Army could knock out heavyweight graft on roads

Your editorial about the government’s determination to deal with the problem of overloaded trucks on Thailand’s road is well placed. Any road user witnesses this abuse all the time: vehicles ranging from pick-ups to 18-wheelers with trailers grossly overloaded and speeding are such a common sight that they have become the norm. Speeding is pretty easy to detect, but how does one know they are overloaded? Not easy to see apart from at the weighbridge, except for those with an extension welded to the rear of the vehicle so that the front wheels are nearly off the ground. This particular indication of abuse is so obvious that corruption is the only way these vehicles could possibly be in use.
The editorial is correct to say the government has a problem in attempting to deal with the link between corrupt officials and greedy haulage operators. But – and let’s play the worn-out record once again – the laws to deal with this already exist and so do the officials to enforce them. The police seem unable or unwilling to grasp the nettle, so perhaps it is time for the Army to “assist” them once again.
Johnny Thoyts 
Korat