Shops, people warned against reserving areas of public roads for personal parking

The CIB posted on its Facebook page that reserving parts of public roads as personal parking space would violate both the traffic law and the "Act on the Maintenance of the Cleanliness and Orderliness of the Country BE2535 (1992)".

Fights for parking space on roads in front of shops or houses often lead to heated disputes and sometimes even deadly squabbles.

Many shops often put up barriers or signs on the roads in front of their shops, stating that the parking space was reserved for their customers.

But the CIB said on its Facebook page that it was illegal to do so.

“Placing any object, such as metal barriers, chairs, or other things on public roads or in a manner that causes obstruction violates Article 19 of the 'Act on the Maintenance of the Cleanliness and Orderliness of the Country BE2535',” the CIB said in the post.

The bureau noted that Article 19 of the act prohibits placing anything on a public road unless local administration officials announce otherwise under an agreement with traffic police.

The CIB noted that the act, which is implemented in municipal jurisdiction areas as well as in Bangkok and Pattaya, allowed informants of such violations to receive a prize of 50% of the fine amount imposed on the violators.

The CIB urged members of the public to shoot either stills or videos of intrusion of public roads for personal parking and send the photos or clips to the authorities immediately.

The CIB said that violators of Article 19 of the act would be subject to a maximum fine of 10,000. If the occupation took place in other areas not enforced under the act, the occupiers would be regarded as violating Article 114 of the Land Transportation Act with a maximum fine of 500 baht and Article 385 of the Criminal Code with a maximum fine of 5,000 baht.