siamjimi

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All I can say is that Freedom does not exists in the world, and Thailand is a great country to learn this.

Thai Nationalism will make sure that you will always be and feel like an outsider, Thailand should favor you being here and the other way round, who cares!

Thai just want to make clear that Foreigners don't own this country, even if some think they do. Everything seems so easy, as if they can play gods. While this behavior is not possible anywhere in the world, why would anyone expect it from Thailand. Maybe they're not so fast, but they learn by mistake, that's all.

Morris - where are you from my friend? I show your quotes (above) I was most impressed by ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I am from USA - and - Thai's in USA own 100% of their business' - 100% land and house owners, 100% work permits, 100% government social awards.

There is freedom in this world but it rides the back of cynical people across the planet that want to talk trash about one of the few countries that DOES allow freedom for its citizens and LEGAL immigrants (not illegal entry and trickery to stay)

It’s not necessary to play games in the USA to get what you want - HOWEVER IN THAILAND IT'S MUCH MUCH DIFFERENT

What you are seeing here is the Thai government officials - who have families that live, work and go to school in the USA – these same government officials continue to send the official messages from their Thailand government offices that "Foreigners’ Are In Thailand Only To Spend Their Money - THEN THE GOVERNMENT WANTS YOU TO LEAVE - GET OUT"

This does not take into consideration the foreigners that have been living here - MARRIED - HAVE CHILDREN - A JOB THEY PAY TAXES ON

BUT THEY STILL CANNOT GET CONSISTANT VISA'S FOR THEMSELVES AND ARE ALWAYS IN DANGER OF BEING REFUSED ENTRY THE NEXT TIME THEY LEAVE THE COUNTRY

WHAT SORT OF WAY IS THIS TO LIVE – NO WONDER MANY PEOPOLE ARE LEAVING THAILAND TO LIVE IN PHILIPPINES

I MYSELF HAVE BEEN SCOUTING THE PLACE OUT FOR A PLACE TO LIVE

IF YOU ARE THAI UPPER CLASS OR GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL YOU WILL BENIFIT - WHILE OTHERS WILL SUFFER - THEY SIMPLY DO NOT CARE ABOUT ANYONE BUT THEMSELVES. They consider themselves the privileged few.

I think other countries such as UK, USA, Canada and others should give Thailand the same sanctions of - LIMITED VISA's - 49% OWNWERSHIP OF COMPANIES - 0.0% NO HOME OWNERSHIP AT ALL (ONLY CONDO) - - SAME SAME they give foreigners’ here in Thailand.

Start sending the Thai's that live abroad in USA, UK, Canada and other countries back home - using the same same policies and VISA applications they propose for us. Start sending the same message to the Thai's living abroad that we are being given here in Thailand - TURNABOUT IS FAIR PLAY - LETS SHOW THEM HOW ITS DONE

Do you really think it will ever happen - NO - because there are Thai's benefiting from this VISA rejection. Simple answer. It will never happen!!

Seems that the information is there but the will to stop, arrest and prosecute the activities is not - this is a direct reflection that none of this business will stop anytime soon and is sanctioned by many people of authority

A clear example of corruption and greed

A prime example that what you see is not always what you get in "Amazing Thailand"

This information will deter tourists from Thailand and other destinations of interest are taking billions of baht from the regular people of Thailand needing the tourism.

"Cut Your Own Throat" seems to be the flavor of the decade

I have followed the numerous replies to this post. One missing link is the couple comes from a religious and utterly supreme group of this planet (this is their opinion of themselves compared to the rest of us infidels) - thus - they stray from home turf and act this way defying their own rigid religious laws - however - that area of the world will not allow religious freedom nor will they allow for open travel for all countries such as they have been given to travel here to Thailand.

I hope their names and this obsurd act will follow them back to Iran where they will be stoned in the public square for their actions. I myself am not afraid to have sex on jomtien beach at 0430 in the morning and have a 500 baht each fine. Now let me go to Iran and have public sex and lets see what happens. Both these people need to be reprimanded the same as anyone else would in their own country.

Tourists warned of Thailand airport scam

Bangkok airport duty free

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok's showcase new international airport is no stranger to controversy.

Built between 2002 and 2006, under the governments of then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the opening date was repeatedly delayed.

It has been dogged by allegations of corruption, as well as criticism of the design and poor quality of construction.

Then, at the end of last year, the airport was shut down for a week after being occupied by anti-government protesters.

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.

That is what happened to Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin, two IT experts from Cambridge, as they were about to board their flight to London on the night of 25 April this year.

They had been browsing in the duty free shop at the airport, and were later approached by security guards, who twice asked to search their bags.

Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin

Mr Ingram and Ms Xi were told they had to pay £7,500

They were told a wallet had gone missing, and that Ms Lin had been seen on a security camera taking it out of the shop.

The company that owns the duty free shop, King Power, has since put the CCTV video on its website, which does appear to show her putting something in her bag. However the security guards found no wallet on either of them.

Despite that, they were both taken from the departure gate, back through immigration, and held in an airport police office. That is when their ordeal started to become frightening.

Interpreter

"We were questioned in separate rooms," Mr Ingram said. "We felt really intimidated. They went through our bags and demanded that we tell them where the wallet was."

The two were then put in what Mr Ingram describes as a "hot, humid, smelly cell with graffiti and blood on the walls".

Mr Ingram managed to phone a Foreign Office helpline he found in a travel guide, and was told someone in the Bangkok embassy would try to help them.

The next morning the two were given an interpreter, a Sri Lankan national called Tony, who works part-time for the police.

They were taken by Tony to meet the local police commander - but, says Mr Ingram, for three hours all they discussed was how much money they would have to pay to get out.

police station

Mr Ingram and Ms Xi were taken to meet the local police commander

They were told the charge was very serious. If they did not pay, they would be transferred to the infamous Bangkok Hilton prison, and would have to wait two months for their case to be processed.

Mr Ingram says they wanted £7,500 ($12,250) - for that the police would try to get him back to the UK in time for his mother's funeral on 28 April.

But he could not arrange to get that much money transferred in time.

'Zig-zag' scheme

Tony then took them to an ATM machine at the police station, and told Ms Lin to withdraw as much as she could from her own account - £600 - and Mr Ingram then withdrew the equivalent of £3,400 from his account.

This was apparently handed over to the police as "bail", and they were both made to sign a number of papers.

Later they were allowed to move to a squalid hotel within the airport perimeter, but their passports were held and they were warned not to leave or try to contact a lawyer or their embassy.

"I will be watching you," Tony told them, adding that they would have to stay there until the £7,500 was transferred into Tony's account.

On the Monday they managed to sneak out and get a taxi to Bangkok, and met an official at the British Embassy.

She gave the name of a Thai lawyer, and, says Mr Ingram, told them they were being subjected to a classic Thai scam called the "zig-zag".

Their lawyer urged them to expose Tony - but also warned them that if they fought the case it could take months, and they risked a long prison sentence.

After five days the money was transferred to Tony's account, and they were allowed to leave.

Mr Ingram had missed his mother's funeral, but at least they were given a court document stating that there was insufficient evidence against them, and no charge.

"It was a harrowing, stressful experience," he said.

The couple say they now want to take legal action to recover their money.

'Typical' scam

The BBC has spoken to Tony and the regional police commander, Colonel Teeradej Phanuphan.

They both say Tony was merely helping the couple with translation, and raising bail to keep them out of prison.

Tony says about half the £7,500 was for bail, while the rest were "fees" for the bail, for his work, and for a lawyer he says he consulted on their behalf.

In theory, he says, they could try to get the bail portion refunded.

Colonel Teeradej says he will investigate any possible irregularities in their treatment. But he said any arrangement between the couple and Tony was a private affair, which did not involve the police.

Letters of complaint to the papers here in Thailand make it clear that passengers are regularly detained at the airport for alleged shoplifting, and then made to pay middlemen to win their freedom.

The Danish Embassy says one of its nationals was recently subjected to a very similar scam, and earlier this month an Irish scientist managed to flee Thailand with her husband and one year-old son after being arrested at the airport and accused of stealing an eyeliner worth around £17.

Tony told the BBC that so far this year he has "helped" about 150 foreigners in trouble with the police. He says sometimes he does it for no charge.

The British Embassy has also warned passengers at Bangkok Airport to take care not to move items around in the duty free shopping area before paying for them, as this could result in arrest and imprisonment.

-- BBC 2009-07-20

What about the tourist police located at the airport - I was at the airport recently and sthere is a very large store-front office on the second level housing the tourist police. I was under the impression that the intention of the tourist police is to intervene for foreigners and represent them in the case of any criminal or legal upset that may be happening. Where were they during this entire ordeal.

Please people you are all jumping the gun here; government officials are taking our advice very seriously, the Pattaya Police have set up operations to incourage xpats to stay and pass on the good word of how Pattay is the only place to holaday in Thailand.

Why is Pattaya the best destination and what does that have to do with overall correction of the plight of Thailand and the relationship to tourism

I actually tell my friends intending to visit Thailand to steer clear of Pattaya - the beach is filthy and the touts are horrendous and the vendors will cuss you

that is not a good place to promote tourism - its a sexual tourists playground and shows all the signs of decay

Thailand's tourist arrivals sharply drop to a critical level, Mr. Tosaporn said, in June alone, the number of tourist arrivals has dropped from 165,000 in the same period of 2008, to 27,000 in 2009 due to the Influenza A(H1N1) outbreak, or 33.45 per cent year-on-year.

-- TNA 2009-06-17

So, 165,000 down to 27,000. That's a 138,000 less tourists....that's an 83.6% drop from 2008 to 2009. They got bigger tourism problems than they'll report. They better keep that rice exportation industry a float.

DO YOU THINK THEY WILL RECOGNIZE OUR PLACE HERE

OR WILL THEY CONTINUE TO TREAT US AS ONLY VISITORS

THEY RELY HEAVILY ON A TOURIST INDUSTRY THAT THEY SHUN DAY AFTER DAY

BUT NOW THEY ARE CRYING AND DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO

MAYBE A FEW LESSONS IN LONGEVITY FOR THE TOURISTS AND RESIDENT FARANGS AS WELL

Again, their math does not stack up, nor is there much that can be done at this late stage.

It will simply improve with the passing of time.

BR>Jack

Just want to add it would also help to treat us that have been living here for several years

and been spending Millions of Baht to support their economy not to treat us as second or 3rd

class citizens. My wife and family are lovely but really THE BOYS in BKK suck

THIS IS MY POINT AS WELL - WE FARANGS THAT LIVE HERE AND TOURISTS AS WELL - JUST LIKE THE VISA'S AND ATTITUDE FROM ALL SECTORS OF THAI SOCIETY - PLEASE COME HERE AND SPEND YOUR MONEY BUT WE DO NOT WANT YOU TO STAY - SPEND YOUR MONEY AND GO HOME

NOW THAT THE TOURIST SECTOR IS IN THE DUMPS - ALL OF A SUDDEN WE ARE A VALUED COMMODITY AND ALSO A COMMODITY TO EXPLOIT SUCH AS RAISE THE PRICES AND SCAM US

THERE AGAIN - WE HAVE THE SIMPLE MINDED - MEAL TICKET - TODAY ONLY THINKING THAT DRIVES MANY FARANGS AWAY

I KNOW OF MANY MANY FARANGS LEAVING THIS COUNTRY WITH THEIR THAI WIVES DUE TO THE IDIOTS THAT RUN THIS PLACE AND THE IDIOTS THAT INTERACT WITH US ON A DAILY BASIS

YOU WONDER IF THE SMART THAIS WILL TRY TO COMMUNICATE THE WAY TO KEEP US HERE SPENDING OUR MONEY - OOPS I HAVE TO GO - MY 15 DAYS IS ALMOST UP - LOL

MARTIN - HIT ME BACK WITH A MESSAGE - YOUR MESSAGE SETTINGS WILL NOT ALLOW ME TO CONTACT YOU HERE ON THAI VISA WEBSITE

[email protected]

After a few months of false starts I finally got around to doing the road trip down to Sihanoukville on the Harley, with some pals from HOG (Harley Owners Group) Thailand…… 5 bikes in all so good 'n' noisy! We left the Ace Café at 7am and headed off cross country down to Rayong, then on to Highway 3 and down to Klaeng, by-passed Chantaburi, on to Trat and then down the 318 to Khlong Yai and the border. This leg took 5 hours mainly because the guys I was riding with used petrol stops as an excuse for half hour food/coffee/cigarette/chat breaks and we could've shaved an hour off the Thai-side journey but what the hel_l, we were on holiday!

The process of getting the bikes across the border couldn't have been simpler, and the Thai officials were extremely helpful. All you need, at this time of writing, is your Thai vehicle registration book. People will tell you the book has to be in your name but not so….. if your vehicle is registered in another name, all you need is a letter from that person giving you permission to take the vehicle over the border.

If doing this then use a bit of grey matter and get copies of that persons ID card and get the letter, in Thai, to state their name, your name (in English so they can compare it with your passport), the vehicle registration number etc etc. If your registration book is in your name then you have no worries and do not have to show any license or insurance documents at all. The vehicle does have to have current tax..... one of the bikes had run out so a quick blat back to Trat to tax it was called for!

At the border go to window No.5 round the back of the right hand side booth and collect forms TM 2 (2 copies) and TM 3 (4 copies) and fill out the basic details, engine and frame number etc plus your passport details. The people at this booth were very helpful and filled other parts of the form in for us, the whole process costing the princely sum of 10 baht! In fact the lil darling who helped me was so helpful (and cute!) and was missing lunch I told her to keep the change from my 100 baht note and buy herself lunch on me….. the rest of the guys promptly did the same so we had a very smooth hassle free vehicle transfer from Thailand to Cambodia and she had a good day at work!

After sorting the bikes we went through passport control, totally by-passed Customs (more of that later!) and rode through no-mans-land to Cambodian Immigration. Again very smooth, no hassles, stamp stamp "1200 baht please" and we were on our way!

Now the route could not be simpler: remembering to drive on the wrong (ie. right) side of the road just keep straight on! You'll go through Koh Khong and the first thing you'll see is a very misleading sign telling you to turn right onto Highway 4 for Sihanoukville and left for Phnom Penh…… what it does not say is Highway 4 and said turns are about 170 kms further on down the road!! Just keep straight on!

The road, which by Khmer standards is very good (being a highway) is actually a single lane carriageway of unsealed tarmac so be careful…… there are some very deep potholes, the only saving grace being the road was laid on bright red dirt so you can see the potholes from a distance and avoid 'em! We rode at about 110 kmph….. I dare say if you're in a big landcruiser you can get a fair lick up but we were taking it cautious and easy.

So, 170 or so kms down the way you'll come to a fork in the road (landmark: there's a school on the right hand side)…. take the right fork and after 100 meters or so you'll hit Highway 4 and be on your way to Sihanoukville. Again this road is single carriageway but there are two differences: the good one is the tarmac is sealed and so much easier on your tyres and the bad one is this is the main container truck route from the capital city to the main deep harbour port…….. overtaking is fun!

Anyway, we're getting to the end of the journey here…… the total journey from the border to Sihanoukville is just about 260kms…. as you get into town keep an eye open for the left hand turning (Soviet Street) with two petrol stations with huge concrete forecourt aprons (you really can't miss 'em!) either side of the turning……. drive down there and you'll come to the main drag called Ekareach Street….. turn left for downtown (Freedom Bar!) and the Golden Lion area (many guesthouses, bars, Serendipity and Ochheuteal Beaches etc) or right for Victory Hill, Victory and Hawaii Beaches.

(On my return I was directed to the Thai Customs Office to have my papers checked...... when I pionted out that I had totally by-passed Customs on the way out I was given a smile and a "Mai per rai" and sent on my way!)

PS. The potholes on the 170km stretch from the border to Highway 4 in Cambodia have now been repaired.

HEY GUYS - I HAVE NOT POSTED HERE OFTEN

I WOULD LIKE TO JOIN WITH YOU GUYS OR ANY OTHERS FOR FUTURE RIDES CROSS THAILAND OR GO ACROSS BORDERS

I HAVE A HARLEY IN THAILAND AND HAVE YET TO RIDE CROSS COUNTRY OR INTO ANOTHER COUNTRY SUCH AS CAMBODIA

CHEERS AND RIDE HARD LIVE FREE - JIMI