CityNews – 12th March 2020, an unnamed 38 year old man, owner of a business along Nimmanhaemin Road, told CityNews that there has been a man who is going around Nimmanhaemin offering to help people whose vehicle wheels have been locked by traffic police.
A plump, darker skinned man, according to the business owner, often wearing a black coat and at times wearing a food delivery uniform, has been seen offering to mediate with police as to the traffic fine – for a fee. What is of more concern, according to the business owner, is that within ten minutes of him helping, the traffic police will indeed turn up and unlock the car, which means that the ‘victim’ doesn’t have to go to pay the fine at the police station. This begs the question of the type of relationship he has with the traffic police.
When approached, the man refuses to be photographed, according to the businessman, and won’t give his name or explain his connection.
The purpose of bringing this matter to light, explained the businessman, was to ask for clarity and better management of traffic along the busy road. There should be clear signs regarding parking and clear repercussions without the need for grey ‘middlemen’ and shady dealings. It is up to the traffic police to sort this matter out and explain themselves to the public.
CityNews contacted Pol. Col. Suphachai Chantra, Deputy Traffic Police of Chiang Mai who told us that he had not heard of this issue before. He insisted that there is no policy for any ‘middlemen’ to get involved with any traffic issue and that the law is clear cut and unnegotiable. Once a vehicle has been clamped, the owner of the vehicle must take the paper slip to the designated station to pay the fine. Once the fine has been paid then an alert will go out for traffic police to go and unlock the vehicle. He said he would take a deeper look into this matter.