New police crack down on motorists in CM.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

From today they will be out with cameras photographing,

1. M/cs and cars stopped after the white line at traffic lights.

2. Cars driving in the wrong lane approaching traffic lights then ducking back in.

500bht for each photo, posted to your home address.

They were out at,

1001/121 intersection near MaeJo.

Maya/Nimanhamin/Superhighway intersection

Central Festival/superhighway junction

Probably at other places too.

All this morning. With their cameras.

This is likely to continue until further notice.

[robertthebruce]

If it prevents accidents and deaths on the road.. About time.... Hope the rest of Thailand follows suit...

[Thighlander]

I read they were targeting 90 dangerous intersections in Thailand, 3 are in CNX...and you just listed all three. I support them 100% on this. It's about time drivers start showing a little respect to pedestrians. I wish I had a photo of the thai guy, who had his thumb in his nose, while an ambulance was behind him with sirens blaring.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Can't see a m/c stopped after the white line is a danger to anyone, can you explain to me?

Also the Central Festival/superhighway lights, they were stopping drivers coming from the Doi Saket direction doing a u-ey to go into Central Festival Mall.

[ramrod711]

Maya/Nimanhamin/Superhighway intersection

I hope they make a million baht at this intersection. I am so sick and tired of waiting in line to make a right turn off Huay Kaew onto super highway while a steady stream of traffic turns right from the left lane. I don't know if they realize that the right lane is also a through lane, or if they don't care, but I've seen many near accidents there.

[khwaibah]

Can't see a m/c stopped after the white line is a danger to anyone, can you explain to me?

Also the Central Festival/superhighway lights, they were stopping drivers coming from the Doi Saket direction doing a u-ey to go into Central Festival Mall.

Some what slow on the draw to notice things..

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/743540-traffic-crackdown-starts-today/

[laolover88]

Of course, like so many things in LOS, MONEY needs to be spent!. I have survied CM, just, for 20 years....U turns on hi-speed dual carriageways without traffic lights?? Come On!

[worgeordie]

They really need to catch the red light runners,thats the

most dangerous offense and happens all the time on busy

junctions,

regards Worgeordie

[AnotherOneAmerican]

They really need to catch the red light runners,thats the

most dangerous offense and happens all the time on busy

junctions,

regards Worgeordie

Unfortunately, they aren't checking for that.

It's a policeman on foot with a camera, strolling around photographing stationary m/cs and cars.

If you're moving, he won't get you.

[eyecatcher]

Not sure that a posted fine will reach many people.

The only record they have of my address was a guest house three yr ago that since became a restaurant.

as we know from the uk, covert cameras are an outrageous money spinner nothing else, hence they are now slowly being removed.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Not sure that a posted fine will reach many people.

The only record they have of my address was a guest house three yr ago that since became a restaurant.

as we know from the uk, covert cameras are an outrageous money spinner nothing else, hence they are now slowly being removed.

Not to worry,

Unpaid fines are recorded on the road tax computer.

You won't be able to tax or sell without paying the fine.

And the fine is increased for late payment!

[Thighlander]

Let me correct myself....1) Airport Plaza Intersection. 2) Nimman/Maya 3) Saen Dek intersection by Central Festival Super Highway, ...the three in cnx of the 200 worst in Thailand. If cars or motorbikes are across the line it makes it difficult for pedestrians to cross the street.....

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/tough-traffic-law-enforcement-thursday/

[FolkGuitar]

Can't see a m/c stopped after the white line is a danger to anyone, can you explain to me?

It often blocks the turn radius for cars or trucks, forcing them to make a wider turn. It also often blocks the view of the street. One rider won't do that, but a dozen of them will.

[masuk]

The National debt could be fixed in a month, if they start dropping 500baht fines on drivers lane cutting at traffic lights, and maybe 1000baht for running a red light. On average 3 vehicles run the lights until traffic coming the other way forces them to stop. This should include Tee junctions, where drivers keep going in the left lane.

It's all very well for Thais to take on western technology, driving the largest 4WD they can or cannot afford, and yet not accept traffic laws which are common in every country. Zebra crossings are usually ignored, double yellow lines seem to have no meaning.

The best enforcement is 'hip pocket' enforcement and the message might slowly sink in. But if the country carries on hitting drivers with tea money and no record kept of the frequency of traffic violations, no one wins except the gatherers of tea money.

[Thighlander]

They could write 500 tickets per day at the zebra crossing at Thapae Gate.

[Trujillo]

This still smacks of what the Taiwanese call a "Three-minute heat wave."

Pick a few places that are deemed "MOST DANGEROUS!" and set up clip joints there. (Wonder what committee decided which places are the most "dangerous"? Most profitable, most likely.)

Any poster living here could come up with a large list of "hot zones" and as others have pointed out, it's not so much the place as the offense. Thailand and SE Asia in general has little or no interest in enforcing moving violations, unless they happen to have stationary camera systems there to record something.

Although running red lights is right up there for me, the one that is most vexatious is tailgating, which would be hard to enforce, granted.

In the end, this is all an effort, "to be seen to be doing something."

[true blue]

the policeman on permently duty at huay kaew/maya traffic lights just pulled 6 motor cyclists,waiting at lights on nimman road,i wondered why,must have been over the white line thing????,made them come to his office on corner of super highway.digressing a bit but has any noticed how motorists are sticking to the rules in lots of places,and only parking on one side of the road.

[Oscar2]

i support this 100%. been in 2 accidents here (1 very serious). neither one my fault. drivers here need to be fined heavily, maybe that will wake them up.

[naboo]

I noticed a couple of days ago, I pulled up to the front of the lights on my wife's scooter, ahead of the white line, and noticed everyone else was behind the line staring at me.

Would be nice if the police acted on laws that actually matter, but I guess that's beyond their capabilities.

[Tham1]

I noticed a couple of days ago, I pulled up to the front of the lights on my wife's scooter, ahead of the white line, and noticed everyone else was behind the line staring at me.

Would be nice if the police acted on laws that actually matter, but I guess that's beyond their capabilities.

So you were the one in the wrong then......but not an important law in your eyes then?

[naboo]

I noticed a couple of days ago, I pulled up to the front of the lights on my wife's scooter, ahead of the white line, and noticed everyone else was behind the line staring at me.

Would be nice if the police acted on laws that actually matter, but I guess that's beyond their capabilities.

So you were the one in the wrong then......but not an important law in your eyes then?

No, and one I will not follow. On a scooter, you're safer pulling off in front of the cars than around them. Car drivers have a habit of not seeing you. I'll drive to the front thank you very much.

[CBR250]

This issue is not one that I find so easy to take a position on. Yes, there are many poor driving practices in LOS, some that cause inconvenience, some that cause death. But we cannot cherry-pick the ones that most concern us western-thinking drivers. If the Thai traffic police are to increase enforcement of the traffic laws, they will probably choose the ones that are easy to catch and produce the best income. Not unlike western countries really, where the enforcement focus is almost exclusively on speed (easily measured) rather than more crucial concerns (but difficult to measure) like inattentiveness, fatigue, and an inability to read the road or cooperate with other road users.

So I suspect Thai police will probably not notice the homicidal moron driving an SUV while texting on a mobile, but jump on those who dare to stop on the wrong side of a white line - an easy catch and fine. They sure aren't going to enforce all of the things we on this forum may identify as important.

As I don't want the covert cameras and traffic nazi attitudes of countries like Australia, I am actually glad that there is less zeal with traffic enforcement here. I like it that Thai drivers mostly work together to keep everything rolling along nicely. Sure, there is the odd misfit who thinks s/he is too hi-so to bother about fitting in, or uses his/her vehicle to express their anger with the world. But laws probably won't influence their behaviour much anyway.

So, here I am sitting on the fence, but leaning a little toward the status quo of fairly slack enforcement. I hate seeing the number of road deaths each year. On the other hand, I like that I can drive 10kph over the limit on an empty road without having some idiot in a uniform springing out from behind a tree with a penalty notice in his hand.

[FolkGuitar]

I noticed a couple of days ago, I pulled up to the front of the lights on my wife's scooter, ahead of the white line, and noticed everyone else was behind the line staring at me.

Would be nice if the police acted on laws that actually matter, but I guess that's beyond their capabilities.

So you were the one in the wrong then......but not an important law in your eyes then?

No, and one I will not follow. On a scooter, you're safer pulling off in front of the cars than around them. Car drivers have a habit of not seeing you. I'll drive to the front thank you very much.

I can appreciate how you feel about being on a scooter around cars. It often isn't comfortable. But when scooters pull to the front of the line of cars, as there often is not much room, they tend to extend further and further forward depending on how many scooters there are and how long the red light lasts. At some intersections I've seen the scooter pack even with the roadway to the left, rather than back 5 meters to the white line. This means that any cars or trucks trying to make a right hand turn;

A. Can't clearly see into the roadway in which they need to drive, and

B. Have to made a much wider turn radius because the scooter pack is blocking access to the roadway. In other words, they can't turn into the nearest traffic lane. They are forced by the scooter pack to enter the left-hand lane instead. No big deal... unless there are two lanes of right-turning cars. Where is the furthest lane to go if the near lane needs to use their space because the scooter pack blocked the closer one?

... and there are often two lanes of right-turning cars.

As you say, 'you're safer pulling off in front of the cars than around them.' I'll say 'you're safer staying behind them and getting to your destination three minutes later.' Even if you are traveling from the Superhighway at Central Festival Mall clear across the city to Neiman, you'll only save 3-4 minutes at most by rushing to the front of the pack. No more than that. Besides, if you are in the pack at the front your chances of getting stopped and checked are far greater than if you let someone else take up the cop's time. You cruise through 30 seconds later while he's busy checking documents.

[BlackArtemis]

If they just had a bunch of motorcycle cops at the rincom intersection ready to chase down red light runners, and do this consistently for a few months. That would improve that area 1000 fold. Plus they would bring in a lot of revenue. But my hope is that they begin to at least photo there.

[Chiengmaijoe]

If they just had a bunch of motorcycle cops at the rincom intersection ready to chase down red light runners, and do this consistently for a few months. That would improve that area 1000 fold. Plus they would bring in a lot of revenue. But my hope is that they begin to at least photo there.

I know that for most Americans the collective noun for just about everything is 'a bunch', but I think you'll find that the correct word for police is a 'sounder'.

[StevieH]

I noticed a couple of days ago, I pulled up to the front of the lights on my wife's scooter, ahead of the white line, and noticed everyone else was behind the line staring at me.

Would be nice if the police acted on laws that actually matter, but I guess that's beyond their capabilities.

had the same thing this evening, first time ever in chiang mai. all locals pulled up behind the line, i did my usual thing of getting out of the way of trucks behind and going ahead of them, got stares. perhaps there's some communication gone around that i've missed.

[BlackArtemis]

If they just had a bunch of motorcycle cops at the rincom intersection ready to chase down red light runners, and do this consistently for a few months. That would improve that area 1000 fold. Plus they would bring in a lot of revenue. But my hope is that they begin to at least photo there.

I know that for most Americans the collective noun for just about everything is 'a bunch', but I think you'll find that the correct word for police is a 'sounder'.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

> 2. Cars driving in the wrong lane approaching traffic lights then ducking back in.

Aw.. That's my favorite move.

[naboo]

Don't worry Winnie, left turn, u-turn, left turn can still be used to beat a red light straight ahead.

[Trujillo]

But we cannot cherry-pick the ones that most concern us western-thinking drivers.

This seems to presuppose that there are good rules for non-Western-thinking drivers and an different set of driving rules for Western-thinking ones. The automobile machine is the same everywhere as is the system of roads, lights and signs.

Westerners might be more scrupulous on details of the laws and safety, but that doesn't mean there are different systems. Pretty much if a Westerner sees what he considers bad driving or unsafe practices, he's correct; it's not a matter of style or culture.