Police Shoot Them, Finally
Got quite some images these days from readers. Some unpublishable, such as the photos from the inside of Santika showing black charred bodies twisted into one another. But these photos showing police shooting minor perpetrators caught red-handed I’m more than happy to show.
Finally they’re shooting them. You always wondered why some people here are allowed to do as they please, smilingly, while a few others try to adhere to law and order. And those photos sent out to offenders nail them pretty clearly, don’t they. Maybe they even contribute to the betterment of the unruly traffic society.
If you though enjoy the traditional flexibility of traffic law enforcement over here, well, be warned, those cameras are installed at some three dozen intersections in Bangkok and you may soon get some mail. It may be a coincidence, but just the other day I saw police taking out speeders as well.
If the laws of politics were that easy … No more bargaining right there on the spot … Well, at least the police start shooting the small fry.
So instead of paying the policeman a bribe there on the spot, you have to go to one of the designated centers and pay the same bribe. Just cos they have official-looking photos doesn’t mean the police won’t still be lining their pockets from this.
“Ok then Mr. Somchai, it says here your fine is 1,000 baht and I’m supposed to take 3 points of your license. I can’t be bothered and don’t know how to do that, so how about you just give me 1,000 now and I’ll make sure this little photo disappears and your points remain in tact?”
Not that easy indeed to get rid of such deeply rooted traditions.
Most Thais have some friend within the police whom to call when one doesn’t feel like paying a fine …
Most get at least a discount.
Call it another peculiarity of the locals’ sense of law and order.
BangkokDan
Dan,
Call it another peculiarity of the locals’ sense of law and order.
Peculiarity in this instance seems to connote disdain.
That in mind I recall your mentioning your wife speaking with a policeman on the road to Hua Hin and the result of that conversation.
I may be wrong that you drove away without paying a fine.
I’m not picking on you Dan. As I have repeatedly told you I enjoy much of what you write.
Chok dee
Yes but back then we didn’t do anything wrong, did we, so why pay.
As mentioned several times, I do appreciate the “flexibilities” here, a major charm of Thailand – disdain? Maybe you’re reading something wishful into it. Sorry pal, no double standards here.
BangkokDan
Is it too cynical to anticipate that six months from now, buried on page 11 of the Post, we’ll see a brief article relating how the RTP is abandoning the camera system? May we also expect the typical insinuations that foreign technology is to blame because it just doesn’t fit with (… wait for it …) “Thai culture”?
With all due respect, Dan, those “flexibilities,” especially in law enforcement and other bureaucratic processes, are the wellspring of corruption and only serve to retard social progress and uniform justice and opportunity.
-A.F.