Last week, I was fined 800 baht for throwing a cigarette on the ground. It was an innocent mistake from which I learned a valuable lesson—Thailand has some peculiar rules. The encounter with the authorities was rather amusing, involving a street-side cop-judge ruling from a card table and me offering to fetch cigarettes out of bushes.
I had tossed a cigarette on the ground, and the next thing I knew, a firm hand was on my shoulder.
Originally, as I was being escorted by the police, I felt pretty guilty; after all, no one likes litter, not even Hitler. However, my guilt waned when I noticed four people throw cigarettes on the ground while I was waiting in line for my roadside hearing.
That’s right, I was waiting in a line—a pretty long one, too. I was in line with a bunch of other tourists who, like me, had also improperly disposed of their cigarettes. One person had mischievously thrown his cigarette down a drain. Another guy had the nerve to leave his still-burning cigarette on the concrete wall near an ATM.
This was profiling at its finest. I felt how I imagine Arab people feel in airports and how Black people feel anytime they see a police officer. I had been profiled because I was a tourist; this isn’t about litter, it’s about the baht (Thai money)
Police man in a bush or bush on police man.
Now I can't smoke my cigarettes anymore without feeling like I'm being watched from the bushes. At first, I thought, "Maybe it was a chance occurrence." This could be a rare operation that some unlucky individuals suffer from due to happenstance. But no, it's not; it is a real problem. I found countless accounts of people complaining, with even more reports of journalists being framed for crimes. Additionally, the following statement from Chuwit Kamolvisit, a current politician (and former brothel lord):
“If you go to Sukhumvit Road, you can see the police looking for tourists who are smoking or drop a cigarette butt, then they ask them for their passport and make them pay 2,000 baht [just over $60]. I see this happening all the time,” said politician Chuwit Kamolvisit.
The fine for these infractions can be as low as 800 baht, and I've heard as high as five thousand baht. It's important to mention that by law, the authorities are not supposed to fine you any more than 2,000 baht, but if you look like you might be wealthy, prepare to be properly harassed. Thankfully, I only had a limited amount of money and no immediate way to acquire more, so I only paid 800 baht—pretty much all I had. I was rather lucky, considering how many reports I've read of tourists not being able to pay and being taken to the police station. Why ask for such large fines when smaller ones clearly suffice? Because more money means more unreported income and more baht for the police to split.
You might think they would have a vested interest in reducing litter, but no. They create the perfect conditions for littering by purposely removing trash bins and hiding in the shadows, waiting like thieves for the perfect mark.
The worst part is that this kind of corruption doesn't stop at profiting from petty littering. I've heard of police performing urine tests on the road outside Soi Cowboy, a famous clubbing street, looking for drugs. If suspects have drugs in their system, they will need to pay the proper bribe, around 20,000 baht or $600. If they don't have the bribe money, well, they get locked up in Thai prison—some of the most dangerous in the world. How is that for a pleasant vacation?
It would seem that these are the actions of desperate, underpaid social workers, and in some ways, it is. An entry-level salary for a police officer is 6,800 baht a month (as of 2012). They even have to buy their own uniforms, guns, and office supplies. No one can live, or at least live happily, with that kind of salary. As a result, the unhappiness turns the protectors into criminals armed with the rule of law and the motivation of gangsters.
I've even heard a rumor that the Thai police have to buy their positions and subsequent promotions, and that certain police jobs, especially in areas with heavy tourist activity, are the most valuable and cost millions of baht to acquire.
So if you're partying hard in Bangkok, dress cheaply and dispose of your cigarettes properly.