Footage shows motorcycle riders breaking the law by riding illegally on pavements today - as officials begin rolling out AI-assisted cameras to catch them.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) said five of the surveillance cameras have been placed at the entrances of Soi Ratchadaphisek 36, Soi Phetkasem 28, and Soi Phetchaburi 9, as well as near the Niveswarin School and the PTT Thepharak Station.

Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said the devices gathered data from June 12 to 20, and recorded more than 4,000 instances of motorcycles driving on pavements, with one road alone catching 2,921 offenders.

Of the violators, 592 were motorcycle taxi drivers and 309 were delivery couriers, and the rest were private motorcycles, the BMA said.

Governor Chadchart said more than 100 cameras will be installed over the next months to cover the entirety of Bangkok.

The cameras will capture violators' license plates and send the data to the City Law Office. Letters will be sent to the offenders' registered addresses in the Department of Land Transport's database.

Authorities said the fines range from 2,000 to 5,000 THB (57 to 144 USD) and warnings will be sent to late payors who fail to settle the penalty within 15 days.

Governor Chadchart said that although Bangkok's roads may need improving, drivers should still follow traffic rules. Riding on the pavement is illegal - but a widely broken rule by the city's motorcyclists.

He said: 'Motorcycles driving on sidewalks is a long-standing problem that has received a lot of complaints from the public. In the past, we deployed officials to monitor and make arrests, though this is a waste of manpower and is also prone to corruption and conflict. Therefore, the BMA has implemented AI cameras to catch violators instead.

'In about two more months we will expand the AI system to 100 other locations, and later it will be expanded to control traffic lights.'

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.