Cash for road race tip-offs

Cash for road race tip-offs

The police will begin to hand out cash rewards in exchange for tip-offs about illegal motorcycle races on public roads today, said assistant national police chief Damrongsak Kittiprapas.

Anyone who provides information to the police about street races is eligible to receive a 3,000-baht cash reward, under a measure that was recently approved by national police chief Chaktip Chaijinda.

Pol Lt Gen Damrongsak said the rewards are financed by donations from civic groups. The fund, he said, currently has about 500,000 baht in it.

The assistant national police chief said that the informants' identities will be kept in strict confidence.

"The rewards will be paid out within 10 days of the racers being arrested," Pol Lt Gen Damrongsak said.

Traffic police have been instructed to combat street racing by arresting offenders in the act.

"A series of crackdowns on illegal races nationwide has yielded positive results," said Pol Lt Gen Damrongsak.

"Since [the crackdown] began two months ago, we have seen a marked reduction."

The Royal Thai Police argued that measures will be more effective if the police acted on tips from motorists, as many drivers have cameras mounted on their motorcycles or windscreens.

"Motorists can send videos of illegal street races to the police's multimedia monitoring unit," said Pol Lt Gen Damrongsak, before adding that motorists can also report races on police complaint hotlines.

Those arrested will be charged with racing on public roads without permits, and reckless endangerment.

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