Frenchman pays the price for revving noisy motorbike in Phuket

Police tracked down and fined a Frenchman yesterday for annoying residents by revving his loud rented motorbike along the Bangla Road in Phuket, southern Thailand, in the early hours of Monday morning.

At 5am on Monday, Phuket traffic police were tipped off that a group of four to five ‘dek waen’ (motorbike racers) were causing a ruckus outside a convenience store on Bangla Road by revving their loud engines, sending plumes of smoke into the air.

Traffic police raced down Bangla Road to swoop in on the gang but the boy racers managed to flee. However, police did manage to catch the registration details of one white Yamaha TMAX.

Two days later, police tracked the motorbike to a Frenchman identified as Sofiane Ouenzerfi. Police charged Ouenzerfi with causing annoyance to others and driving a motorbike without a license and fined him 1,500 baht.

Investigators summoned the real owner of the motorbike to Patong Police Station and fined him 1000 baht for renting out a motorbike to someone without a license.

Police said they also informed the French Embassy in Bangkok of the turn of events to address the problem of lack of adherence to traffic rules among French people in Phuket.

Just three weeks ago, police busted a large gang of French motorbike racers in Patong. Footage of the racers went viral on social media.

Residents complained that the racers were disturbing them when they were trying to relax and could be a safety threat. Most of the riders were not wearing helmets as required by Thai law, the residents added.

Authorities in Phuket have had enough of foreigners committing crimes on the island. So, Phuket immigration has launched a ‘Red Card’ crackdown on criminal foreigners.

“Under the system, a foreigner will be designated a ‘yellow card’ for a first offence. The foreigner will be issued a formal warning and the relevant embassy will be notified.”

If a foreigner in Phuket commits a second offence, they will be swiftly deported.

Two days ago, a Swedish man was arrested in Phuket on drug production charges. His permission to stay in the kingdom was revoked.