I took it that our friend was NOT arrested and a bit harsh, unless the junior officers in the RTP LEARN that corruption will not pay due to their being hauled over the coals then the more junior police officers will not learn,anything except harassment, racism and corruption. One has to start somewhere, last time I exchanged pleasantries with the general at a social function he was without doubt a reasonable fellow and agreed that corruption is bad, this was said to me and other Thais who were with me.

Barney wrote:Talking to the missus last night about drinking and driving and she told me one of our local friends husband got stopped in the last couple of weeks and breath tested, went over. Cost 20,000 to not go to gaol and still has to front court.
Be careful.

I think a bit lost in translation / village wire............. yes, it is 20 k baht posted, spend the night, if don't plead next morning or at night to 'guilty', then 3000 baht fine retained, 17,000 returned to offender.

So guessing, if going to 'court' to fight, 20k retained as bond. Everyone I know, and that's quite a few, have had that scenario, or close enough to it, Thais and expats, so far from corruption or prejudice.

If it's not you, and you don't know what the exact circumstances are, I wouldn't speculate, but all my 2nd hand, from trusted, or personally unknown to me, but good 2nd info of offenders, has been pretty much exactly the same.

But never pass up a good opt to bash on 2nd / 3rd / village wire rumours..............

12345 wrote:

Barney wrote:Talking to the missus last night about drinking and driving and she told me one of our local friends husband got stopped in the last couple of weeks and breath tested, went over. Cost 20,000 to not go to gaol and still has to front court.
Be careful.

I think a bit lost in translation / village wire............. yes, it is 20 k baht posted, spend the night, if don't plead next morning or at night to 'guilty', then 3000 baht fine retained, 17,000 returned to offender.

So guessing, if going to 'court' to fight, 20k retained as bond. Everyone I know, and that's quite a few, have had that scenario, or close enough to it, Thais and expats, so far from corruption or prejudice.

If it's not you, and you don't know what the exact circumstances are, I wouldn't speculate, but all my 2nd hand, from trusted, or personally unknown to me, but good 2nd info of offenders, has been pretty much exactly the same.

But never pass up a good opt to bash on 2nd / 3rd / village wire rumours..............

12345,
Nothing lost in my translation, we don't talk village nonsense to each other. Was just a part of a conversation we had an cam on a topic around town with people we both socialise with. I was not trying to advise on exact circumstances of the offence and I only posted to make a point that people need to take care if having a drink.

But since you have provided a know all answer as to how it works with the BIB and the court system then that will be good information for people to know, just carry the additional 20K in you pocket.

But your statement in bold below does seem to lend me to think that if you and friends have such detailed knowledge of how it works that the group are repeat offenders, so many friends would not be caught or had a near miss experience on their first time out drink driving.

Everyone I know, and that's quite a few, have had that scenario, or close enough to it, Thais and expats, so far from corruption or prejudice.

Perhaps my gentle warning would be lost on that group.

I know someone that got nabbed late last Thursday, they along with another Thai paid 5,000thb and were on there way, they key is to be very polite and humble as you could be deported if your mouth is smart!

I'd say 3 expats and about the same Thais, that I know, know of, had basically the exact same experience. 20k bond, 17k returned the next day and released.

None fighting, going to court, so TTL 20k bond not retained.

Actually I think it's a well planned / played scenery, as would spook the hell out of anyone. Thinking, damn I'm stupid for drunk driving to begin with, then thinking, overnight, it's going to cost them 20k. Till simply fined the standard 3k.

If that doesn't wake you up, nothing will.

I personally rarely indulge, and wife even less, so if, and very rare, have a sip in town, always have a designated driver. Even the daughter drives, when I let her, only 16, but has driven home quite often, even at night, simply as learning tool, just in case, and not as a designated driver................LOL

As posted above, and as always, your experiences may differ..............

The person I know didn't pay any bond or spend the night in the cells or go to court, they paid 5,000 thb and were on there way.

12345 wrote:As posted above, and as always, your experiences may differ..............

I'm taking a wild guess, and speculating that 5k never made it back to the station either.

Corruption rules................and if you feed it, as all things............it grows.

It would have never made it anywhere but into there pockets, I'm not about to try and change how Thai's choose to do it, if 5k means I'm on my way to my own bed as opposed to a night in the cells then 5 k it is, which is what the Thai paid also, do I want a court appearance, no way!!!

No we cdannot change the way it is, but if you look at the other side of the coin, the person who paid 5 k drives off happy then has an accident and someone dies ! Now who is the happy one ? The [person who dies if it was the driver just deserts, if another member of the public going on their way happily, then the driver ( he who paid 5K) the cop ,( he who received it ) are in the proverbial apart from the traffic offences which are numerous, would / could you live with that. here as in the UK if your drive/ride do not drink. Simple, if you cannot control your urge to drink and drive do it somewhere else, you might hit me one day and I will be mightly pissed off.

Drink drivers should go straight to jail no exceptions in my opinion.

Khun Paul wrote:Simple, if you cannot control your urge to drink and drive do it somewhere else, you might hit me one day and I will be mightly pissed off.

And what, ######. I love Thailand and the bent way they operate, that's why I live here.

coxo wrote:

Khun Paul wrote:Simple, if you cannot control your urge to drink and drive do it somewhere else, you might hit me one day and I will be mightly pissed off.

And what, ######. I love Thailand and the bent way they operate, that's why I live here.

Sorry but if you drink & drive, you and those like you, are the tossers, risking people's lives so you can indulge in drinking and then get behind the wheel and risk the safety of others!
If you have to drink use alternative transport (taxi or tuk tuk) or get a room for the night, certainly cheaper than killing somebody!

retired wrote: by retired » November 24, 2015, 6:20 pm

coxo wrote:
Khun Paul wrote:
Simple, if you cannot control your urge to drink and drive do it somewhere else, you might hit me one day and I will be mightly pissed off.



And what, ######. I love Thailand and the bent way they operate, that's why I live here.


Sorry but if you drink & drive, you and those like you, are the tossers, risking people's lives so you can indulge in drinking and then get behind the wheel and risk the safety of others!
If you have to drink use alternative transport (taxi or tuk tuk) or get a room for the night, certainly cheaper than killing somebody!

Who said me? I said someone I know. But what I hate is people trying to turn Thailand into a quaint English village!

coxo wrote:

retired wrote: by retired » November 24, 2015, 6:20 pm

coxo wrote:
Khun Paul wrote:
Simple, if you cannot control your urge to drink and drive do it somewhere else, you might hit me one day and I will be mightly pissed off.



And what, ######. I love Thailand and the bent way they operate, that's why I live here.


Sorry but if you drink & drive, you and those like you, are the tossers, risking people's lives so you can indulge in drinking and then get behind the wheel and risk the safety of others!
If you have to drink use alternative transport (taxi or tuk tuk) or get a room for the night, certainly cheaper than killing somebody!

Who said me? I said someone I know. But what I hate is people trying to turn Thailand into a quaint English village!

coxo wrote:

retired wrote: by retired » November 24, 2015, 6:20 pm

and I said if you drink and drive...nobody wants a quaint english village well certainly not me but I also don't want drunks driving vehicles putting other peoples lives in jeopardy, and to think otherwise is totally irresponsible

coxo wrote:
Khun Paul wrote:
Simple, if you cannot control your urge to drink and drive do it somewhere else, you might hit me one day and I will be mightly pissed off.



And what, ######. I love Thailand and the bent way they operate, that's why I live here.


Sorry but if you drink & drive, you and those like you, are the tossers, risking people's lives so you can indulge in drinking and then get behind the wheel and risk the safety of others!
If you have to drink use alternative transport (taxi or tuk tuk) or get a room for the night, certainly cheaper than killing somebody!

Who said me? I said someone I know. But what I hate is people trying to turn Thailand into a quaint English village!

and I said if you drink and drive...nobody wants a quaint english village well certainly not me but what I hate is those who think drunks driving is ok, whether it's in a quaint english village or here in Thailand but you seem to infer that its ok and they can pay their way out of it thro "the bent way they operate" so lets just hope and pray you or one of your loved ones don't become a victim of these irresponsible idiots, because when that happens trust me, you will certainly think differently of it then!

about a month ago , a friend of mine also get stopped , took breath test and was positive , talked a little bit to much and they threw him in jail , this was around midnight on a sunday , at 3 am his wife brought bail of 10.000 baht as requested and he could go home for the night only having to return next morning 8.00h to get locked up again and immediately transferred to court for a quick trial ...just before noon he was transferred to a room where they could hear the judgement of the lady judge true a tv , she was not present in the room , as it was his first time he got off with a 3.800 baht fine and warning, if they catch him driving drunk again the next 2 years he would face jail time ...
around 2pm he was back home ,( got the bail money back and payed the fine ....)

Having dealt with over my lifetime too numerous to mention the dead and dying because of unintelligent idiotic judgement calls by men and women that always say it will not happen to me, I can always drive no matter what . I can assure all of you whether you think I am a ###### or not that the pain, hardship and problems a driver causes BY NOT thinking of anyone else apart from him/herself, has far reaching effects in many cases for decades to come for the affected family whether it be the loss of a child or even a aged grandfather.
So for those of you that decide due to lax enforcement here of drink driving and whatever you personally think of those of us who tell you not to drink or drive, I sincerely hope that your future be either simple as you will be locked up for a very long time or that through your actions you are made immediately poor by the vast bills you will have to pay, lastly may you be granted your wish and die in an accident before any of those things happen so that your Thai family can bear the brunt of your stupidity, by having to clear the bills.