Over 700 motorcyclists arrested and fined in first day of crackdown on footpath riding

[gregk0543]

I thought this was an enlightened thai practise that was legal.On a big road like lad phroa which is divided it is the only way to get to the market near my soi. Alternative would be a 2km loop instead of a 200 metre one. Gee next they will be telling people they have to wear helmets. Where will it end?????

[blastface]

Arrested and fined in this situation means "caught and fined". It's just a knee jerk reaction anyways. Everyone in this country drives or rides like a schmuck so footpath riding has been a way for motorcyclists to circumvent that issue.

BOTH of my nanas were killed by these typical thai lunatics. Maybe once they've killed your family members like many of us on here you won't think it's a 'kneejerk reaction' then! Of course we all know who they will say drives on the footpath *cough* Burmese *cough* couldn't be thai oh no! smh

what are nanas ?

Nana is your parents mother aka grandmother

[blastface]

I had to re-read this several times.....for the last 15 years I've been waiting for police to do their jobs and stop bikers riding on the walkways and footpaths......has this really happened?

Don't get too excited, 'Crackdowns' normally last about 48 hours tops !

Or until it rains, whichever comes first!

It isn't likely going to rain for quite some time... much longer than 48 hours.... ?

[slipperx]

What's the fine for vendors, lamp posts and telegraph poles, phone boxes and electrical control boxes? Oh and the occasional police box?

[richusa]

I bought a box of carpet tacks, and each day would throw a couple handfulls on the sidewalk. Use the small tacks.

[firestar]

yeah yeah....

Let's turn a blind eye at how all these massive new condos keep getting building permissions, let's turn a blind eye at the lack of planning, big envelopes changing hands.....

But let's hit on the little guy who has no choice but to live in the mess left behind.

Edited November 20, 2014 by firestar

[kennw]

To those who ride on footpaths, it is against the law because it is dangerous to those walking, you can try to justify your illegal actions as much as you like, but it is wrong, dangerous, selfish, and stupid. Accept the facts

[kingalfred]

To those who ride on footpaths, it is against the law because it is dangerous to those walking, you can try to justify your illegal actions as much as you like, but it is wrong, dangerous, selfish, and stupid. Accept the facts

Against the law,dangerous,selfish and stupid? Sure,but this is Thailand so lets add one more description "acceptable"

[Morakot]

When they say "arrested and fined" that means both actions occurred; I think the article meant to say "arrested or fined." Just can't see them arresting 700 motorcyclists because they were riding on footpaths; fining them yes, but arresting them no.

I think this is an incompatibility of legal concepts here.

The term arrest used in this context really means stopped. But the difference is that (for example unlike in most common law jurisdictions) "stopping" in Thailand is not a request, but is seen as an act of temporarily depriving a person of their freedom.

[MarkCyr]

I bet they ignored the worst offenders -- The motorcycle taxi drivers. They park on the sidewalks blocking entire sections, and they drive on them at quite high speeds, barely missing you.

[Anon999]

How did they manage to ride on the footpaths? Whenever I try there are too many vendors, cars, lampposts and other crap to even walk, let alone ride, on them.

aah - when I find myself riding on the footpath, it's usually because the street is cluttered with vendors, pushcarts and other miscellaneous sidecar riffraff, not to mention tour bus sized coaches and idiot drivers positioned like checkers in order to block any motorcycle passage...

there are many other things which should be much higher on the list of priorities.

I take it you also ride on the footpaths in your own country? Fat chance!

[cookee68]

What about when the BIB do it, I have seen the BIB do it on several occasions Do they arrest and fine them selfs

[manarak]

How did they manage to ride on the footpaths? Whenever I try there are too many vendors, cars, lampposts and other crap to even walk, let alone ride, on them.

aah - when I find myself riding on the footpath, it's usually because the street is cluttered with vendors, pushcarts and other miscellaneous sidecar riffraff, not to mention tour bus sized coaches and idiot drivers positioned like checkers in order to block any motorcycle passage...

there are many other things which should be much higher on the list of priorities.

I take it you also ride on the footpaths in your own country? Fat chance!

that is actually a fair point.

remember all the posts saying 'if you don't like it here...'

well, I *left* my 'own country'.

and not being able to ride a bike normally can be compounded into my reasons for leaving (there, bikes have to be driven almost like cars - ridiculous).

[beowolf2012]

When they say "arrested and fined" that means both actions occurred; I think the article meant to say "arrested or fined." Just can't see them arresting 700 motorcyclists because they were riding on footpaths; fining them yes, but arresting them no. But hey, saying arrested makes it sound tough!!!

they cane be arrested for go to police station for pay the fine if they not have money then there is a wonderful lion cage they can stay for 2 - 3 days...

[spidermike007]

I had to re-read this several times.....for the last 15 years I've been waiting for police to do their jobs and stop bikers riding on the walkways and footpaths......has this really happened?

And it cannot happen too soon. Any sort of law and order here is a good thing. Anytime the police do something productive it is a huge surprise to the nation, and all of us. Hooray. They did something productive! Hallelujah. The police are actually working. Wow. What a concept.

[louse1953]

Just wondering. Don't you feel it's dangerous when you ride your bike on the footpaths that in many cases are already not wide enough for pedestrians?

When I do this, there are no pedestrians in sight - I'd never do it if the footpath was being used by pedestrians.

But I'm not in Bangkok. A good example is Pattaya Tai road coming from Sukh before the junction with third road. At times, the road is blocked, but the sidewalks have absolutely no traffic from approx. the Shell station until the small soi before the intersection, because there aren't a lot of buildings there.

I'm also unsure why they recently banned the turn left on red at many Pattaya corners, at least for 2 wheel vehicles.

Sorry but there is just no rational for thinking it is okay to drive on a sidewalk. Common sense should tell us all this. While it is an acceptable practice that Thais have done for a while, there is NO excuse for a farang from a developed nation to do this. Bad enough when they do it but come on, just absolutely no excuse for us to do this.

When stuck in traffic with hordes of asshat drivers blocking every possible way to get forward because they cram 3 columns of cars into the space planned for 2 lanes (or pushcarts or sidecars or vendors, whatever), and knowing taking the "shortcut" will save at least 2 long red phases of breathing the tour buses' exhaust fumes, there is no good reason to not use that portion of pavement when there are no pedestrians using it.

The decision is made quickly.

I don't need an excuse for it because I don't disturb anybody - except maybe the feelings of some over-conforming Westerners?

Where is the harm? (I repeat: footpath is EMPTY).

There's another thread about making bicycle lanes in Thailand, I say they could start with making lanes for 2 wheel vehicles. But enforcement is the key. If they can manage to keep 2 wheel vehicle lanes free of clutter, I'd bet motorcyclists will leave the pathways alone.

So you can see around corners then,when people come off other footpaths and out of shops.Amazing talent.

[louse1953]

What about when the BIB do it, I have seen the BIB do it on several occasions Do they arrest and fine them selfs

When somebody is holding a gun at your head,wouldn't you want police to get there quickly.Have a think about it.

[louse1953]

Arrested and fined in this situation means "caught and fined". It's just a knee jerk reaction anyways. Everyone in this country drives or rides like a schmuck so footpath riding has been a way for motorcyclists to circumvent that issue.

BOTH of my nanas were killed by these typical thai lunatics. Maybe once they've killed your family members like many of us on here you won't think it's a 'kneejerk reaction' then! Of course we all know who they will say drives on the footpath *cough* Burmese *cough* couldn't be thai oh no! smh

what are nanas ?

Bananas.

[ginjag]

I bought a box of carpet tacks, and each day would throw a couple handfulls on the sidewalk. Use the small tacks.

You should be TAXED for that

[cookee68]

What about when the BIB do it, I have seen the BIB do it on several occasions Do they arrest and fine them selfs

When somebody is holding a gun at your head,wouldn't you want police to get there quickly.Have a think about it.

Emphasise a bit more on that, because the BIB I see doing it, are just avoiding the traffic build up, and if someone was holding a gun to my head, they would not be in to big a rush

[sjaak327]

Believe it when I see it. Here around Suk 38 it is business as usual.

[connda]

So once they get the motorcycles off the footpaths, will they start moving the cars that park on them? If they remove the cars and motorcycles, will they remove the signs, telephone booths, utility poles, mailboxes, etc that are right in the middle of the walkways forcing pedestrians into the street? Once they remove the signs, telephone booths, utility poles, mailboxes, etc., will they remove all the trees planted right in the middle of the walkways forcing pedestrians into the street?

Didn't think so.

I hope your just in a doom and gloom mood and this is not your general outlook to news of something improving. If this is a general life style then the good news is there will always be things to whine about and always be negatives to be seen even if in this case they did everything you mention there will always be more to complain about from curbs too high getting up on the sidewalk, too many cracks, too close to the polluting cars, not wide enough, too close too store doors opening, not enough water fountains, no benches to sit if tired, no place to throw away garbage and so on and so on.

Personally I think it a good thing there may be less motorbikes on the sidewalks and see positive in this story as are the stories about them finding a common sense ground with street vendors on the main roads to be off the sidewalks during certain hours and them forcing store owners to remove steps and other encroachments on the sidewalks.

Just observing reality as it is. If you see 'doom and gloom' where I observe reality who's perception is it: yours or mine? Don't think about it too much. Just enjoy your day.

[sprq]

Good news, strange vocabulary. What is this Thai obsession with misusing the word "footpath"? The thing in question is what the British call "pavements" and the Americans call "sidewalks", i.e. the paved spaces alongside streets dedicated to pedestrians. A footpath, by contrast, is a walking path or trail which has no connection at all to streets or roads, such as runs through a park, or a forest, or across the countryside, across a campus, etc etc etc. I believe I first heard this misuse in Malaysia and Singapore, so I suppose Thailand got it from the neighbours. I always find it a good policy in life to be wary of the neighbours.

[JohnThailandJohn]

Good news, strange vocabulary. What is this Thai obsession with misusing the word "footpath"? The thing in question is what the British call "pavements" and the Americans call "sidewalks", i.e. the paved spaces alongside streets dedicated to pedestrians. A footpath, by contrast, is a walking path or trail which has no connection at all to streets or roads, such as runs through a park, or a forest, or across the countryside, across a campus, etc etc etc. I believe I first heard this misuse in Malaysia and Singapore, so I suppose Thailand got it from the neighbours. I always find it a good policy in life to be wary of the neighbours.

Interesting that you accept different word use for the same thing in England and the US but call Asians wrong for using a different word. Wonder if your thoughts would change if you knew in Australia and New Zealand they also are called footpaths.

[tartempion]

What happened the second day of the crackdown on footpath riding?

BTW, footpath in Dutch is "voetpad" and in French "trottoir"

Edited December 2, 2014 by tartempion