Bangkok: First day of wheel clamping campaign nets 80 offenders

[Suradit69]

Yeah, would love to see the 'truth' - how many real fines paid vs. those that make it into the boys pockets.

In Thai Visa threads the truth just gets in the way of the childish farang (false) sense of superiority.

Here at the hub of vivid imaginations, if you close your eyes, the truth can be whatever your imagination wants it to be.

I'm playing "Let's Pretend," just like they do on Thai Visa!

[robblok]

James too bad they cant clamp bikes. See that cars are the reason for slow traffic and congestion not bikes.

I seriously hope they keep doing this as illigal parking slows traffic down a lot. Same goes for double parking busses and vans for picking up people.

Rob, I saw quite a few bikes parked perpendicular to the flow of traffic - essentially blocking traffic as well. Kinda like taxis and buses that think they are being helpful by pulling over half way and still taking up two lanes.

But as I said, it's a start. It will only work if this is systematic and not a one week "clampdown" then back into the aircon.

Get those bikes too but there is no denying that cars are the reason for the greatest blockafw of the road compared to the amount of ppl they transport.

I am happy they are finally doing something about this parking problem the question is for how long.

[Zeegator]

230 traffic police and only 80 clampings in a day in Bangkok!!??? They were not trying very hard, were they. It would be interesting to know how many clamps went on, then were taken off after a private fine was paid, and were thus not part of the statistics.

The much more credible and reliable Bangkok Post reports that just short of 500 vehicles were clamped between 6am and noon yesterday but bear in mind that potential offenders had been warned the previous day, maybe the warning was heeded and the deterrent threat of being clamped worked?

Did you miss the bit about traffic flowing more freely?

Edited August 19, 2014 by Zeegator

[robblok]

Yeah, would love to see the 'truth' - how many real fines paid vs. those that make it into the boys pockets.

In Thai Visa threads the truth just gets in the way of the childish farang (false) sense of superiority.

Here at the hub of vivid imaginations, if you close your eyes, the truth can be whatever your imagination wants it to be.

I'm playing "Let's Pretend," just like they do on Thai Visa!

You never got back to the 2000 bt fine for bikes in patayya that i called a acam and you defended. You seem to take the easy way out when your wrong you ignore it. I ask again what traffic violation is 2000 vbt and remember they only fine for one thing they dont stack here. But even stacked you wont get too 2000.

I have no problem with you defending Thais as there are plenty of foreigners bashing them but when its a scam its a scam.

[kimamey]

80 clamps in 1 day? That should have been in the first 30 min. I agree with towing. Yes it is more expensive: Pass that cost on to the driver. Make the fine hurt, tow it to a central location and set up a very transparent system for paying the fine so no under handed dealings. Once the word gets around that it the fine is pretty steep I think you will get some attention.

You're going to need a lot of tow trucks which will cause disruption of their own. Far better to clamp some cars first and then as you say the message will get round. You can clamp cars far quicker than you can tow them and you can still impose a high fine but bare in mind that the effect of a fine for either removing a clamp or getting a towed vehicle back will depend on the financial status of the driver involved. You'll still need to tow on some occasions but not all. Going in and towing huge numbers of cars will get complaints that the military are being too authoritarian so a more measured approach is the best option to start with then if it doesn't work it can be stepped up.

Other people have mentioned the problem of police corruption. If there are 80 vehicles clamped then it's fairly obvious how much money should come back from that. There's the possibility that the 80 weren't the only ones and that's where the tea money comes from. The military need to keep a check on this which will be more difficult the more claps and tow truck are used.

The reason for the parking problems is the same as for most of the violations of laws here, a view that laws and regulations don't need to be obeyed and it will take time to change that view. Trying to sort it all in one day isn't going to work.

Buy some tow truck - trade in the fire trucks sitting in mothballs.

By the way, ever seen a car get towed in the west in a big city. Can't take more than a couple of mins.

It takes more than a couple of minutes to trade in fire trucks and buy some tow trucks. Why the obsession with towing. Why not try the easy option of clamping first. Yes the obstruction is still there but this problem has been around for years. Will an hour or 2 plus taking time to remove the clamp to cause inconvenience to the owner really bring Bangkok to more of a standstill than it is already. Have patience.

Nice video but staged. I'm guessing that car was rear wheel drive with the parking brake on the rear as well. Front wheel drive might be more difficult, as that one would have been if it was parked the other way. You might also have noticed that the front wheels were straight. If they were locked at an angle it could be a problem and take longer. I'm not saying there aren't ingenious tow trucks and their drivers who can do amazing things but are they in Bangkok and available now?

[tingtongteesood]

Should clamp the vehicle then call in the tow truck. Stop the illegal parker running away and then remove the problem as fast as possible.

[bkkjames]

80 clamps in 1 day? That should have been in the first 30 min. I agree with towing. Yes it is more expensive: Pass that cost on to the driver. Make the fine hurt, tow it to a central location and set up a very transparent system for paying the fine so no under handed dealings. Once the word gets around that it the fine is pretty steep I think you will get some attention.

You're going to need a lot of tow trucks which will cause disruption of their own. Far better to clamp some cars first and then as you say the message will get round. You can clamp cars far quicker than you can tow them and you can still impose a high fine but bare in mind that the effect of a fine for either removing a clamp or getting a towed vehicle back will depend on the financial status of the driver involved. You'll still need to tow on some occasions but not all. Going in and towing huge numbers of cars will get complaints that the military are being too authoritarian so a more measured approach is the best option to start with then if it doesn't work it can be stepped up.

Other people have mentioned the problem of police corruption. If there are 80 vehicles clamped then it's fairly obvious how much money should come back from that. There's the possibility that the 80 weren't the only ones and that's where the tea money comes from. The military need to keep a check on this which will be more difficult the more claps and tow truck are used.

The reason for the parking problems is the same as for most of the violations of laws here, a view that laws and regulations don't need to be obeyed and it will take time to change that view. Trying to sort it all in one day isn't going to work.

Buy some tow truck - trade in the fire trucks sitting in mothballs.

By the way, ever seen a car get towed in the west in a big city. Can't take more than a couple of mins.

It takes more than a couple of minutes to trade in fire trucks and buy some tow trucks. Why the obsession with towing. Why not try the easy option of clamping first. Yes the obstruction is still there but this problem has been around for years. Will an hour or 2 plus taking time to remove the clamp to cause inconvenience to the owner really bring Bangkok to more of a standstill than it is already. Have patience.

Nice video but staged. I'm guessing that car was rear wheel drive with the parking brake on the rear as well. Front wheel drive might be more difficult, as that one would have been if it was parked the other way. You might also have noticed that the front wheels were straight. If they were locked at an angle it could be a problem and take longer. I'm not saying there aren't ingenious tow trucks and their drivers who can do amazing things but are they in Bangkok and available now?

we have tow trucks now. Crappy old Police ones,

Of course you can always do the easy way of clamping. better yet, do nothing. If you don't invest in a few (BMA) tow trucks you'll never have them.

They can also be used - get this really groundbreaking stuff here I am going to reveal - to tow away broken down cars.

As the old saying goes, you will continue to have what you have if you continue to do what you do.

For the record I am hopeful that the clampdown will work, however let's revisit this topic in a week or two and see if it is maintained. If past performance is any indication....

[waoscar]

James too bad they cant clamp bikes. See that cars are the reason for slow traffic and congestion not bikes.

I seriously hope they keep doing this as illigal parking slows traffic down a lot. Same goes for double parking busses and vans for picking up people.

Rob, I saw quite a few bikes parked perpendicular to the flow of traffic - essentially blocking traffic as well. Kinda like taxis and buses that think they are being helpful by pulling over half way and still taking up two lanes.

But as I said, it's a start. It will only work if this is systematic and not a one week "clampdown" then back into the aircon.

They wheel clamp Bikes in Pattaya. Saw a bike being clamped opposite Tukcom on Pattaya Tai which has Odd/Even parking for each side of the road

[bkkjames]

James too bad they cant clamp bikes. See that cars are the reason for slow traffic and congestion not bikes.

I seriously hope they keep doing this as illigal parking slows traffic down a lot. Same goes for double parking busses and vans for picking up people.

Rob, I saw quite a few bikes parked perpendicular to the flow of traffic - essentially blocking traffic as well. Kinda like taxis and buses that think they are being helpful by pulling over half way and still taking up two lanes.

But as I said, it's a start. It will only work if this is systematic and not a one week "clampdown" then back into the aircon.

They wheel clamp Bikes in Pattaya. Saw a bike being clamped opposite Tukcom on Pattaya Tai which has Odd/Even parking for each side of the road

I did see two bikes clamped together on Thonglor a couple months back. Better be careful Rob

[keeniau96]

I had my car towed in Denver many years ago. Private tow truck drag the vehicle (many now have a ramp to load it piggy-back aboard the truck) to the city car impound lot. I had to pay a very stiff towing charge, pay the impound fee (several hundred dollars), illegal parking fine and had to pay a daily parking charge at the impound lot (unkindest cut of all). Never did illegal parking again. I have seen tow crews in action and they are very fast, get paid per haulaway.

[bkkjames]

I had my car towed in Denver many years ago. Private tow truck drag the vehicle (many now have a ramp to load it piggy-back aboard the truck) to the city car impound lot. I had to pay a very stiff towing charge, pay the impound fee (several hundred dollars), illegal parking fine and had to pay a daily parking charge at the impound lot (unkindest cut of all). Never did illegal parking again. I have seen tow crews in action and they are very fast, get paid per haulaway.

Here they would have to be armed I imagine.

[Doc46]

Why don't they do a decent job,,,,Get the army in and tow all the offenders of illegal parking an double parking bikes,cars,vans,busses and fine them 50000 Baht or more then see what happens if they do it again crush the vehicles,,,100% foolproof

[Sayonarax]

230 traffic police and only 80 clampings in a day in Bangkok!!??? They were not trying very hard, were they. It would be interesting to know how many clamps went on, then were taken off after a private fine was paid, and were thus not part of the statistics.

I was watching them yesterday and they drive around in groups. They only stop to attach the clamp, then they are on their merry ways.

I guess your just writing hearsay.

[bkkjames]

Pattanakarn road sees highest rate of parking ban violator on first day of crackdown

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Pattanakarn-road-sees-highest-rate-of-parking-ban--30241229.html

August 19, 2014 9:24 am

The Pattanakarn Road had the highest rate of parking ban violators on the first day of crackdown on main roads nationwide on Monday, traffic police said.

Traffic police locked a wheel of 1,798 vehicles that were found violating parking ban on main roads on Monday and 869 of them were in Bangkok. Most of the violators in Bangkok were found on the Pattanakarn Raod.

The Nation

[kimamey]

Should clamp the vehicle then call in the tow truck. Stop the illegal parker running away and then remove the problem as fast as possible.

If they want to tow they would either have to have a police officer to stop them or the more sensible option that you mention of clamping them anyway.

[Boxclever]

Would this enter the category of "popular policies"?

I thought the Junta was cracking down on this?

[Giddyup99]

How long does it take to get the clamp removed while it sits there and continues to block traffic?

At home, clamps are used on cars whose drivers owe for many outstanding tickets. If you park illegally your car is towed within minutes of getting spotted.

Maybe they should go to the shopping mall parking lots and clamp the cars that have parked in handicapped spots.

[gray42]

I applaud this action of not tolerating illegal parking.

The solution is to tow, not wheel clamp.

Wheel clamping leaves the car illegally parked. Towing removes the problem

I say keep it there with the clamp on. Show other people what will happen if they do the same.

[kimamey]

You're going to need a lot of tow trucks which will cause disruption of their own. Far better to clamp some cars first and then as you say the message will get round. You can clamp cars far quicker than you can tow them and you can still impose a high fine but bare in mind that the effect of a fine for either removing a clamp or getting a towed vehicle back will depend on the financial status of the driver involved. You'll still need to tow on some occasions but not all. Going in and towing huge numbers of cars will get complaints that the military are being too authoritarian so a more measured approach is the best option to start with then if it doesn't work it can be stepped up.

Other people have mentioned the problem of police corruption. If there are 80 vehicles clamped then it's fairly obvious how much money should come back from that. There's the possibility that the 80 weren't the only ones and that's where the tea money comes from. The military need to keep a check on this which will be more difficult the more claps and tow truck are used.

The reason for the parking problems is the same as for most of the violations of laws here, a view that laws and regulations don't need to be obeyed and it will take time to change that view. Trying to sort it all in one day isn't going to work.

Buy some tow truck - trade in the fire trucks sitting in mothballs.

By the way, ever seen a car get towed in the west in a big city. Can't take more than a couple of mins.

It takes more than a couple of minutes to trade in fire trucks and buy some tow trucks. Why the obsession with towing. Why not try the easy option of clamping first. Yes the obstruction is still there but this problem has been around for years. Will an hour or 2 plus taking time to remove the clamp to cause inconvenience to the owner really bring Bangkok to more of a standstill than it is already. Have patience.

Nice video but staged. I'm guessing that car was rear wheel drive with the parking brake on the rear as well. Front wheel drive might be more difficult, as that one would have been if it was parked the other way. You might also have noticed that the front wheels were straight. If they were locked at an angle it could be a problem and take longer. I'm not saying there aren't ingenious tow trucks and their drivers who can do amazing things but are they in Bangkok and available now?

we have tow trucks now. Crappy old Police ones,

Of course you can always do the easy way of clamping. better yet, do nothing. If you don't invest in a few (BMA) tow trucks you'll never have them.

They can also be used - get this really groundbreaking stuff here I am going to reveal - to tow away broken down cars.

As the old saying goes, you will continue to have what you have if you continue to do what you do.

For the record I am hopeful that the clampdown will work, however let's revisit this topic in a week or two and see if it is maintained. If past performance is any indication....

I see you're resorting to avoiding my answers to your posts and any previous comments of mine but I'll reply anyway.

we have tow trucks now. Crappy old Police ones,

Yes I know and there are private ones as well.

Of course you can always do the easy way of clamping. better yet, do nothing. If you don't invest in a few (BMA) tow trucks you'll never have them.

The first part is exactly what I said. I've never said do nothing. Yes they may well need to invest in newer tow trucks although I don't have an intimate knowledge of their current models. They don't have them now so they can't use them.

They can also be used - get this really groundbreaking stuff here I am going to reveal - to tow away broken down cars.

Too stupid to even warrant a reply.

As the old saying goes, you will continue to have what you have if you continue to do what you do.

I think this is what they are doing now with the readily available wheel clamps. I think this is common elsewhere as well as I'm sure the Thais didn't invent the wheel clamp. Do other countries not use wheel clamps and fines to stop illegal parking?

For the record I am hopeful that the clampdown will work, however let's revisit this topic in a week or two and see if it is maintained. If past performance is any indication....

As I've said earlier there will be times that towing is needed as it is in other countries but trying to tow every illegally parked car isn't practical so as you point out we need to wait and see what happens. If things don't improve then a different approach may well be needed but there's not much point trying to tow away all the cars as this would require a lot of time and manpower. The estimates for the number seem to range from 80 to over 800 in Bangkok plus there's the issue of where to store them. That number might require using space a fair distance from the area of the offences which would take up a lot of time in transit. How many tow trucks would this need to work?

One of the problems here is that rules are ignored in all areas of life so that view needs to be changed. Many of the illegal parkers are probably just doing what everyone does here and taking no notice of the rules because they aren't generally enforced and if they are it's just a small fine. Many of those will change when they realise that those rules are now going to be enforced, that is so long as the clamping continues of course. That will leave the hard core of persistent offenders who can then be tackled differently and that may well mean towing their car away. Some of these will be rich people who are happy to pay a large fine so what might be needed is to inconvenience them. That can be done by taking time to unclamp them or by towing away and making them sit in a police station for a long time waiting to pay the fine and towing fee. Trying to do that with everyone now isn't practical or necessary so you need to narrow it own by seeing who will stop parking illegally if you clamp and fine them.

[bkkjames]

Start towing a few Mercs and the message will get expidited.

Sent from my LG-P970 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[54321]

I just went past phra artit. One lane blocked by about 30 illegally parked cars, but only one car had its wheel clamped.

[louialive]

Have they started selling copy wheel clamps yet. Could buy your own fit it and park where you like.

I believe they are looking at designer wheel clamps for the hiso

[lockman]

Start by first charging for ANY double parked, etc vehicles, including those trucks IN the roadway delivering or picking up. No payola, 500-1000B first offense. But until ALL police get involved it won't get better. Then start making roadways just that roadways, not a shopping mall. Nothing like the government building a nice 4 lane highway, nice wide berms, etc, and the shops shoved up against the berm, vehicles parking there, and so someone else blocks the driving lane, now everything has to go to a single lane, pushcarts, motorcycles, etc as well as the traffic, and now I'll stop for dropping off stuff, can't drive 20-30 feet down the road and move over.

[selftaopath]

I hope every example of "reform" will arrive in Isaan soon. The road situation here is appalling as there appears no concept of rule of law or road appropriate behavior. Hell many of the "home made" vehicles here don't have lights, but that does not stop some from operating them at night....I'd estimate 98 percent of operators are not licensed or aware.

[Old Man River]

What constitutes illegal parking in Bangkok?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[bkkjames]

What constitutes illegal parking in Bangkok?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

see the signs with times on them or designated lines on the curb ...those.

[dinger]

Lets find out if they really mean business or if this is just the same old pig with new lipstick.
Haul in a few of Mrs. Hi-so's Mercs and when daddy big bucks shows up and starts throwing his weight around yelling "Do you know who I am"
is when you will find out if there are any teeth in this

[Benmart]

230 traffic police and only 80 clampings in a day in Bangkok!!??? They were not trying very hard, were they. It would be interesting to know how many clamps went on, then were taken off after a private fine was paid, and were thus not part of the statistics.

For ever positive action, there is often a negative reaction from people that were not there.

[ratcatcher]

I hope every example of "reform" will arrive in Isaan soon. The road situation here is appalling as there appears no concept of rule of law or road appropriate behavior. Hell many of the "home made" vehicles here don't have lights, but that does not stop some from operating them at night....I'd estimate 98 percent of operators are not licensed or aware.

But isn't all that part of the advantage of living out in Nakhon Nowhere rather than stinky old Bangers?

[firefox999uk]

Just recently I downloaded a TV program called caught on camera.

It’s about the illegal parking problem in Bristol (UK).

When the cctv cameras see an illegally parked car they send along a

low loader truck that lifts the offending car onto the truck….problem solved.

They also have a car that drives around all day with a video camera on the roof

recording illegal parkers.

In the first 2 weeks this car issued over 35,000 tickets…WOW!

P.S.

Still not got an answer to my post No 22 on how much the fine is,

or, is the fine made up on the spot.

Have A Nice Day.