Police 'fines'

Zidane · Member Joined: 09 Jun 2007 Posts: 72

I've got the new British Licence with the picture,birth date etc.but the Thai Police have still to put it to the test yet Very Happy

But Norseman makes a very valid point.....you can have a Thai,EU,or British licence over here but if a farang is involved in an accident it will be deemed to be his fault,whatever the circumstances.
Maybe if a farang is involved in an accident with another farang the type of licence might be useful,eh ! Very Happy

Zidane

lomuamart · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:00 pm Post subject:

As we're on this topic, a couple of things.
1. I very much doubt that my UK driving licence is valid here. It's one of those scrumpled up old pieces of paper, but it's valid (in the UK) until 11/08/2028!!
2. About being stopped. A number of years ago, I went with some others on a visa run to Ranong. Hire car. The driver unfortunately had a motorcycle accident a few hours before we left. His injuries included a broken collar bone and pretty nasty scrapes on his face. Still, he drove through the night.
We went through quite a few roadblocks near provincial borders and like crazy 88 said, our driver just waved at them and moved on.
Bearing in mind that that he was definitely not fit to drive and that I was on two days overstay, it was lucky we weren't pulled over.
On the way back, we were stopped at the Ranong/Chumpon army checkpoint, but as I was now legal I didn't care and the soldiers simply couldn't understand how my friend could drive in his state. A simple "mai pen rai - accident" and we were waved through.
I suppose that four farang nutcases in a car was just too much for them to handle Cheers

_________________
"I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars - the rest I just squandered". George Best.

STEVE G · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:20 pm Post subject:

I sometimes drive in the area near the Cambodian border in Buriram and there are nearly always police road-blocks somewhere along the way, but most of the time you get waved through. Only once have I had to pay a small “fine” for not having a valid license.
I think these roadblocks are actually for stopping smuggling and illegal logging etc. and not really for traffic violations.
Luckily most of the cops in that area can’t read English anyway, so they’re normally happy if you just show them the photo page in your passport.

Little treefrog · Rookie Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 18

KelpieKiss · Specialist Joined: 17 Oct 2007 Posts: 221

KelpieKiss · Specialist Joined: 17 Oct 2007 Posts: 221

KelpieKiss · Specialist Joined: 17 Oct 2007 Posts: 221

lomuamart · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:33 pm Post subject:

Zidane · Member Joined: 09 Jun 2007 Posts: 72

Kelpie Kiss,when I mentioned the different types of licence,the point I was making was that the farang will be deemed at fault for any accident irrespective of wether or not he holds a Thai,UK or EU licence.

But no matter...... this talk of Thai driving tests reminds me of a story of my ex boss who worked at the Rayong Refinery over 20 years ago.
He went to take his test....reversing into an area where you could fit half a dozen buses,hill start on a man made ramp area etc.
All went well (as you would imagine) but then he was taken into a room where he had to take a written test of 30 multiple choice questions.
To his horror he saw all the paper was written in Thai (not the same as today) but when he looked closely each question had one faint pencil line under the answers section.
Not surprisingly he took the option of putting each underlined item as his answer.
After his paper was taken away to be marked and ten or so minutes later the examiner emerged to say "Congratulations,Mr.Williams ,you passed your written examination scoring 29 out of 30."
Intrigued,my boss said "Oh,which one did I get wrong ?"
The examiner smiled and said "Nobody gets 30." Very Happy

Zidane

Norseman · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:17 pm Post subject:

Riversider · Rookie Joined: 07 Nov 2007 Posts: 11

I only have a paper licence, have hired from Avis at BKK with no problems. Have been stopped my MIB 3 times and am now 600B poorer although last year was stopped on road to Pranburi. Showed paper licence and was let go with no "donation". Perhaps I have been lucky.

Nereus · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 9:54 pm Post subject:

Governor · Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 10:10 pm Post subject:

[/quote]

I do not know about motorcycles.[/quote]

It's the same for a motorcycle, well it was for me anyway. I filled in the forms, they looked at my UK licence, and after I took their tests they gave me two licences, one for a motorcycle and one for a car.

My medical certificate was a few days out of date so I had a to get a new one from a clinic, cost me 50 Baht and of course they didn't look at me, but hey ho that's the rules.

STEVE G · Posted: Thu Mar 06, 2008 2:46 am Post subject:

2dandan · Specialist Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 125

I always rent a motorbike when I'm in Hua Hin and regularly ride without money, passport or driving lcence. (Always wearing my helmet)

I've been fortunate not to have been stopped by the MIB. What would happen to me (hypothetically) if I was stopped at a checkpoint.

Be realistic, as I know that potentially I could be slapped in handcuffs and locked up.

Would they just shrug their shoulders and send me on my way or is the above arresting option the realistic option.