Bribing a Traffic Police Officer

[barry_bonds 1]

On several occasions, I've had tickets for going the wrong way on a one-way or for not having a helmet on my passenger (now I look out for the traps set on Soi 3, Beach Road (near Soi 8 and near Pattayaland 1 or 2). In addition, I take all of the back roads or private entrances to avoid the main intersections, to avoid getting pulled over, as needed. I know I should carry an extra helmet all times, so no need to flame me on this issue.

 

Each time, I had to pay 500 or 600 baht, plus another 50 baht for a taxi-runner to avoid having to take care of paying the fine in person at the police station. Now I wonder if I would have slipped the PO a 100 or 200 baht bribe, would he accept the bribe or would I get in further trouble for bribery?

 

Anybody with experience in this or similar matter?

Edited March 4, 2007 by barry_bonds

[torrenova 644]

I understand that the real fine is Bt400 but I could be wrong. They used to only bother at month ends but now they hassle people all month. They used to accept cash with no ticket but I now understand that the ticket never gets to the police station unless you take it yourself. They want the Bt400 instead of a Bt100-200 bribe.

[Guest henkes]

Those coppers accept various forms of "payment".

Few years ago I sat on a bike with a Thai chick, and she was stopped for speeding and driving thru red, so she had to hand over her ID-card, and she told me that the cheeky bastard wanted to have "dinner" with her, yeah right, but anyway she bulshitted her way out of this date, but in hindsight maybe she was just bullshitting me, you'll never know , TIT

[friendlyric6411 0]

I Had the same problem , came out of the pictors/ movies/, one night turned down a soy . at the bottom was p c / officer plod. stopped me and said you falang . /good guess really , I had my thai lady on the back in case of emergence. . He said 200 baht fine , wheres your licence , I did not have it on me , just said sorry back in loom. he said another 200 baht . and 40 baht for thai tax man . probly his brother. I got my hard erned money out . with a tear in my eye. my thai lady said to me . just get out 100 baht note and hold it in your hand . I though for a nano second .and did . as i was told by my thai lady , for once , With that the friendly officer ,snached my 100 note and vanished . Dont know if you should try this , maybe a local thai coustom . think i saw P C plod at the market buying a frock for his girlfriend , the next day , Ey way if you try this , please tell me what time the visting hours are at the bangkok hilton . will come and see you to discus where you went wrong

[blink 2]

Nice TG i barfined a few times often gave me a lift to Condo on her Bike. One time she didnt have a spare helmut & spotted Thai Police, so she drove well out of the way up the hill (Jomtien) to avoid them successfully :) She said if we had been stopped, would have to pay police man 200 baht. Im sure that was the going bribe rate?

[Slobbert 0]

Yesterday there was a gang of four of them working the intersection of Soi Diana and Soi Buakow. Two on foot, two on motorbikes. Even though I was on foot I half expected them to write me up for jaywalking.

[LocalYokul 217]

I always fold up a 100b note, to make it look like more

 

and make sure to get your driver's license back as you give him the money

 

[elef 0]

TGF heard that the policemen now get a percentage of the fines so they don't take bribes, don't know if it's true or not. I you don't have enough money you risk that they take you to the police station and there you will stay until somebody comes and pay the rest of the fine.

 

2nd Rd just before the Dolphin and after the Dolphin on North Pattaya Rd (outside Best Supermarket) are 2 other traps, at least 4-5 times a week they're there.

[kev0184 12]

when i got stopped i had to pay the following, 200 for no helmet, 200 for not having licience with me, and on top of that they took the bike and i had to pay 300 to get it back. The cop told me if i had offered a cash settlement b4 he wrote the ticket he would have let it go.

 

having been stopped since, twice, 100 has made him dissapear, no questions asked, just took the money and waved me on. so in answer to the original post, yes its the norm here.

[barry_bonds 1]

Wow...I feel like a shmuck for paying the entire fine of 600 baht.

 

I just can't figure out what the other 200 baht charge was for, as I can only account for 400 baht (200 for no license + 200 for going the wrong way or for having no helmet).

 

Well, that is a nuke point now, as I'm going to stick a hundred dollar baht note with my license, if I get pulled over again.

[vidman 2]

If you get stopped in a car for speeding (or no apparent reason) then just fold any note and give it to them...they wont look at the note right away.

 

Also they tend to accept a smaller bribe if you have any thais in the vehicle.

 

 

 

Another quick true story:

 

A friend of mine done a tour up to chiang mai in his pickup and got stopped an amazing 4 times (he drives like a maniac)...anyway he is really abnoxious and swore and shouted at the police. ( a lot of shit really about 'do u have photo of me speeding etc) He also instructed his TG that she cannot speak english and that he does not speak ANY thai

 

The result

 

NO bribes

NO fines

NO problems

 

and let away

 

Now i wouldnt like to take the chance he did but hey hats off to him....it worked 100percent

Edited March 5, 2007 by vidman

[friendlyric6411 0]

I go fined for wearing a loud shirt in a built up eara. and being in posetion of an offensive thai lady

[moby69 6]

I know, I know it's a bit novel

 

But just for a change you could try wearing a hat or even driving the right way up a one-way street

 

Just a thought

 

Be Nice

 

Moby69

Edited March 24, 2007 by moby69

[friendlyric6411 0]

moby69 did have hat on and was not going down oneway soy the wrong way . you just dont argue with thai police

[irishman 0]

Coming out of the old airport in my pickup, I was stopped for making a supposedly illegal turn onto the main drag. I thought that this was a bit unfair as I was following a bunch of other cars and he was clearly looking for a farang driver. I offered the usual 100 baht bribe but the officer was adamant that this was an expensive ticket and he was trying to get 600 - 700 Baht from me. At that point I'm afraid that I lost my cool and started complaining in Thai that I didn't think he was being fair and that I was going to complain about him. At that point I took his picture several times with my cell phone and he didn't like that at all. After taking his picture, he decided to give the farang a break and said just to be careful next time. I quickly thanked him and drove off before he could change his mind.

 

Just something to keep in mind, maybe they don't want their picture taken?

 

Cheers

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

 

There are ethical issues to ponder over...

[barry_bonds 1]

At that point I'm afraid that I lost my cool and started complaining in Thai that I didn't think he was being fair and that I was going to complain about him. At that point I took his picture several times with my cell phone and he didn't like that at all.

Just something to keep in mind, maybe they don't want their picture taken?

 

Cheers

 

You got big kahonas for doing that.

 

I know I do my share of complaining but I'm too much of a wimp to make threats to a police officer, especially in Thailand...and to take his photo...daaaaammmmmnnnnnnn

 

My Thai is limited to massage talk...I guess it helps if you can converse in Thai.

I surveyed some Thai people and they didn't think you can bribe an PO without a Thai person on your bike or speaking on your behalf...little do they know.

[Skallagrim 0]

I was stopped once up in the Buri Ram area. But when he saw it was farang driving he simply waved me on in disgust.

 

Rune

[puaa 1]

I was sitting in a bar one morning (drinking OJ) and watched a cop pull over a dozen or more people on helmet violations. He had 6 or 7 lined up at any given time. I was about 3 or 4 meters away, but from where I sat, he wanted cash without writing tickets. Farang who didn't offer cash immediately were sent away to sit on the curb until the cash customers were taken care of. One Scandinavian guy argued and was the last let go. He stopped one Thai man while I was there and this one's penalty was 10 push-ups. An East Indian couple was pulled over and immediately payed with a coin. I assume it was 10baht. They didn't show any ID or even get off the bike.

[joekicker 53]

I go fined for wearing a loud shirt in a built up eara. and being in posetion of an offensive thai lady

 

Yeah, everybody go ahead and laugh.

 

Fact is you cannot take a step without breaking the law. Everything is against the law. When funds are needed to help the policeman's daughter with her school fees, you will pay it, or you will pay three to 10 times as much NOT to pay it. Those are your choices.

 

It is a Thailand fact of life.

[cumberlandsausage 0]

If they try and stop you and they are stood in the road-just keep going, never have i been chased thru Pattaya,they really are lazy wankers who just want some easy cash and dont want to have to work!!!

 

[joekicker 53]

If they try and stop you and they are stood in the road-just keep going, never have i been chased thru Pattaya,they really are lazy wankers who just want some easy cash and dont want to have to work!!!

 

This is true, they are unlikely to chase you. But.

 

But 1. They may have a second ambush just up the road, and if so, the second boys will definitely be ready for you.

 

But 2. They may remember you. If so, you will be their guest for a hell of a lot longer, and a hell of a lot more expensively than if you coughed up the 100 or 200 baht at the first go.

 

Running from a minor traffic stop is a silly thing to do.

[Sammy 30]

Hi,

 

There are ethical issues to ponder over...

 

What ethical issues are those? Bribery and corruption happens everywhere. Baker Hughes, a large US international oil service company, recently received the largest fine in US history of $44 million for breaching the FCPA for having bribed Kazakhstan oil officials in order to win a contract. At the time the investigation started (mid February) Baker's stock fell to $62.50/share. After the fine was announced on April 26 their stock has risen to 82.50 on May 2. $20/share on 320 million shares outstanding. The value of Baker went up $6.4 billion for breaking the law. Proves crime does pay....at least in corporate America.

 

I don't begrudge the BiB for the 100 or 200 baht I give them to not give me a speeding ticket.

[cowboy 0]

The wife calls the bangkok police my mia noi. Everytime I drive in bangkok they get me. Worst was 1500 baht for speeding they said it was a double fine becuase of the kings birthday. They started at 1000 baht but after 10 minutes of my wife arguing with them the cop was pounding on the roof and demanding 1500 baht.

 

Another time we got stopped for and everybody in the car was drunk. We had 2 thai guys with us and they invited the cop to party with us. We offered the cop a 1/2 full bottle of JW black but the cop said he had no place to put it and if he drank it he'd be mao like us. He let us go no fine. One of only 2 time that I got away without Ahem "paying a fine"

 

Most of the time it has been 200 or 300 baht but last trip they got me for no drivers license and after 10 minutes of negotiation I finally got them to agree to 500 baht. my take ... never let a TG argue with a cop it just makes it worse.

[joekicker 53]

Most of the time it has been 200 or 300 baht but last trip they got me for no drivers license and after 10 minutes of negotiation I finally got them to agree to 500 baht. my take ... never let a TG argue with a cop it just makes it worse.

 

Ah. That brings to mind another rule. There are (basically) four prices in Thailand:

 

Cheapest: Thai

Just about as cheap or cheaper: Farang who speak Thai

Bearable: Farang who don't speak Thai

Most expensive: Thai + Farang

 

It always annoys my old la... my lovely wife when I come home and tell her I got the cop for cheaper than she did. Which I have done. But if we're together and she insists on doing the talking, the cost of the ticket to the policeman's ball goes up. And up.