Popped For No Helmet

[terrymor66]

Well, I was on my way to Airport Plaza and got pulled over for no helmet. Normally, I would give a few hundred Baht over and be done with it. This time though, it was one of those " pull over everybody things," with about 15 cops there. I asked if I could just pay him and he said no. I was surprised at what happened next.......He told me that he was giving me a ticket for not having the right paperwork for the motorcycle, I started to protest this and he told me it was a lesser fine than not having a helmet.

Karma at it's best ! lol

Just thought I woud share

[bungalowbill]

Well, I was on my way to Airport Plaza and got pulled over for no helmet. Normally, I would give a few hundred Baht over and be done with it. This time though, it was one of those " pull over everybody things," with about 15 cops there. I asked if I could just pay him and he said no. I was surprised at what happened next.......He told me that he was giving me a ticket for not having the right paperwork for the motorcycle, I started to protest this and he told me it was a lesser fine than not having a helmet.

Karma at it's best ! lol

Just thought I woud share

I was fined two hundred for my passenger not wearing a helmet and had to go to the police station near the river and wait in a long line. Not fun. How much was your fine?

[john b good]

Well, I was on my way to Airport Plaza and got pulled over for no helmet. Normally, I would give a few hundred Baht over and be done with it. This time though, it was one of those " pull over everybody things," with about 15 cops there. I asked if I could just pay him and he said no. I was surprised at what happened next.......He told me that he was giving me a ticket for not having the right paperwork for the motorcycle, I started to protest this and he told me it was a lesser fine than not having a helmet.

Karma at it's best ! lol

Just thought I woud share

I was fined two hundred for my passenger not wearing a helmet and had to go to the police station near the river and wait in a long line. Not fun. How much was your fine?

I think fair enough (to you both)

You breaks the law and so you have to pays your money.

[bungalowbill]

Well, I was on my way to Airport Plaza and got pulled over for no helmet. Normally, I would give a few hundred Baht over and be done with it. This time though, it was one of those " pull over everybody things," with about 15 cops there. I asked if I could just pay him and he said no. I was surprised at what happened next.......He told me that he was giving me a ticket for not having the right paperwork for the motorcycle, I started to protest this and he told me it was a lesser fine than not having a helmet.

Karma at it's best ! lol

Just thought I woud share

I was fined two hundred for my passenger not wearing a helmet and had to go to the police station near the river and wait in a long line. Not fun. How much was your fine?

I think fair enough (to you both)

You breaks the law and so you have to pays your money.

You are correct sir....It's crazy to drive without a helmet, I never let a passenger ride without one anymore day or night, thai or farang. Ever notice people who wear helmets but don't buckle the strap? I see police do that all the time, may as well not wear one at all.

[Cuban]

>I was fined two hundred for my passenger not wearing a helmet and had to go to

>the police station near the river and wait in a long line. Not fun. How much was your fine?

I have spoken with Thais that have been pulled for not wearing seatbelts as well, they have been fined 300 Baht without a farang in sight. 200 Baht sounds like you were given a discount.

[john b good]

Well, I was on my way to Airport Plaza and got pulled over for no helmet. Normally, I would give a few hundred Baht over and be done with it. This time though, it was one of those " pull over everybody things," with about 15 cops there. I asked if I could just pay him and he said no. I was surprised at what happened next.......He told me that he was giving me a ticket for not having the right paperwork for the motorcycle, I started to protest this and he told me it was a lesser fine than not having a helmet.

Karma at it's best ! lol

Just thought I woud share

I was fined two hundred for my passenger not wearing a helmet and had to go to the police station near the river and wait in a long line. Not fun. How much was your fine?

I think fair enough (to you both)

You breaks the law and so you have to pays your money.

You are correct sir....It's crazy to drive without a helmet, I never let a passenger ride without one anymore day or night, thai or farang. Ever notice people who wear helmets but don't buckle the strap? I see police do that all the time, may as well not wear one at all.

Very true Bill.....

A helmet that is not straped on is almost as bad as no helmet. And of course the helmets that are mostly worn here are more like egg shells than anything else.

And to see the examples set by the Thai coppers "well they are no more than monkies in uniform anyway" (so what would you really expect from them)

But the thing is also that these guys who don't wear a helmet here in the realm would not try to get away with it back in farangville.

Like they leave their brains at home when they come to Thailand.

[Cuban]

But the thing is also that these guys who don't wear a helmet here in the realm would not try to get away with it back in farangville.

Like they leave their brains at home when they come to Thailand.

I like the young farang couples, boy in front with a lid on, girlfriend holding on for dear life with no protection.

He really cares!

[PeaceBlondie]

bungalowbill, I know you always wear your big full face helmet, but I didn't know you provided one for your passenger as well. Surely you remember the young thing otherwise known as Nok Lek, who was driving my Honda around Rim Kahm intersection when neither of us had a helmet on. I, only I, had to pay 200 baht for I not having a helmet. Nok Lek got by without paying one satang.

[guardian]

In Bangkok Post recent, there was a picture showing Brad Pitt riding a motorcycle with Angelina Jolie as his pillion passenger somewhere either in Cambodia or Vietnam and apparently neither of them was wearing a helmet. Would they do the same back home ?

[bungalowbill]

bungalowbill, I know you always wear your big full face helmet, but I didn't know you provided one for your passenger as well. Surely you remember the young thing otherwise known as Nok Lek, who was driving my Honda around Rim Kahm intersection when neither of us had a helmet on. I, only I, had to pay 200 baht for I not having a helmet. Nok Lek got by without paying one satang.

Peace blondie, yup, I have a spare helmet for pax. As far as your fine, maybe it's the same fine for driver and passenger as for only one person? Also keep in mind as the driver you are responsible for your passenger wearing a helmet. so maybe you actually got a break and paid 200 instead of 400.

[bungalowbill]

bungalowbill, I know you always wear your big full face helmet, but I didn't know you provided one for your passenger as well. Surely you remember the young thing otherwise known as Nok Lek, who was driving my Honda around Rim Kahm intersection when neither of us had a helmet on. I, only I, had to pay 200 baht for I not having a helmet. Nok Lek got by without paying one satang.

Peace blondie, yup, I have a spare helmet for pax. As far as your fine, maybe it's the same fine for driver and passenger as for only one person? Also keep in mind as the driver you are responsible for your passenger wearing a helmet. so maybe you actually got a break and paid 200 instead of 400.

Sorry peace just realized you were not driving..but it was your bike

[BlackArtemis]

in Farangville there is no helmet law (in Pennsylvania that is)

I am guilty of not always wearing my helmet, something that there is no excuse for

Edited December 21, 2006 by BlackArtemis

[terrymor66]

I know the dangers well of not wearing a helmet..........and most of the times I do wear it as does my wife. My main point on this thread was that it was refreshing to get pulled over by a cop that was a "nice guy" and not sticking it to the farang. I paid a 100 baht fine, which could have been more as neither me or my wife were wearing helmets at the time.

Have fun and be safe

[Tim207]

Well, I was on my way to Airport Plaza and got pulled over for no helmet. Normally, I would give a few hundred Baht over and be done with it. This time though, it was one of those " pull over everybody things," with about 15 cops there. I asked if I could just pay him and he said no. I was surprised at what happened next.......He told me that he was giving me a ticket for not having the right paperwork for the motorcycle, I started to protest this and he told me it was a lesser fine than not having a helmet.

Karma at it's best ! lol

Just thought I woud share

I got stopped for speeding once but he gave me a ticket for no drivers license instead, 200 baht.

I also got stopped several years ago in a helmet crack down a few kilometers from the house. I couldn't figure out what the cop was trying to tell me until his friend stepped in. He explained where I lived to the cop and then explained to me that the punishment was to pull weeds. He pointed to a large pile of pulled weeds on the ground, picked a weed, through it on the pile and said to me five. I yanked up 5 weeds, through them on the pile, waved and took off with them laughing. They still laugh about this in the village. I don't know what 5 it was supposed to be, weeds, minutes, wah but I didn't stick around to clarify and I all I got was laughs when I asked my wife what it was supposed to be.

[Scott]

Peaceblondie: Maybe the police think that you are very valuable and thus worth saving--at any rate many of us on TV would miss you very much if anything happened, so always wear protection--and a helmet too!

[sinkorswim]

xmas is comming and they need money for whiskey so be warned.

[Neeranam]

And to see the examples set by the Thai coppers "well they are no more than monkies in uniform anyway" (so what would you really expect from them)

A bit rascist, isn't it?

Wear a helmet - why wait until a close friend or yourself die before you stop being an idiot. In Khon Kaen the youngsters usually carry their helmets - waste of bloody time - they're just monkeys

[PeaceBlondie]

Peaceblondie: Maybe the police think that you are very valuable and thus worth saving--at any rate many of us on TV would miss you very much if anything happened, so always wear protection--and a helmet too!

Thanks, Scott. When that sweet young thing was driving and I was on the pillion, we got stopped at the corner nearest where I'd lived for two years, and they knew that bike and that ugly old farang on the CBR by sight. But I was on pain medication and other sleepy meds, and just forgot about helmets when we left the condo. Like the opening poster, I'd have been willing to pay more; we'd say in the USA that the policeman caught us "dead to rights." They didn't even ask the driver for a driver's license.

All the police in Thailand have been kind to me so far. That one time is the only one that I got stopped for doing something wrong.

Yes Scott, we always wear protection, and a helmet, too!

[JimsKnight]

And to see the examples set by the Thai coppers "well they are no more than monkies in uniform anyway" (so what would you really expect from them)

A bit rascist, isn't it?

Wear a helmet - why wait until a close friend or yourself die before you stop being an idiot. In Khon Kaen the youngsters usually carry their helmets - waste of bloody time - they're just monkeys

I saw a bike with a young thai couple on it in daylight hours. No one had a helmet on but the Girl was jabbering away into the phone, full face helmet in one hand shielding the suns rays with it while the phone was in the other! Chang Mai Style!

[old wanderer]

I am always amazed at the ignorance of people riding without helmets. Here in the USA I have 18 days on the race track with my bikes this year,and even when I go out on a street bike, I feel naked with only my helmet and leather jacket....Course I do ride a 1000cc Aprilia croch rocket on the street, not the 100cc machines on Thailand.

I have seen way too many people go down and suffer through months of re-hab getting thenselve back to some semblence of normal. I have been in the emergency room as they were getting gravel scrubbed out of the road rash...not pretty. I went down earlier this year (on the track) at just over 200 kph, and was riding my back up bike 30 minutes later....(thanks to Good gear).

I will be moving to Thailand soon and have been really strugling about gear and temp/humidity there as well as the totally brain dead way autos and trucks ignore bikes.

[briley]

-SNIP-

I feel naked with only my helmet and leather jacket....

Not too surprising with no trousers

[old wanderer]

-SNIP-

I feel naked with only my helmet and leather jacket....

Not too surprising with no trousers

So that is the problem ehh??

[Bates]

Gotta say, I'm driving a Honda CB1 and i'm always wearing my racing helmet (the one that goes full over your head and includes a display). I find it far more confortable to wear it because if bugs, dust and the wind.. never complained about wearing it.

[ProThaiExpat]

No one has mentioned three on a motorcycle, one being a child, no helmets.

I have seen three motorcycle down cases this week. The motorcycles were all high powered ones and I suspect high speed was a factor.

I witnessed one myself on Mae Rim road. Pickup truck backing from roadside parking into the path of the motorcycle. The motorcyclist laid it down and was able to get off unhurt. Five cars following laid down a lot of rubber avoiding the accident scene, one by an inch.

Stats prove that its not usually the motorcycles fault, although the public preception is to the contrary. They are just not visible. In the accident I witnessed, the cause, in my judgement was the speed of the motorcycle and his position on the roadway, that is near the rear of the parked cars along the roadway. Wouldn't have happened if the motorcycle at been in the center lane. I am one who doesn't like to see motorbikes in the center lane.

Last year the acciddnt statistics published in the BKK Post quoted 840 road deaths over the holidays, all deaths were to motorcyclists. Yes, I do remember the pickup loaded with passengers that went off the overpass and killed everyone, but I don't believe that was during the holiday period reported on.

I had four months on a motorbike, driven by a Thai, but his Thai and skill in discussing 'tea money" bought us out of three "helmet stops". He is able to discuss the issue with the cop in a very roundabout way in Thai which is very helpful and he always finds reason to pull over at a distance from the group of cops so the one flagging us down, was caused to walk over to us and the conversation not overheard by the other police.

I agree, wear a helmet.