The moment that Saba confront with the motorcycle on the sidewalk and the rider was…

There is a rule of thumb on the use of sidewalk and the Governor of Bangkok is trying to implement the law enforcement toward those wrongdoers.

The misuse of sidewalk has become a hazardous social problem as we can always see from the mainstream and in real life such as riding a motorcycle on the sidewalk. Seen from higher perspective, this selfish and undisciplined behavior of the driver reflects a problematic system, not just individual level.

Yesterday, I had a meeting at Asia Hotel, Bangkok, where it’s in walking distance from BTS Ratchathewi station. At 1 o’clock in the afternoon, I arrived the station and walked down to the ground level via Exit 1, heading to the hotel. With unwelcoming conditions of the sidewalk, it forced me to look down at it all the time to keep me safe. There was a ramp graded down from the top surface of a sidewalk to the surface of an adjoining street, wonderful. However, my delight was ruined too soon by an unpleasant horn whose sound traced back to before me.

I turned my face up and shockingly found that it was a horn from a motorist whom the driver was a POLICEMAN. Now that we were confronting in the middle of the ramp and also blocking each other’s way. We standed still for quite a while and no one gave way to one another.

Then, enough, I looked at his eyes and asked seriously., “How dare you are to drive on the footpath?!! You are a POLICE OFFICER!!!”

He smiled awkwardly and replied, “I’m in a hurry…”

Gosh, I didn’t care, I proceeded forward, and he opened the way for me. Once I passed, he continued driving further to the footpath. It ended up like he drove on the footpath just for the 5-metre distance before driving down back to the street, unable to move forward anymore due to the traffic.

I don’t want to publicly disclose this guy but I have all body of evidences, including the capture of his driving plate. If the Royal Thai Police demands my evidences for further investigation, I would love to provide them all.

I had a really bad experience about a motorcycle driving on a footpath. I used to be knocked down completely, my head severely kissed a dirty sidewalk, by a motorist who just hit me on my back while I was joyfully walking on a footpath. The only response I received was an apology…

This kind of unacceptable habit has been rooting in our society for too long. A life of a pedestrian is unnecessarily in danger by some rule breakers who care only themselves. We know it exist. And we all know that something needs to be done and someone need to take some actions. We can’t just stand still and let it be.