Porsche driver caught using fake registration plate to avoid tollway fees

A 69 year old Porsche driver who has a history of repeated traffic offences was charged by the police. The driver had been using a fake license plate to evade tollway fees on 22 separate occasions. The police took action after receiving a complaint from the legitimate owner of the license plate.

Last year, Thailand introduced a new payment system for tollways called M-Flow. It is a contactless fee collection system that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to detect a car’s registration plate, allowing motorists to pay toll fees monthly or online after their trip.

The system aims to reduce traffic congestion on the motorway, as drivers no longer have to stop at the booth or slow down to wait for the sensor and barrier gate to open, as is the case when using top-up devices like M-Pass or Easy Pass. Instead, drivers can pass through the checkpoint and pay the fees later.

However, the suspect, 69 year old Sanchai took advantage of the system by using a fake registration plate to trick the AI system.

On March 20, a Thai man named Thanathat filed a complaint with the police after receiving a warning from M-Flow stating that he had failed to pay toll fees 22 times and must pay a fine for late payment.

However, the picture sent to him as evidence was not of his car at all, but a white Porsche instead of his silver Mercedes Benz sedan.

Officers from the Highway Police Bureau launched an investigation and eventually discovered that Sanchai owned the Porsche featured in the picture. They tracked him down and found him driving on Khlong Ha Road in Pathum Thani province, near Bangkok.

The registration plate on the front and the back of the car were found completely different. The plate at the back of the car was the real and legal plate of the Porsche, but the front one was a fake one with the number สช 5555.

According to the police report, Sanchai used the fake registration plate to avoid paying toll fees 22 times between March 3 and April 11 of this year. He admitted to his actions. He faced charges including:

• Sections 265 and 268 of the Criminal Act: forging government documents and using counterfeit government documents. The charge will result in imprisonment from six months to five years and a fine from 10,000 to 100,000 baht.
• Section 7 of the Act on Fee for Using Highways and Bridges: intending to avoid fees after using highways or bridges. The penalty will be a fine 10 times more expensive than the fee.

This is not the first time a person has been caught using fake registration plates to avoid toll fees.

In January, a Thai woman, 52 year old Naowarat, was charged with the same offence. She used several fake registration plates to avoid fees 95 times. Naowarat confessed that her friend recommended her to do it and gave her fake registration plates to use when driving through tollways.