Keep Your Parking Fine Receipts

[Mai Chob]

Well I went off to reregister my car in Phuket Town for its second year today and was eventually informed that I couldnt proceed as 'puter says you havent paid a parking ticket in Kamala!'
I had and thats another story in itself, but as I had thrown away the receipts I couldnt prove it, so I had to drive to Lala and get the police to write a letter verifying this, not an easy feat as it implied they hadnt done their job properly if you can follow that logic.
Anyway they filled in the form as we humbled ourselves appropriately enough and then had to drive back to Phuket Town to complete the paperwork.
The message is clear, keep your fine receipts in your bike or car...

[Masterwoodsman]

Originally Posted by Mai Chob

Well I went off to reregister my car in Phuket Town for its second year today and was eventually informed that I couldnt proceed as 'puter says you havent paid a parking ticket in Kamala!'
I had and thats another story in itself, but as I had thrown away the receipts I couldnt prove it, so I had to drive to Lala and get the police to write a letter verifying this, not an easy feat as it implied they hadnt done their job properly if you can follow that logic.
Anyway they filled in the form as we humbled ourselves appropriately enough and then had to drive back to Phuket Town to complete the paperwork.
The message is clear, keep your fine receipts in your bike or car...

Or better still, don't park where you shouldn't !!!!!

[Dodger]

Originally Posted by Masterwoodsman

Or better still, don't park where you shouldn't !!!!!

If only things were as simple as that in Thailand Simon.

Dean got the first one after parking in the same place for 2 months, for the fact his wheel was touching the white line, the second one for facing in the wrong direction? no signs up to contrary.

Actual fact was, we got a new Police Chief in Kamala, he kicked the local lads to get more fines and keep the beach area, as clear of cars as possible. After a month it all settled back to normal.

[Masterwoodsman]

Been here over 4 years Bernie and never had a parking fine, because if you stick to the laws then you can't give them chance to book you. If you park illegally you are always gonna take that risk, if they suddenly have a crack down or your unfortunate to get a cop with a sore ar5e.

The key word here is consistency, which you and I both know isn't significant with Thailand, so for me i just don't give them the chance in the first place, then they can't do jack....

Finally, I was made aware when i arrived in Thailand that its illegal to park against the flow of the traffic at any given time and also another you probably are not aware of, at night time you're supposed to leave parking lights on. If a car hits your legally parked vehicle but your parking lights are not on then you can be blamed.......as you well know its very rare you see a car parked with lights on but it is the law....

[Mai Chob]

Originally Posted by Masterwoodsman

Been here over 4 years Bernie and never had a parking fine, because if you stick to the laws then you can't give them chance to book you.

Finally, I was made aware when i arrived in Thailand that its illegal to park against the flow of the traffic at any given time and also another you probably are not aware of, at night time you're supposed to leave parking lights on. If a car hits your legally parked vehicle but your parking lights are not on then you can be blamed.......as you well know its very rare you see a car parked with lights on but it is the law....

So you follow the law Simon and leave your lights on all night?

The second fine the next day was for parking over barely discernable motorbike lines....I mean its fine for a bike to park smack in the middle of a car space ( and there are very few on Beach rd, Kamala) but a car better not hang over a bike space....
I should add that when I moved the car in front of the school it had oil flicked on it and later a tyre let down by food cart vendors who had decided that I was in 'their' spots...
NE hit the roof over the second one, she shot straight down to the cop shop with the fines demanding to know what idiot wrote them. The cops were all Tammarat men and ran for cover, the issuing officer apparently laughing, "You speak same me, sister calm down!" to which she replied , " Yes, you man my country shuah, only Tammarat man in all Thailand would take money from a poor lady!!"
They all thought this funny and he finally said, " How much you want to pay?"...she yelled, "ONE BAHT!"
She ended up paying 100 tb per fine so Im not sure she even got a recepeit but she did get them to note we lived in Lala and there was a longish note next to the record of the fine that may have indicated that, as the cop today verified we lived in Lala (!) and didnt make us pay again...

[Masterwoodsman]

I'm merely stating a parking law that people probably don't know about..... and no, i don't abide by it as my car rarely goes out at night.

Unfortunately its tough times for the cops and they'll lay down the law at any given chance, just gotta play them at their own game.......of course its annoying. Parking anywhere in Phuket is one of the big downsides of owning a car here as we all know.....

[Dodger]

Simon ,they can invent any law they wish, which you should know.

They fine me a Chobster for alledgedly having a wheel touching the white line, a white line that no one else even came close to getting inside of!!

Once we both got fined and had a chat we never got fined again, evidently it was a foriegner fine and not a local one, which they were not aware we were.

You are of course right, but I feel it dsoesn't apply to Thailand and its illogical rules. Best bit about this is, if you get fined for illegal parking you cannot get another one for 7 days, so can then park anywhere you want, could be worth it if going into Bangla, saves on the 60 baht parking fees, just put your car at the end of the road on the red and whites.

[Mai Chob]

Yep, the lala cops claimed that they asked around who owned my car and fined it because they thought it belonged to a tourist (!)...when NE emphatically poinyed out we lived there they said there would not be a problem in future...