One rule for them and another for the rest

December 5, 2011

Sir,
I was recently stopped on my motorbike by a police checkpoint in Pattaya and fined 500 baht for not wearing a helmet. Fair enough.
But then I saw these two helmetless jokers on a motorbike on Second Road. I told my girl I was going to follow them and report them but she said police are not accountable for breaking any laws in Thailand.
Is this true?
If not, what can I do to bring them to book?
Yours,
Han D. Shandy,
Naklua.

We gather your name is a nom-de-plume, and don’t blame you for using one. If a picture is worth a thousand words then I suppose we can make our reply short (well, less than 1,000 words anyway).

Listen to your girlfriend, she’s quite correct.

We have taken the liberty of Photoshopping the pillion policeman’s number from his cap and also slightly blurring his facial features. This is to save face, if you’ll pardon the pun. It’s also to stop people thinking of good lottery numbers.

It is just possible the two upstanding members of the local constabulary had been summoned to attend a major incident that required their presence as quickly as possible and so they decided they could save eight to 10 seconds of time by not bothering to put on their helmets. They might not be traffic policemen, that is, those charged with standing on street corners at different times of the month (usually wearing their helmets even when dismounted) to pull over miscreants without helmets.

This pair might argue that their skulls are not like ordinary mortals and are thick enough to withstand impacting the tarmac. They might have a point.