Khmer traffic cops

As in any Asian countries traffic is a major headache, but, in Cambodia we have these great policemen who stands on every corner and do a secret handshakes with passing vans, trucks and taxi that are overloaded with goods and people. Each handshake is worth around $2 to $5 USD. So each traffic cops are highly protective of their patch (intersections and routes) that have high traffic from these vehicles.

Then since late last year, new laws enforcing motorbike riders to have rearview mirrors, compulsory wearing of the helmet for the actual rider and not to overload the bikes with more than 3 people came into place.

This article below will give an idea how happy our local plods are here, they had a very nice Christmas. Considering the average fines here is 10,000 riels or $2.50 USD. Do the maths and you will see how wonderful a Christmas the traffic boys in blues had.


ROAD SAFETY: 200,000 cited for violating traffic laws
MONDAY, 04 JANUARY 2010 15:01 KHOUN LEAKHANA

More than 200,000 motorbike drivers were caught disobeying traffic laws in the last four months of 2009,

http://www.phnompenh...affic-laws.html

OBTW, my father in law is one of the 60 drivers who ignored the traffic signs

Got hit for USD 10.00 in PP last Sunday

what did you do Hanno? or shouldn't I ask. I know of a person here in PP who just got stop here without any reasons and was hit up $50 for some trump up traffic violation.

Surely the person should have tried to negotiate with the pigs over that. They probably couldn't believe their luck when he just paid what they asked.

Wheelie, on 09 January 2010 - 12:15 PM, said:

Maybe the "offence" was being white/foreign, i.e. "rich". Was he issued a ticket?

I was part of a chain of cars that got pulled over on the Lebuhraya (main North-South motorway in Malaysia) back in 2001. (Was that really eleven years ago? Gordon Bennett!) The policeman spoke no English but inferred he was pinging me for speeding- which I wasn't.

I politely bit back with about 20 words in Malay mixed with English to tell him I the speed limit is 110 and I had the cruise control set on 105. A toothy smile and a wave from PC Mohd. Plod and I was on my way. Don't know about the rest of the cars, though.

Shows that politeness pays.

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The copper turned a two-way street into an impromptu one-way street, with me obviously going the wrong way

They really are hitting on foreigners as it is too risky to stop one of the Khmer-driven Lexies; the guy could be a copper/general/relative of Hung Sen.

But paying USD 50.00 ???

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Yeah I know, even I thought that it was a bit over the top even for the coppers here in PP. $50USD is probably his monthly wage.

I told my nexpat mate (new expat) that he was a bit of a twod for paying that much. Apparently he did something similar to you hanno. He went up a popular one way street (Pleu Pasteure) the wrong way. Funnily enough, he said he saw a hummer and the new S class Mercedes driving up that same road and so he thought it was OK to drive up as well.

Anyway, I gave this nexpat a little explanation of how thing works here in good old PP.

The basic rule is if you have an expensive vehicle or a "my gonad is bigger than yours" VIP army or police card on the vehicle's dash then you would pretty much get away with murder.

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Yep, his crime was being naive and not questioning the copper. If it was me I would ask him to take me to the local cop shop and get his superior explain to me why it is that much and issue me with a receipt/ticket. BTW, this fella is a Japanese Australian and new to PP, so you don't need to be white, just foreign.

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another survival tip about living in PP that I part to my nexpat mate is that everything is negotiable here in Cambodia.

It was interesting though just last night I saw our local plod in stopping vehicles breathalysing drivers, apparently, as I'd found out today one of the Australian police service donated a few units to them. Hmmm I wonder if they would stop all the new Landcruiser, Lexus, Merc, Hummers, Rolls etc. Obviously they didn't stop those drunken government ministers and Hun Sen last Sunday night when they went for a p@ss up at a local hotel here in PP.

This post has been edited by Wheelie: 12 January 2010 - 06:09 PM