Kao Klai Party, May 31 – “Wirot” pointed out that the cause of the highway tribute was caused by the Corruption Department. The value of nearly twenty billion per year emphasizes the need to solve the root cause, along with reviewing the law, closing loopholes.
Mr. Wiroj Lakkhana-Adisorn, acting MP for the Kao Klai Party, spoke about the issue of highway tribute that highway tribute is not a new problem. But it’s a big problem. for many decades The value of corruption is high at the level of ten thousand million baht and affects the people of the country. Because when entrepreneurs have to pay tribute cause higher costs Although the cargo has increased somewhat It’s not worth the more expensive maintenance costs. In addition, when faced with competition that has to cut prices among themselves. The more the profit is reduced, ultimately pushing the cost of paying tribute. to the freight when shipping costs increase Consumer goods have to adjust prices. Affecting consumers who have to bear the higher cost of living accordingly. causing damage to roads dangerous for drivers and waste of budget for road maintenance If you can save the budget in this section The government will have a budget to take care of the welfare of the people increased.
“The root cause of the highway problem At some officials of the Department of Highways, some local police and some highway patrolmen. Using legal gaps to bully transport operators, whether it is black smoke inspection, noise inspection, setting up floating checkpoints for weighing A fussy walk around the car to find fines Calling for inspection of drivers Causing transport operators to waste time making a living From one day I can run 2-3 trips, maybe only 1 trip is left. This kind of harassing behavior cause big legs This could be a local influencer. Acting as a retort, collecting tribute to clear some government officials, some police officers, and then produce stickers for sale to other transportation operators. well known These trucks have already paid tribute. Scales do not need to be weighed. No matter how heavy the load is, it can pass smoothly. In the latter, they even dared to use trucks to transport illegal goods. transporting foreign workers to escape into the city Good cops are discouraged. If you accidentally call for inspection might come across a boss or a big mafia calling to threaten them,” said Mr. Wiroj.
Mr. Wiroj said that each sticker There are different values from 3,000-5,000 baht per month depending on the distance and number of checkpoints. Some areas may cost up to tens of thousands. The number of trucks in Thailand is approximately 1.4 million vehicles. If there are 300,000 trucks, you have to spend 3,000-5,000 baht per month on stickers, equivalent to 900-1,500 million baht per month. In one year, the value of highway tributes may be as high as 20,000 million baht when looking at information about corruption complaints filed to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) each year, totaling about 200,000 million baht for tribute only. Highways therefore account for about 10 percent already.
Mr. Wiroj talks about solving the highway tribute problem. That must be done in parallel, 2 sides, namely suppressing the cycle of paying homage to the end If the female evidence reaches any civil servant, the NACC must be sent to bring the matter to the end. And use the mechanism of the Anti-Money Laundering Commission (AMLO) to seize assets and the second aspect is reviewing laws, regulations, rules and regulations. that are inconsistent in actual practice open spaces for some civil servants It is used as a tool to persecute, harass, extort or demand benefits from the people. If found, both criminal and disciplinary action must be taken. Not to be an example, such as the weight of the trailer. Originally set at 52-58 tons, later the NCPO reduced to no more than 50.5 tons on July 1, 2014.
“There are doubts that the fines were reduced to force operators to break the law by default and pay tribute. because according to international engineering principles preventing road damage due to the load In general, total payload is not taken as a criterion. But the average load per wheel will be used as a basis instead, for example, the average load per wheel must not exceed 2.5 tons, etc. If the load is heavy The number of wheels that average the weight should be as much as and when the criteria has been updated If any truck is found violating the law Police officers must make arrests to prosecute the law. As for if the road is still damaged again must continue to check whether the construction complies with the specification or not, so no matter what the cause of this problem is The police cannot use it as a reason for extortion or collecting tribute from the public,” said Mr. Viroj.-Thai News Agency.
Source: Thai News Agency