please." But I was advised to never keep the original blue book in the car because it is then too easy for someone else to traffic your car if they steal it.

Oh, I also got nabbed once for parking the wrong way on the opposite curb. I was dashing into a store. I returned in haste just as the BIB was putting pen to his pad. He let me off with a smile after my polite mea culpa.

You'll no doubt feel better in the morning! Cheers!

I was only a bit peeved at the time because i had thought i'd done everything to be inside the law, and therefore not losing the 'game'. In addition i was randomly stopped for no reason since all outwardly appeared to be in order. I know this is habit in some countries, australia for example, and clearly here nowadays, i presume because there are less obvious 'offenders'.

However, the thing that really peeves me is the invasion of the citizens' lives by operatives of the state who are embarking on a money-generating scheme. Many thais spend a long time earning the little money they get, and then they have it stolen by either the police or the government. Clearly this is a rather bigger debate which is not perhaps relevant here, but i'm just outlining why i posted the way i did.

It is doubly peevable because i've lived in thailand for a long time, and to see it recently becoming the same as britain and other western nations where the state pokes its nose and hands into the citizens' lives under the pretence that they are ensuring the laws (made by them to suit them) is somewhat depressing. It's like being a character in 1984 where slowly one gets dragged into the all-catching net, having been able to thus far play the 'game' and keep low and out of the state's firing line.

By the way mate, i think you missed the bit where i said all this happened quite some time back! I just posted up my bit because it riles me a bit when farang tell farang to just obey the law. It's a thai national pastime to disobey the law simply because they find it easier than objecting to the law. Not the least the policemen themselves who will disobey the law whenever it gets in the way. Like i say, it's national trait.

I like this and totally agree.

It is doubly peevable because i've lived in thailand for a long time, and to see it recently becoming the same as britain and other western nations where the state pokes its nose and hands into the citizens' lives under the pretence that they are ensuring the laws (made by them to suit them) is somewhat depressing. It's like being a character in 1984 where slowly one gets dragged into the all-catching net, having been able to thus far play the 'game' and keep low and out of the state's firing line.

Fed up with the well in a civilized country or where I come from posters.

It is indeed a sad thing to see Thai culture slowly turning into a western culture.

Can never figure out why those whiners bother to stay here.

If people want a nanny country to the best of my understanding their are air flights every day. What is the problem.

Maybe they are not wanted there. Or on the other hand are wanted there.

Because they for sure want what is there here.

[northernjohn]

No, the Thai Army hasn't made them redundant.

A large percentage have made themselves redundant by failing the public trust and becoming an alternative form of criminality.

Spot on.

Some of the responses to this topic show very clearly the mindset of so many farangs here.

These mealy-mouthed goody two-shoes' with their supine acceptance of state-extortion have made their own countries unliveable with their petty rules, regulations, permits, and licences for everything.

Where I grew up in Westchester County, north of New York City, you now can't do even minor repairs to your own home without a village permit, and the work has to be done by a licenced contractor at grossly inflated prices.

Is that what we want Chiang Mai to become?

Applause to you, and you are spot on too. Let's hope this orwellian debacle that has infested western nations does not progress too much or too fast here.

And earlier i called the whole thing a 'game' because the ones collecting and stealing the money off the ones who break the 'laws' will and do happily break the law themselves. Thais don't like pesky stupid laws passed by their government getting in the way of their lives. It's great but it looks like this cultural gene is being challenged. Bad news.

I used to go by the maxim in the UK, when i lived in that orwellian state, that if i got stopped by the police i would simply pay anything i had to for my crime rather than try and get off by smiling or being nice to a man who was trying to rob me when i'd done no harm to any other citizen.

I"ve been done about five times in 12 years of driving here, and each time it's to the station for me. I don't want to perpetuate a practice such as the one that chiang mai citizens are facing every day. I live in hope that the locals will increase their resistance to this removal of their money.

Who is bringing this change to western standards here.

Applause to you, and you are spot on too. Let's hope this orwellian debacle that has infested western nations does not progress too much or too fast here.

[Chiengmaijoe]

Why is it Chiengmajoe that YOU want OTHERS to be wearing seatbelts and helmets? Of what possible concern or business is it of yours? You are an interferer no doubt, just like the state operatives that go about messing up people's financial lives for causing no harm to anybody. Shame on you.

[and it's not a small fine at all for thai people, or had you forgotten about them?]

Remember what I said about pensioners getting all agitated and irrational? Read my post again.

Have you done that?

Where did I say that I want anyone else to wear a seatbelt or helmet? I didn't. That's just you getting all unnecessary again. In my last line I even said, you have choices. That's the last line you read, but it didn't register because you were already too agitated.

Which choice you or anyone else makes doesn't bother me. I often don't wear a seatbelt around town. If I get stopped I pay a fine. I'd rather the law wasn't there for me, but I can understand why the government brought it in. The small fine remark I made was aimed at westerners, which most people here would have realised. That's another example of you getting all worked up.

As regards to poor driving. They are starting to do things about that too. They are checking people to see if they have a driving licence or not and fining them if they don't. I think the idea of that is to encourage them to go get a licence, which involves some sort of a driving skills test and a requirement to pass a written test. Not the best or most difficult test, I'm lead to believe, but possibly a start in the right direction.This new check, which you seem to advocate, not only involves stopping people, it has also resulted in many foreigners being caught out, and their subsequent complaints.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't it seems.

P.S. I find it amusing, but apparently using all Caps on the internet is deemed to be shouting and rude. Assuming that you are aware of that fact, I think you need to calm down. It's not good for the heart, they say. Whether you wish to apologise for casting shame on me, and wrongly accusing me of being 'an interferer' is up to you. 'Your choice'.

Footnote: about ten years ago my Thai wife and I were involved in a head-on crash that resulted in the car being a complete write-off. Since we were both wearing seatbelts we were relatively unscathed. My wife had a broken rib and my foot was smashed, but considering it was so severe, we were thankful of having worn our seat-belts and still being alive. Up to us, of course and similarly, up to you.

Edited June 26, 2014 by Chiengmaijoe

[Chiengmaijoe]

Too many posters here don't seem to realise that the changes in rules and regulations in Thailand have very little to do with what westerners want. The Thai authorities are merely reaching the same conclusions that other countries, East and West, have made, whether I , you or anyone else here wants it or not. Whether we stay or go won't make any difference. I would imagine that those people who either favour the rules, or just accept them, are more likely to stay, so to see if the Thai authorities do indeed care what we think, let's see what happens when the westerners that don't like the changes leave.

Just to check if they are listening to us, we could all come on Thaivisa and complain about the necessity of making 90 day reports to immigration and see where that leads. I'll get the ball rolling........

Why do we need to make reports to immigration every 90 days? It's a waste of time, it serves no purpose and sometimes involves me missing a set or two of tennis. Scrap it now please.

Angry of Tunbridge Wells (best not to use my real name)

[Chiengmaijoe]

Fed up with the well in a civilized country or where I come from posters.

It is indeed a sad thing to see Thai culture slowly turning into a western culture.

Can never figure out why those whiners bother to stay here.

If people want a nanny country to the best of my understanding their are air flights every day. What is the problem.

Maybe they are not wanted there. Or on the other hand are wanted there.

Because they for sure want what is there here.

It seems like the whiners on this occasion are the people that don't want the new rules. If people really want all these rules, and I very much doubt it, what would they have to whine about if the rules are being introduced? The whiners are the ones that don't want the rules, or their enforcement to be more precise, surely? Unfortunately, I don't fall into either category, I don't want most of the rules, but I can see that they are inevitable, so don't see the point in moaning or finding an imaginary scapegoat - nasty westerners that force the government to change the rules.

Your reactions are totally understandable, and I sympathise, but the reality is that things change, and when you reach a certain age, your tolerance and acceptance of change diminishes. If you're not careful, you become unhappy and end up being a classic miserable old bugger. Most of us don't want to be tied down by rules and regulations, but they will come whether we like it or not and whether Westerners want them or not, or whether Thais want them or not. How you handle that, is your choice.

[hobz]

I've noticed it in Chiang Mai too.

But yesterday i did see a checkpoint near kad suan kaew, it was at night though.. Not the usual traffic police stuff...

I suspect someone ordered traffic police to stop taking bribes, and since traffic police does nothing but take bribes they no longer do anything.

[sae57]

Recently drove BKK to Roiet. No checkpoints. An absolute first. Don't think we've ever gone through less than three. Wife figured it was the army cracking down on extortion.

[femi fan]

P.S. I find it amusing, but apparently using all Caps on the internet is deemed to be shouting and rude. Assuming that you are aware of that fact, I think you need to calm down. It's not good for the heart, they say. Whether you wish to apologise for casting shame on me, and wrongly accusing me of being 'an interferer' is up to you. 'Your choice'.

Yes, i would like to apologise. Sorry. I don't really want to explain why this particular topic has the ability to rile me, that's outside the remit of the thread. But i should not be speaking to you like that. Apologies!

However, i have read your post again, and would like to quote from it in my next post.

[femi fan]

One of the problems with pensioners is that they don't like change. It bothers them and they get all agitated and start becoming irrational. Blaming all the changes in Thailand on the nasty West, is a manifestation of that.

When there were so fewer vehicles on the road, be they motorbikes or cars, the need for rules were not so great. The increase in car and bike ownership since I first came here is phenomenal. The resulting number of road deaths were alarming, so people started thinking that maybe we need some rules, with the loudest calls probably coming from foreigners. It is nothing to do with Thailand being influenced by the west but rather Thailand reaching the same conclusions based on the same problems. Road deaths were out of control, so people suggested the government should do something about it and that included helmets, seat belts and alcohol checks. It may not suit you, but you do have choices. You could ignore the rules and pay the occasional small fine, you could follow the rules or move on to somewhere less developed.

It's an unfair depiction of a certain segment of the population.

I don't think i've blamed the west for thailand's changes. If i did, then let me clarify that that's not my opinion. I simply blame the west for many things (and acknowledge good things when need be), and am only saying that i don't want to see traffic rules and the traffic policed over here in the manner of many western nations - perhaps this actually just means anglo-speaking nations. I don't like it, and that's my main point.

I also do have a problem when farangs over here just bleat out to other farangs to stay inside the law. I've already said why, and perhaps you're not one of them, i'm not sure any more. Maybe you can clarify. But if not, then you were doing a bit of a job of being the devil's advocate, and that is always going to rile some people on some topics, me included.

The other point i want to make clearly if i hadn't done so before (i think i did) is that it's one thing talking about dangerous roads with more drivers and more vehicles, and it's a separate issue talking about what the cmai police are doing in their checkpoints. Relatively there is very little dangerous driving going on where they hold their checkpoints. Being stopped or clamped for parking the wrong way, not having a photocopy in your car, being two minutes late after the parking time is over, is all part of the robbery of citizens in many countries. Just a damned shame it's hit here. And i don't see it in many other towns in thailand.

Anyway, these were my points, and still are. I am also a long way off pensioner age (but will have no problem when i get there), and i spend a lot of time trumpeting the value of change. Indeed, i work with it, i promote it, and i love it. But only the positive sort...

Edited June 26, 2014 by femi fan

[johnnygimbo]

I still see plenty. Usual one at Nawarat Bridget is regularly in progress. And last night a very serious one at Thapae gate that included armed military. I'm not driving past there anymore. Also the old Lamphun Road often has them at night.

I also got the impression that there were fewer checkpoints around Bangkok.

[Mudcrab]

This thread is hilarious. I realise it is on the CM forum, but I've just finished reading the previous newsletter where many foreigners are demanding that the BIB strictly enforce the laws and introduce new ones - just like back "ome".

Fine people, lose licenses etc for the most trivial things. That's what they do back "ome" so it should be done here attitude.

When it actually happens people are up in arms and shredding their nighties. The reality is most people don't want this to happen - just roll with the flow, let life go on and relax and enjoy Thailand as she is.

[movsrus]

I seem to see more police checkpoints lately. Today they were running one near Kad Saen Keaw on both sides of the street and then I saw another one near Raumchok intersection by the new Tesco Lotus. I didn't get stopped but there were a lot of others who were getting pulled over. Most were not wearing helmets but some were being checked out for license and motorcycle papers. Also they seemed very interested in pickups that were overloaded- almost all of them were pulled over.

I pulled into the Tesco Lotus parking lot and watched the Raumchok checkpoint for about 15 minutes. I didn't see anyone make a cash payment to the coppers- all left with some kind of ticket.

I have been pulled over a couple of times but I just showed them my IDL and they waived me on. My general impression is that there are more checkpoints and the cops seem more vigilant that in the past.

[rethaier]

I have not seen a tea money collection party in Chiang Rai since the coup. Before that, I knew where they would be and what day they would be there. Have a friend who volunteers with the tourist police and he told me there are a lot of unhappy coppers because they have taken a big drop in income. Hooray for the coup. But what are the coppers doing now to earn their keep. I sometimes see one on his motorcycle but not often.

[philw]

Why is it when i pop to 7/11 and come back drinking a beer and driving on the pavement or against the traffic, the only askance looks i get are from farangs..........

Thai people could not care less and many times I have passed cops when driving like this.

How could that be ?

[kaptainrob]

Recently drove BKK to Roiet. No checkpoints. An absolute first. Don't think we've ever gone through less than three. Wife figured it was the army cracking down on extortion.

Did that run last Tues with 4 checkpoints, no tea money requests, and on to Ubon Ratchathani. Back again today, 12hrs/1,000km's and only 2 checkpoints, no tea money collections.

Was interesting to note a different attitude at all stops, more a checking of papers and very polite too! Highway Police also on the prowl [possibly with radar] in Phitsanulok area and 2 other locations.

I'd like to think our MIB friends are now motivated to doing their job more 'by the book'.

[masuk]

There were three check points to the East of Kad Suan Keow this morning, checking for helmets, and plenty without them.

How can they educate folk like this?

Same at the CMU entry onto Canal Rd; supposedly intelligent young folk studying at Uni, yet no thought for safety, as they stream out and no helmets.

[Chiengmaijoe]

There were three check points to the East of Kad Suan Keow this morning, checking for helmets, and plenty without them.

How can they educate folk like this?

Same at the CMU entry onto Canal Rd; supposedly intelligent young folk studying at Uni, yet no thought for safety, as they stream out and no helmets.

The desire to wear a helmet or not has very little to do with education or intelligence. At it's simplest level the instinct for survival is a basic animal instinct that requires next to no education and very little intelligence.

People don't wear helmets for all kinds of reasons including a belief that it won't happen to them, a notion that there is no real possibility of it happening (I'm only going around the corner, I'm not driving fast etc) , it's too hot, it spoils my hair, it's an infringement of my right to choose etc. etc. I don't ride a motorbike here, but I can imagine scenarios where I might choose not to use one. When I'm driving the car and popping round the corner I very rarely wear my seatbelt, but the moment I get on a highway I do.

Edited June 26, 2014 by Chiengmaijoe

[Oscar2]

i honestly can't believe people are complaining about having to have a driver's license, insurance, wearing a seat belt or a helmet and keeping a copy of the book in the glove box. those are the rules. driving is a privilege. unlicensed, uninsured drivers are a danger to society. follow the rules and you won't have to pay a fine. simple. just like in any other country. what's the big deal? 3 pages? i don't get it.

[Chiengmaijoe]

i honestly can't believe people are complaining about having to have a driver's license, insurance, wearing a seat belt or a helmet and keeping a copy of the book in the glove box. those are the rules. driving is a privilege. unlicensed, uninsured drivers are a danger to society. follow the rules and you won't have to pay a fine. simple. just like in any other country. what's the big deal? 3 pages? i don't get it.

A lot of stuff like this is the consequence of people having either too little else to worry about, too much free time or financial security. Most people in Thailand are either too busy trying to make ends meet or too busy enjoying themselves to spend their time complaining. Saving the whale, protecting the environment, rescuing donkeys and fretting about global warming are also, generally speaking, the luxuries of middle-class people leading comfortable lives.

[northernjohn]

Too many posters here don't seem to realise that the changes in rules and regulations in Thailand have very little to do with what westerners want. The Thai authorities are merely reaching the same conclusions that other countries, East and West, have made, whether I , you or anyone else here wants it or not. Whether we stay or go won't make any difference. I would imagine that those people who either favour the rules, or just accept them, are more likely to stay, so to see if the Thai authorities do indeed care what we think, let's see what happens when the westerners that don't like the changes leave.

Just to check if they are listening to us, we could all come on Thaivisa and complain about the necessity of making 90 day reports to immigration and see where that leads. I'll get the ball rolling........

Why do we need to make reports to immigration every 90 days? It's a waste of time, it serves no purpose and sometimes involves me missing a set or two of tennis. Scrap it now please.

Angry of Tunbridge Wells (best not to use my real name)

Great post. Up until you mistakenly said you had to report every 90 days. You can do it every 76 days if you like.

[Cake Monster]

There are certainly far fewer tea money collection points ( not even seen one ) here in Pattaya since the Army took over.

I cannot imagine for 1 minute why !

[FolkGuitar]

Frankly, I seem to see the same number of police check points these days as I did 15 years ago. Nothing has really changed other than the methods they use to catch the bikes that don't want to stop.

I don't like helmet laws. Never did. But I know that a helmet may save my life in a crash, and I will never ride a motorbike or motorcycle without one. It's my choice. Not because of the police. I don't give a damn about a $10 fine. I do give a damn about my life.

I don't like seatbelt laws. Never did. But I know that a seatbelt may save my life in a crash, and I will never drive a car without one. It's my choice. I don't give a damn about a $10 fine. I do give a damn about my life.

I don't drive on the sidewalks nor the wrong way on one-way streets, simple because it's too easy to injure someone else that way. It's selfish to assume otherwise.

I don't drive when I've been drinking, (OK, I'm not much of a drinker anyway so this one is easy for me) for the same reason. It's too easy to injure someone else.

For 2 baht I made a copy of my Green Book, stuck it into a plastic bag along with another 2-baht copy of my passport. I stuck the bag under my bike seat. I devoted almost 3 minutes of my life to this effort.

I have a Thai car license and a Thai motorbike license.

I'm sometimes stopped at police check points, where I devote another perhaps all of 2 minutes of my life to showing the cop the papers that he requests. He sees them, smiles, offers me a 'Thank you, have a nice day' and I continue on with my life.

I guess I'm one of those 'goody-two-shoes' mentioned.

But the result of which is that I don't have problems with the police, and I don't need to complain about, nor contribute to, any of the corruption in Thailand or the fall of civilization as we know it.

[femi fan]

i honestly can't believe people are complaining about having to have a driver's license, insurance, wearing a seat belt or a helmet and keeping a copy of the book in the glove box. those are the rules. driving is a privilege. unlicensed, uninsured drivers are a danger to society. follow the rules and you won't have to pay a fine. simple. just like in any other country. what's the big deal? 3 pages? i don't get it.

Follow the rules mantra again.

Idiocy.

My not wearing a seatbelt, parking in the right place but facing the wrong direction, or not having a photocopied piece of paper in my car has no bearing whatsoever on your life, or anybody else's life.

Furthermore, i want the choice to wear my seatbelt or not, to wear a helmet or not.

Why should you try to deny me that choice by throwing out this 'follow the rules' stuff??

Maybe you don't get it because it's not a problem to you. I bet you have some problems with life that i don't, and they would look strange to me?