The confirmation follows Chief Banyat holding a meeting with his own officers yesterday (Dec 11) to explain the rewards now on offer.
The rewards are in line with the announcement by Department of Land Transport Director-General Chirute Visalachitra on Monday (Dec 9), Mr Banyat said.
“The purpose of offering the rewards is for people to jointly create discipline on the roads and safe driving behaviour,” Mr Banyat told The Phuket News today (Dec 12).
However, the rewards are available only to people with Thai bank accounts, he confirmed.
The rewards offered relate to violations of the Motor Vehicle Act and Land Transport Act, Mr Banyat noted.
Offences under the Motor Vehicle Act B.E. 2522 (1979) include illegal modifications to a vehicle, including illegal motorbike exhausts, as well as recklessness driving and taxi drivers leaving passengers stranded by the side of the road, overcharging passengers and refusing to provide service to passengers.
Fines under the act range from B500 to B5,000.
Offcences under the Land Transport Act B.E. 2522 (1979) include vehicles emitting black smoke exceeding the legal limits, carrying more than the registered number of passengers, parking across driveways or other places where parking is not permitted, carrying unrestrained loads and even smoking while driving.
Fines under the Land Transport Act range from B1,000-B5,000.
People reporting offenders are asked to provide photos and the licence plate number of the offending vehicle, Mr Banyat said.
“The informer must have complete evidence such as images or video clips. Also the informer must have clearly recorded the date, time and place of accident, a description of the vehicle, the vehicle’s registration and other information. It must be good enough so that officials can follow up quickly,” he explained.
“In addition, the informer must specify informer’s full name, address, phone number and the bank account number, in case case the investigating officer needs to contact them. All informer’s details will be kept secret,” he assured.
“People can report offenders by calling the PLTO hotline 1584 or by email – but I prefer people in Phuket to send their reports by email to dlt_1584complain@hotmail.com. It is easier for us to follow up,” Mr Banyat said.
“The informer will receive an SMS message to confirm that the complaint has been received. DLT officers will then investigate the report,” he added.
Mr Banyat also explained that the reward offered will be slightly less than 50%, as a processing fee must be deducted first.
“For example, if a person reports a vehicle emitting black smoke, the fine under the law is B1,000, and the informer will receive about B400,” he said.
“The informer will receive an SMS confirming the fine issued and that payment to the informer has been made,” Mr Banyat said.
However, he added, “Please give it about 15 days to receive payment after the fine has been made. Officials will need some time to process the payments,” he said.