A cleaner and safer Bangkok
Lured by cash rewards, informants are tipping off city authorities about litterbugs and lawbreakers.
BANGKOK administrators’ offer of cash rewards for anyone reporting violators of the cleanliness-and-order law has been credited for easing problems. Apparently a lot of citizens have informed on street hawkers, motorcyclists using the footpaths and people dumping garbage in canals and the like.
The programme, initiated by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) encourages residents to report violations of the Act on City Cleanliness and Order by phone, email, Facebook or Line.
To earn half of the fine collected from the miscreants, they must submit evidence in the form of a photo or video clip, along with the date, time and place. Once the offender is found and fined, half the proceeds go to the whistleblower.
Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang has said the number of violations has clearly been on a decline since the programme was implemented last month. His deputy, Chinnatat Meesuk, who is in charge of the Law Enforcement Department, added that response from residents has been keen and many people had reported violations using the various channels.
Chinnatat said that, in the first week, more than 30,000 people registered with the Line account specifically set up by the BMA to handle such reports, and the number had topped 90,000 by late last month.
In the first two weeks, fines were imposed in 60 cases and 30 informers had split cash rewards totalling about 14,000 baht (RM1,781), he said. Some informers declined a share of the fines.
These numbers are good news for law-abiding residents who have to endure the fallout from petty law violations in their everyday lives.
Bangkokians have to negotiate their way along pavements narrowed by street vendors, passing motorcycles and parked cars.
A lot of garbage is thrown into sewers, canals and other waterways every day, blocking the system and contributing to flooding after rainstorms.
The reward programme is a praiseworthy move by the city administration. At least people will be discouraged from committing offences that might seem petty but in fact cause much misery for residents and the urban environment.
The real problem, of course, is the failure or reluctance to enforce existing laws. The regulations have long been in place, but the authorities have not been serious about enforcing them, possibly because they view the violations as petty and they feel they have more important tasks at hand.
The law on city cleanliness and order sets out the maximum fines for various violations. These range from 500 baht (RM63.50) for failing to collect your pet dogs excrement from a neighbour’s property to 3,000 baht (RM382) for truckers spilling rocks or soil on the road to 5,000 baht (RM635) for parking a car or riding a motorcycle on the sidewalk. The heaviest penalty is 10,000 baht (RM1,270), for encroaching on public road space.
There is a need for more programmes like the rewards scheme to help make life in the capital more tolerable. Hopefully this one will succeed in reducing selfish and illegal acts while putting more money in the pockets of whistleblowers.
Offenders who are heavily fined will certainly be angry with the informers and could consider taking revenge. The authorities must protect the identities of whistleblowers as best they can. A worthy project like this should not be undermined simply due to fear of vengeance. — The Nation/Asia News Network