A South Pattaya community leader has urged police to stop writing traffic tickets because of the coronavirus.
Wirat Joyjinda, president of the Soi Khopai Community, told Pattaya deputy police chief Pol. Col. Chainarong Chai-In that entertainment venue closures and a steep drop-off in tourists has left his residents with no money to pay fines for not wearing helmets, speeding, driving the opposite direction of traffic and driving without a license.
Joyjinda termed these “minor offenses” despite the fact that, through March 11, more than 3,200 people were killed on Thailand’s roads this year, the overwhelmingly majority on motorbikes.
Instead of supplying road-safety education or telling residents they could avoid fines and death by following traffic laws, Chainarong and his deputies declined to comment on the request, only that they will take it back to their superiors.
As for the virus and its affects, police urged residents to wash their hands and wear face masks to prevent Covid-19 infections.
Police and Joyjinda also signed an agreement to set up an enhanced neighborhood watch program, which will focus on looking out for loud, modified motorbikes and strangers in the community who could be involved in crime.
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