Police will pay 3,000 baht per tip-off about illegal motorcycle racing on public roads as part of a broader crackdown ordered by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, deputy national police chief, said the public is being encouraged to report illegal racing via the 1599 or 191 hotlines.
Pol Gen Damrongsak also suggested videos could be sent to the social media page of the Centre for Suppression of Illegal Racing on Public Roads.
The moves come as part of suppression measures issued to the police by Gen Prayut in a bid to deal with the issue.
Pol Gen Damrongsak said he has called a meeting with provincial police to draw up preventive plans to address racing on public roads which are anticipated to rise during the Songkran holiday festival in April.
Illegal motorcycle racing on public roads can place other motorists and the public in general in danger, he said.
Pol Gen Damrongsak added he has been funded to address the issue which includes the reward money and training of 18,000 juveniles across the country to be local volunteers in a bid to stamp out racing.
From January to February, police arrested 1,621 motorcycle racers and their accomplices while 936 cars and 18,936 motorcycles were seized.
Criminal records of 8,049 racers and racing-prone people have been archived.
This month, 11 people have been arrested and 10 vehicles confiscated. Important cases included five people arrested in Ayutthaya as a result of a social media tip-off and the arrest of an organiser of illegal racers held at Na Ranong intersection in the city. – Bangkok Post
