Last night was a busy time on the roads as the population of Thailand headed home after their new year break. So of course we would look to the nation’s policemen to help ensure a smooth flow of traffic.
Heading back from the polo match I joined Sukhumvit south of Pattaya and hit a massive jam of traffic, presumably all heading home to Bangkok. It’s a clear stretch of road with two lanes in each direction, so no obvious reason why there should be problems. Then we arrived at some cones which were funneling cars into a single lane, and then there were the signs indicating this was a police checkpoint. An inconvenience, but no doubt the brave upholders of the law were there for a good reason. On the look out for assorted criminals perhaps, or drunken drivers.
There were certainly many policemen in evidence, but not one of them was manning the checkpoint. They were all sat under a tarpaulin watching a Thai soap on a portable TV, while the people who they are meant to be serving crawled through the “checkpoint”, just trying to get home after a holiday. Made me laugh, but then I was almost home; others in the queue looked less amused.