Patong Police swooped on road racers on Monday night time, following the area’s quite a few problems with foreign bike racers. Officers were stationed throughout Patong after 10pm.
Meanwhile, Patong Traffic Police set up a checkpoint on the bottom of Patong Hill. Patong Police did not specify how many people had been caught dangerously rushing, The Phuket News reported.
Last week, the Thai authorities started providing cash rewards of 3,000 baht to individuals who report street races. Deputy spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek said that if people see unlawful avenue racing, they can take videos and send them to the police. People also can send any information they might have about street racers, Rachada mentioned.
She added that informants might contact hotline numbers 191 and 1599, or ship their info to the Royal Thai Police Forward Post Facebook account.
The crackdown on road racers comes after Phuket’s vice governor final week reported that over 500 motorbike accidents involving tourists had occurred in Phuket in the past two months. Phuket Vice Governor Anuphap said…
“Eighty % of them don’t have driving licenses, some have been wearing swimsuits, driving at high velocity, and never familiar with routes. From January to February there have been greater than 500 accidents involving foreign tourists.”
On the night time of Wednesday, February eight, cops busted a large group of French motorbike racers in Patong. Footage of the racers went viral on native social media platforms, causing outrage amongst residents. Effortless complained that the racers had been disturbing them when they have been trying to loosen up, and potentially posing a risk to the security of the folks. Most of the riders weren’t carrying the required protective bike helmets as per Thai legislation, the residents added.
The incident became so extremely publicised that on February 10, the Head of the French Consulate in Phuket met with Patong Police and Phuket Tourist Police to handle the issue. During the assembly, the Head of the French Consulate acquired a letter of cooperation from the Patong Police, which requested the consulate to tell French vacationers visiting Phuket and Thailand about the country’s traffic laws and the requirement for valid driving licenses.
The Head of the Consulate promised to pass the letter to the French Embassy in Thailand and request higher communication of these guidelines and regulations to French vacationers.
But the problem didn’t stop there. On the night time of February 15, a video went viral of a fight involving foreign motorcycle racers on Bangla Road. Patong Police arrested 5 folks in reference to the fight, including two Swedish nationals and three Thais.
One of the boys arrested admitted that he received concerned in the battle after he warned a bunch of foreign bike racers that they weren’t allowed to ride on Bangla Road besides with permission from legislation enforcement officers. The man stated the indignant racers verbally insulted the Thai males with bad language, which led to a bodily struggle..