[BBC NEWS] Tourists warned of Thailand airport scam
[Now new allegations have been made that a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until they pay large sums of money to buy their freedom.]
BP: To be honest, if there was no evidence to suggest they allegedly shoplifted the wallet (go to the Kingpower website to see the CCTV and explanation) then BP would have much more sympathy to their plight. There is a difference between a bribe to avoid time in jail and an innocent person grabbed off the street and where money is extorted from.
It is a few years ago now, but BP does not of someone who was arrested for shop lifting at Don Muang. According to their lawyer, theft at an airport was a more serious offence (ie aggravating factor) than theft elsewhere. From memory, it had something to do with it was a government facility. The person got bail, plead guilty, paid a fortune in lawyers' fees and incentives to get the police version of events slightly altered to their advantage and receive a suspended jail sentence. This took about 3 weeks though. If one was to plead not guilty, you will be in for a looong wait - there is no doubt the person was guilty btw.[Bangkok Post]: SHOW US THE MONEY, MR PRIME MINISTER
[But for people in Buri Ram, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
A kamnan said people do not hate Mr Abhisit but do not adore him the same way they did Thaksin.
Instead, they wanted to see Mr Abhisit show leadership and take immediate action.
"When Thaksin came, his promises were fulfilled just a week after. People saw progress, and money," he said.
"Villagers have no idea when the promised package will come and whether it will help them. Local politicians and their cronies with business connections may simply reap profits from the schemes."
Thonglor Chewroenram, a 66-year-old farmer, still lauds Thaksin.
"Thaksin was the first who cared and did something about our hardship. But we haven't seen this government doing much," he said.
Still, Mr Thonglor has not ruled out a chance for Mr Abhisit to be another idol for him.
"I will wait and see if he can be equal or better than Thaksin," he said.]
BP: Some interesting stats on the Buri Ram economy too.[Bangkok Post]: REBELS' NEW TACTIC BEATS AUTHORITIES
[Insurgent groups in the deep South have switched to detonating bombs by walkie-talkies to avoid phone signal jammers, a security source in the restive region says.
Police are investigating a car bomb attack that killed a special task force deputy chief and his aide on Friday in Yala's Yaha district.
The bomb was detonated by walkie-talkie signal.
A source in Yala police's bomb disposal squad said the bomb used in the Friday attack was a home-made device assembled with a 15kg gas cylinder.]
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Steal a packet of biscuits from a Thai airport and you end up in jail. Forcibly seize the airport and you're lauded as a national hero.
There's another factor in the BBC's report on the airport scam that bears mentioning. On the BBC's home page the link to the story has been consistently in the top 10 most read for a full day and even now, more than 24 hours since publication, it is the most shared story.
Clearly this is is a story with legs and one that hits home with many travelers. Thailand would do well to remember the old retailing adage that when your customers feel well-treated they'll tell their friends, but when they feel poorly treated they'll tell everybody.
The story also goes around the Danish media with spin off stories like the one below:
http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=da&js=y&u=http://politiken.dk/tjek/rejser/asien/article755129.ece&sl=da&tl=en&history_state0=
The Thai authorities better act now or the tourism industry will suffer yet again.
Maybe some of the people concerned in the King Power story were actually thieves - who knows? The British couple, when searched, had nothing on them even if the video evidence appears damning.
But what is the bigger crime? Stealing a wallet or an entirely corrupt system of justice? If a thief was quite properly arrested, bailed, fined etc then no problem. Locking them up in strange hotels, demanding large amounts of money under threat and then withdrawing the charges when the cash has been paid (destination unknown) is clearly not anything resembling "justice". It sounds more like extortion, sanctioned by dodgy elements in various tranches of the authorities. It's almost like Thailand is going out of its way to create bad press for itself.
rumours about this scam go on since months. in the beginning it seems it was mostly indian [dark brown little people] visitors who were targeted.
now it makes headlines --- while the targets _this time_ very very much look like being involved in an activity that just doesn't look "right".
king power now approaches british embassy for counter-spin
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but they miss a point:
if rumours are valid. if bbc/jonathan head is right claiming "tony" helped 150 people last year. then ---
a) what's the problem for kp to go the legal way; to put shop-lifters on trial? did that happen?
b) on the other hand... it looks like a systemic "black hole". visitors are _pressed_ to pay large sums of money... just to get out of it.
kp lost. airport lost. thailand lost.
I'm with BP. Paying a bribe to avoid being charged is hardly extortion. You can call it a scam (just), but then all you have to do to avoid the scam is not steal things from airports.
Not that it isn't true about double standards, mind you. Somebody 'big' wouldn't be charged and the CCTV evidence would mysteriously go missing. But that doesn't make the Brit couple any more right.