Metropolitan Police to fine jaywalkers in Bangkok

[oztaurus]

And in other news, murderers, drug dealers and other criminals continue to walk free!

not if they jaywalk ...

[oztaurus]

zebra crossings?

Thais do stop every time a zebra walks over it .

though they do speed up and take videos of ostriches running down the street

[rethaier]

How about installing more crosswalks?

How about inforcing a law for traffic that will not stop for you at one?

How about inforcing a law for traffic that will actually speed up when you try to use one?

How about inforcing a law for traffic that obstruct crosswalks?

What a joke...

Enforce not inforce

[Rickster]

What is jaywalkers, certainly not something I've heard of??

Read and try and learn.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaywalking

Why have to be such a patronising tosser!! Edited September 2, 2014 by Rickster

[monk213]

Will they fine motorists who fail to stop at zebra crossings?

Literally I have never seen them used unless there is a traffic cop standing next to one, it is as if they don't even exist. It would take either severe punishment or an entire generation of road education to change this.

[oztaurus]

Fining jaywalkers? They should award them medals for bravery! Maybe even give them high paying jobs finding safe passage through the minefields around Khao Preah Vihar, or escorting teachers to and from work in the 3 southern provinces.

[Emster23]

seems they are looking for every traffic law to enforce that doesn't involve moving violations.

[jossthaifarang]

Will they fine motorists who fail to stop at zebra crossings?

Will they fine motorists who fail to stop at zebra Pedestrian crossings? Will they fine Motorcycles/cars going the wrong way down one way streets?

NO! Just the J walkers..

[TheKnave]

How about fining the muppets who walk on sidewalk glued to their mobile phones, texting or facebook or whatever they do, the ones that bounce off of you and continue as if nothing has happened. I remember when I first moved to Thailand in 2001, I was walking through BKK with a mate from home who'd been living here for a good few years and he said to me, "you know what I'm going to do when I get rich Al"?... "I'm going to open a school and teach these <deleted> how to walk properly"... Not too much changes does it..

How about sucking Thailand up off the face of the earth, running it through some kind of cosmic washing machine, and spitting it back out as England? Should satisfy all the whiny weasels, who are constantly complaining and proclaiming " it should be like (this, that, the other)".

You all should have stayed home.

[Lupatria]

What a relief! I already feared for the BIB they may run out of very important tasks.

[lucjoker]

zebra crossings?

Thais do stop every time a zebra walks over it .

though they do speed up and take videos of ostriches running down the street

Yes and the ostriches know this ,and wont put their head in the ground out fear of loosing their virginity ........

[Rickster]

How about fining the muppets who walk on sidewalk glued to their mobile phones, texting or facebook or whatever they do, the ones that bounce off of you and continue as if nothing has happened. I remember when I first moved to Thailand in 2001, I was walking through BKK with a mate from home who'd been living here for a good few years and he said to me, "you know what I'm going to do when I get rich Al"?... "I'm going to open a school and teach these how to walk properly"... Not too much changes does it..

How about sucking Thailand up off the face of the earth, running it through some kind of cosmic washing machine, and spitting it back out as England? Should satisfy all the whiny weasels, who are constantly complaining and proclaiming " it should be like (this, that, the other)".

You all should have stayed home.

Its only the muppets on here that think that way most others are quite content. This a place where people who were abused in their younger days come to vent....sad sacks!!

[Fab5BKK]

1st. I was comparing Bangkok with Singapore

2nd. We were discussing the relative safety of pedestrians. If you want to run a wider "study", it's much safer to walk on pavement in NY or London than Bangkok. Same when using zebra crossings...

Discussion was not about criminality or whatever...

Please read things in context

I was talking about the safety in Singapore NOT in Bangkok, cheers
Who can claim that he feels safe in Bangkok? :-))

"Who can claim that he feels safe in Bangkok? :-))"

I would like to be first in line to say that I feel a hell of a lot safer in Bangkok and Pattaya than I would in London, Los Angeles, New York, Detroit or any number of cities out there in the civilized "First World', as people are so fond of referring to Thailand as Third World..

Edited September 2, 2014 by Fab5BKK

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Some of the police will get all confused and flustered now that they have to do policing work not collecting tea money and drinking whisky all day but actual work within the law wow.

I think this is a great new chance for the police to collect more tea money, 100 THB bribe or a 200 THB fine that takes long time at the police station (Their selling point for the bribe option) Maybe if they are realy lucky and are in an area with alot of Farangs they can try for 500 THB, many newcomers will pay up.

[masuk]

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Will they fine motorists who fail to stop at zebra crossings?

What's also needed is a hard hitting campaign to made drivers more aware of the law - when a pedestrian steps foot onto the zebra crossing all traffic must stop.

My understanding is that many drivers are not really aware of the law on this matter.

An example: I have both Thai and foreign students (at the moment mostly from Germany) in many MBA courses and last year one of the German students almost got killed, he assumed that zebra crossing laws were the same all over the world and he started to cross. He was sideswiped but not seriously injured and the car didn't stop.

Several of the Thai students spoke up and said that there is no requirement in Thai traffic law for cars / vehicles to stop at these crossings. They are there to make it look nice,

Other Thai students quickly disagreed and said vehicles must stop when pedestrians start to cross, and mentioned that the appropriate laws are the same as most countries in the world.

The group who had indicated 'no requirement to stop' continued to take that line.

Another student said she would call her uncle - a mid level policeman and ask him. She called immediately on speaker phone. He listened while she explained her question and then responded. 'Vehicles must stop when a pedestrian starts to cross and the vehicles must not move until all the pedestrians have stepped onto the opposite footpath'.

I rather liked an idea I saw in Surabaya, Indonesia a few years back.

The poles opposite the zebra crossings held a number of orange painted tennis-racquet shaped devices with "STOP" printed on them, which you held out in front of you to let drivers know you really did want to cross the road.

This was not always effective, but if held high above your head, they were much more effective.

They also made a satisfying 'thwack' on a car roof if drivers forced their way through.

The busy zebra crossing opposite Kad Suan Keow in Chiang Mai would be a great place to start. Installing lights there would be even more sensible, as they do nearer Thae Pae Rd.

[Doc46]

30 officers covering 5 crosswalks and 13 inter-sections. Would anyone like to guesstimate the volume of offenders ?

What about all the other traffic offenders,,,,,,,,motorbikes ,cars,,, and most of all the Kamikaze took took and VAN drivers in the rest of the country,,,,they need an army of 10 million police and/or army to fine/jail the offenders .

[allenjw1]

ok better than the $1000 bht they tried to sting me for a month ago at crossing soi4 nana,lucky i had lovely lady with me who gave them an earful was very funny.end up paying 200.thats ok

[jmacken306]

If you are going to do that, you should also ticket vehicles that do not stop for people and ALSO, not allow Scooters to use SIDEWALK's (sidewalks mean "sidewalks" not bike lanes!!!!) in any town...... or go the wrong way on roads!!!!!

Concerned person for people safety!!!!

[ChrisY1]

It's almost as though they see the fining of pedestrians, as part of the NCPO clean up effort.

Never mind that vehicles never stop at crossings....look the other way when vendors sell fakes.....never prosecute the wealthy and connected.....release serious felons due to "lack of evidence"......

Fining jaywalkers exposes the infantile thinking and warped logic of the RTP!

[Loles]

" would be fined up to 200 baht "

This would be very fine for jaywalkers, and they say thanks a lot for the affordable punishment.

[ldiablo]

How about learning how to spell enforcing.

[smileydude]

Considering the number of areas and police personnel involved in this issue it seems the efforts are somewhat "half-hearted" or maybe more appropriately inferred to as "half-pocketed".

If you really want to get serious with jaywalkers, to be fair, you also have to solve several other problems that contribute to such behavior such as :

1. Fine motorists who do not stop for pedestrians at zebra crossings especially motorcyclists.

2. Stop criminals from using the flyover pedestrian crossings as convenient places of muggings and assault.

3. Remove beggars using the flyovers as people prefer to avoid the "guilt walk".

4. Design crossings with the proper sound, tactile warnings (e.g. raised floor markings >>>>) and ramps for the blind and handicapped.

Edited September 2, 2014 by smileydude

[smotherb]

Well, well, jay-walking. I have been living and working in Thailand and the Philippines since 1967. I always thought Thailand was a bit ahead in the good things--infrastructure, clean bathrooms, cold beers . . . --and the Philippines a bit ahead in the bad things--corruption, thievery, begging . . . --and though they were pretty even on others-- conniving in-laws, sick buffaloes, and available women. . . After having lived here in Thailand for several years, I went back to visit friends in the PI. I was riding a friend's bike and was astonished to see I was the major perpetrator of the bad driving. I had weaved my way through traffic, run through red lights, and stopped so far into the intersection that I blocked traffic. Hmmm, not quite sure what that was all about. I was riding that bike just like I rode mine back home in Thailand. As I sat in a local restaurant having a beer, I noticed police were stopping people who were jay-walking and making them go back to the sidewalk and go down to the corner to cross the street. This was Tacloban, a provincial capital hardly worth mentioning for its size or modernity, yet three years ahead of Bangkok in enforcing jay-walking and driving etiquette. What a marvelous world in which we live.

[jimbeam1]

I know I'm a tad late to the party. But

jb1

[KamalaRider]

wealy!

getting more like singapore by the month

[Estrada]

The problem are the uncomfortable walkover bridges.

They are 8 meters high, very steep, and the stairs are very narrow.

On top of the bridges you'll have to pass sellers, beggars, homeless people, drunken people and on your way up or down you need to find a way around the electricity cables.

If they would build comfortable, aircondioned tunnels in steads of bridges less people would be tempted to risk their lives.

They can't build tunnels... they would be flooded during the rainy season!

They already have tunnels to cross the road. For instance at Asoke where the first photoshoot took place, also at Petchburi rd. and so on. Of course the tunnels have stairs up and down equivalent to the up to 8 metres high pedestrian bridges. Please note that walking up and down stairs is a very good form of excercise. But it sounds like you are clapped out already.

[goatfarmer]

Will they fine motorists who fail to stop at zebra crossings?

Just thinking of that today - and those that queue across intersections.

[A1Str8]

Will they fine motorists who fail to stop at zebra crossings?

They have been doing it for a while.

[Estrada]

They need to clamp down on idiots crossing the road and causing accidents. I recently saw a woman with a full Tesco shopping trolley trying to cross 4 lanes of traffic on Srinakarin rd Seacon Square. God knows how she made it to the centre reservation where she left the trolley in the outside lane. She then carried the shopping bit by bit across the other 4 lanes of traffic. No police in sight and the security guard did nothing.

[NoshowJones]

Ahhh, a new crackdown! No week without a new crackdown in Thailand these day.

All the crackdowns involving traffic seem to be in Bangkok, what about a crackdown on unlicenced drivers and underage motorcyclists here up country? There are plenty of them.