Police Harassment in Pattaya Today

[tropo]

It is for yours and everyone elses safety, it's a checkpoint not harassment, if you are lae abiding you will have no problem.

How many times have these checkpoints got drugs and guns off the streets.

Harassment....pfffffft!

Agreed, its hardly harassment.

It definitely is harassment in this particular location. They only pick on motorcyclists and aim for foreigners (of course they stop Thais too to make it appear legit). Why? Because motorcyclists are easy to pull over in large numbers with out interfering with traffic flow and they make quite a bit of revenue on no-International Drivers Licence "offenses" and of course the usual no-helmet offense, 3-up etc. In some areas (usually along the bottom end of Pratumnak Road at night the police have a plane clothes associate near by to negotiate immediate payments. How do I know this? I've paid these guys in the past. Why? It was convenient at the time as I was on the way out to have dinner with friends. That was a 3-up offense. Another favourite spot is around the corner from a "turn-left wait for red" intersection. Some Australian friends paid their way out of this too not so long ago. They are quite careful about how they receive their payments though.

There are much more useful operations they could be doing to ensure public safety, but there's no easier revenue collection and it's really close to the Soi 9 police station for quick ticket payment. The other favourite "harassment points" are on 2nd Road near Central and just outside the police station on Beach Road, which is even easier now with an extra lane.

I still don't think its harassment especially as far as expats are concerned, no helmets or 3 up etc is asking for it, expats should know better.

You got pulled because you were 3 up, that's your fault I'm afraid.

Its easy enough to get a license in Pattaya and to ensure the bike is taxed, I've been stopped there before on the bike, he looked at my license and bike tax, said ok thank you and let me go.

They're doing their job and if people aren't legal then they're fined.

Tourists however there should be something done as some have bike licenses from their countries and that should be ok IMO.

This expat knows quite well that we are singled out.... in a city where you can watch hundreds of unlicensed, underage school kids riding motorcycles to and from school everyday, (3, 4, 5 or 6 up in some cases). Where mothers will carry babies in one arm while steering with the other and not drawing the slightest bit of attention from the cops? I don't think they can easily get cash from school kids and because they are unlicensed and underage they can't be charged either. Even if they could it would be a difficult process involving their parents or guardians.

You don't think singling out a particular group of people (tourists and expats) who likely have funds and letting the rest go by is "harassment"? What do you call it? Sure, if an expat or tourist is not legal they should be fined - but so should everyone else too.

It is revenue collecting and nothing more.

PS. I'm referring specifically to the pseudo-checkpoints along Beach Road and 2nd Road near the Soi 9 cop station and near Walking Street. Tukcom area on market days gets an honorable mention here too. I'm aware there are legit checkpoints in other areas where they stop everyone.

Edited December 18, 2014 by tropo

[tropo]

3 bottles of Singha lite is legal in just about every country in the world for driving, but thanks for your concern

That's fully wrong!

With 3 Singha Light you are over the limit in Thailand and many (most?) other countries !

3 bottles of Singha at 3.5% alcohol

=> 3 * 0.33 l * 0.035 ~> 35 ml of alcohol

Alcohol density 0.79 ~> 27 g of alcohol

=> BAC about 27 x [0.020 - 0.25] = 0.54 to 0.67, depending of body mass and other physical parameters

The BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) Limit in Thailand is 0.5 : You are over already !

Most European countries have this same 0.5 limit, or even less.

Here is a link with world limits: http://www.icap.org/table/BACLimitsWorldwide

So please stop driving after 3 Singha Light

and stop affirming such false statements without checking them before

According to this NHS page it takes 1 hour to break down 10ml of alcohol, so as I said I was in the bar to watch the football, which is almost 2 hours, before i got on the bike i had already broke down 20ml making it safe to drive

httpwww.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/853.aspx?CategoryID=87

"2 units in a pint of low-strength lager, beer or cider (3.6%)", so according to the NHS guidelines I had 3 units, 2 of which had gone before i even got on my bike

Other factors you also don't know about before making your false assumption is the food I had before I went out, my size and if my liver is healthy, which it is as I recently had a medical

From this UK drink driving guideline

http://www.80mg.org.uk/guide.html

"men should consume no more than 4 units, women no more than 3"

"and stop affirming such false statements without checking them before"

I have been in the alcohol business for nearly 40 years, I think I know what I am talking about by now

For a guy in the alcohol business for nearly 40 years, your advice is not very good.

In countries where being a fraction over the legal BAC can land you in jail and loss of licence for long periods of time, you don't want to guess. As you said, there are many variables. Don't alcohol businesses in your part of the world provide BAC testing devices for patrons?

Don't drink and drive is the best and safest advice. Take public transport or have a designated driver.

Edited December 18, 2014 by tropo

[davethailand]

It definitely is harassment in this particular location. They only pick on motorcyclists and aim for foreigners (of course they stop Thais too to make it appear legit). Why? Because motorcyclists are easy to pull over in large numbers with out interfering with traffic flow and they make quite a bit of revenue on no-International Drivers Licence "offenses" and of course the usual no-helmet offense, 3-up etc. In some areas (usually along the bottom end of Pratumnak Road at night the police have a plane clothes associate near by to negotiate immediate payments. How do I know this? I've paid these guys in the past. Why? It was convenient at the time as I was on the way out to have dinner with friends. That was a 3-up offense. Another favourite spot is around the corner from a "turn-left wait for red" intersection. Some Australian friends paid their way out of this too not so long ago. They are quite careful about how they receive their payments though.

Agreed, its hardly harassment.

yone elses safety, it's a checkpoint not harassment, if you are lae abiding you will have no problem.

How many times have these checkpoints got drugs and guns off the streets.

Harassment....pfffffft!

There are much more useful operations they could be doing to ensure public safety, but there's no easier revenue collection and it's really close to the Soi 9 police station for quick ticket payment. The other favourite "harassment points" are on 2nd Road near Central and just outside the police station on Beach Road, which is even easier now with an extra lane.

I still don't think its harassment especially as far as expats are concerned, no helmets or 3 up etc is asking for it, expats should know better.

You got pulled because you were 3 up, that's your fault I'm afraid.

Its easy enough to get a license in Pattaya and to ensure the bike is taxed, I've been stopped there before on the bike, he looked at my license and bike tax, said ok thank you and let me go.

They're doing their job and if people aren't legal then they're fined.

Tourists however there should be something done as some have bike licenses from their countries and that should be ok IMO.

This expat knows quite well that we are singled out.... in a city where you can watch hundreds of unlicensed, underage school kids riding motorcycles to and from school everyday, (3, 4, 5 or 6 up in some cases). Where mothers will carry babies in one arm while steering with the other and not drawing the slightest bit of attention from the cops? I don't think they can easily get cash from school kids and because they are unlicensed and underage they can't be charged either. Even if they could it would be a difficult process involving their parents or guardians.

You don't think singling out a particular group of people (tourists and expats) who likely have funds and letting the rest go by is "harassment"? What do you call it? Sure, if an expat or tourist is not legal they should be fined - but so should everyone else too.

It is revenue collecting and nothing more.

PS. I'm referring specifically to the pseudo-checkpoints along Beach Road and 2nd Road near the Soi 9 cop station and near Walking Street. Tukcom area on market days gets an honorable mention here too. I'm aware there are legit checkpoints in other areas where they stop everyone.

OK but technically they are still doing their job, If expats were licensed with tax, helmets and no daft traffic manoeuvres or extra passengers it would still be inconvenient but at least they could have the satisfaction of driving away un-fined.

[tropo]

OK but technically they are still doing their job, If expats were licensed with tax, helmets and no daft traffic manoeuvres or extra passengers it would still be inconvenient but at least they could have the satisfaction of driving away un-fined.

LOL. Yes, they are doing their job, which is technically harassing a particular group of people. They are doing exactly what their superiors tell them to do.

Perhaps you should know that in these particular locations they stop foreigners with or without helmets. If you do everything by the book you will still be stopped. I always wear a helmet and in these locations I'm never 3 up when they stop me. In other locations the police will only stop un-helmeted foreign riders and the odd token Thai rider to make it look better. If you're familiar with the main tourist area you'll know what goes on in the different places and it does vary.

[ToddinChonburi]

I got stopped yesterday at 2nd road and Pattaya Nua. checked my License and on on my way, no problem.

[inzman]

Can you imagine if the cops waited by the schools and confiscated bikes of children with no helmet or license. In one week that entire problem of unlicensed or no helmet kids would be eliminated. But of course no money in it for the cops. But you would think that the welfare of the kids would be put first. They just don't get it, the laws are in place to protect society. There is no organization that enforces the law though.

[tropo]

I got stopped yesterday at 2nd road and Pattaya Nua. checked my License and on on my way, no problem.

What licence were you carrying?

[tropo]

Can you imagine if the cops waited by the schools and confiscated bikes of children with no helmet or license. In one week that entire problem of unlicensed or no helmet kids would be eliminated. But of course no money in it for the cops. But you would think that the welfare of the kids would be put first. They just don't get it, the laws are in place to protect society. There is no organization that enforces the law though.

The police are enforcing the law. The problem is that in tourist areas they are enforcing it selectively and concentrating on big, easy paydays rather than doing the difficult stuff like preventing motorists from driving dangerously. Their main revenue on 2nd Road and Beach Road comes from tourists who have licences from their home countries but no International Drivers Permit. the absurd thing about this is that they will take your overseas licence off you and let you ride (unlicensed) to the police station to pay your fine... and then when you've presented your paid fine receipt to the cop and retrieved your overseas licence you can ride off again, technically unlicensed. They concentrate on areas close to the police station as payment is easy and they don't have to deal with lots of motorcycles to tow away (which is the case if they fine too many Thai motorcyclists who usually have to find the money to pay). I suspect that when the police station gets too crowded (wait times can be several hours to pay) and the staff need a break the superior officer calls timeout.