Bangkok cleaner and safer, thanks to ‘informants’

Bangkok administrators’ offer of cash rewards for anyone reporting violators of the city cleanliness-and-order law has been credited for easing problems. Apparently a lot of citizens have informed on street hawkers, motorcyclists using the footpaths and people dumping garbage in canals and the like. 
The programme initiated by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) encourages residents to report violations of the 1992 Act on City Cleanliness and Order by phone, email, Facebook or Line. To earn half of the fine collected from the miscreants, they are required to submit evidence in the form of a photo or video clip, along with the date, time and place. Once the offender is found and fined, half the proceeds go to the whistleblower.
Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang has said the number of violations “has clearly been on a decline” since the programme was implemented in early August. His deputy, Chinnatat Meesuk, who is in charge of the Law Enforcement Department, added that response from residents has been keen and many people had reported violations using the various channels. 
Chinnatat said that, in the first week, more than 30,000 people 
registered with the Line account specifically set up by the BMA to 
handle such reports, and the number had topped 90,000 by late last month. In the first two weeks, fines were imposed in 60 cases and 30 informers had split cash rewards totalling about Bt14,000, the deputy governor said, although some informers declined a share of the fines.
These numbers are certainly good news for law-abiding residents of the capital who have to endure the fallout from petty law violations in their everyday lives. Bangkokians have to negotiate their way along pavements narrowed by street vendors, passing motorcycles and parked cars. Also, a lot of garbage is thrown into sewers, canals and other waterways every day, blocking the system and 
contributing to flooding after 
rainstorms. 
The reward programme is a praiseworthy move by the city administration. At least people will be discouraged from committing offences that might seem petty but in fact cause much trouble and misery for fellow residents and the urban environment. 
The real problem, of course, is the failure or reluctance to enforce 
existing laws. The regulations have long been in place, but the pertinent authorities have not been serious about enforcing them, possibly because they view the violations as petty and they feel they have more important tasks at hand. 
The law on city cleanliness and order sets out the maximum fines for various violations. These range from Bt500 for failing to collect your pet dog’s excrement from a neighbour’s property to Bt3,000 for truckers spilling rocks or soil on the road to Bt5,000 for parking a car or riding a motorcycle on the sidewalk. The heaviest penalty is Bt10,000, for 
encroaching on public road space.
We need more programmes like the rewards scheme to help make life in the capital more tolerable. Hopefully this one will succeed in further reducing selfish and illegal acts while putting more money in the pockets of whistleblowers.
However, offenders who are 
heavily fined will certainly be angry with the informers and could 
consider taking revenge. The authorities must protect the identities of whistleblowers as best they can. We do not want a worthy project like this to be undermined simply due to fear of vengeance.