bigrobtheactor

Sawadee fellow farangs.. I've been coming to sweet Siam most winters practically since I started shaving but lately, the past few years, the natives seemed increasingly unfriendly, an incident with the police a couple of years ago (a 20,000 baht shakedown over an alleged "7" I blew into the breathalyzer - but I guess it was okay as soon as I forked over the cash a half hour after being caught in the dragnet since they immediately handed me back my keys) and last year on Beach Road in Jomtien I was hit while strolling and knocked on my ass by  a motorbiker who just kept going.. Broad daylight and in full view of the pedestrians, never even considered going to the cops, not even to report it. Luckily I was barely hurt, dusted myself off and got on with life but it left a very bad taste.. Anyway, aside from that, I love the place, particularly where I stay, but this year looks in significant doubt, usually by January I'm there and stay until March. Prognoses anyone? Are we farangs being edged out, is the Wuhan Plague the final nail? Or might things revert to the sweet Siam days of the LOS fame? (ps spare me the useless sarcasm, trolling and abuse please, thanks in advance.)

On 3/9/2020 at 2:41 AM, zhounan said:

The solution is one, everytime the same: don't drink.

Not a solution. We call it a "dodge", as in avoiding an issue, not resolving it.

On 10/23/2019 at 12:26 AM, Sujo said:

I cannot comment particularly on your experience but was with a friend in a car and he was asked for the same. They ended up taking 5000 bt.

Thx. Just came back from two months, here in Nepal now, luckily, I guess. Didn't rent a bike this time, kept busy without one. Watching them pulling others over.. I am still working on a longer term solution. Negotiating has been suggested more then once by a range or perspectives, so I'm taking it in. Thanks.

On 10/23/2019 at 3:32 AM, BestB said:

Shake down was it not. Promise of jail was just an empty threat.

But you would have been locked up for a day or two then off to court, pay a fine of 5000-8000 and then the possibility of visa troubles.

 

Some claim to be able to pay 5000 and i do not believe them, 20 000 is about the going rate.

 

By law you allowed 2 beers to be under the limit, so 3 wine coolers would be put you over the limit

Thanks.

On 10/23/2019 at 6:24 AM, BritManToo said:

My advice ....... learn to haggle.

Agreed. ????

On 10/23/2019 at 5:16 AM, RichardColeman said:

Maybe you should be grateful that they stopped you from becoming yet another dead drunk driver statistic - that has to be worth 20k in my book !

They gave me back the keys roughly a half hour after they stopped me, once I paid them so I don't see exactly what I should be "thankful" for. If I was drink and blew a "7" when they stopped me, how much lower would my blood alcohol level have been thirty minutes later? What do you think? Maybe criminals dressed in police uniforms is what passes here for law enforcement so if anything i'm grateful I can leave here any time i want. Aside from that It's doubtful I would have ended up a dead drunk because i wasn't drunk, or dead, or likely to be either on my way home, about ten minutes from where they stopped me but thank you for taking the time. I'm really looking for some useful information here, not smug self-satisfying judgement.

10 minutes ago, bigrobtheactor said:

 

Whining? Is that how you characterize asking for advice?

Learn from it? That's exactly what I'm trying to do. If you have something thoughtful and helpful rather than smugly and self-righteously judgmental i.e. useless, feel free, otherwise, move on.

On 10/23/2019 at 2:01 AM, Briggsy said:

You're 20,000 down and you will remain 20,000 down. No refunds possible here.

 

Get a police colonel as a good friend, so much of a good friend that you can phone him up next to you encounter a 'dragnet'. If you have been here since the eighties, you know this and don't need dudes on Thaivisa to tell you this.

Exactly. Can you recommend any one?

On 10/23/2019 at 1:41 AM, Sujo said:

I cannot comment particularly on your experience but was with a friend in a car and he was asked for the same. They ended up taking 5000 bt.

Thanks.

On 10/22/2019 at 10:12 PM, johng said:

 

 

I think the "shake down" is he disputes the amount of alcohol in his system being as high as the Police claim.

 

Bingo. They smelled alcohol on a white guy driving a motorcycle. Ch-ching! Then after I paid them they gave me back my keys as if abracadabra in the space of a quick half hour all the bad, mean, evil booze in my blood went away. Shakedown.

On 10/22/2019 at 10:22 PM, Anythingleft? said:

Zero drinks, shakedown
Drinks, up to you

We all know the risks and not just here so why bother and then try to argue the fact

It is a non news stupid thread.....

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AGAIN?

7 minutes ago, Anythingleft? said:

Looks like your on a reaction roll just now, get over it.....

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You again?

On 10/22/2019 at 10:12 PM, johng said:

 

 

I think the "shake down" is he disputes the amount of alcohol in his system being as high as the Police claim.

 

Bingo. They smelled alcohol on a white guy driving a motorcycle. Ch-ching! Then after I paid them they gave me back my keys as if abracadabra in the space of a haf hour all the bad, mean, evil booze in my blood went away. Shakedown.

On 10/22/2019 at 8:43 PM, Anythingleft? said:

So where is the shake down?

You had been drinking and they let you pay to go on your way

Stupid action and stupid post......

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Responding to a "stupid" post by insulting people who are asking for help? Must really suck to be you. Talk about "stupid" - the shakedown was that I wasn't drunk and they knew it. Three drinks in three hours. Even a troll that insults real people by calling them stupid should be able to do that math. They smelled alcohol on a white-boy on a motorcycle. Shakedown.

On 10/22/2019 at 8:07 PM, PatOngo said:

Did you keep the receipt? ????

Receipt? I don't think they gave me one. I was just praying the ATM would work - which it did - and I was gone... I just want to read what others have to say on this. Why?

On 10/22/2019 at 5:57 PM, Puchaiyank said:

Just don't drink and drive...it is not complicated...????

Maybe not for you but I like to drink wine / beer with my dinner and ride home from the restaurant on my bike. Sorry for the complication but it is what it is - I'm looking for a way to manage without drastic solutions. I don't believe I blew a "seven'' and if they did believe that why did they give me back my keys after I payed them, it was only a half hour later. That seem right to you?  

On 10/22/2019 at 4:14 PM, Samui Bodoh said:

You are a drunk driver.

 

As far as I am concerned, you deserved a fine of 100,000 plus; stop whining.

 

You paid a bribe to the police.

 

Do you think that you are getting it back? A refund? You are going to lodge a complaint AFTER you bribed a cop?

 

Grow up. 

 

You got off far, far, far easier than you deserve.

 

Learn from it and move on.

 

"Grow up"? "far, far, far''..  LOL! If you can step off your virtuous moral high horse long enough to read what I wrote you might understand that I am not looking for my money back - I am asking for advice on how to avoid/handle this type of encounter in the future. Btw, I don't whine, I make people whine.

On 10/22/2019 at 3:50 PM, Why Me said:

To my mind you were lucky. Because you were drinking and driving which would have got you a suspended license in the west at least, if not prison time and/or community service if the alcohol level was high enough.

 

It would have been different if you were extorted sober. But that wasn't the case.

Okay, I wasn't that clear, I'll try again. I had about three drinks in almost as many hours, they smelled it as the last one had been finished less than half hour before - meaning I was not drunk. It's very hard for me to imagine I blew a 7 if the limit is 2. Seven means I would have been sh*t-faced. I was just about buzzed. That's all. I don't believe the device was accurate, I believe it was a set-up.

On 10/22/2019 at 3:33 PM, andy72 said:

wuss

Me???

On 10/22/2019 at 3:01 PM, Briggsy said:

You're 20,000 down and you will remain 20,000 down. No refunds possible here.

 

Get a police colonel as a good friend, so much of a good friend that you can phone him up next to you encounter a 'dragnet'. If you have been here since the eighties, you know this and don't need dudes on Thaivisa to tell you this.

Of course I "know" this, but I haven't had to do this - yet. Nit expecting my baht back, just trying to figure out best way to avoid this in the future. And you can dismiss the "if" thank you. You may have meant "since" - you're welcome.