Unbelievable Parking Offence

[Donz]

I think the general consensus is that this is an offense elsewhere as well . . . Asia and Europe, NZ and Australia . . .

One thing one notices among non-Thais here is that they do things they would never contemplate doing at home, like braeking the road rules and then complining when they receive the penalty for it.

People, we are not God's gift to Thailand , just like anywhere else we are visitors (albeit long term for many) and should behave as such. (Of course without accepting discrimination)

Are you feeling ok Sling? Your posts are very different these days? anything new happen in your life?

[VanZam]

Makes total sense, stops people returning to their cars having to pull out into oncoming traffic.

[hanuman1]

I think the general consensus is that this is an offense elsewhere as well . . . Asia and Europe, NZ and Australia . . .

One thing one notices among non-Thais here is that they do things they would never contemplate doing at home, like braeking the road rules and then complining when they receive the penalty for it.

People, we are not God's gift to Thailand , just like anywhere else we are visitors (albeit long term for many) and should behave as such. (Of course without accepting discrimination)

Hey Sing

just to correct what may be a misinterperetation of my feelings on this - having posted the original message - i'd just like to say that

a) I would most certainly have done the same thing in my own country since i'd never heard of this being an offence anywhere else before.

I did not for one minute complain about being fined, I said I was 'dumfounded' due to being so surprised.

Now I know better, I won't repeat the mistake. However, I feel it well within my rights as a sentient human being to question something I don't fully understand. Laws are laws and should be followed, but laws can come and go - like prohibition in the US - were people wrong to question that? I won't go on, but suffice it to say that an objective discussion on any topic is not easy whilst people keep engaging in moralistic posturing. I take your point - thank you for it - but it's just that I disagree.

best wishes.

H.

[Sing_Sling]

Hanuman, apologies that I misinterpreted your post, more like I didn't bother checking your exact wording while writing my response . . . a pretty silly thing to do. Sorry.

In reference to the law in your home country - surely it states the same traffic rule in your drivers handbook, doesn't it?

Donz:

Are you feeling ok Sling? Your posts are very different these days? anything new happen in your life?

(Yes, I want to become a moderator - being the voice of reason . . . )

To quote Don Chip incorrectly . . . 'The bastards are getting me down' . . . the dept of industry types have droped by the plant and have come up with a dozen things we should have done differently . . . but with a greased palm all can be ok. Then the council gave us a cash cheque which bounced . . . a government cheque . . . then the department of finance comes along and tells us the same thing as the local council but tells us we can have a 2 month reprieve if some baksheesh comes their way.

Oh, and the location is not quite correctly zoned . . . strange because it was when we applied and they approved the application . . .

Edited October 21, 2006 by Sing_Sling

[silverhawk_usa]

The law as such applies in Sweden as well.

Which goes to show, yet again, that if you want to be safe from shakedowns, you do your best to apply the same standards of behaviour as back home...

Of course legislation is randomly applied which makes it irritating when they suddenly start applying it again - the famous "crackdowns" - but that's the way it works.

Applies where I come from in the U.S (Michigan). The exact violation is written as "Park left wheels to curb". Also may be written as "Drive left of center" when you are leaving the parking spot. Of course we are driving on the right side.

As far as consistency in ANY type of enforcement here we all know that it is non-existant.

[JetsetBkk]

It was in the middle of the day and there were other cars parked on my side of the road. I know the car parked next to mine was facing opposite to me, but that still didn't suggest that there was a law behind it. Having read the other posts which have explained the reasoning behind the law, I can understand the thrust of the argument, but if someone wanted to park on such a street and had to turn around either by doing a u-turn or crossing over oncoming traffic to/from a side street to turn around, wouldn't those extra manoevres in themselves present a statistically higher chance of an accident happening? wouldn't that cancel out the potential benefits of following this law?

Maybe i'm missing something here....someone is.

H.

Correct. You are missing something.

If you try to pull out from such a parking space when another car is parked in front of you, you cannot see what is coming as you will be sitting near the pavement.

It is clearly dangerous to park that way, for that and other reasons. You must drive around the block and approach the parking space from the correct direction.

Either that, or put your foot down and do a handbrake turn, spinning the back end of your car around into the space. Not recommended for beginners.

[ianpants69]

Yes ... Makes perfect sense. When you are parking/leaving, you are going against

the traffic flow. This would be rather disconcerting to other drivers.

do the police ever prosecute motorcycles for driving on pavements , driving the wrong way on one way streets , car drivers for driving the wrong way on the hard shoulders so as to avoid the long drive to the next u-turn , or any of the other million disconcerting driving modes that are genetically imprinted into thais ?

the fine was just another shakedown.

would be interesting to actually take a look at road laws as written in statutes in this country.

Why should they? - I believe it is in the highway code that motorcycles may drive on the pavement if it is ¨necessary¨

[joeintra]

You'll get the same kind of ticket in the California, USA

[terry57]

Hanuman, apologies that I misinterpreted your post, more like I didn't bother checking your exact wording while writing my response . . . a pretty silly thing to do. Sorry.

In reference to the law in your home country - surely it states the same traffic rule in your drivers handbook, doesn't it?

Donz:

Are you feeling ok Sling? Your posts are very different these days? anything new happen in your life?

(Yes, I want to become a moderator - being the voice of reason . . . )

To quote Don Chip incorrectly . . . 'The bastards are getting me down' . . . the dept of industry types have droped by the plant and have come up with a dozen things we should have done differently . . . but with a greased palm all can be ok. Then the council gave us a cash cheque which bounced . . . a government cheque . . . then the department of finance comes along and tells us the same thing as the local council but tells us we can have a 2 month reprieve if some baksheesh comes their way.

Oh, and the location is not quite correctly zoned . . . strange because it was when we applied and they approved the application . . .

hey there sling me old buddy,

dont let it get you down mate. you got to remember that you are only a human and can not be right 100% of the time.

but your a top fella in my books sling and are 99.9 % perfect.

so get back on your 2 legged hack and bolt down to rambuttri street for a pint with your old ripper mate terry.

cheers sling.

[terry57]

good thing about all of this is if your a naughty boy/ girl you only pay 200 baht. =aud$ 7.

in aussie you pay $60 for the same offence.

[tropo]

I'm surprised that any foreigner would question the reasoning for parking on the same side as traffic flow. It's just so obvious that it warrants a fine. It's pure laziness and sloppy driving in any country.

[Greer]

Law in the hi so section of Australia as well, also known as New Zealand.

...OK... we will let you think whatever you like as long as it keeps you happy... there there....

My dad was booked for exactly this offence years ago in Melbourne - they said that he had parked 25 feet from the kerb... the opposite kerb - as that was the one he should have been next to in order to be facing the correct direction!

No big surprise in this one then...and it's not a scam, just application of existing laws.