Not a fair cop, guv

At 5pm on Wednesday I drove my motorbike along Highway 1089 into Tha Ton (in Chiang Mai) to buy food at the market. I found myself behind an ageing Ford saloon meandering all across the road in the style typical of the seriously drunk. The male driver had a dog sat on his lap between him and the steering wheel, was probably aged 65 and had trouble holding his head up straight. At one point he veered way across the central dividing line and caused a truck full of students to veer toward the grass verge to avoid a collision.

A quick look through his open window confirmed his awful condition and I shouted that he was drunk and should stop the car. Angered by my suggestion, he fell right into my trap by chasing me all the way to Tha Ton police station where I reported a drunk, dangerous driver now parked some distance from the kerb trying to abuse me for my comments. The young policeman understood my complaint and spoke with the driver but obviously intended to do nothing.

I once again remarked that the driver was drunk, in charge of a car on a highway and seriously dangerous. He agreed with me, said a few more words and then, amazingly, let the driver pull away into a busy village full of potential hazards. When I suggested that someone could now ultimately die due to this decision, he showed more anger to me for my comment than he did to the drunk driver. In all that time, the driver avoided trying to get out of his seat and he could hardly speak.

My already low opinion of the police is now even worse. What hope of ever decreasing these awful road death figures if this is the official response. LUNGSTIB