sambum

You mean the sentence of yours that I quoted in my post? :- "they used to by my students in a private language school years ago." You are not allowed to change or alter anybody else's posts on AN!

I think I can nearly understand your post if I concentrate!

Just a point to bear in mind if you read the post properly:- "....... has been fined 500 baht and handed a suspended 15-day jail sentence"

I think you're missing the point!

???

"The repercussions of this offence could include a prison sentence of up to two years and/or a fine of up to 40,000 baht." Oh, yeah? :-" The violent Russian woman who blamed her period for assaulting a pregnant Thai woman in Koh Pha Ngan has been fined 500 baht and handed a suspended 15-day jail sentence." All in the same article as well! I suppose the key word in this is "could"! But really! 500 baht and a wai because she was on her period? Wonder what punishment she would have got if she was really sick (e.g. Dengue or something similar) The mind boggles at the disparity between this and the punishment for less trivial offences - like feeding fish or picking mushrooms!:- "Feb 22, 2560 BE — A TOURIST could be jailed for a year for feeding breadcrumbs to fish in the popular destination of Phuket island." "In July 2010, the couple had gone into Kalasin’s Dong Radaeng Forest to collect wild mushrooms for cooking. They were arrested by police and quickly sentenced to 30 years in prison, which was reduced by half because they had confessed."

And make sure they have adequate medical insurance or charge them extortionate prices for private treatment.

"many overstay and become illegal residents." Hence the current witch hunt for these dangerous criminals that are causing havoc to the tourist trade! 😁

"they used to by my students in a private language school years ago." ?????????????????? Think you should apply for a place at the Public School to learn English!

They could sign an agreement to talk about it in future meetings! 🙂

So maybe the next thing might b a "reciprocal" agreement between the 2 countries which would mean that living in Thailand I would get the annual increments to my Old Age State Pension as I would do if I lived in the Phillippines? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Russian woman behaving badly! Reminds me of a situation on Koh Samui a few years ago when a female Russian tourist refused to pay a 50 baht fee for taking photographs on a local tourist attraction. It ended up with her and a Thai guy exchanging blows, the end result being that the attraction was closed/sealed off. However, the thing that stood out for me was the Russian woman's attitude - shouting and swearing and attacking the "vendor" - more like the reaction you would expect from a drunken yob - Disgusting!

Of course they are - they think Thailand is the centre of the Universe - the "Hub of Hubs"! As has already been mentioned by a couple of posters, the increase on foreigners committing crimes seems to be connected to the "Free Visa" scheme, and they would be better employed rooting out the crime and corruption within. A good start today with the transfer of 2 top cops to "inactive posts", but do they honestly think that clamping down on foreign criminals (e.g. retirees on overstay) is going to make an improvement in tourist figures? I think not, if anything, any honest holidaymaker contemplating visiting Thailand is more likely to be put off by the "potential"corruption in the upper echelons of the RTP than arresting a few old people who have overstayed their welcome. Also, recent reports of rogue cops "waving their guns about" is bound to have more of a negative effect on tourism than the countless reports of crackdowns on "foreign criminals".

It was stated/implied a couple of days ago that they are going to make it more difficult for long stay retirees/expats! "To protect tourism" 🙂

Agreed! And is it just coincidence that the rise in crime figures seems to be running hand in hand with the "visa free" entry scheme for certain nationalities?

".....to work at the Prime Minister’s Office" "..... to inactive posts at Government House" So are we to assume that they will be sitting reading papers, playing on their phones etc, or will they actually be working e.g. shuffling paperwork?

Hear, hear! A very forthright post with a lot of true observations within! I especially like :- "Previous policy was to ignore crimes by foreigners?"

Ridiculous! I am 78 years old and heve been living in Thailand for many years (nearly 20 in total - most of the time on a Retirement Extension, and the last 5 years on an extension based on marriage to a Thai national.) My original application to change from a "Retirement Visa" to a "Marriage Visa" entailed having to submit 147 (ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SEVEN!) photocopies of various documents! About 3 years ago the new Chief of Immigration said that he was going to make it easier for retirees and expats to acquire their visas, and a week later promptly initiated some new requirements. It really does appear that in spite of the money that we generate towards the GDP (We are here all year - every year - spending I would say, on average, about 500,000 per person) that the Government are treating us like "dirty, unwashed unwanted unwelcome farangs", and in their eyes the sooner we leave the better, as it will be a step forward in preventing criminals from setting up homes and businesses in Thailand!!!

Some friends of mine got caught drinking illegally during the Covid lockdown, and were arrested and put in the cells overnight, and appeared in court the next day via a video link. One guy that was arrested was sitting at a table in the street, on his own, not drinking but was chatting with the others when the police turned up. An interpreter explained what the court procedure would be and she said "You will state your name and then plead guilty". He objected and said that he wasn't drinking, there was no drink on his table, and was only talking to some friends, so he was going to plead not guilty. The interpreter said "OK, up to you, but what will happen (and I guarantee that this is what will happen) is that you will be remanded in custody for upwards of a week, you will have to hire yourself an expensive lawyer, and when you appear in court again, you WILL be found guilty, and your punishment will be twice what you would have received if you had pleaded guilty in the first place!" He decided to plead guilty!

This has already been pointed out a couple of times, so I was wrong to assume it was another cop - OK? However, once again, the original post certainly IMPLIES that the incident was being videoed by the police :- " After the police pursuit, the two foreigners were infuriated and allegedly attacked the police while having the incident recorded by the police." How do you interpret that?

Thank you! (I think a more accurate term would have been "disarmed" it, but hey, the justice system is out to get them!

Honest question - did they steal a pair of shoes? I can't recall anything of 18 pages of posts regarding this incident where theft was mentioned.

I am saying that that is the way that it seems as written in the article.

It shouldn't be that way, but it is!

"Section 335 of the Criminal Law: committing theft in a dwelling place. The penalty is imprisonment from one to five years and a fine from 20,000 to 100,000 baht." First mention I've seen of that one!