No tickets for first-time minor traffic violators

Instead, they will be given written warnings that will subject them to maximum fines the next time, a Bangkok deputy police chief said yesterday.
Police checkpoints must not be erected in the same locations or during daytime hours, said Pol Maj-General Worrasak Nopsitthiphorn, who is in charge of the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s traffic affairs.
There will also be no more “ambushes”, in which police set up checkpoints in blind spots and surprise motorists, Worrasak said.
Under new procedures, officers will be equipped with small video cameras, possibly in the form of a pen attached to their shirt pocket or in a shirt button, to record their traffic stops.
The videos would then be used as court evidence in cases where traffic-law violators plead innocent and seek trial instead of pleading guilty and paying the fine.
The deputy chief said that the operation of the recording devices will be supervised at checkpoints by the commanding officer in an aim to prevent a repeat of incidents, like volunteer traffic police who are rude or beat motorists, which have been widely reported in the media.
Checkpoints for crime suppression and traffic enforcement could also be combined, and can be set up from 9pm.
Motorists will be let off with verbal warnings for driving newly purchased vehicles with red license plates, which are not allowed on roads after dark. Enforcement of the red-plate law is being relaxed because the Land Transport Department is having problems supplying new plates, Worrasak said.
Twelve serious traffic offences will result in immediate fines: racing, speeding, dangerous overtaking, drunken driving, driving the wrong way on one-way streets, not wearing safety helmets, double parking, no license plates, excessively black fumes, parking violations, parking on sidewalks, and driving or riding on sidewalks.