Vanz Boys _ illegal street racers riding for girls and glory

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Vanz Boys _ illegal street racers riding for girls and glory

Teen motorcycle gangs tear up quiet city streets on their modified rides, revelling in the thrills and danger. And those charged with keeping the peace say there is little chance of slowing them down

Published: 9 Dec 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: Spectrum

"Even though we try to avoid the police they are part of the thrill," says 22-year-old motorcycle street racer Aod.

AND THE GIRLS WHO LOVE THEM: Vanz boys ride to a race site on Father’s Day with their ‘sagoi’ girls on the backs of their bikes. The girls, who are attracted to dangerous boys, get off the bikes before the races start. (Photo by Pornprom Sarttarbhaya)

"Those who are fast enough to get away from the police are considered heroes. We have an expression among our group _ 'no cops, no fun'."

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Ian
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Discussion 12 : 09 Dec 2012 at 11.2112
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It would seem one simple solution would be to raise the driving age and enforce it. However, enforcement has always been a Thai problem. Alternatively every time a group assembles drive a couple of 8 wheelers up and down the road.
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cpkinnally
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Discussion 11 : 09 Dec 2012 at 10.4911
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Now this was a pretty good news article. It was thorough and multi-faceted and even showed a local Thai police officer actually doing some preventative police work to combat the problem. I wish more BP articles were of this quality.
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drsmith
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Discussion 10 : 09 Dec 2012 at 10.2710
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Is there anything at all the Thai police can do? It seems they have no capability to make arrests of anyone, for any crimes, yet they are pretty good at setting up road blocks everyday and shaking down innocent motorists for money. There are 500+ cars gambling at a cock fighting operation in Rangsit Thanyaburi Klong 10 every single Saturday. Never, see a police anywhere and this is right out in the open for everyone to see. If the police refuse to uphold law and order, it is time to clean out the police leaders and find someone that will enforce the law for everyone.
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jacksprat
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Discussion 9 : 09 Dec 2012 at 10.089
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Unfortunately, in Thailand male children seem to be allowed to do almost anything they want. Is it any wonder that they get into trouble? Each time one of these racers is arrested, the police should also charge the parents with failure to be responsible for them.
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mogy71
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Discussion 8 : 09 Dec 2012 at 09.238
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Wow! Would it be possible to investigate the rice pledging scheme in the same fashion ?
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WALSTIB
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Discussion 7 : 09 Dec 2012 at 09.107
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Praphaiphun Phoomvuthisarn is spot on here, there must be an effort to get those adolescents 'drifting away', back on the bus. It is depressing to see so many 'given up on' at such an early age here, thus creating this need to 'stand out' as an individual doing something as reckless as drag racing. You would think that the internet and facebook would help alleviate some of this need to grandstand and show off, but apparently, that is not the case.
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barryw
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Discussion 6 : 09 Dec 2012 at 07.546
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As usual in Thailand, corruption is behind it all - 'Aod said if they are stopped by police the gang sometimes pays 5,000 baht to be let go.' Why does Thailand have a police force?
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brilliant
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Discussion 5 : 09 Dec 2012 at 07.295
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Interesting article. Basically the same thing my generation did in muscle cars except we did it in remote places that didn't bother anyone and we would have been laughed home if we had shown up on one of these obnoxious, mosquito-sounding mini bikes. But the end result was the same, the fastest guy got the chicks.
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packman
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Discussion 4 : 09 Dec 2012 at 07.034
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22 year old man claiming pride of having a junior high school girl riding on the back of his bike. You can tell how sick these people are.
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ploydonut
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Discussion 3 : 09 Dec 2012 at 06.193
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I am think they just enjoy themselves as teenager life. Maybe government can promote use of bicycle more, then more healthy for the teenager. But if they want the passenger girl also to look more cool, maybe use electric scooter instead, because it also good for environment ka.
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