Traffic police to propose prison term for motorists ignoring traffic tickets

[lostinisaan]

Let drunk drivers work a few weekends in an emergency room of a hospital, take their driver's license away and the car.

Plus a hefty fine and they'll hopefully get it. I almost got killed by a drunk Kathoey in the morning at 6 o' clock on my way to work. The freak did a red light and was speeding. They looked a little bit like being on drugs as well, but nobody checked the driver.

All he had to pay was 500 baht for speeding. No piss test, no alcohol test, no nothing. I was very close to a life in a wheel chair.

Three bones at my spine broken, some ribs, ( were later barbecued) , plenty of stitches and a lot more. it took 3 hospitals and a lot of pain to finally find out how heavy the injuries were. Six weeks very sick and in horrible pain without any painkillers,and I almost lost my job as well.

They can change any existing laws and regulations, or make new ones but they can't change their mentality. A teacher, my neighbor being drunk had an accident with a motorbike driver who's also drunk.

Both damaged vehicles were brought to the coppers, until a decision was made whose fault it finally was. Both drunk.

He had # 1 insurance, but with alcohol no way to get the car fixed for free. So mom had THE idea.

Mom's daddy was a very high cop in our city, so the idea was pretty simple and strange at the same time. But it worked well for her son, the teacher.

Mom paid 60 K to the cop who made the report and it was changed into a story that only the motorbike driver was drunk.

Teacher got his car repaired and the injured motorbike driver was the asshoule.Nobody gave him anything for his "problems>"

And he'd a lot of them.

. Unfortunately, it was all the teacher's fault, because he didn't see the motorbike, he was so hammered, and he was too fast.

T-land. The Land of Confusion. Too many people are making too many problems. Ronald Mc Donald and Ronald the president with a sense of humor. I feel sorry for those who grew up "under him." You can see and feel it.

[ChrisY1]

One would think that with over a million non payers, that the government would actually do something....or at least express their disapproval.........but here in the LoS.......everything keeps plodding along with a whole truck load of... Som Nom Na.........

[selftaopath]

Does Thailand have enough prison space for that million violators?

Perhaps this is a ploy to ensure a higher amount of baht per "donation" for NOT issuing a ticket?

[lostinisaan]

I think the average Thai sees the police and traffic laws as a temporary inconvenience. Every time I go out I see motorists and motor bikers breaking the law in front of the traffic police sitting in their little air conditioned bunker pushing buttons for the traffic lights, which, by the way, are connected to a computerized traffic control system.

They only have tinted windows that we can't see when they make up skirt photographs to check the gender of the skirt wearers.

[NCC1701A]

I like Thailand just the way it is. I hope it does not change.

[naboo]

1.4 million tickets a year?

So two tickets per person in a life.

There must be one hell of a lot of helmetless drivers escaping tickets. I wonder how?

Maybe the army could investigate why so few people are ticketed before anything else?

[kingalfred]

So at the moment nothing happens to a driver issues with a ticket who doesnt pay? Pathetic that this may jump to a prison sentence. What about taking driving licence away before imprisonment? What A joke the law is !

[kingalfred]

I think the average Thai sees the police and traffic laws as a temporary inconvenience. Every time I go out I see motorists and motor bikers breaking the law in front of the traffic police sitting in their little air conditioned bunker pushing buttons for the traffic lights, which, by the way, are connected to a computerized traffic control system.

They only have tinted windows that we can't see when they make up skirt photographs to check the gender of the skirt wearers.

If you ever look at the number of drivers who use their mobile phones and tablets when driving its scary. I saw a female watching streaming video on a device held in one hand whilst driving along in Bangkok. There is no respect for other people on the road and certainly none for the insignificant fines issued. A complete and utter loss cause!

[willyumiii]

Great idea!

Now, how about prison terms for police officers who don't enforce traffic laws?

[willyumiii]

I recently took,and passed, the test for my Thai Driver's Licence.

I was amused to find out that there laws against all of the crazy and dangerous things I see on the Thai roads.

Unfortunately, NONE of those laws are ever enforced in Thailand.

Is it any wonder Thailand has had the second highest traffic fatality rate in the world for decades?

The highest rate is usually earned by countries at war, with bombs and stuff in the roads!

[Jonmarleesco]

Why not get creative? Tow cars that are causing an obstruction, whether to other vehicles, or to pedestrians - like parking on a pedestrian crossing. Not only would it clear the roads, but bring in some useful funding.

[NeverSure]

I guarantee you that in the US if you fail to pay a traffic citation an officer will show up at your door and arrest you. Of course, they also enforce traffic laws and fines are pretty big.

There are lots of reasons driving in Thailand is so dangerous, but the lack of respect for law and safety is outrageous.

Cheers.

[tomacht8]

LOL
1.400.000 Tickets per year.
The RTP has employed around 230,000 policemen.
110,000 are employed in the administration,
The rest 120.000 are street cops.
That results then statistically approx. in:

per 1 street cop = 1 ticket per month.

[ttthailand]

Every time I got a ticket or stopped I had to pay the ticket on the spot or go to the police station and pay. I never had the option to pay later. Is this special for Thai only ?

[phoenixdoglover]

In the US, about 40 million speeding tickets are issued each year. The total number of traffic tickets is much higher.

That's one speeding ticket for every 8 citizens.

In Thailand, one traffic ticket is issued for every 48 citizens (per year).

Enforcement is the issue.

Sending someone to jail for non-payment of a debt is a really poor strategy for getting payment. People in jail don't generate income, and often lose their jobs

[NCFC]

Police won't do anything unless there is a revenue stream.

[jaywalker]

How about imposing prison terms for bad cops instead of 'inactive posts'?

[jaywalker]

Every time I got a ticket or stopped I had to pay the ticket on the spot or go to the police station and pay. I never had the option to pay later. Is this special for Thai only ?

I must've gotten close to a hundred tickets in Thailand. All for imaginary offenses except maybe two.

Only one guy in Nonthaburi gave me the ticket & let me go. I never paid it.

All others were paid with a couple hundred baht tucked into my Int'l drivers license booklet.

[Time Traveller]

Trying to enforce more BS on the public, I left the west for some freedom ,

And I moved to Thailand looking for snow. It funny the ways sexpats like to justify

[chiang mai]

I guarantee you that in the US if you fail to pay a traffic citation an officer will show up at your door and arrest you. Of course, they also enforce traffic laws and fines are pretty big.

There are lots of reasons driving in Thailand is so dangerous, but the lack of respect for law and safety is outrageous.

Cheers.

Indeed, my two dollar unpaid parking ticket in PA thirty five years ago mutated into an arrest warrant eight years later in MI and became a 60 dollar fine plus half a day in the pokey in the process!

Thailand should do similar, folks would soon pay up.

[chainarong]

Impound the vehicle would be a more positive action, Thailand needs to get this road common sense right , the death, injury toll is way far to high, costing the economy billions of Baht a year and only draconian action possibly is the answer to the brain dead mugs that drive on the roads, the only problem is where to put all the impounded vehicles.................................................

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Another load of crap.'To impose' and 'we have imposed' are two different statements as far apart as London and Timbuktu.

[kingalfred]

Trying to enforce more BS on the public, I left the west for some freedom ,

And I moved to Thailand looking for snow. It funny the ways sexpats like to justify

it funny how dickheads continue to post stupid remarks!

[natway09]

Ha Ha 555

[dcnx]

Prison time for not paying traffic tickets. Yea, right. Someone just wanted their name in the news.

[halloween]

Not that many years ago, this was standard practice in NSW and some other Oz states, abandoned in NSW after a traffic offender was seriously injured by a lifer (they should never have been in the same prison area). Currently, if fines are not paid, the matter proceeds to court where usually a higher fine plus costs are imposed, and then driving licence and vehicle registration are cancelled if repeated notifications/demands to pay are not acted upon. Penalties for driving unlicenced and/or unregistered are severe. Further refusal to pay can see assets seized and sold at auction to satisfy the debt.

Under the old system, once a warrant was issued, any traffic stop could, and usually would, result in immediate arrest that could be nullified by payment of accumulated fines and charges, or incarceration at a set rate per day of fine payment. If multiple warrants had been issued, they were served concurrently.