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Riding on sidewalk fine doubles

Riding on sidewalk fine doubles

In an attempt to stop motorcyclists riding on footpaths, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has increased the fine from Bt1,000 to Bt2,000, with the new punishment coming into force yesterday (August 1).

Deputy Bangkok Governor Sakoltee Phattiyakul said that the additional Bt1,000 could serve as a reward for anyone who reports a motorcyclist riding on the footpath via the authority’s Line chat program or website, along with photo evidence clearly showing the motorcycle’s licence plate, leading to the imposing of a fine.
The BMA Strategy and Evaluation Department and the BMA Department of Law Enforcement (Thesakij) are currently working on a smart phone application to check traffic offence records so as to identify repeat offenders and punish them with the maximum fine of Bt5,000 without any leniency, said Sakoltee.

Riding on sidewalk fine doubles
Sakoltee was speaking during a Thursday trip to Wang Thong Lang district to inspect the implementation of the new fine as per the memorandum of understanding signed by the BMA and the Department of Land Transport (DLT) on April 30 that allowed BMA to use DLT data to catch and immediately fine wrongdoers. The MoU aimed to reduce the DLT’s workload and let the BMA to punish wrongdoers before the one-year statute of limitation is up.

Riding on sidewalk fine doubles
The deputy governor also revealed that Thesakij officials caught 20,659 motorcyclists using the footpath as a short-cut or to avoid traffic jams between July 9, 2018 and July 21, 2019. Among them, 4,197 received official warnings, 14,678 were fined and 1,784 were currently in the process of prosecution. Fines to date had amounted to Bt11,179,500, of which Bt480,000 had gone to those reporting the offenders, he added. Wang Thong Lang district topped the list with the most offenders followed by Chatuchak, Wattana, Khlong Toei and Bangkok Noi.

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