Thailand: Speeding motorists beware, traffic tickets will come to their homes soon

[Bakeman]

They mean that Tea Collectors will be coming to your homes soon.

[selftaopath]

Thank God my Nissan starts to shake at 100kmph, I dream about the day I could get a ticket!

What's the need for traveling at high speeds? Do the road conditions suggest this is safe. I'm not concerned a/b those who feel a need to go excessively fast, but how about others.

I often wonder what "speeders" do once they arrive at their destination? Sit on their ass and eat somtom? Talk a/b a selfish mentality e.g. go fast/tailgate those in front/blink lights/swerve in and out to maintain high speeds. FOR WHAT? Hell if ya wanna go fast and get a thrill get a BIG ASS MOTORCYCLE and blast on. What!!!! Toooooooooooooooo dangerous????? Pathetic.

[selftaopath]

Where can you pick up those covers to keep the dirt off your tags?

I find that the cameras on the Motorway only seem to work if you are going between 130 to 160Kph.

If you go 180 or higher I think the timing is off and they are too slow to get a clear shot.

I have had half a dozen in the last 18 months from the same spot, but always says around 140-155Kph on the

letter.

Never got one yet when passing it at much higher speed.

What's the need for traveling at high speeds? Do the road conditions suggest this is safe. I'm not concerned a/b those who feel a need to go excessively fast, but how about others.

I often wonder what "speeders" do once they arrive at their destination? Sit on their ass and eat somtom? Talk a/b a selfish mentality e.g. go fast/tailgate those in front/blink lights/swerve in and out to maintain high speeds. FOR WHAT? Hell if ya wanna go fast and get a thrill get a BIG ASS MOTORCYCLE and blast on. What!!!! Toooooooooooooooo dangerous????? Pathetic.

Oh maybe excessive speeding is the result of "I'm a REAL man" mentality?

[duckmandon]

Where can you pick up those covers to keep the dirt off your tags?

I find that the cameras on the Motorway only seem to work if you are going between 130 to 160Kph.

If you go 180 or higher I think the timing is off and they are too slow to get a clear shot.

I have had half a dozen in the last 18 months from the same spot, but always says around 140-155Kph on the

letter.

Never got one yet when passing it at much higher speed.

Yes you have no brain. With the road toll as it is & you driving at those speeds. Well good luck. How about we as falang show the Thais how to drive properly not just be like them. Hope when you get caught they confiscate whatever you are driving or riding.

[mike324]

why are people being so pessimistic with it? Isn't it great news people will drive slower? tickets DO reach the owner of the vehicle, Bangkok - Chonburi highway has speed camera for something like 3-4 years and it works very well, many folks who drive that route have driven slower after receiving tickets. Stop being an old fart, yes bmw and mercedes do receive them to as can be confirm by fellow co-workers.

Apparently I received a fine from speeding somewhere along that route once about 1.5 years ago and of course I paid it, but in more recent times I've certainly exceeded the speed limit on that and other expressways many times but have never received another fine.

I wonder why?

Something tells me those speed cameras don't work very well, if at all. Also HOW MANY speed cameras are installed along that route? I'd say probably only one and then it generally doesn't work anyway. Otherwise I'd have 2-3 tickets a month in the mail and since I don't it must mean that camera or those cameras you claim exists doesn't work (anymore).

There is only one speed camera on that stretch from Bangkok to Chonburi, there is no speed cameras on other expressways, only police with radar on other expressways. Around parts of Bangkok there are traffic cameras where police catch people making a "no turn on red" or running red lights, I've known people who receive tickets in the mail from those offenses.

Can't expect too much with Thailand and technology, but having it is good enough don't you think? even though it may work 50% of the time, at least many that travel that route frequently will slow down so they won't get a ticket compare to the other folks who don't know about it and drive recklessly.

[Bench499d]

I got a ticket in the post last year, so they have had the capacity to do it for a year at least.

Speed limits on highways have in places been 120 kmh for years.

If they actually did this properly they would make an absolute fortune at 500 baht a pop.

Wrong. Only two roads in Thailand have an official speed limit of 120km/h, which are the two "inter-provincial" motorways, namely the 62km Bang Na to Bang Pa-in Eastern Outer Ring Road and the Bangkok-Chonburi motorway, which now extends to Pattaya and is around 140km long.

All other highways throughout Thailand have a 90km/h speed limit, but may have a tolerance of 120km/h before fines are imposed for speeding. However, if the average speed of drivers is relatively low, then many drivers doing about 110-120 will be caught, in the event of a shakedown. Case in point is me: I was caught in Udon Thani once driving on the Friendship Highway and going at a speed of 116km/h in a 90km/h zone (outside of town, about 20km south of Udon). The fine? 200 Baht, payable at the table nearby with a receipt.

However, if Thailand wants to get serious about enforcing speed limits, apart from the obvious extra enforcement it could start by first of all, imposing realistic speed limits on all highways and REGULARLY posting speed limit signs. Then and only then might they consider setting up more speed cameras and stricter fines, as well as stricter enforcement to ensure violators pay their fines on time.

Where are all the speed limit signs in Thailand? For a first-time visitor who didn't know any better, they'd be led to thinking that Thailand is the land of no speed limits because speed limit signs are posted so rarely. Must be one of the few countries in the world which has so few speed limit signs, let alone ambiguity about speed limits (hence why you were confused). For me, the only way I normally know about speed limits on any given Thai road is based on what my GPS tells me because I obviously can't rely on any non-existent signs.

Further to this:

"He said speeding cameras were deployed at accident risk locations of the highway, particularly at U-turns in Ban Phai district of Khon Kaen and at straight stretch of the highway where speed limit is 120 kilometres for outside municipal area and 100 kilometres for inside municipal area."

Sorry but when did it become sensible to be driving at 100km/h (62 mph) in an municipal area? I know we're not in our home countries but if the PM is serious about road safety, the first step is to define some sensible speed limits (not 90km/h in an urban area), post them with regular signs and repeaters and then enforce them.

[Tomtomtom69]

I got a ticket in the post last year, so they have had the capacity to do it for a year at least.

Speed limits on highways have in places been 120 kmh for years.

If they actually did this properly they would make an absolute fortune at 500 baht a pop.

Wrong. Only two roads in Thailand have an official speed limit of 120km/h, which are the two "inter-provincial" motorways, namely the 62km Bang Na to Bang Pa-in Eastern Outer Ring Road and the Bangkok-Chonburi motorway, which now extends to Pattaya and is around 140km long.

All other highways throughout Thailand have a 90km/h speed limit, but may have a tolerance of 120km/h before fines are imposed for speeding. However, if the average speed of drivers is relatively low, then many drivers doing about 110-120 will be caught, in the event of a shakedown. Case in point is me: I was caught in Udon Thani once driving on the Friendship Highway and going at a speed of 116km/h in a 90km/h zone (outside of town, about 20km south of Udon). The fine? 200 Baht, payable at the table nearby with a receipt.

However, if Thailand wants to get serious about enforcing speed limits, apart from the obvious extra enforcement it could start by first of all, imposing realistic speed limits on all highways and REGULARLY posting speed limit signs. Then and only then might they consider setting up more speed cameras and stricter fines, as well as stricter enforcement to ensure violators pay their fines on time.

Where are all the speed limit signs in Thailand? For a first-time visitor who didn't know any better, they'd be led to thinking that Thailand is the land of no speed limits because speed limit signs are posted so rarely. Must be one of the few countries in the world which has so few speed limit signs, let alone ambiguity about speed limits (hence why you were confused). For me, the only way I normally know about speed limits on any given Thai road is based on what my GPS tells me because I obviously can't rely on any non-existent signs.

Don't rely too much on the speed limit shown on GPS, mine shows 110 kph for the road between Udon Thani and Khon Kaen but the police who ticketed me says it is 90.

Mine is the one that came installed in the car and is accurate when it comes to speed limits. It says 90 on all roads/highways outside of Bangkok, including the Friendship Highway between Khon Kaen and Udon Thani and 120km/h only on the two motorways, which are also just about the only highways in Thailand with regularly posted speed limits. Hence the confusion about the speed limits outside of Bangkok. There is no 110km/h zone anywhere in Thailand and I too have been ticketed south of Udon Thani for going 116km/h in yes, a 90km/h zone.

But you are right, trusting the GPS too much is risky, but more due to the unusual routing it takes me through than anything else. So a bit of common sense, instinct and perhaps using a map, and for commonly travelled roads memory needs to be used alongside the GPS.

[Tomtomtom69]

I got a ticket in the post last year, so they have had the capacity to do it for a year at least.

Speed limits on highways have in places been 120 kmh for years.

If they actually did this properly they would make an absolute fortune at 500 baht a pop.

Wrong. Only two roads in Thailand have an official speed limit of 120km/h, which are the two "inter-provincial" motorways, namely the 62km Bang Na to Bang Pa-in Eastern Outer Ring Road and the Bangkok-Chonburi motorway, which now extends to Pattaya and is around 140km long.

All other highways throughout Thailand have a 90km/h speed limit, but may have a tolerance of 120km/h before fines are imposed for speeding. However, if the average speed of drivers is relatively low, then many drivers doing about 110-120 will be caught, in the event of a shakedown. Case in point is me: I was caught in Udon Thani once driving on the Friendship Highway and going at a speed of 116km/h in a 90km/h zone (outside of town, about 20km south of Udon). The fine? 200 Baht, payable at the table nearby with a receipt.

However, if Thailand wants to get serious about enforcing speed limits, apart from the obvious extra enforcement it could start by first of all, imposing realistic speed limits on all highways and REGULARLY posting speed limit signs. Then and only then might they consider setting up more speed cameras and stricter fines, as well as stricter enforcement to ensure violators pay their fines on time.

Where are all the speed limit signs in Thailand? For a first-time visitor who didn't know any better, they'd be led to thinking that Thailand is the land of no speed limits because speed limit signs are posted so rarely. Must be one of the few countries in the world which has so few speed limit signs, let alone ambiguity about speed limits (hence why you were confused). For me, the only way I normally know about speed limits on any given Thai road is based on what my GPS tells me because I obviously can't rely on any non-existent signs.

Further to this:

"He said speeding cameras were deployed at accident risk locations of the highway, particularly at U-turns in Ban Phai district of Khon Kaen and at straight stretch of the highway where speed limit is 120 kilometres for outside municipal area and 100 kilometres for inside municipal area."

Sorry but when did it become sensible to be driving at 100km/h (62 mph) in an municipal area? I know we're not in our home countries but if the PM is serious about road safety, the first step is to define some sensible speed limits (not 90km/h in an urban area), post them with regular signs and repeaters and then enforce them.

Yeah you're right - Thai speed limits, if you are aware of them at all due to extremely inadequate posting of speed limit signs are completely nuts. I mean, 80km/h on a busy city road in Bangkok, but apparently the same speed on an elevated expressway?! Of course no one is going to take speed limits in Thailand seriously with such completely random speed limits. On the expressways, if traffic allows I usually do 100-120km/h, I don't care what the posted signs tell me as they are meaningless and 80km/h under normal conditions is crawling - only if traffic is heavy would I drive that slowly but then in such cases maintaining a safe distance behind the vehicle in front is more important than my actual speed - I could be going 40km/h, or 60km/h or even 90km/h; it depends on the traffic volume. I drive to the conditions.

On the other hand, 80km/h on Phahonyothin road between Mo Chit and the Victory Monument is simply suicidal. For starters, at what time of day would any driver even be able to reach such speeds? Maybe around 10pm? A more realistic speed limit for urban areas and roads like that is 60km/h, 40-50km/h on smaller roads with high traffic or even on 6-lane roads like Phahonyothin or Sukhumvit. Similarly, if you are passing through cities like Ban Phai in Khon Kaen the speed limits should be reduced to 50km/h. In Vietnam 50km/h speed limits are more or less successfully enforced in towns located along highways. I have no idea why Thailand thinks it's OK for a speed limit to be 100km/h or so inside a town. Are they completely bonkers or what?

However, even better would be for bypasses to be constructed that bypass busy cities and townships along major highways. Local and long distance traffic should not mix. Ideally of course, an expressway or motorway should be constructed bypassing all cities, with exits near major towns and cities, which are then joined to existing main roads/highways. There should be an expressway running from Bang Pa-in near Bangkok to the Lao border at Nong Khai, another one also from Bang Pa-in to Mae Sai via Lampang, with a section running from Lampang to Chiang Mai and a ring road expressway around Chiang Mai. Another expressway should be built extending from the end of the Bangkok-Chonburi motorway to Rayong. Furthermore, an expressway from Bangkok to Sadao, linking up to the Malaysian north-south expressway should also be built. Then there's the Bang Yai - Nakorn Pathom - Kanchanaburi expressway, which links to Myanmar via Phu Nam Ron and a second outer ring road expressway totally surrounding Bangkok.

Wow, that's a lot of projects, but they are vital for Thailand's future and I'm not just making these up as I go along. All of these projects have been announced in some way since like 2004 or earlier, but no action on their construction has been taken so far.

[sstuff3]

Where can you pick up those covers to keep the dirt off your tags?

I find that the cameras on the Motorway only seem to work if you are going between 130 to 160Kph.

If you go 180 or higher I think the timing is off and they are too slow to get a clear shot.

I have had half a dozen in the last 18 months from the same spot, but always says around 140-155Kph on the

letter.

Never got one yet when passing it at much higher speed.

What's the need for traveling at high speeds? Do the road conditions suggest this is safe. I'm not concerned a/b those who feel a need to go excessively fast, but how about others.

I often wonder what "speeders" do once they arrive at their destination? Sit on their ass and eat somtom? Talk a/b a selfish mentality e.g. go fast/tailgate those in front/blink lights/swerve in and out to maintain high speeds. FOR WHAT? Hell if ya wanna go fast and get a thrill get a BIG ASS MOTORCYCLE and blast on. What!!!! Toooooooooooooooo dangerous????? Pathetic.

Oh maybe excessive speeding is the result of "I'm a REAL man" mentality?

At the same time, if you want to go below the posted speed limits, stay to the left and no one will have reason to tailgate or flash their lights at you, especially on the motorway and expressways.

[KevWaters]

Don't blame oil prices for heavy traffic. Blame free entrance to National Parks. It taken me 1 hour 30 minutes to drive half a kilometer past one in Loei on the 31st.

[hugh2121]

Hope some of those "speeding cameras" get tickets sent to their homes too.

[kbelyeu]

The missus just got one in the mail.. anyone know how to pay the fine?

Kurt

[robblok]

The missus just got one in the mail.. anyone know how to pay the fine?

Kurt

The ones you get in the mail you can pay at the post office.

[bentarm44]

...................Otherwise no one would pay any road tax, but based on my observations nearly every driver does.

You obviously don't live in the Boonies then. I would say as many as 85% of Motorbikes around our surrounding villages don't have road tax and some have not had any for many years....or insurance either. Most of them don't know what a helmet is either. You need to get out more.

I would think around the same percetage of riders don have licenses either then there are the red plates...

safe driving skills, reg. book, tax+insurance, helmet, license ??

round my way people think you're a flash git if you've got a working light anywhere on your bike,

other than one RHS indicator light that's permanently on; obviously.

many locals qualify for driving by having the correct tattoo; or failing that, the appropriate faith article hanging off them with a bit of string or leather.

[bentarm44]

if the ticket gets put on the registration information, they will not be able to re-tax vehicle

So, stop paying road tax as well.

Wouldn't the car then be seized if you tried that?

There has to be some kind of enforcement to prevent people driving if they have outstanding tickets. Similarly, you can't just drive with expired or non-payment for road tax. Otherwise no one would pay any road tax, but based on my observations nearly every driver does.

You obviously don't live in the Boonies then. I would say as many as 85% of Motorbikes around our surrounding villages don't have road tax and some have not had any for many years....or insurance either. Most of them don't know what a helmet is either. You need to get out more.

safe driving skills, reg. book, tax+insurance, helmet, license ??

round my way people think you're a flash git if you've got a working light anywhere on your bike,

other than one RHS indicator light that's permanently on; obviously.

many locals qualify for driving by having the correct tattoo; or failing that, the appropriate faith article hanging off them with a bit of string or leather.

[bentarm44]

.............and the speeeeeeeeed limit is whatever the uniform on the spot says it is.

[ColdSingha]

any chance of some speed limit signs as well please?

i have no idea what the limit is

[bentarm44]

like in that line from the movie "Aliens";

"it won't make any difference"

i've been stopped and fined when "speeding", and also when I wasn't.

made no difference.

i've been stopped and "fined" for driving on the right when the LHS lane was deemed to have been vacant; again when it was and when it wasn't,

made no difference.

i was stopped once down south for "checks", and when I passed the "checks" i was asked for 300 Baht; which I paid,

nothing i could have said would have made any difference.

[Buffy Frobisher]

I went to Mor Chit to renew my license a few days ago, and just as I thought it was all done having passed the four sensory/sight tests, I was told to go to the 4th floor where I was greeted by a hard-nosed thing behind the desk who barked "renew 5-year to 5-year must watch one-hour video". During the one-hour extremely boring session, they made a point of saying that on Bangkok expressways the speed limit is 80 km/h, but we "understand that sometimes you need to go a bit faster so you can do 120km/h if you want to". I was gobsmacked.

I also got a speeding fine in the mail back in January, photographed on the Asia Highway at Ayudhaya doing 127km/h in a 90km/h zone (the notice told me it was 90km/h, I didn't see a speed sign). However, the speed camera was clearly set at 120km/h. Fine was 1,000 baht, but I only had to pay 500 baht if I decided to pay it at all, which of course I was more than happy to. That's why we love this place!

[Basil B]

Tried this in California, and all of the tickets had to be thrown out. The cameras never took a picture of the driver, just the car. Just because someone owns a car does not mean they were driving it, or violating the law in any way. Innocent until proven guilty, and the car never testified against its owner.

In Queensland, Australia, if the owner of the vehicle can´t show who the driver is / was, or basically get someone else to take the blame then the owner gets the fine. You are deemed to be responsible for the vehicle.

A guy in my home town got done for DUI, he was working on his car, in his back yard. When he went to move the car (still in his back yard) he accidentally hit the fence and the neighbour called the police. Not even on the road !!! Now if that doesn´t suck......

Getting someone else to take the blame...

That happens here in the UK a lot, a couple of years ago a serving MP (now exMP) and his wife both ended up in prison when she calmed to be speeding in his car when it actually was him.

[willyumiii]

"Speeding cameras along the highway’s 14-kilometre stretch section in Khon Kaen have recorded more than 300 speeding motorists and the highway police are now checking licence numbers and owners’ names before mailing to them soon."

Of course, that won't apply to all the vehicles I see without license plates. Not only the usual dump trucks, but high price SUVs and Mercedes sedans. Would work better to set up a check point down the road and stopping the offending driver. However, that would necessitate the police getting out of their offices or tents and doing their jobs. Then again, if the fine is high enough, the police could develop an increased taste for tea.

If the fines were high enough and the laws enforced, it would generate enough revenue that police could be paid a living wage with benefits.

Police would soon start declining to accept bribes for fear of losing a job worth keeping.

This method of stopping police corruption has worked before.

It would also motivate Thai drivers to follow the laws and make driving in Thailand safer for everyone.

[Tomtomtom69]

I got a ticket in the post last year, so they have had the capacity to do it for a year at least.

Speed limits on highways have in places been 120 kmh for years.

If they actually did this properly they would make an absolute fortune at 500 baht a pop.

Wrong. Only two roads in Thailand have an official speed limit of 120km/h, which are the two "inter-provincial" motorways, namely the 62km Bang Na to Bang Pa-in Eastern Outer Ring Road and the Bangkok-Chonburi motorway, which now extends to Pattaya and is around 140km long.

All other highways throughout Thailand have a 90km/h speed limit, but may have a tolerance of 120km/h before fines are imposed for speeding. However, if the average speed of drivers is relatively low, then many drivers doing about 110-120 will be caught, in the event of a shakedown. Case in point is me: I was caught in Udon Thani once driving on the Friendship Highway and going at a speed of 116km/h in a 90km/h zone (outside of town, about 20km south of Udon). The fine? 200 Baht, payable at the table nearby with a receipt.

However, if Thailand wants to get serious about enforcing speed limits, apart from the obvious extra enforcement it could start by first of all, imposing realistic speed limits on all highways and REGULARLY posting speed limit signs. Then and only then might they consider setting up more speed cameras and stricter fines, as well as stricter enforcement to ensure violators pay their fines on time.

Where are all the speed limit signs in Thailand? For a first-time visitor who didn't know any better, they'd be led to thinking that Thailand is the land of no speed limits because speed limit signs are posted so rarely. Must be one of the few countries in the world which has so few speed limit signs, let alone ambiguity about speed limits (hence why you were confused). For me, the only way I normally know about speed limits on any given Thai road is based on what my GPS tells me because I obviously can't rely on any non-existent signs.

Further to this:

"He said speeding cameras were deployed at accident risk locations of the highway, particularly at U-turns in Ban Phai district of Khon Kaen and at straight stretch of the highway where speed limit is 120 kilometres for outside municipal area and 100 kilometres for inside municipal area."

Sorry but when did it become sensible to be driving at 100km/h (62 mph) in an municipal area? I know we're not in our home countries but if the PM is serious about road safety, the first step is to define some sensible speed limits (not 90km/h in an urban area), post them with regular signs and repeaters and then enforce them.

Only just saw your reply now.

Yes, you are absolutely right.

Thai speed limits, when they are posted at all are absolutely ridiculous and seem to be applied at random, with no thought as to how realistic they are. Unrealistically high limits are applied on roads where you should go slow, while on expressways the limits are too slow.

80km/h is the standard speed limit on many urban multi-lane roads, even though you'd be lucky to reach 50km/h, not to mention that even going 80km/h on these roads would be suicidal in many cases. Similar roads in western countries typically have speed limits of around 60km/h, sometimes 70km/h when there are less built-up areas, but almost never 80km/h.

But then the speed limit on many Bangkok expressways is only 80km/h?! Of course, I would never pay attention to those - I do 120km/h or so on every single expressway, if traffic allows. I also don't see why at-grade expressways like the outer ring road and the motorway have a 120km/h limit, but elevated expressways suddenly have a much lower one. Aside from having only 6 lanes vs. 8 lanes on the eastern ring road/motorway, there is little logic to have such a vastly lower speed limit applied to these elevated expressways. On the Burapha Withi expressway, particularly the outbound direction towards Chonburi there is little traffic so driving at around 120 would be perfectly safe and nearly everyone drives at this speed or higher anyway.

In municipal areas, speed limits should be 50km/h. For an idea of how this works, go to Vietnam. Drivers there ACTUALLY obey these limits and can get themselves into serious trouble if they try to speed through at something like 80 or more, assuming that the traffic density would even allow them to do so. Enforcement of speed limits is also much stronger there. But Thais don't have much to worry about though because Vietnam doesn't allow Thai cars in, so the chance of a Thai ever being allowed to drive in Vietnam are slim.