Bribery and the burden on our roads

Poor road conditions in many areas of the country can be blamed on overloaded trucks being driven beyond legal speed limits. This problem has resulted in countless road accidents, injuries and the loss of life, which in turn places unnecessary pressure on the state budget, negatively impacting the economy.
As much as Bt20 billion – 20 per cent of the Transport Ministry’s annual budget – is spent each year on road repairs, according to Minister Akom Termpitayapaisit. Add to this the cost of treating people injured in accidents caused by poor surface conditions and the economic loss stemming from death and disability.
So it is welcome news that the government has vowed to get tougher on the problem of overloaded trucks. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha voiced concern about the issue at a Cabinet meeting earlier this month and instructed relevant state agencies to enforce the law strictly against drivers of overloaded trucks and the companies that employ them.
The premier said it’s “not right” to spend taxpayers’ money on road repairs that could be avoided if the law were properly enforced. That money, he pointed out, would be better spent on essential services. He implied that there wouldn’t be a problem in the first place if trucking firms weren’t so damnably focused on profit.
Truck operators defy the law by overloading their rigs in order to save a few trips and thus reduce operating costs. The less time spent on the road and the greater the profit, obviously. Bribes are routinely handed off to police and officials of the Land Transport, Highways and Rural Roads departments. These kickbacks for looking the other way when a truck is speeding or overburdened might come on a monthly basis or arbitrarily, when a driver is pulled over for exceeding the speed limit or his truck tops the weight limit as measured at inspection stations.
It has been estimated that just 30 per cent of the 790,000 large trucks on Thai roads (“large” meaning 10 wheels and up and including trailer trucks) actually meet legal weight limits. The rest are overloaded and as such pose a hazard to public safety while chewing up the asphalt. These vehicles carry everything from agricultural produce to construction materials, but it’s in the case of the latter in particular that weight limits are grossly exceeded. It’s common for them to be hauling twice the load they’re legally entitled to carry, according to Highways Department director general Thanin Somboon.
What’s also common among drivers of these trucks is the avoidance of major highways, where there’s always a better chance of being pulled over for inspection. That’s good for drivers of smaller vehicles on the highways, but it’s a potential nightmare for users of the lesser roads not designed to handle heavy trucks. The result is more damage to the roads and more accidents. 
Some 200,000 kilometres of roads are under the jurisdiction of local administrative organisations, and that’s where the transport minister says overweight trucks cause most of the severe damage. By comparison, the Highways Department oversees 50,000 kilometres and the Rural Roads Department 48,000 kilometres.
The problem of dangerously overloaded trucks will not be solved unless it’s tackled at the root – at the confluence of profit-motivated trucking operations and greedy state officials ready to take a bribe. If the authorities were doing their appointed duty and enforcing the law without prejudice, the number of overloaded trucks on the road would sharply decline. 
So, while it’s wonderful to hear the prime minister urging officials to get serious about this daily danger to the public and immense burden on state coffers, the government faces a fundamental problem in stopping this shameful collaboration.