Malaysian Biker Wants To "Boycott Thailand" Because Thai Police Fined Him

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A group of Malaysian bikers recently went viral after they were stopped and fined by a traffic police officer in Hat Yai during a trip there, and called for a boycott against visiting the city in southern Thailand.

Hat Yai has been a popular destination for motorcycle enthusiasts in Malaysia for its food, scenery, and cultural landmarks. The city has even drawn bikers from other parts of the world who visit the Malaysian peninsula before eventually making their way up to the southern region of Thailand.

A Facebook account called Tok Singa first posted about the ordeal on 15 August, urging others to boycott Hat Yai as a riding destination. He accused its authorities of intentionally searching for wrongdoings in Malaysian visitors.

Why did they get fined?

Tok Singa later posted a video on his Facebook account to further explain details of what transpired in Hat Yai.

According to him, the entire group of 9 riders received a total of 12 fines amounting to 12,000 Baht, which converts roughly to RM1,500. The fines were for blinking lights and loud exhausts on their motorcycles.

He also mentioned that all the riders, including himself, were stopped at the border checkpoint by Malaysian officers, who let them through without a hitch.

“After we entered Hat Yai, we were stopped by one Thai traffic police officer in the afternoon. He took all of us to a nearby police station and checked each of our motorycles and documents.

“We admit that some of our motorcycles did have blinking lights, and we agreed to adhere to the rules and pay the fines. However, some of us were fined for having loud exhausts, but our exhausts are standard stock exhausts. They are factory exhausts, but they said they’re still too loud,” he explained.

Beyond that, Tok Singa also expressed dissatisfaction when the traffic officer fined one of the riders in the group who forgot to bring along his geran, or Vehicle Ownership Certificate (VOC) and a valid insurance coverage.

For everyone’s information, an original VOC document and compulsory Thai insurance are among a few required documents visitors must have when driving or riding into Thailand from Malaysia.

Another offence some of them were fined for involved their physical driver’s licence, which Tok Singa pointed out in his video that it had no pictures of their faces and were just printed copies. Thailand does not recognise Malaysian digital documents such as the driver’s licence found in the MyJPJ app, and only accepts the physical driver’s licence issued by the Road Transport Department (JPJ).

He then claimed the traffic officer had threatened to put all of them in lock up for the night if they fail to pay the summonses as soon as possible.

READ MORE: The First Timer’s Guide To Riding From KL To Hat Yai

The Thai traffic officer also released a dashcam video of the incident

The officer who pulled the group of Malaysian bikers over posted a video of the incident on social media as well, offering his point of view and explanation as to why the group was fined for multiple offences.

In the video, he escorts the Malaysian bikers to a nearby police station and immediately began inspecting each of their motorcycles.

He pointed out one motorcycle which had a blinking tail light which, as mentioned previously, is not allowed in Thailand. The officer then proceeds to check the decibel (dB) levels on each motorcycle with a device, and informed the Malaysian riders that any noise above 95dB is illegal.

In Malaysia, the dB limit for motorcyce exhausts range from 95dB to 99dB.

Opinions on social media are split

Ever since the incident went viral, Malaysians have expressed divided opinions about it on social media.

Some slammed Tok Singa for claiming to adhere to Thailand’s traffic and vehicle laws yet at the same time admitted there were missing documents and illegal modifications, while others took his side and criticised the Thai traffic authorities for being oppressive and unfair to Malaysian tourists.

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