Over the past few months, netizens have shared a clip which shows how a new traffic camera system can catch motorists, especially those changing lanes in prohibited areas, red-handed.
This month, the city had its first such camera installed at Sutthisan intersection.
Police coined the name Intelligent Ja Choei for the camera.
It is drawn from Ja Choei, or Sergeant Indifferent, which is the name the police coined for the uniformed dummies put up in city streets to deter errant motorists.
In a trial which started in March, the smart camera identified up to 500-800 transgressions a day, which is quite a lot.
The camera should be welcome news for law-abiding motorists, and a good way to discipline errant drivers.
It's ironic that on the same day that the smart camera made newspaper headlines, Thong Lor police were bombarded with criticism for a traffic incident involving a TV production crew. The saga was also popular on social media.
The public complained about the heavy traffic congestion which resulted when a TV producer closed Asok junction so she could shoot a scene from a soap opera.
The filming caused a traffic jam stretching back 2km on this busy road. Several motorists phoned in to traffic radio stations while many directed their complaints to the police.
Thong Lor police fined the crew a total of 1,000 baht for obstructing traffic, which is a light penalty given the trouble they caused to commuters.
A police attempt to deflect attention from themselves by claiming it took the crew only three minutes to film the scene fuelled public anger even more, as many witnesses said the scene took much longer. Eventually, the producer apologised.
I have no idea what was on the producer's mind when she decided to use this junction, which is notorious for its heavy traffic.
But what astounds me even more is why in this age of technology police are still willing to set up traffic checkpoints, when they could always put up one of their cameras to do the job much more efficiently.
Drivers are already frustrated when police do a Ja Choei, or appear indifferent, to motorcyclists travelling against the traffic flow.
They also turn a blind eye to public van drivers who obstruct city streets as they wait for passengers.
The government cracked down on such offenders at the start of its "Return Happiness" campaign, but things are now slipping back to the bad ways of the past.
But the way police set up traffic checkpoints takes the cake.
These poorly regulated checkpoints can cause unnecessary inconvenience to motorists.
At worst, they can be dangerous, not only to road users, and people they target, but also to the police themselves.
One example is a checkpoint on Ratchapruek Road in the western part of Bangkok. It has become a tradition for police to block the road at weekends to examine trucks in the area.
What they check exactly is unclear. The weight of the vehicles? The licence of the drivers? Or do they check them for illegally-modified vehicle parts?
The question comes to my mind every time I see this kind of checkpoint. Why is there no camera installed here instead?
I doubt whether these checks contribute much to road safety, though we have to endure the side effects, which is more traffic jams.
So, we ensure heavy traffic because of the large number of cars on weekdays, and unnecessary checkpoints at weekends.
Another unpopular act of traffic police involves those who stand at the end of a flyover, clutching traffic tickets as they wait to nab motorcyclists who illegally use the structure reserved for four-wheel vehicles.
Car drivers have to slow suddenly as their vehicle descends the flyover, to avoid hitting motorcyclists who are made to stop abruptly by the waiting officers. Some motorcyclists try to escape by going back over the flyover, which can be another risk.
A city officer who is responsible for city traffic management once told me that most police commanding traffic lights are not equipped with traffic engineering knowledge as they were trained to deal with crime. That was one of the major factors contributing to city traffic jams, he said.
I don't know if this is true. But at the end of the day, I think it's this Intelligent Ja Choei in Sutthisan area that we can count on.
Ploenpote Atthakor is Deputy Editorial Pages Editor, Bangkok Post.