Expired

As you may remember, I ended up soaking my iPod a few weeks ago. Today, I decided to take it to the Fortune IT plaza to see if it could be repaired.

On my way out the door, I realized that I only had a hundred or so baht in my wallet. If I wanted to get some money before I left, I'd have to drive down to the little shopping plaza in Nichada, and then back track to get on the expressway. The round trip would take about ten minutes.

Although I had enough money for the expressway toll and could get cash at one of the many ATM's at Fortune, I really don't like to drive without some money on me. I had never been pulled over before, but I know that money talks when it comes to traffic stops, and you don't always have to have been offending to be stopped. Thailand pays their police force a non-livable wage. While it may offend some of our western tastes, if Thai police didn't accept money in lieu of writing traffic tickets, they would starve in the current system.

So I stopped at ATM and then hit the grocery store for something to drink. I got on the expressway and made my way toward Fortune. After entering the expressway, you have to drive for five kilometers or so before you come to the toll booth. It is located right before the first exit. There are probably ten pay booths, as Thailand does not have the modern electronic methods of accepting payment.

The police sit at toll booth, and will waive offenders over to the left side of the road where they will issue tickets and the like. Last year our driver was directed to the left side, after another officer had clocked him exceeding the speed limit. Incidentally, he was able to talk is way out of it.

As I approached, I saw an officer at the toll booth, but didn't really think much of it. I had not been speeding or breaking any law. The officer looks at my car, and waves me over to the left. He told me that my registration was expired.

"Damn," I thought. There is a registration sticker on the front windshield. I can read the Thai year, 2551 (equivalent to 2008), but cannot read the month which is written in Thai. I had no idea the registration was expired.

After I pulled over, an officer approached and asked me if I could speak Thai. I told him a little, but asked if I could call my wife, explaining that she was Thai. He graciously waited while I rung her up. This was one of those times when I was thinking, "please pick up the phone". Fortunately she did, and after a brief conversation with the officer, Tim explained that I just had to pay a 300 baht fine. I opened my wallet to get out my money, and the officer shook his head and pointed to the small building right in front of me.

It turns out that this stop was not to supplement the income of a third world civil servant, but actually a stop authorized by the state. The officers filled out some forms, accepted my payment, and even issued me a receipt. Tim had explained that if I was pulled over again for the same offense, that I should show the officer the receipt so that I would not be fined a second time. I'm not sure how long this grace lasts, but I hope at least until Tim gets the registration renewed.

I'm so glad that I decided to stop and hit the ATM before I left. The fine was really small, about $9. If I didn't have the money, they would have probably kept my driver's license, and I would have had to jump through some hoops to get it back.

In case you were wondering, the registration was not the only thing that expired. I took the iPod to two shops and both said it couldn't be fixed.