Checkpoints to remain despite lifting of curfew

[Unify]

I think they mean 50% of the people in this she range, who have the virus are asymptomatic, not 50% of the people in this age range are asymptomatic.

 

And exactly how is a road block going to detect an asymptomatic person?

[Derek B]

15 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

Amazing photograph, a policeman after dark! I honestly don't think I have seen a policeman out after dark (other than the one who makes the rounds of various venues to collect the "informal licencing fees" ) in all the time that I have lived in Chiang Rai.

Same in Chiang Mai close to mid night.

[orang37]

2 hours ago, Trillian said:

Some strange responses above! Foreigners complaining that the Police don't do their job and then complain when they do, which do you want!

 

Anyone who complains is ipso facto a foreigner, as is anyone who does not understand what the police do, or don't do.

 

The police presence must be strong because it must not appear weak. The police absence contradicts this only in the minds of foreigners.

 

The danger of foreigners can be partially neutralized by financial liposuction, and the police are trained to carry this out.

 

~o:37;

[phantomfiddler]

For everyone over 39, breathe easy, you are safe ! How does the virus know ?

[Traubert]

50 minutes ago, 5633572526 said:

I want the police to get out on the roads and stop the carnage instead of extorting money at checkpoints. I want the military to go back to their barracks and get out if politics. Hope that clears it up.

Ah the checkpoints will be on the rivers then, obviously.......

[Kerryd]

So when they have checkpoints and drunk driving checks in "Western" countries that's just the police "doing their jobs".

But when it's in Thailand it's "authoritarianism" and "controlling the people" and "extortion".

I have NEVER been "hit up" for money at a checkpoint and I guarantee that most of you never have either. Just like I have never been hit up for a "tip" at Immigration or been hassled and told I should use the "agent" next door.

At best, most of you have heard "bar stool" stories about a guy who overheard another guy in the bathroom talking about a friend of his who knew a guy that had a friend who went to Thailand and met someone who supposedly got stopped by the police and "hit up" for a donation.

That's your "proof" that all cops are just out to extort money from everyone they encounter.

Most of you don't have a clue what a real police state is like and would <deleted> your pants in a heartbeat if you ever had to live in one. Most of you have lived sheltered, pampered lives compared to people who have lived in real "police states".

Most of you are so spoiled and privileged that you think "bar closures" and "alcohol bans" are an infringement on your "human rights" and most of you don't have a clue what "rights" you actually have, especially here in Thailand, especially as a foreigner in Thailand. Let alone any other country.

Most of you won't be the slightest bit affected by these checkpoints, just like most of you (that were here at the time) weren't affected by the last 2 coups that happened.
Despite how some of you tried to make it sound like there were stormtroopers with their boots on your throats the whole time the junta was in charge. 

Most of you had better pray that Thailand never becomes an actual "police state". If it does you'll have a lot more to worry about than possibly being stopped at a checkpoint once in awhile (if ever).

[Greg O]

Many of the checkpoints have been folded up and they've gone home a week ago. Three of them literally vanished in Hua Hin so No need to worry it's just another charade about jobs...

[dallen52]

She added that people aged between 20 and 39 need to be particularly careful, as many of them will possibly be asymptomatic...

 

Is this asymptomatic in the sense that they really don't care?

Or don't have any respect for anyone except themselves?

 

Definitely a good word to describe the "I dont care" populus in the LOS...

 

[quake]

Just sleeping areas for the Plod.

[herfiehandbag]

41 minutes ago, orang37 said:

financial liposuction

Wonderful phrase????

 

The way in which so many agencies here work, encapsulated in two words!

[elgenon]

Too many countries are sharing the authoritarian bent of Our Dear Leader in the freedom-loving US of A.

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, Hayduke said:

but how on earth does a gang of rogue police hassling people in the middle of the night benefit public health?

It doesn't, but it helps the government keep a state of emergency and a grip on the public.

[Jack Cook]

Always been random cash collection, opps checkpoints, try driving from Bangkok to Surin. A few more just means more loose change for those who man them. After all it is LOS and takings must have been quite low these last few months.

[connda]

Why not?  Gotta keep that knee on the neck of the public lest they become cheeky and begin to demand to be able to travel, assemble, and work as well as to engage in that care-free Thai life-style we are all told is the basis of Thai culture. 

[Max69xl]

16 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

Yep!

The Emergency decree is still in effect. They just lifted the curfew. 

[holy cow cm]

6 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

The Emergency decree is still in effect. They just lifted the curfew. 

Which is essentially Martial law if I am not mistaken.

[Sydebolle]

Well, they are out in full force again trying to recover income they lost over the last few months ???? 

[spidermike007]

These checkpoints accomplish very little. And they create massive traffic jams and travel delays. They are not about a fight against crime. They never were. At this stage, they are merely another stage for the local franchisees to make alot of extra money. 

[Burma Bill]

17 hours ago, YetAnother said:

any old bs excuse will do; control the peasants

Yes, that is what the Medieval "Lords of the Manors" want in Bangkok!

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, Surasak said:

Are you sure its a rabbit hole??

No, it begins with an A

[Expat Tom]

Quite obvious... CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL....once freedoms are take, they are only grudgingly given back...did you expect otherwise? 

[bodga]

Have  yet to be  stopped, Bangkok to Hua  Hin,  unmanned 3 am in the morning

[Gold Star]

16 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

Amazing photograph, a policeman after dark! I honestly don't think I have seen a policeman out after dark (other than the one who makes the rounds of various venues to collect the "informal licencing fees" ) in all the time that I have lived in Chiang Rai.

Lucky for you, and most others here. I always loved Chiang Rai. Here in Pattaya before COVID, there were so many checkpoints over the last few years, that often you were checked on average once every 2 days, morning, day, or night. Sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. Alcohol, <deleted> test, drivers licence, registration, road tax, lights, helmet, passport, visa, and even fined if your passenger footpegs were left out without a passenger. Although, sometimes waved through.

 

Often targeting mainly falangs, I found myself getting harassed while Thais with no helmets or plates drove on by.  After a while, I learned it was better to put my drivers licence in a card holder on a string around my neck, to avoiding the act of pulling it out of my wallet where the cop gets the opportunity to see how much money I am carrying, and see his potential windfall if he could nail me with something.

 

Checkpoints are mostly on the usual roads, the railway bypass, and Thappraya road between Jomtien and Pattaya, but they are also moving locations around randomly to the smaller roadways and backways, and do a lucrative business. I have never seen police make an effort to pull someone over for a serious moving violation which would actually do something for traffic safety.

 

Here, checkpoints have become so invasive, that several Facebook and some other good private LINE groups have formed, some in English and some in Thai, where checkpoint locations are reported by members and posted, and I have contributed to the cause many times as well. Before any trip, I quickly check the latest reports to try to avoid the potential confrontation.

 

As for me, my bike and papers are always in order, I am polite but firm. I have always complied with the law, however many times they tried desperately in vain to try to find me guilty of something, going through their entire list of possible infractions and checking them one by one.  I felt so harassed, and was so sick of it on a daily basis, that I moved away from Jomtien to the outskirts of town. Even so, once in a while, I still have to endure the pleasure of a major checkpoint right outside my village security gate on a small road on the outer limits of the Darkside.

 

Now, I see from the frequency of new reports posted on the groups, it seems the checkpoints are starting up once again. Their pocket money from the lack of bar activity has dried up, and I'm sure some are as desperate as the many souls still lining up for food handouts here daily. Pity, I have made so many good friends here, but perhaps it is time to move to Chiang Rai.

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, Kerryd said:

So when they have checkpoints and drunk driving checks in "Western" countries that's just the police "doing their jobs".

But when it's in Thailand it's "authoritarianism" and "controlling the people" and "extortion".

I have NEVER been "hit up" for money at a checkpoint and I guarantee that most of you never have either. Just like I have never been hit up for a "tip" at Immigration or been hassled and told I should use the "agent" next door.

At best, most of you have heard "bar stool" stories about a guy who overheard another guy in the bathroom talking about a friend of his who knew a guy that had a friend who went to Thailand and met someone who supposedly got stopped by the police and "hit up" for a donation.

That's your "proof" that all cops are just out to extort money from everyone they encounter.

Most of you don't have a clue what a real police state is like and would <deleted> your pants in a heartbeat if you ever had to live in one. Most of you have lived sheltered, pampered lives compared to people who have lived in real "police states".

Most of you are so spoiled and privileged that you think "bar closures" and "alcohol bans" are an infringement on your "human rights" and most of you don't have a clue what "rights" you actually have, especially here in Thailand, especially as a foreigner in Thailand. Let alone any other country.

Most of you won't be the slightest bit affected by these checkpoints, just like most of you (that were here at the time) weren't affected by the last 2 coups that happened.
Despite how some of you tried to make it sound like there were stormtroopers with their boots on your throats the whole time the junta was in charge. 

Most of you had better pray that Thailand never becomes an actual "police state". If it does you'll have a lot more to worry about than possibly being stopped at a checkpoint once in awhile (if ever).

If you are so fond of the Thai police force, please explain why they allow about 60 people killed on Thai roads every day because they do not do their jobs. The guys with all the fancy ranks spend too much time posturing in their fancy uniforms with their paid for fancy ranks, their fancy ribbons, wings, and all that other bling, instead of getting their "police force" out on the roads and policing them, which is typical of a country with a third world mentality run by a joke of a government.

They put even the UKs Prince Charlle to shame with all his unearned medals.

[Kerryd]

1 minute ago, possum1931 said:

If you are so fond of the Thai police force, please explain why they allow about 60 people killed on Thai roads every day because they do not do their jobs. The guys with all the fancy ranks spend too much time posturing in their fancy uniforms with their paid for fancy ranks, their fancy ribbons, wings, and all that other bling, instead of getting their "police force" out on the roads and policing them, which is typical of a country with a third world mentality run by a joke of a government.

They put even the UKs Prince Charlle to shame with all his unearned medals.

A) I never said I was fond of the Thai police.
B) I never said that I thought they were doing their jobs (or doing them properly).

What I - clearly - said was that most of the people claiming they were just out to extort people were full of ****. 

What I - clearly - said was that most of the people here have no clue what a "police state" really is. 

All of which as f*** all to do with how many medals the Thai police have on their chests. 

BTW - I have 6 medals on my chest, all earned. 4 during my time "in uniform" and 2 during the decade I spent in Afghanistan.

(And we used to laugh at the Americans who had chests full of "fruit salad" despite having gone nowhere or done anything.)

[NoshowJones]

2 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

A) I never said I was fond of the Thai police.
B) I never said that I thought they were doing their jobs (or doing them properly).

What I - clearly - said was that most of the people claiming they were just out to extort people were full of ****. 

What I - clearly - said was that most of the people here have no clue what a "police state" really is. 

All of which as f*** all to do with how many medals the Thai police have on their chests. 

BTW - I have 6 medals on my chest, all earned. 4 during my time "in uniform" and 2 during the decade I spent in Afghanistan.

(And we used to laugh at the Americans who had chests full of "fruit salad" despite having gone nowhere or done anything.)

I understand what you are saying, but you did seem to give a favourable impression of the Thai police, also, there is nothing wrong with having medals if they have been earned.

[holy cow cm]

40 minutes ago, Gold Star said:

Lucky for you, and most others here. I always loved Chiang Rai. Here in Pattaya before COVID, there were so many checkpoints over the last few years, that often you were checked on average once every 2 days, morning, day, or night. Sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. Alcohol, <deleted> test, drivers licence, registration, road tax, lights, helmet, passport, visa, and even fined if your passenger footpegs were left out without a passenger. Although, sometimes waved through.

 

Often targeting mainly falangs, I found myself getting harassed while Thais with no helmets or plates drove on by.  After a while, I learned it was better to put my drivers licence in a card holder on a string around my neck, to avoiding the act of pulling it out of my wallet where the cop gets the opportunity to see how much money I am carrying, and see his potential windfall if he could nail me with something.

 

Checkpoints are mostly on the usual roads, the railway bypass, and Thappraya road between Jomtien and Pattaya, but they are also moving locations around randomly to the smaller roadways and backways, and do a lucrative business. I have never seen police make an effort to pull someone over for a serious moving violation which would actually do something for traffic safety.

 

Here, checkpoints have become so invasive, that several Facebook and some other good private LINE groups have formed, some in English and some in Thai, where checkpoint locations are reported by members and posted, and I have contributed to the cause many times as well. Before any trip, I quickly check the latest reports to try to avoid the potential confrontation.

 

As for me, my bike and papers are always in order, I am polite but firm. I have always complied with the law, however many times they tried desperately in vain to try to find me guilty of something, going through their entire list of possible infractions and checking them one by one.  I felt so harassed, and was so sick of it on a daily basis, that I moved away from Jomtien to the outskirts of town. Even so, once in a while, I still have to endure the pleasure of a major checkpoint right outside my village security gate on a small road on the outer limits of the Darkside.

 

Now, I see from the frequency of new reports posted on the groups, it seems the checkpoints are starting up once again. Their pocket money from the lack of bar activity has dried up, and I'm sure some are as desperate as the many souls still lining up for food handouts here daily. Pity, I have made so many good friends here, but perhaps it is time to move to Chiang Rai.

Yeah, Pattaya is well known for the official uniformed bottom of the barrel chum feeders. 

[farangroby]

18 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

Amazing photograph, a policeman after dark! I honestly don't think I have seen a policeman out after dark (other than the one who makes the rounds of various venues to collect the "informal licencing fees" ) in all the time that I have lived in Chiang Rai.

No even in the day at Samui, in the night is always a motorbike racing, never the police check

[Chiang Mai Bill]

6 hours ago, Trillian said:

Some strange responses above! Foreigners complaining that the Police don't do their job and then complain when they do, which do you want!

We want them to enforce the law, not to accept bribes, stop taking yabba from citizens and selling it on, and to stop taking protection money from licensed bars and businesses!

[Dogmatix]

So just brazenly kept on for shaking down motorists, planting drugs etc. Struth.