The two men on the left are traffic
volunteers and the real NCO-traffic policeman is on the right at this
illegal and hazardous checkpoint.
Pratchaya Kerdthong
Law enforcement’s recent passion for road checkpoints may
be taking a bite out of crime, but it’s also giving unethical officers more
opportunities to line their own pockets.
An example of that was witnessed on the railway road in
Nongyai June 23, where 2 traffic volunteers and one non-commissioned
traffic-police were randomly stopping motorbikes and shaking down drivers
for fines.
The area near the Pattaya train station under the Highway
No. 7 overpass is an unlikely place for any official police action, which is
perhaps why the two traffic volunteers “assisting” the non commissioned
officer traffic cop were hiding in the bushes before jumping out in front of
moving vehicles to stop them for alleged offenses. Most drivers were not
amused, shouting at the wannabe-police for nearly causing accidents and
running an illegal stop-and-search operation.
Those who complained too much were allowed to go, but the
unofficial officers still managed to glean payouts from meeker drivers.
Unlike sworn officers, traffic volunteers undergo no real
background check, are unpaid unless called upon to assist city hall, are not
supposed to dress in official police uniforms and cannot operate
checkpoints. Their uniforms are similar to that of the traffic police,
except that they wear patches saying “Traffic Volunteers”.
As such, the Nongyai checkpoint clearly was illegal. According to police
regulations, all official law enforcement checkpoints must be manned by a
commissioned officer, be marked well in advance and affect only one lane of
traffic. The Nongyai trap was unmarked, unmanned by real officers and nabbed
drivers in all directions.
