Junta eyeing street racers

[Lite Beer]

Junta eyeing street racers

BANGKOK: -- The National Council for Peace and Order is set to tackle street racing by young motorcyclists as its next target for the restoration of social order.

At a police press conference Thursday, senior military legal officer Lt-Colonel Burin Thongprabhai said the Army was ready to assist police in relevant operations including setting up roadblocks and running orientation courses for young offenders.

He said most offenders undergoing the seven-day boot camp stopped street racing and the few who did could be easily tracked.

Source: http://www.nationmul...s-30239383.html

-- The Nation 2014-07-24

[Pattszero]

I'd prefer if they would tackle the traffic jams in BKK first - the idea of street racing is but a distant dream there.

[edwardandtubs]

They take place at night and are a menace. There's a whole subculture that includes the boy racers pimping out their girlfriends to afford the best gear.

[jaltsc]

I'd prefer if they would tackle the traffic jams in BKK first - the idea of street racing is but a distant dream there.

It seems to be a luxury to have a preference about which problem to tackle first. Especially after years of ignoring just about every social issue. It can't be done all at once, but at least problems are finally being recognized and addressed by the ruling establishment.

I'm sure there are those who wish for a democratic government, but let's face it, history tells us that Thailand in not quite ready to elect an effective government through popular elections.

Edited July 24, 2014 by jaltsc

[rkidlad]

"He said most offenders undergoing the seven-day boot camp stopped street racing and the few who did could be easily tracked"

Journalist/writer - "Hey boss, you wanna have a read over this?"

Editor - "Nope"

[A1Str8]

Why? Would join?

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[tominbkk]

I'd prefer if they would tackle the traffic jams in BKK first - the idea of street racing is but a distant dream there.

They race around my 'hood often, it's really dangerous. I wish them the best to crack down on this.

[Jeremy50]

Introduce and enforce the international highway code nationwide, instead of wasting time on these stupid little sub-cultures.

[Zeegator]

Introduce and enforce the international highway code nationwide, instead of wasting time on these stupid little sub-cultures.

The International Highway Code, what's that? Is there any such thing?

[beautifulthailand99]

Simple the biggest threat in Thailand is death on the roads - always has been.

Was at the Thai temple in London for Khao Pansur day and was helping barbeque when I noticed some young farangs and a couple of Thai girls signing the back of some big photos. Wondering what they were doing I asked - turned out she was a Thai student in the UK who had gone home for a holiday and had died in a car at 4.30 in the morning having been struck by a lorry near Phitansalouk. Offering my condolences I remembered that one of our group had lost her daughter aged 20 and I sensitively broached the subject - as we talked about this another of my wife friend's said she had lost her sister. So in this small random group 3 had lost people close to them. Thai Junta - one simple message SORT OUT THE CARNAGE ON THAI ROADS.

[JAFO]

I'm on the other side of this fence. For those never being in the scene its easy to call it stupid. I grew up street racing. Its sort of a passing. Some kids grew up being book worms, some play school sports, others did nothing, some learn how to tune and race cars and motorcycles on the street. Some make a lot of money at it. Is it dangerous, sure, Is it fun, You bet! I was one that did it well, made a lot of money and from it started a race car business and built and tuned cars. eventually I was track only.

Its a waste of money and resources to hire more police, set up roadblocks, and give out more tickets. They will never stop it. They might curb it a bit is all. The more pressure you put on them the more clever they become and the more risks they are willing to take. Best approach is managing it. Open more race tracks to get them off the street. In fact you do not even need to open race tracks. I had been to a few where they closed off roads in certain areas to let people race. That has always worked well and if done right the city area can make a few bucks. By doing this on the track or controlled you can deploy safety rules which educates the racers. The spectators are controlled. It also stops the drinking.

[Roadman]

I'm on the other side of this fence. For those never being in the scene its easy to call it stupid. I grew up street racing. Its sort of a passing. Some kids grew up being book worms, some play school sports, others did nothing, some learn how to tune and race cars and motorcycles on the street. Some make a lot of money at it. Is it dangerous, sure, Is it fun, You bet! I was one that did it well, made a lot of money and from it started a race car business and built and tuned cars. eventually I was track only.

Its a waste of money and resources to hire more police, set up roadblocks, and give out more tickets. They will never stop it. They might curb it a bit is all. The more pressure you put on them the more clever they become and the more risks they are willing to take. Best approach is managing it. Open more race tracks to get them off the street. In fact you do not even need to open race tracks. I had been to a few where they closed off roads in certain areas to let people race. That has always worked well and if done right the city area can make a few bucks. By doing this on the track or controlled you can deploy safety rules which educates the racers. The spectators are controlled. It also stops the drinking.

Agree with the organised events but outside of that there still needs to be consequences for actions that can cause death... young people drunk and drugged up using high speed weapons. Simple solution to get the right response with those that are caught is for the courts to take their pride and joy their car or motor bike and while they watch put it through a crusher. We have a MP here who now goes by the name Crusher for clearing this action for the courts and police.

[noitom]

It would be neat if the Thai military junta enforced law and order first on drunk driving, all dui, vehicular homicide, obstructing justice, eliminate favoritism for the privileged. No Thai military junta efforts to curb law and order are meaningful unless they enforce manslaughter and vehicular negligence/homicide and enforce police warrants outstanding for the arrest of perpetrators. Until then , all the tough military talk in the world is merely repeating the same Thai cronyism, expecting the results to be different.

[JAFO]

I'm on the other side of this fence. For those never being in the scene its easy to call it stupid. I grew up street racing. Its sort of a passing. Some kids grew up being book worms, some play school sports, others did nothing, some learn how to tune and race cars and motorcycles on the street. Some make a lot of money at it. Is it dangerous, sure, Is it fun, You bet! I was one that did it well, made a lot of money and from it started a race car business and built and tuned cars. eventually I was track only.

Its a waste of money and resources to hire more police, set up roadblocks, and give out more tickets. They will never stop it. They might curb it a bit is all. The more pressure you put on them the more clever they become and the more risks they are willing to take. Best approach is managing it. Open more race tracks to get them off the street. In fact you do not even need to open race tracks. I had been to a few where they closed off roads in certain areas to let people race. That has always worked well and if done right the city area can make a few bucks. By doing this on the track or controlled you can deploy safety rules which educates the racers. The spectators are controlled. It also stops the drinking.

Agree with the organised events but outside of that there still needs to be consequences for actions that can cause death... young people drunk and drugged up using high speed weapons. Simple solution to get the right response with those that are caught is for the courts to take their pride and joy their car or motor bike and while they watch put it through a crusher. We have a MP here who now goes by the name Crusher for clearing this action for the courts and police.

I totally agree. Strict consequences need to be in place. Sadly too many drink and drive.

[impulse]

I'm on the other side of this fence. For those never being in the scene its easy to call it stupid. I grew up street racing. Its sort of a passing. Some kids grew up being book worms, some play school sports, others did nothing, some learn how to tune and race cars and motorcycles on the street.

Going out and picking fights with people who don't look like me, and setting hobos on fire, and stealing cars for joy rides are rites of passage, too. I, too have fond memories of stuff I did that could have ended up as tragedy for innocent people. Young, dumb and bulletproof, we were. Yet, not all of us survived our teen years. (Most of what we did involved drinking until senseless, before, after, and while driving)

If the participants want to kill themselves, so be it. If it puts bystanders at risk, it needs to be stopped. Cordoned off areas and tracks are a great idea.

Edited July 24, 2014 by impulse

[LuckyLew]

I'd prefer if they would tackle the traffic jams in BKK first - the idea of street racing is but a distant dream there.

IMO cuttingvack traffic jams is way more distant tgan street racing. Half the traffic issues arw related to untrained and selfish drivers ... hard to correct people who only think of themselves

Sent from my GT-N5100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Centrum]

I'm on the other side of this fence. For those never being in the scene its easy to call it stupid. I grew up street racing. Its sort of a passing. Some kids grew up being book worms, some play school sports, others did nothing, some learn how to tune and race cars and motorcycles on the street.

Going out and picking fights with people who don't look like me, and setting hobos on fire, and stealing cars for joy rides are rites of passage, too. I, too have fond memories of stuff I did that could have ended up as tragedy for innocent people. Young, dumb and bulletproof, we were. Yet, not all of us survived our teen years. (Most of what we did involved drinking until senseless, before, after, and while driving)

If the participants want to kill themselves, so be it. If it puts bystanders at risk, it needs to be stopped. Cordoned off areas and tracks are a great idea.

You set hobos on fire???

Rite of passage???

I'm shocked!

[charmonman]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I'm on the other side of this fence. For those never being in the scene its easy to call it stupid. I grew up street racing. Its sort of a passing. Some kids grew up being book worms, some play school sports, others did nothing, some learn how to tune and race cars and motorcycles on the street. Some make a lot of money at it. Is it dangerous, sure, Is it fun, You bet! I was one that did it well, made a lot of money and from it started a race car business and built and tuned cars. eventually I was track only.

Its a waste of money and resources to hire more police, set up roadblocks, and give out more tickets. They will never stop it. They might curb it a bit is all. The more pressure you put on them the more clever they become and the more risks they are willing to take. Best approach is managing it. Open more race tracks to get them off the street. In fact you do not even need to open race tracks. I had been to a few where they closed off roads in certain areas to let people race. That has always worked well and if done right the city area can make a few bucks. By doing this on the track or controlled you can deploy safety rules which educates the racers. The spectators are controlled. It also stops the drinking.

Jafo, I don't give a flying <deleted> if you made money at it or if you thought it was "fun". You are lucky you didn't wreck your life or someone else's. You should have been arrested and kept off the street to try to minimize that possibility. Or maybe you could have found another "hobby".

[thaiguzzi]

I'm on the other side of this fence. For those never being in the scene its easy to call it stupid. I grew up street racing. Its sort of a passing. Some kids grew up being book worms, some play school sports, others did nothing, some learn how to tune and race cars and motorcycles on the street. Some make a lot of money at it. Is it dangerous, sure, Is it fun, You bet! I was one that did it well, made a lot of money and from it started a race car business and built and tuned cars. eventually I was track only.

Its a waste of money and resources to hire more police, set up roadblocks, and give out more tickets. They will never stop it. They might curb it a bit is all. The more pressure you put on them the more clever they become and the more risks they are willing to take. Best approach is managing it. Open more race tracks to get them off the street. In fact you do not even need to open race tracks. I had been to a few where they closed off roads in certain areas to let people race. That has always worked well and if done right the city area can make a few bucks. By doing this on the track or controlled you can deploy safety rules which educates the racers. The spectators are controlled. It also stops the drinking.

Very sensible. Agree with everything you said. +1.

[thaiguzzi]

They take place at night and are a menace. There's a whole subculture that includes the boy racers pimping out their girlfriends to afford the best gear.

Sounds like good fun to me. When i was 16/17 i never had the idea to pimp out my girlie for better gear. Damn.

[Pinot]

They take place at night and are a menace. There's a whole subculture that includes the boy racers pimping out their girlfriends to afford the best gear.

Really? You went there...

All illegally modified bikes could be seized. Every one of the racers have illegal mufflers. It could happen.

The real issue is road laws are not enforced because the cops are not trained or equipped to enforce traffic laws. That's why (or one of the many reasons) driving in Thailand is a so dangerous. No one ever gets stopped for anything! How long would it take in the West for the roads to become like LOS if traffic laws were not enforced? A week? A couple of days? 555

[NoshowJones]

Simple the biggest threat in Thailand is death on the roads - always has been.

Was at the Thai temple in London for Khao Pansur day and was helping barbeque when I noticed some young farangs and a couple of Thai girls signing the back of some big photos. Wondering what they were doing I asked - turned out she was a Thai student in the UK who had gone home for a holiday and had died in a car at 4.30 in the morning having been struck by a lorry near Phitansalouk. Offering my condolences I remembered that one of our group had lost her daughter aged 20 and I sensitively broached the subject - as we talked about this another of my wife friend's said she had lost her sister. So in this small random group 3 had lost people close to them. Thai Junta - one simple message SORT OUT THE CARNAGE ON THAI ROADS.

I will not believe that the Junta are serious about anything until they start doing just that. Peoples lives are far more important than cleaning beaches and clearing vendors from the pavements.

[Dublin]

Can we open the motorways to bikes greater than 4 / 500cc Seriously 2014 and cant ride my bike on the motorway...come on Junta lets get real and make some logical changes leave the Honda Wave hot rod gangs to the police,,,

[webfact]

Street racing faces crackdown

BANGKOK: -- Street racing motorcyclists will be the next to face crackdown by the police and the army as part of the National Council for Peace and Order’s new social order.

Lt-Col Burin Thongprapai, an officer of the judge-advocate department in charge of coordinating with the police to enforce the social order, said Friday that since the NCPO had already taken actions to deal with several social problems ranging from illegal parking by passenger vans, illegal motorcycle taxies, loan sharks, illegal gambling and etc it was about time that focus would be shifted to street racing by young motorcyclists.

Street racing, he said, not only poses danger to the riders themselves but put other motorcyclists and motorists at risk and also poses a nuisance to the public in general.

He noted that the problem persists because, in most cases, the racers are set free after their parents were summoned by the police to receive warnings although, in some cases, their motorbikes were impounded.

Many racers do not repent and return to racing again, said the colonel, adding from now on arrested racers will be sent to a rehabilitation school for seven days for rehabilitation to change their habits.

Repeaters will be sent to the school again if they are arrested for illegal racing, he continued.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/street-racing-faces-crackdown/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=street-racing-faces-crackdown

-- Thai PBS 2014-07-25

[charmonman]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

They take place at night and are a menace. There's a whole subculture that includes the boy racers pimping out their girlfriends to afford the best gear.

Really? You went there... alt=facepalm.gif>

All illegally modified bikes could be seized. Every one of the racers have illegal mufflers. It could happen.

The real issue is road laws are not enforced because the cops are not trained or equipped to enforce traffic laws. That's why (or one of the many reasons) driving in Thailand is a so dangerous. No one ever gets stopped for anything! How long would it take in the West for the roads to become like LOS if traffic laws were not enforced? A week? A couple of days? 555

I have only driven four times in Thailand and twice I've gotten a ticket; once for straddling lanes (really?!), and once for crossing too many lanes in too short a span of time towards an exit (despite the fact the lanes behind me were completely empty). On the other hand, in 35 years + driving in my own country, thousands of times, I have recieved only two tickets, for speeding in known speed traps.

So, the police in Thailand DO stop drivers, but apparently only for trivial offences.

[NoshowJones]

I know the Junta cannot do everything at once, but I would think before now I would have read about them tackling motorbikes riding on the sidewalk. Can't they just send two soldiers out and make an example of some of them?

[Thanet]

I'm on the other side of this fence. For those never being in the scene its easy to call it stupid. I grew up street racing. Its sort of a passing. Some kids grew up being book worms, some play school sports, others did nothing, some learn how to tune and race cars and motorcycles on the street.

Going out and picking fights with people who don't look like me, and setting hobos on fire, and stealing cars for joy rides are rites of passage, too. I, too have fond memories of stuff I did that could have ended up as tragedy for innocent people. Young, dumb and bulletproof, we were. Yet, not all of us survived our teen years. (Most of what we did involved drinking until senseless, before, after, and while driving)

If the participants want to kill themselves, so be it. If it puts bystanders at risk, it needs to be stopped. Cordoned off areas and tracks are a great idea.

You set hobos on fire???

Rite of passage???

I'm shocked!

[redsox44]

Silom has been very calm for the last week. Prior to that it became a drag strip most evrnings after 10 PM.

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[bkkstooge]

I'm on the other side of this fence. For those never being in the scene its easy to call it stupid. I grew up street racing. Its sort of a passing. Some kids grew up being book worms, some play school sports, others did nothing, some learn how to tune and race cars and motorcycles on the street.

Going out and picking fights with people who don't look like me, and setting hobos on fire, and stealing cars for joy rides are rites of passage, too. I, too have fond memories of stuff I did that could have ended up as tragedy for innocent people. Young, dumb and bulletproof, we were. Yet, not all of us survived our teen years. (Most of what we did involved drinking until senseless, before, after, and while driving)

If the participants want to kill themselves, so be it. If it puts bystanders at risk, it needs to be stopped. Cordoned off areas and tracks are a great idea.

holy sh*t! you set homeless people on fire. Christ I thought I had some bad stuff to take to the grave.

[impulse]

I'm on the other side of this fence. For those never being in the scene its easy to call it stupid. I grew up street racing. Its sort of a passing. Some kids grew up being book worms, some play school sports, others did nothing, some learn how to tune and race cars and motorcycles on the street.

Going out and picking fights with people who don't look like me, and setting hobos on fire, and stealing cars for joy rides are rites of passage, too. I, too have fond memories of stuff I did that could have ended up as tragedy for innocent people. Young, dumb and bulletproof, we were. Yet, not all of us survived our teen years. (Most of what we did involved drinking until senseless, before, after, and while driving)

If the participants want to kill themselves, so be it. If it puts bystanders at risk, it needs to be stopped. Cordoned off areas and tracks are a great idea.

holy sh*t! you set homeless people on fire. Christ I thought I had some bad stuff to take to the grave.

Never set any hobos on fire personally, nor picked fights, nor stole any cars. But there have been well documented cases of "clubs" where such actions are a requirement for initiation. I'd hope that they would look back on their actions with remorse when they grow out of the phase, but I suspect many of them just see it as "a sort of passing".

And, it seems (from some other threads running today), some never do grow out of that phase.

Edited July 26, 2014 by impulse