Thai authorities had caught more than 5,600 motorcycle racers and impounded over 17,700 bikes, 11 days after the night curfew was lifted.
The police intensified its operations to clamp down on the underground racing scene, particularly towards a racing group known locally as Vanz boys.
Thailand Prime Minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, had previously warned against gatherings and street racings, ordering the police to crackdown on the illegal racing operations.
The Assistant National Police Chief, Pol Lt Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas, stated on Thursday that the police stationed in Bangkok and the Provincial Police Region 1 had apprehended a total of 109 racers.
They had also confiscated 11,743 motorcycles and cited 3,088 shops for conducting illegal bike modifying operations.
The most common modification made on the impounded motorcycles were done on its exhaust pipes, giving off a loud noise. The word Vanz was derived from the sound produced by modified bikes.
The Thai police had also 668 parents of the apprehended racers on probation.
The number of recent complaints filed about illegal street racing has dropped from over 600 to less than 300.
The drop in complaints is attributed to the police’s intensified operations, according to Pol Lt Gen Kittiprapas.
Other provincial police stations across Thailand also conducted various operations to take down the underground racing scene.
The Provincial Police Region 8, which covers the lower southern area of Thailand, announced that they had seized over 237 motorcycles and 311 illegally modified bikes, and put 175 young motorcyclists and 28 parents on probation.
The Ubon Ratchathani provincial police, on the other hand, had arrested 85 motorcyclists, seized 317 motorcycles, and about 300 modified exhaust pipes.
Additionally, The Provincial Police Region 6, stationed in northern Thailand, had apprehended six racers, put 1,921 motorcyclists and 212 parents on probation, and detained 1,306 motorcycles.
The police stationed in the northeastern province of Korat arrested 476 motorcyclists, seized 665 bikes, and 204 substandard exhaust pipes.
The Provincial Police Region 7, along the lower southern provinces of Thailand, placed 5,009 motorcyclists on probation, seized 4,632 bikes, and snared 357 substandard exhaust pipes.
Source: Bangkok Post
