My girlfriend was driving fast as usual and drove into a speed trap. She was given an option of either paying 200 baht-6 dollars- or driving to the police station for a ticket and a court date. Whether the money goes into the government coffers or not is conjecture. Probably not.
The police are mildly corrupt on minor issues such as prostitution and drugs. Bars can pay the precinct some amount of money to remain open extra hours-that is a given. The police ignore the small stuff. Theft crimes and assaults are not forgivable especially against tourists.
The police in Thailand have a special group called the tourist police. These police officers are moderatel fluent in English and other languages. If you run into distress not of your own doing, a regular officer will call a member of the tourist police to communicate and assist you. If you are going to jail for your own crimes, you will get your translator when you get to court.
Thai police occupy an interesting place in the hierarchy of accidents as does an insurance agent. You can go to jail if you don't have insurance but nobody goes to jail.
If an accident occurs, the person in the wrong can call his insurance agent who immediately travels to the scene and handles the situation with the police. The insurance agent will handle the repair of the other vehicle, hospital bills, lost wages. Or- you can deal with the accident yourself with the police.
If you are at fault in an accident, you have an obligation to travel with the injured person to the hospital and look after them. That is more than just paying the bill; it means being there.
You will have an appointment at the police station where the police will mediate a fair settlement. If the injury is severe, then there may be several meetings to determine actual damages. Eventually, the police will total up the bills and lost salary and give you a number to pay to the injured party. If you don't have the money the other party has a choice. He can take what you have to offer or ask that you go to jail-two years. The police will look at your assets and determine whether you can pay or not. Most cases are settled by payment since it is usually seen to be better to get something than nothing at all.
Thailand is seeing a growing problem with drunk driving these days and are not tolerant anymore. In the old days, it was take the keys and have the drunk report to the station the next day for a chewing out. Now, people are taken in for the night.
Their system is a lot simpler than ours but it seems to work very well for them
