Illegal road racers sent to military camp

The project’s first batch of youth participants – whose parents and guardians will also be provided with guidance on how to discipline them – will spend the five days at the 5th Air Defence Artillery Division on Chaeng Wattana Road in Bangkok’s Lak Si district, Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakpan told a press conference on Wednesday. 
The camp, which was established by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s orders number 22/2558 and 46/2558, is a joint project by the Justice Ministry’s Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection, the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Police and the Social Development and Human Security Ministry’s Department of Children and Youth.
Surachet said intensive operations in the past six months against street racing had led to a 50-per-cent drop in the crime.
In 17 operations targeting street racers, officers have seized 803 motorbikes and prosecuted 653 suspects, while conducting “training” for 1,435 individuals including 1,327 young people and parents and guardians, 44 schoolteachers, and 64 owners of garages where motorbikes had been modified, Surachet said. 
Another 24 suspects were arrested for inciting street racing; 34 Facebook pages featuring illegal races were closed; and 3,252 modified exhaustion systems, 456 tail pipes and other 3,681 accessories were seized in recent raids of 41 factories and garages producing equipment that did not meet official standards. 
Surachet also said that last year there had been 11,151 complaints of street racing – or 30 complaints per night – with the peak period between midnight and 2am. 
The top 10 Bangkok roads where illegal races occur were: Vibhavadi-Rangsit, 175 cases; Suwinthawong, 144; Rama III, 141; Western Kanchanapisek, 120; Sathupradit, 117; Rajvithi, 108; Phetchkasem, 95; Ram-Indra, 93; Rama VI, 86; and Phatthanakan, 85.