TW has had her Drvers licence physically taken away by Police for minor infringm

[fishy]

My TW has just returned in tears after driving to see her Son who has been drafted in the army first time after 3 months. Police stopped the car at a road block and pulled it over for a blown headlight. Yes the light is blown and accept responsibility for that even though I keep a good eye on the car. The Police would not accept 200bht tea money for the infringement. Instead the Policeman physically took and kept my TW licence saying it would not be returned until she showed that the headlight had been repaired and inspected by him and that the fine would be 400 bht.


Is this for real. Can a Policeman take  your licence away for such an infringement?

Tomorrow the light will be repaired for about 200Bht and my TW and I will have to drive 60km (120km round trip) back to the Police station to get this sorted out and pay the lousy 400 Bht for the inconvenience. (I will actually drive as like she said "I no have licence now").

I am seriously thinking of having legal representation for my TW while at the Police station. This is Thailand but surely the cops cannot take a licence away for such a minor infringement.

[Tassie]

I am not one to tell you what to do. It seems to me that you may find it difficult in court to get the outcome you desire. I assume your TW, who had her licence taken away from her, continued to drive home without a licence after it was taken from her. The fact that she offered 200 baht Tea money, is in itself illegal.  Good luck with your quest.
Regards

[Freddy]

Inconvenient yes but not such a big deal IMHO.
400 baht fine is peanuts and the lisence is only being held until confirmed that car has been repaired. Seems to me that for a change there was a Thai Cop with a little integrity rather than the usual take a bribe and sod the safety aspect.
Certainly better than the UK. Hefty fine, points on lisence, increased insurance.
Sure it would have been easier for your wife to hand over the 200 bribe and carry on but many wouldn't bother to fix the light which does nothing for overall road safety.

[Geordie Boy]

"The Police would not accept 200bht tea money for the infringement."

This is so wrong, the RTP refusing a bribe.

And to emphasise the problem a non-Thai complaining about it?

[fishy]

Yes 400bht small money fine.. Yes good cop for not taking tea money... Yes car not roadworthy with blown light.. Yes 200bht to repair blown light cheap...Yes TW drove home 60km without a licence.. Thankfully (Pudda) no accident....

The $ amount is insignificant but having the TW come home in tears cuts to the bone. If you are Drunk or have Drugs in your system or have been involved in a serious accident etc then fair enough remove your licence..   Taking your licence away from you for a blown headlight.. What's next???

[Geordie Boy]

"Whats next"?

Perhaps, enforcement of all driving laws, then maybe an average of 61 people and hundreds injured per day may be reduced.

[fishy]

Don't get me wrong. I am the first person to put my hand up and say the light was broken. I admit that the car was defective and the light was blown.... Each week I thank Puddah that I can still put some cash in his coffers for keeping me alive on the roads. My gripe is the severity of the penalty and whether Thai Police can take your licence away for such an offence without issuing a receipt I might add.

 Each country may be different but I want to know how the rules apply in Thailand for such an offence.

[Wayne from Aus]

Upsetting for the Mrs, Upsetting for you seeing her upset.  I think fix the light and enjoy the drive to get the licence then take the Mrs out for dinner. Mai Pen Rai. Next week all forgotten. Regards

[Oily]

About time . How many scooters do you see with no rear lights just waiting to get rear ended"

[BillH52]

Upsetting for the Mrs, Upsetting for you seeing her upset.  I think fix the light and enjoy the drive to get the licence then take the Mrs out for dinner. Mai Pen Rai. Next week all forgotten. Regards

Agreed.  Learning about operation of a safe motor vehicle, auto or scooter.  No rear lights; broken light; no mirrors; no headlight;  no helmet; prove it's corrected - get your license returned (with small fine).  Then a dinner date.  One small step for man; one giant leap for Thailand.

[Freddy]

I do agree that some form of receipt should have been given so that you have reference when you go to Polive Station.
Other than that though I'm not sure it's a penalty as such. The lisence hasn't been suspended or cancelled so is still valid. Just temporarily held until proof of fixed light.
Would certainly be better if they had some sort of fix-it ticket system but to enforce that kind of system would require effective computerisation and Police follow-up procedures. This in turn would result in the fines being much bigger to cover the costs.
I guess we can't have it both ways.

[Tassie]

I have stated once before on this forum that I hate motor bikes.  If the death of one of my Thai friends 2 weeks ago wasn't enough, yesterday there was another accident.  This time it was my brother in laws step son, who lives with his beetle nut chewing grandmother.  He lost control of the motor bike and slammed himself into the pavement.  He was not killed but has multiple injuries with a large loss of blood.
He is only 9 years old.  What sort of irresponsible grandmother would allow her grandson to ride a motor bike at only 9 years of age?  I hate motor bikes.
Regards

[Tassie]

I believe that the police should not take the license from a driver especially for a minor infringement.  The sane procedure should be to record the drivers licence, have the driver agree to fix the problem on the infringement notice, within a certain time frame.  The driver should not have to drive back to the police station that issued the infringement notice but be able to front up at any police station with the infringement notice and the repairs done.  Example:  If I received an infringement notice on or near the Malaysian/Thai border the insanity of me having to drive back to the original police station that issued the infringement notice is stupid in the extreme, especially if I was home based in Buriram.
Regards

[fishy]

So a follow up on this thread as I started it. Whether it is wrong or right with the outcome is in your opinion to decide. This after all is Thailand. Speaking with the TW the next day after the tears had dried up more info was forthcoming on the event. The headlight (1) blew about 15 minutes before the road block. 1 point to her. She was aware when it happened. I am 100% sure the light was working before she left the bahn this morning as it was dark when she left and I watched her leave. At the road block the customary Wai was given and tea money offered for the offence. Her reasoning to Police was it had just blown and the roads are in poor condition (F@rkd). Another 1 point to her. She failed the attitude test to sit at the table and pay the 400bht fine. 1 point lost. Licence kept by said officer. 1 point lost.
So 60km drive to visit Police station today and fellang keeps low profile in car park whilst TW goes to retrieve licence. The blown light replaced for 300bht enroot. The reason it blew according to mechanic was the wire to globe had rattled lose causing globe to overheat.(read above road F@rkd). 

TW returns to car with grin and licence in her hand and just says..."Som-num-na Tamruat"...(What you deserve Policeman).. Instructed then to wind the window down so Tamruat can see fellang drive out of police station... I give a high Wai and get one back followed by a quick Salute...

My first question to TW how much did you have to pay? "Free no pay. I ring... (lets call him Som Chai) and policeman understand I am right they are wrong".. Licence returned with no tea money or fine paid. Get out of gaol free.

Just to add... my main means of transport is on a Honda Wave as I don't care about showing face in the village driving the big Issuzu pickup. I'm fellang and must be rich anyway. Much easier and convenient on the bike. I ride my bike like I am invisible and everyone is out to kill me.

This is my tale of a blown headlight on my car. If I could sell a replacement globe to every vehicle/bike/tuk tuk/pushbike that has a blown light in Thailand I would be a very very very rich man.





 

[Prakhonchai Nick]

An interesting conclusion, which to me shows that the police did everything correctly

Your wife was "invited" to sit at the table and pay the legitimate 400baht fine She refused, thereby requiring the police officer to confiscate her driving licence, necessitating a visit to the police station where the problem arose.    How many times have the police heard the same story "it must have just blown-was OK when I left home"

She could well have paid the 400baht on the spot, driven away, and conceivably the  blown light would never have been replaced,

I personally believe that in similar cases, including no crash helmets on bikes, no driving licence or insurance there should be no on the spot fines.  The driver should be required to visit a police station (one of choice as in the UK) and prove that the light has been fixed, or there is a crash helmet/driving licence/insurance etc.