Thai govt considers invoking emergency powers to prevent street racing

[webfact]

Thai Govt Considers Invoking Emergency Powers to Prevent Street Racing
By Khaosod English


Soldiers and police arrest more than 400 teenage street racers in Bangkok, 31 May 2015

BANGKOK – Thailand's military leader is considering invoking his emergency powers to pass an order that would allow authorities to arrest teenagers who are preparing to illegally race motorcycles on the streets.

The proposal was submitted to junta chairman Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha by Thailand's Minister of Justice, Gen. Paiboon Khumchanya, who said efforts to crack down on dek vans – teenage motorcycle gangs that often race on highways at night – have been hampered by the current law's definition of illegal street racing. At present, police can only arrest people for participating in street racing, he said.

"They have to wait for the group to arrive and start racing first, which society does not want to see," Gen. Paiboon explained. "So I will issue an order to make preparing for a race a crime. We won't let the kids start causing troubles on the road first and deal with them later. We want to put an end to it even before it starts, because preparation [for the race] leads to actual practice anyway."

He said the preemptive measures may include confiscating motorcycles from suspected racers in addition to the current penalties and fines. The parents of the young motorcyclists will also be punished, Gen. Paiboon told reporters.

Instead of asking the interim parliament to amend existing traffic laws, Gen. Paiboon has formally requested Gen. Prayuth invoke Section 44 of the interim charter, which authorizes the junta leader to unilaterally enact any legally-binding order. [read more here...]

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1434448204


-- Khaosod English 2015-06-16

[thesetat2013]

Duh! Why make a new law for this when their is already a law for gatherings of more than a few people in force? Just use that with the article 44. These gangs are a nuisance and a danger to themselves and to others when they are racing. You won't see them racing without a crowd of friends so using this part of art 44 would be legal. Then scrap their bikes or send them to the poor people and make the family pay huge fines. These kids will get the message after they lose all and their parents have to bail them out of jail with say (20,000 baht) in fines. It would be feasible to ask for so much considering the damage they cause and their blocking throughways.

[BSJ]

The way they ride on a day to day basis makes me wonder why more aren't dead!

There are proper raceways they can go to. Confiscate the bikes and put em in a crusher!

[webfact]

PM refuses to use Article 44 to control street racers
The Nation

Justice minister, police chief call on prayut to use absolute power on issue

BANGKOK: -- PRIME MINISTER General Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday he wouldn't evoke the power under Article 44 in the interim charter to tackle the problem of street racing.

Prayut said normal laws could still be used to handle this issue and related agencies were instructed to solve this problem from the family-level. The idea of opening a racetrack would also not be implemented yet, he said.

The PM's comment was in contrast to one made earlier by Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya. Paiboon said that moves, backed by a soon-to-issued order by the National Council for Peace and Order, would be announced next week to tackle the problem at its initial stage - by making it an offence for teens to gather prior to a street race.

Paiboon said he also ordered officials to survey for a racecourse location far from communities. Motorcycle parts and accessory shops supporting street racing would also face legal action, he said, adding that parents should also help solve this problem.

The minister admitted he didn't want to punish parents of teen racers but said society had to change to solve the problem, so the law also had to evolve.

National police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung said yesterday that a meeting of related agencies on Monday to discuss the matter concluded that short-term, mid-term and long-term measures should be undertaken.

In the short term, police will set up checkpoints from 11pm to 6am, as well as assigning a special 50-strong team for each area in Bangkok and provinces in the vicinity to ensure consistency and smooth operation, he said.

The mid-term would see related agencies improve their operations against street racing while the long-term solution was for legal amendments to provide proper punishment to related parties and possibly lengthen the racers' rehabilitation period from the current 15 days to be one or two months, he said.

Somyot said solutions for the racing issue, as well as a problem of alcohol outlets located too near to educational institutes or schools should be clearer by the end of the month. The police chief said he supported the idea of using the Article 44 to solve the two problems because related law amendments would take too long.

Meanwhile, Provincial Police Region 7 chief Pol Lt-General Weerapong Cheunpakdee said yesterday an operation from June 12-15 to crack down on street racers and substandard motorcycle part shops and motorbike-modifying sources had been a success. He told the press police had seized a total of 3,459 illegally-modified exhaust pipes from shops and 2,991 illegally-modified exhaust pipes at checkpoints, as well as 300 illegally-modified bikes.

In Nakhon Pathom alone, the June 12-15 operation saw 929 people arrested along with 176 illegally modified bikes and 1,081 illegally-modified exhaust pipes.

Somyot had previously instructed Technology Crime Suppression Division to investigate social media and web-pages that share information about police checkpoints so racers can avoid arrest, including several pages, each with over 20,000-30,000 members, in Nakhon Ratchasima province.

Pol Maj-General Thakoon Nattheesri, chief of Nakhon Ratchasima police, said yesterday he had instructed officials to probe such pages, and urged site administrators to close pages with such content. Evidence would be gathered and used against those who defied these orders, he said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/PM-refuses-to-use-Article-44-to-control-street-rac-30262469.html


-- The Nation 2015-06-17

[klauskunkel]

Thai govt considers invoking emergency powers to prevent street racing

PM refuses to use Article 44 to control street racers

Solution: invoke a curse to prevent street racing, seems to work for some litterers

[captspectre]

The way they ride on a day to day basis makes me wonder why more aren't dead!

There are proper raceways they can go to. Confiscate the bikes and put em in a crusher!

NEWS FLASH TO THAI GOV'T if you want to prevent street racing it's simple, just confiscate the motor bikes! that them away and sell them on a bid process to other people! take away their motorcycle license (if they have one) AND fine the parents! that's do it. and all you bleedding heart, no sense to talk about individual freedoms! where do you think you are?