On the way back from Khon Kaen, with a truck full of house insulation we had just purchased, we were stopped at a police checkpoint.
The police told me it would be a 500 baht ticket because the rear tailgate was open.
My husband normally just pays and moves on, but not today.
As we were escorted to the tables set up under a tent, the officer was preparing to write the ticket.
My husband said show me in the law where it states driving with the tailgate open is illegal.
So they proceeded to show me something on the computer that wasn’t even close to a tailgate, maybe suspecting I could not read or understand the law.
So I joined in and demanded them to show me the law.
Then they said the ticket was for not having a red flag on the load.
I said the law states the load has to be hanging over the tailgate and can do so up to 1.5 meters.
I informed the office that the load was inside the truck bed and not even extending over the tailgate.
My husband, who is very quiet and reserved, let loose and in a loud voice, demanded to see the law.
This got the attention of the top cop there, who came over and told my husband to settle down.
After I explained to him what was going on, he gave me back my husband’s Thai driving license with no ticket.
This held us up for 30 minutes.
It is good for foreigners to know the laws if they are going to drive here.
There must have been 20 police at that checkpoint stopping cars.
If you don’t know the reason why, ask someone that has been here a long time to explain it to you.