It is three o’clock in the morning and I am sitting by the side of the road. All around me are about ten policemen. They are talking about what to do with us. Some of my friends managed to run but I wasn’t so lucky. The policemen have already rung my parents and we are waiting for them to arrive. It all started about three hours ago when one of my friends rang me. He asked if I wanted to go with him to watch motorcycle racing on Bangna-Trad Highway.

One Sunday after I had finished working on my web site at my old school, I was sitting around and resting in the computer room. Then someone rang my mobile. I answered it and realized it was one of my older friends. His name is Phong or Pee Phong as I call him in Thai. He asked me to go to see him by Paknam market. I said OK without asking why because it was on my way to go back home. I shut down the computer then walked to the lift. I said goodbye to Richard and went to get my bike in the garage. Then I left school. I looked at my watch and it read 11.25 p.m.

I went to meet Pee Phong straight after leaving school. I met him by the market at our friend’s bookshop. He sat there alone waiting for me. I parked the bike and went to him. He said he was bored and didn’t want to go home. Then he asked me about going back home late. I answered “no problem about that but not too late. Why?” Then he replied with a question, “Do you want to go to watch motorbike racing?” At that time I knew for sure that he wanted to go but it depended on my answer. I thought about it for a minute then I answered “Yes, let’s go”. He said “good” then we stood up and walked to my bike.

That was my first time going to watch the racing. I had heard about it long time ago but I never had a chance to go to watch. Also, my dad had told me before not to go but this time I pretended to forget what he had said to me. I was very excited about going to watch. I let Pee Phong drive my bike because he knows about where they race more than me. He has been there to watch lots of times.

Pee Phong told me that every time he went to watch, he had to run away from the police. He said that the policemen are really cruel. They use a police car to chase the motorbikes. They also hit the motorcycles at the back who are too slow. Sometimes they use some small seeds to throw on the road and then catch the ones that skid and fall off their bike. Not long ago, one of my friends had an accident while he was running away. He broke both of his legs and arms and he is still in the hospital.

Pee Phong rode around and headed towards Srinakarin Road. My watch now read 12.00 a.m. While we were riding, I saw lots of motorbikes around us, both in front and behind. They were heading to the same place as us. A few minutes later even more bikes arrived and we now started to be a big group. From my eyes, there were more than one hundred bikes around. Everyone was following each other. Pee Phong told me that the ones at the front will always lead other bikes to the place where they race. Also, they will be the ones who will look out for the policemen.

We went up Srinakarin Road, pass Theparak Road and then turned off to Bangna-Trad Highway. On the highway, there were not many cars around and the road was so smooth. We rode on for a while and then they started to stop by the side of the road. A short while later, some motorbikes started to race. We were sitting on my bike by the side of the road watching. It was really exciting.

Now I know why people like to come to watch because it is more than just a race. For example: style, some of them lied down on the seat like superman as they rode along. Some were showing off to the girls by doing wheelies for two or three blocks! It was really amazing. Sometimes, they put money down to guess the winner for each round. There were a lot of beautiful motorbikes and girls around. Different people had a different idea on how to modify their bike. I was really jealous of them. I wished I had a beautiful bike like them.

The race has been going on for a couple hours then the police came. The one at the back sent a signal and then every bike started to leave. Lucky that Pee Phong didn’t turn off the engine so we left quite quickly. There were some that didn’t leave their engine running and got caught by the police straight away. Pee Phong did pretty well about running away, we were quite far up the front. He told me that he didn’t want to be in the front because the police might be waiting somewhere ahead with a trap. He said better to be in the middle. Everyone rode as fast as they could. No one wanted to get caught because the police might take their motorbike away or give them an expensive fine if their bike had been modified.

Most bikes were going the same way. I saw some bikes drive down a small lane. I thought that they must be going to their home. Then, Pee Phong turned left into a small lane. I asked him “where are you going?” He replied that he didn’t know. He just saw a sign saying it’s a shortcut. He told me that to get lost in a shortcut is better than running away on the main road. We slowed down and kept following the road.

At last, we ended up on Sukhumwit Road near the turn off to Theparak Road. I looked at my watch. It was now 2.25 a.m. I had to go back home to sleep and get ready for school the next day but I didn’t want to. I was in the mood for some fun and excitement. Pee Phong was riding towards home. I said to him that I wanted to see more racing. Then he said that there might be some around Theparak Road towards Bangphi so I told him to go there. We went around the block, passed my house then went back on Srinakarin Road. We saw some motorbikes coming towards us. I thought that they must be going back home.

Pee Phong was riding along the road slowly. I sat at the back looking around for girls and policemen. I decided to go home after I didn’t see any clues or signs about the racing. We were on the corner about to do a u-turn to go back home. There was a man walking across the road in front of us so Pee Phong slowed down to let him cross. We moved forward after the man walked pass. But suddenly that man turned around and grabbed Pee Phong’s shirt. I knew straight away that he was a policeman.

Pee Phong was about to speed up but he didn’t because the policeman was about to punch him. For sure if Pee Phong sped off, that knuckle would have hit him or probably my face. The policeman took the key out off the bike and told us to go to the other side of the road where the police box was. There were about ten cops there; also there were a lot of teenagers and motorbikes. They had all got caught by these policemen.

I sat down on the pavement by the side of the road while the policemen were searching my motorbike. Luckily I had brought my riding license, but they asked for something else as well like registration paper and proof of ownership etc. I didn’t have any of these so I had to call my dad and tell him about what happened. He said he would come soon. I hung up and went to sit down near Pee Phong. One of the policemen came to me and asked for my license. I showed it to him and then he took it. He said he will give it back when my dad came.

We waited for a long time for my dad. At last he came. He arrived at about 3.45 a.m. Then I went to tell one of the policemen. My dad went to talk to him while Pee Phong and I went to stand by my motorbike. The policeman who took my license came to me and gave me back the key. I asked him about the license. He said he had given it to another policeman and will give it back to my dad later, after he had paid the fine. I went to tell my dad about going back home. He said he would wait around here for the policeman who had my license. I said OK and went to get on my bike and left. I rode Pee Phong home first and then I went back home to sleep.

Less than two hours later, I got up and went to school as usual. I still didn’t get my license back from the police. And also, I didn’t know what happened next after I had left there. I didn’t know how much my dad paid for the fine and what time he came back home. After my school finished, I came back home and took my motorbike to work. I was a bit scared when I rode the bike because I didn’t have my license.

I arrived at my old school then I rang my dad. He said he had just gone to get my license in the afternoon. He had paid 600 baht for the fine. The policeman said that I was supporting the racing so I still had to pay the fine. My dad also said that the policemen annoyed him last night. They let him wait for about two hours. My dad was really angry with them. He said that he came back home like 6 o’clock in the morning. He told me next time when I got caught, he wouldn’t come to rescue me. He told me to remember what he said and don’t go to watch the racing again!