News Forum - Thai police crack down on street racing, more than 300,000 motorbikes seized this year

[Faz]

12 minutes ago, Griff1315 said:

As another member said the minimum age for legally riding a Motorcycle is 18. So why do high schools provide covered parking for students to come to school on them.

You can obtain a licence and legally ride a motorcycle at age 15 in Thailand.
Age 18 is for motor vehicles.

[Griff1315]

11 minutes ago, Faz said:

You can obtain a licence and legally ride a motorcycle at age 15 in Thailand.
Age 18 is for motor vehicles.

Is it bikes of a certain cc below 110 ? 

Can legally ride means  wearing a helmet too with no more than one passenger...

[Wasminbe]

51 minutes ago, Griff1315 said:

As another member said the minimum age for legally riding a Motorcycle is 18. So why do high schools provide covered parking for students to come to school on them.

Is it not a good indication to the police stood outside the schools that the kids wearing school uniform are obviously under age and have no licence, insurance and in most cases no helmet.

The roads in Thailand can never improve when the inept police endorse the breaking of the laws by their inaction...

Unless your a ferang of course...

My daughter is 19 attending a technical school, the same one she finished grades 10 thru 12 at. She is working on her degree and she is still required to wear a uniform. Why are you assuming any school kid wearing a uniform is under 18?

[Faz]

53 minutes ago, Griff1315 said:

Is it bikes of a certain cc below 110 ? 

There are no restrictions on CC size although there was talk of requiring a separate licence for 400CC and above. Our son passed his test and obtained his provisional 2 year motorcycle  licence the day after his 15th birthday. I bought him a 125CC Honda click.

[Faz]

15 minutes ago, Wasminbe said:

My daughter is 19 attending a technical school, the same one she finished grades 10 thru 12 at. She is working on her degree and she is still required to wear a uniform. Why are you assuming any school kid wearing a uniform is under 18?

Agreed. Our eldest son is now 19 and attends University. They have a uniform dress code as I understand all Universities have. Black trousers and a variety of shirts/t-shirts for different subjects.

[Griff1315]

22 minutes ago, Wasminbe said:

My daughter is 19 attending a technical school, the same one she finished grades 10 thru 12 at. She is working on her degree and she is still required to wear a uniform. Why are you assuming any school kid wearing a uniform is under 18?

I think even the RTP can see the difference between a school uniform (which is what is said in my post) and a university uniform.

[Griff1315]

18 minutes ago, Faz said:

There are no restrictions on CC size although there was talk of requiring a separate licence for 400CC and above. Our son passed his test and obtained his provisional 2 year motorcycle  licence the day after his 15th birthday. I bought him a 125CC Honda click.

Happy to hear about your son following the laws pushed by yourself no doubt. However I would suggest he is one of the few that is legal.

[Faz]

1 hour ago, Griff1315 said:

Is it not a good indication to the police stood outside the schools that the kids wearing school uniform are obviously under age and have no licence, insurance and in most cases no helmet.

The roads in Thailand can never improve when the inept police endorse the breaking of the laws by their inaction...

This has been discussed before in other topics.

Other than the major cities, there are very few local transport systems in rural areas.
If these kids weren't allowed to go to and from school on a motorcycle, they wouldn't be able to attend. TIT.

Children under 16 years 9 months old can only be fined by a Court for motorcycle driving offences, not the on the spot fines issued by Police. 

[Griff1315]

2 minutes ago, Faz said:

This has been discussed before in other topics.

Other than the major cities, there are very few local transport systems in rural areas.
If these kids weren't allowed to go to and from school on a motorcycle, they wouldn't be able to attend. TIT.

Children under 16 years 9 months old can only be fined by a Court for motorcycle driving offences, not the on the spot fines issued by Police. 

So the law is an ass and unenforceable TIT.

[Faz]

17 minutes ago, Griff1315 said:

So the law is an ass and unenforceable TIT.

The laws are different in many Countries in regard to children.

I get your point, but in many cases it comes down to parental responsibilities under a certain age.

3 kids, 2 boys and a girl, probably aged no more than 14, came zooming out of a side street into the middle of the road, 8PM, no lights. They got a blast of my horn and I had to brake hard to avoid hitting them.
They could be seen laughing in amusement.

2Km up the road it opened into a dual carriageway and as they screamed down the road 200 metres ahead of me, for some reason they decided to cross to the other side of the dual carriageway, seriously misjudging the speed of an oncoming truck that wiped them out.
The truck driver never saw them until the last second as they had no lights. It was pretty obvious all 3 kids were dead and nothing could be done.

My wife stated it was their time according to 'Buddha'. They have a different view to life and death.

[palooka]

1 hour ago, Faz said:

There are no restrictions on CC size although there was talk of requiring a separate licence for 400CC and above. Our son passed his test and obtained his provisional 2 year motorcycle  licence the day after his 15th birthday. I bought him a 125CC Honda click.

What are the provisional restrictions? (if any)

[Griff1315]

4 minutes ago, Faz said:

The laws are different in many Countries in regard to children.

I get your point, but in many cases it comes down to parental responsibilities under a certain age.

3 kids, 2 boys and a girl, probably aged no more than 14, came zooming out of a side street into the middle of the road, 8PM, no lights. They got a blast of my horn and I had to brake hard to avoid hitting them.
They could be seen laughing in amusement.

2Km up the road it opened into a dual carriageway and as they screamed down the road 200 metres ahead of me, for some reason they decided to cross to the other side of the dual carriageway, seriously misjudging the speed of an oncoming truck that wiped them out.
The truck driver never saw them until the last second as they had no lights. It was pretty obvious all 3 kids were dead and nothing could be done.

My wife stated it was their time according to 'Buddha'. They have a different view to life and death.

32 years visiting and living in Thailand Faz and I still cannot get my head around it. The stupidity level never ceases to amaze me not just children on motorcycles but many adults too. I get that life has little meaning here but what about the mental trauma suffered by the truck driver in your example, to have killed 3 kids all be it not his fault. Lucky it wasn't a ferang driving the pickup the compensation would have bankrupted him.

[Faz]

32 minutes ago, palooka said:

What are the provisional restrictions? (if any)

None that I'm aware of.
It was proposed to implement new laws for larger CC motorcycles, including special licences and age restrictions, but as yet I don't believe it's become law.
Special licence call for big bike riders (bangkokpost.com)

[Faz]

1 hour ago, Griff1315 said:

Lucky it wasn't a ferang driving the pickup the compensation would have bankrupted him.

I've been stopped at checkpoints multiple times both riding my motorcycle and driving the car.
Usually a helmet and licence check for the motorcycle, tax, licence and seat belt for the car check.
I've never encountered issues that others have reported, maybe because I'm complying with the law.

My biggest complaint about the RTP occurred a couple of years ago.
I'd been doing some work in the garden on a typically hot day and had a sudden urge for an ice cream.
The 7/11 at the local PTT station was my nearest shop, about 500m from the house.
I jumped on the motorcycle, driving 50M to the main road then turned right towards the PTT station only to be stopped at a checkpoint 100m ahead. Helmet 'check', licence 'check', on my way.
I bought a Cornetto and a couple of other small incidentals that the cashier at 7/11 popped in a bag.

On the way back I was stopped again on the opposite side of the road, only this officer was being more thorough checking everything and had 3 cars and another motorcyclist pulled over. One by one I saw him checking documents and one by one pointing to the erected tent where you paid any fines. 
I always carry copies of everything including my Immigration status, so by the time he got to me I had a bunch of documents ready in hand. After checking everything his only comment was 'good farang' and  waived me on my way, whilst all the Thais appeared to be being fined for some infringement.

My complaint!
On arriving home, I'd been held up for so long my Cornetto was now an empty cone, with white liquid and melted chocolate bits floating around in the bottom the bag!

[Griff1315]

32 minutes ago, Faz said:

I've been stopped at checkpoints multiple times both riding my motorcycle and driving the car.
Usually a helmet and licence check for the motorcycle, tax, licence and seat belt for the car check.
I've never encountered issues that others have reported, maybe because I'm complying with the law.

My biggest complaint about the RTP occurred a couple of years ago.
I'd been doing some work in the garden on a typically hot day and had a sudden urge for an ice cream.
The 7/11 at the local PTT station was my nearest shop, about 500m from the house.
I jumped on the motorcycle, driving 50M to the main road then turned right towards the PTT station only to be stopped at a checkpoint 100m ahead. Helmet 'check', licence 'check', on my way.
I bought a Cornetto and a couple of other small incidentals that the cashier at 7/11 popped in a bag.

On the way back I was stopped again on the opposite side of the road, only this officer was being more thorough checking everything and had 3 cars and another motorcyclist pulled over. One by one I saw him checking documents and one by one pointing to the erected tent where you paid any fines. 
I always carry copies of everything including my Immigration status, so by the time he got to me I had a bunch of documents ready in hand. After checking everything his only comment was 'good farang' and  waived me on my way, whilst all the Thais appeared to be being fined for some infringement.

My complaint!
On arriving home, I'd been held up for so long my Cornetto was now an empty cone, with white liquid and melted chocolate bits floating around in the bottom the bag!

I'm much the same as you and keep myself all legal with Thai driving licence all vehicles well maintained with full insurance not just the government compulsory one. Its probably wrong of me to expect other road users to do the same, but we can all dream a dream.

Probably the only good thing to come out of covid is the police around here all seem to be in hiding with no road blocks for the last year or more.

[Bob20]

3 minutes ago, Griff1315 said:

Probably the only good thing to come out of covid is the police around here all seem to be in hiding with no road blocks for the last year or more.

Same here over the last 18 months, but last week they started again with 12 officers stopping every motorbike. 

Maybe a test run for when the tourists return?

[Griff1315]

5 minutes ago, Bob20 said:

Same here over the last 18 months, but last week they started again with 12 officers stopping every motorbike. 

Maybe a test run for when the tourists return?

Might need the tea money more up North or maybe braver than our local BIB. 

If stopped at a road block just start coughing as they approach, soon be waved on your way....

[Bob20]

Just now, Griff1315 said:

Might need the tea money more up North or maybe braver than our local BIB. 

If stopped at a road block just start coughing as they approach, soon be waved on your way....

I dared them to fine me for wearing no helmet!

But I have no motorbike

[Griff1315]

4 minutes ago, Bob20 said:

I dared them to fine me for wearing no helmet!

But I have no motorbike

A few years back just after buying my bike new I was stopped at a 200 baht collection stop. After showing my Thai licence. The brain box copper started looking around my obviously new bike, he walked around the rear of the bike and noticed the road tax holder was empty (big smile appeared) pointing he said no tax 200 baht. I gently moved him to the rear of the bike pointing at the big bright red number plate.

Pai Pai...