Traffic police are taking a new approach to catching bad drivers in the capital, by taking photos of offending vehicles and posting them on the police website.
A heavily congested traffic on Rama IV road in Bangkok. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
The Metropolitan Police Bureau has launched the "Eagle Eye Volunteer" programme, which is aimed specifically at traffic offenders, in order to address the increasingly severe traffic crisis in Bangkok.
About 100 traffic police from 88 police stations across the capital and 100 volunteers will be trained to take photographs of vehicles committing traffic offences and upload them to the traffic police website, www.thaitrafficpolice.com.
The photos would be used as evidence to impose fines on the owners.
At the same time, traffic police plan to deploy more officers to assist motorists, particularly in the flood-risk areas during the current heavy rain period.
Pol Col Wanchai Yusaeng, deputy commander of traffic police, said the number of cars on city roads has risen drastically in recent years. Now there are approximately seven million vehicle in the city area, up from five million only two years ago. About 2,000 new cars are being registered every day.