Police Check

[Dante99]

cs

[ericthai]

On 6/26/2017 at 8:22 AM, dingdongrb said:

Hwy 24 is notorious for having late night (early morning) check points. And during the daytime they are out in full fashion with the cameras catching speeders. I hate to admit it but their English seems to have gotten better over the last few years.

yes hwy 24 is bad. Most of the check points during the day are looking for overloaded trucks, at night they are looking for tea money,.

I have donated a good amount to those guys on hwy 24 over the years. 

[Jdiddy]

That daily checkpoint near maya mall catching all the tourists on their way to doisuthep could surely open their own bank by now going by the amount of dismounted motocyclists lining up to pay at the table

[anto]

1 minute ago, DonDoRondo said:

Yesterday I was running errands on my scooter and was stopped 3 times in 90 minutes to show my IDL.  I am already sick of breathing diesel exhaust and this was last straw for me.  It's back to America.  When I first came here I rarely had contact with the police.  Now it's daily.  Each of these operations has 6 - 10 cops and they appear to be a permanent fixture.  There is no other police work to be done in Chiang Mai?  Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh.

I live out in Sansai and very rarely come across them. Yes many Police checks in the City .Used to be that they rarely stopped you if you wore a helmet ,but not now .At least the Police here are polite ,unlike the bully boy Police in the USA.

[1337markus]

8 hours ago, anto said:

I live out in Sansai and very rarely come across them. Yes many Police checks in the City .Used to be that they rarely stopped you if you wore a helmet ,but not now .At least the Police here are polite ,unlike the bully boy Police in the USA.

My tuk tuk driver Thai friend for 12 years explained to me there are 3 police stations on shall we say the Sansai side of the CBD bordering the klongs of CNX. You will encounter the same groups of 10 plus BIB at main artery roads near the police stations; they tend to stay in the same spot, they know that farang have money thats why they have changed to stopping us. Yes I got caught, not the helmet or the insurance or the tax ( they were all good) I hadnt signed inside my IDP. BIB ( spoke fluent English) wanted to hold the IDP at the cop shop until next day and a fine of 600 baht. Quick thinking the next day I told him I fly out to Europe, cant do. So he said pay now, I find a 1000 baht note and 230 baht in other notes in my wallet, I ask for change ( no hab) but he will take the 230 baht instead.   Ride on to another blissful day in CNX as the corruption purrs along!

[CMKiwi]

Yes they were out in force today too for some reason.  Luckily I took the car into the city and they werent bothered with that.  However I had to take the missus scooter from her guestgouse around to her bar to check on a faulty fridge.  Sure enough I got pulled up.

 

All is/was in order. I have a Thai driving licence and the bike was all taxed up.  Its still a pain in the proverbial as this is NOT law enforcement by any token of the words.  It IS purely revenue gathering.  And I am well aware of some forum members who continue to state that its not illegal and if you abide by the laws then you have nothing to fear.

 

I just wish (And I doubt that I'll be around if it ever happens) that the BiB actually do some proper enforcement.  We all know the things we see that are likely to cause harm/death to other road users.... running red lights, school kids no helmets no licence going flat out on dads scooter (Even faster if its raining), drivers that cannot for the life of me stay in their own lane.

 

The lists can go on and on for ages. But what education or enforcement do we EVER see? Maybe being proactive is a dirty word in Thai?

 

Yes its annoys the be geezus outta me.... but I reluctantly put up with it.  Overall I do like this country/nation.  Its a nice place to live in...as long as you can survive some/all of these idiots on the road.

 

Sometimes I think these BiB need to get a real job!

[Trujillo]

Hwy 24 is where? 

[dingdongrb]

18 hours ago, Trujillo said:

Hwy 24 is where? 

Hwy 24 is out in Isaan... If you take Hwy 2 towards Nakhon Ratchasima Hwy 24 cuts off of Hwy 2. I take 24 to get to Surin however 24 doesn't take you directly into Surin, 24 continues and actually ends at Udon Ratchathani.

[brommers]

Yeah 1337markus it is creeps like you who stimulate corruption. So don't go making snarky comments about the BIB bevause you are fueling the fire. Get you <deleted> paperwork right in the first place.

[ericthai]

6 hours ago, dingdongrb said:

Hwy 24 is out in Isaan... If you take Hwy 2 towards Nakhon Ratchasima Hwy 24 cuts off of Hwy 2. I take 24 to get to Surin however 24 doesn't take you directly into Surin, 24 continues and actually ends at Udon Ratchathani.

Think you made a mistake. It's Ubon not Udon. 

[ericthai]

On 8/3/2017 at 8:05 AM, 1337markus said:

My tuk tuk driver Thai friend for 12 years explained to me there are 3 police stations on shall we say the Sansai side of the CBD bordering the klongs of CNX. You will encounter the same groups of 10 plus BIB at main artery roads near the police stations; they tend to stay in the same spot, they know that farang have money thats why they have changed to stopping us. Yes I got caught, not the helmet or the insurance or the tax ( they were all good) I hadnt signed inside my IDP. BIB ( spoke fluent English) wanted to hold the IDP at the cop shop until next day and a fine of 600 baht. Quick thinking the next day I told him I fly out to Europe, cant do. So he said pay now, I find a 1000 baht note and 230 baht in other notes in my wallet, I ask for change ( no hab) but he will take the 230 baht instead.   Ride on to another blissful day in CNX as the corruption purrs along!

you paid too much. Should only be 100B.   Next time only keep 100B in your wallet everything else keep in your pocket. You show them this is all you have.  Once I was going back to BKK from Rayong.  Gave one of our workers all the cash I had on me. I was driving home got stopped at the toll booth I told the cop I had no cash ended up giving him all the coins I could find in the car. He was all happy maybe had 80B or so.

[FolkGuitar]

8 hours ago, ericthai said:

you paid too much. Should only be 100B.   Next time only keep 100B in your wallet everything else keep in your pocket. You show them this is all you have.

 

Why not just keep the correct documents in your wallet? If your are going through this much effort to insure the correct amount to pay, the same effort would yield no payments at all if you just obeyed the law .  If corruption exists, it's only because there are two sides to the equation.

[ericthai]

15 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

 

Why not just keep the correct documents in your wallet? If your are going through this much effort to insure the correct amount to pay, the same effort would yield no payments at all if you just obeyed the law .  If corruption exists, it's only because there are two sides to the equation.

I think many of us have been stopped and asked for money when we have done nothing wrong. They just make things up.  It doesn't happen allot but it does happen. In the last 20+ years it has only happened to me 3 times, all other times I was stopped I was guilty of something. 

[CMKiwi]

I agree in essence with what Folkguitar has said.  If you dont break the law then in theory you cant/shouldnt be part of the corruption equation.

 

My biggest gripe (I suppose thats how I see it) is that its not a form of law enforcement and certainly not a positive approach in trying to instil good habits in people.  For the law abiding person its just an embuggerance. You can quite easily say ...its only a few seconds/minutes so what the problem?

 

Yes that maybe so, however lately in Chiang Mai there have been quite a few of these 'checkpoints' and you are quite likely to be stopped at each one.  This can be a real pain in the posterior.

 

Id rather see the BiB doing something proactive...like visiting schools and educate kids on road rules and vehicle control. There is very little to no enforcement done in Chiang Mai.  Its all reactionary or revenue driven....they don't give a toss about trying to correct drivers behaviour of decrease the amount of deaths on these roads.

 

Quite sad really

[piewarmer]

Been here 12 years, not once have I seen a police patrol car pull anyone over for any reason.

roadblocks are another story.

Edited August 5, 2017 by piewarmer

[WinnieTheKhwai]

On the plus side, the incredible effort police put into checkpoints makes it easier to sell trips and tours to tourists.  Like you have a group of 4 people who want to go to Doi Suthep.. rent two bikes, 100 Baht fuel and 2 x 500 Baht fine, total cost is then 1500 Baht.  Or they could rent a car + driver for 1000 Baht, and be a lot safer in the process. 

[dingdongrb]

On 8/4/2017 at 11:17 PM, ericthai said:

Think you made a mistake. It's Ubon not Udon. 

You are correct..... I guess I was typing too fast and didn't proof read....  (Or could I be like everyone else and blame it on auto-correct?)

[cmsally]

If they were really serious about safety and abiding the law they would tighten up on those renting motorbikes and getting them to demand right paperwork at the time of rental. They could produce a multilingual sign for use at each rental to advise tourists what they need to have and wear etc when riding the bike.

But for some "unknown" reason I don't see them doing that!

[orang37]

10 hours ago, CMKiwi said:

Id rather see the BiB doing something proactive...like visiting schools and educate kids on road rules and vehicle control. There is very little to no enforcement done in Chiang Mai.

Glad to see I'm not the only idealist round these heah parts ! And, thanks for giving me my semantic frisson for the day via your use of "embuggerance"  !

 

Aviso: while this message is written without the use of irony, sarcasm, etc., we do not abjure future use of said rhetorical devices in future in tempore suo, ad reficiendum, et non ad luxuriam.

 

cheers, ~o:37;

[anto]

11 hours ago, ericthai said:

I think many of us have been stopped and asked for money when we have done nothing wrong. They just make things up.  It doesn't happen allot but it does happen. In the last 20+ years it has only happened to me 3 times, all other times I was stopped I was guilty of something. 

Been here 10 years full time Chiang mai and Jomtien /Pattaya and have only been done once for something i did not do .In Pattaya a cop claimed i had turned right on red ,when in fact it was still amber .

        Once collected a bike i just bought from auction ,and was stopped taking it home .Had no tax or insurance ,my Thai driving license had just gone out of date and i had no helmet .This was in Chiang mai .The cop offered to clear it up for a B500 donation .I accepted .

[opalred]

very cheap

accidentally  got on a freeway with bike in bkk as i was looking for  away to get off 

was pulled over by bike cop  handed my licence over 

said for2000b could get licence back/ had to pay

further along road out of bkk everyone was pulled over

fined 400b asked what for he smiled and said speeding

only had 1000b he took it and said go 

[anto]

3 hours ago, opalred said:

very cheap

accidentally  got on a freeway with bike in bkk as i was looking for  away to get off 

was pulled over by bike cop  handed my licence over 

said for2000b could get licence back/ had to pay

further along road out of bkk everyone was pulled over

fined 400b asked what for he smiled and said speeding

only had 1000b he took it and said go 

He took B1000 ? You probably mean B100 ?

[ericthai]

8 hours ago, opalred said:

very cheap

accidentally  got on a freeway with bike in bkk as i was looking for  away to get off 

was pulled over by bike cop  handed my licence over 

said for2000b could get licence back/ had to pay

further along road out of bkk everyone was pulled over

fined 400b asked what for he smiled and said speeding

only had 1000b he took it and said go 

Wow 1000B  way way too much!.  Even 400B is too much.  Same happened to me I was on the expressway and at the toll both they stopped me said I was speeding I said no way, they show me a picture of another car not mine and tell me that is me.  I finally just gave him 100B.  Another time I got stopped in my truck at a road block. I had 10-15 bags of mulch in the back. I was told nothing can be in the back except people, ended up having to pay. However most of the time I'm just passed through. All depends on the cop. 

[A1Str8]

On 5/16/2017 at 11:28 AM, cmsally said:

Perhaps someone could confirm but I was told that police would need a warrant naming the person in question, in order to carry out a urine test. I remember this was big news a while back when they stopped people in the street in BKK.

Also could be a big problem if you are on some sorts of antibiotics, painkillers etc.

They need a warrant but people don't know their rights so the cops don't care about the warrant. 

I don't know what was the problem with the urine test. People complained about it. I think it was fun. When I was stopped in bkk, I took my d@"$ out and told them that that's what they told me to do. They insisted on me giving a sample there and not back at the cop shop, so I obliged. But then they got mad and sent me on my way. They also called me a buffalo, but I dunno why. I am a law abiding citizen. I was asked to pee. 

[inThailand]

Where do you live? Clean but arrested by RTP. Not possible here? 

[deptrai]

So how to best protect myself if wanting to rent a motorbike for a few days?  Never been to CM, but was pulled over a couple times in Phuket and my IDP got me let go without any payments.

[FolkGuitar]

4 hours ago, deptrai said:

So how to best protect myself if wanting to rent a motorbike for a few days?  Never been to CM, but was pulled over a couple times in Phuket and my IDP got me let go without any payments.

 

As long as you have a current IDP, a copy of your passport, and a copy of the bike's rental agreement, you will NOT have a problem. Despite rumors to the contrary, if you obey the law, you don't run into problems.

[dingdongrb]

9 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

 

As long as you have a current IDP, a copy of your passport, and a copy of the bike's rental agreement, you will NOT have a problem. Despite rumors to the contrary, if you obey the law, you don't run into problems.

You forgot:

 

Wear a helmet !!!

[happyas]

On 8/7/2017 at 1:37 AM, A1Str8 said:

They need a warrant but people don't know their rights so the cops don't care about the warrant. 

I don't know what was the problem with the urine test. People complained about it. I think it was fun. When I was stopped in bkk, I took my d@"$ out and told them that that's what they told me to do. They insisted on me giving a sample there and not back at the cop shop, so I obliged. But then they got mad and sent me on my way. They also called me a buffalo, but I dunno why. I am a law abiding citizen. I was asked to pee. 

 If you act like a buffalo, then, no doubt that you will be called a buffalo.

[heybruce]

On 8/6/2017 at 2:37 PM, A1Str8 said:

They need a warrant but people don't know their rights so the cops don't care about the warrant. 

I don't know what was the problem with the urine test. People complained about it. I think it was fun. When I was stopped in bkk, I took my d@"$ out and told them that that's what they told me to do. They insisted on me giving a sample there and not back at the cop shop, so I obliged. But then they got mad and sent me on my way. They also called me a buffalo, but I dunno why. I am a law abiding citizen. I was asked to pee. 

"I don't know what was the problem with the urine test."

 

No doubt some people are concerned about a correct positive result.  Many others are concerned about a false positive result, either caused by an incorrectly administered test or a corrupt cop looking to shake down a foreigner for serious money.