gemdealers

They are fullfilling Interpol's red and yellow notices, since Interpol opened a branch in pattaya, looks like they have joined forces into working together.

Also British Police Soca have opened up offices in Bangkok.

Can you clarify Soca please?

Serious Organised Crime Agency.... they are the Britsh FBI made up of regional crimesquad officers and customs investigations officers, ex military and MI5.

Not sure where the poster got the idea that they have an office here in Bangkok, I would imagine that they would work directly with the officers based at the Embassey

I love it, Just finished a busniess meeting, two boxes a blue stiffies and off to Pattaya.

Looks like he needed on to goto Ekimi station to fufill his dream of a nice slow screw.

Look at the bright side, he never had to worry about what he was gonna catch, and 15,000 was probably cheaper then the rent he would have paid to use his blue bombers.

Is it illegal to buy viagra here??? And truly is posession a crime?

A friend of mine wrote about this awful experience. A sign of the times I would think:- Has this happened to anyone else?

Beware of Thai police at Ekamai bus station!

I arrived in Thailand early on 16 Sept and after a business meeting in Bangkok I took the BTS to Ekamai bus station to catch a bus to Pattaya. As I was walking from the BTS station to the bus station I had to pass by the Police Box situated just outside the entrance. As I approached a policeman came outside and asked me where I was going. I told him I was going to Pattaya. He asked me to see my Passport which I showed him and then he told me to come inside the police box. I reluctantly obliged and found there were two more cops inside. The first one told me they were searching tourists for illegal drugs especially heroin and I told them I don’t do drugs. He told me not to worry and that if I didn’t have any they would let me go. At this point I did start to worry because knowing the reputation of Thai police I thought that they might plant something on me and I was alone with no witnesses.

They proceeded to search my pockets and then my backpack and everything was fine until they found two packs of Viagra. The first cop told me that it was illegal to have Viagra in Thailand without a Doctors certificate and that they would now have to take me to the police station. I asked him if we could just settle it here and I’d pay the fine to which he responded “Oh no, that corruption”. He then proceeded to explain to me that he would really like to help me out but he could do nothing without his boss’s authority, so I asked him if I could talk to his boss. He asked me to wait and he would try to contact his boss by phone. He then dialed a number on his phone and stepped outside the police box.

At this point the younger of the other two cops began to speak to me very friendly and told me that he didn’t think that they could help me but they would like to.

The older one then started to butt in and play the bad cop saying things like “You go to station, you go jail”. So I was getting the good cop, bad cop routine and was getting seriously worried.

The first cop then came back and said that he couldn’t contact his boss and that they would soon take me to the station. The whole situation was made worse by the fact that I couldn’t call anyone because my phones battery was dead.

After sometime of waiting and worrying the first cops phone rang and he stepped outside to take the call. When he came back he told me that his boss said it would be ok if I just paid the fine.

I felt relieved but also shocked when they told me the fine was 15,000 Baht but I agreed to pay just to get the hel_l out of there.

I gave them the money and was allowed to go at which point I pretty much knew I’d been scammed since I was not issued a receipt.

I have since found out that you can buy Viagra anywhere in Thailand over the counter and that it is illegal for cops to search you for drugs unless a special drugs officer is present.

These cops probably pull this off several times a day with unsuspecting tourists taking the bus from Ekamai. It’s a shame that the Thai police let their Country down like this, and are allowed to do more damage to their Country's already tarnished reputation. I am writing this as a warning to others so please pass it on.

Yes, I am one of 3 main characters in the program (which is still being filmed by the way!).

Finally people will see what we REALLY do, which is very different to the BS written on chat forums.

It follows the Tourist Police around Thailand, but the main "action" comes from Pattaya.

I actually think that the program is a great advert for Thailand (the crime side is nothing you wouldn't see in any other tourist city). The camera teams have gone around Thailand to show the UK audience the beauty of Thailand which is a big part of the series.

It is filmed in a very "funky" way as it is on a channel which targets young guys.

I have seen rough cuts of the show and it looks good.

I was out in Walking street last night and noticed that although the Thai Hobby Bobbies were out and about there were no Westerners.

Has that show Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand caused them some problems??

I think for what it is worth that having Westerners as a buffer to the Thai Police is a sensible idea but if the volunteers then decide to be De Facto Police and put people into the corrupt, racist and barbaric legal system here then that is deplorable.

I would like to know what the current situation is with this Hobby Bobby program that the Thais are doing.

I was out in Walking street last night and noticed that although the Thai Hobby Bobbies were out and about there were no Westerners.

Has that show Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand caused them some problems??

I think for what it is worth that having Westerners as a buffer to the Thai Police is a sensible idea but if the volunteers then decide to be De Facto Police and put people into the corrupt, racist and barbaric legal system here then that is deplorable.

I would like to know what the current situation is with this Hobby Bobby program that the Thais are doing.

I am very interested in opening a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu academy in Pattaya; I go there to train Muay Thai and am always finding people who would like to train BJJ. Can I apply for a teaching permit if I am "teaching" Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?

Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,

Chris

Hi there,

Teaching permits don't exist but work permits do. I have no idea how strict they are down in Pattaya about this stuff.

Be great if there was somewhere to train BJJ in Pattaya that is for sure.

As an employer of many over the years I was often asked this question and sometimes even had the girls dancing around the subject as well. Friends who were working girls would sometimes be very open about it but the end result is almost universally the same. Once the bullshit lies and excuses for getting into the game are brushed aside, what you are left with is the lure of easy money, getting away from the family and / or village, being able to "morally" dump their relatively unwanted kids and the freedom. Add in an underlying laziness, a requirement for instant gratification rather than saving and a total inability to function as a normal adult and you have a very desperate proposition. Often there are booze and drug (less common) issues but the love of the nightlife is insatiable.

You can't send them back to the village and expect them to sleep when dark and wake with the cockrel 365 days a year. Yet you cannot keep them in the cities as they are moths to the flame. For many, there is no solution. Throwing money at them will not work, it didn't when they were hookers did it ?

I would tell them to remain as part time hookers and get a regular job, turning tricks until they could earn an income of sorts, perhaps after college. But they have to know they are looking at 10k a month tops and less than that usually.

To be honest, unless you have some serious motive to help, just leave them be and let them drift into whatever they do. For 99%+ there is no salvation.

Great reply. Let's not forget that most Thai girls are not hookers and those that are generally CHOOSE to be so.

Voicing an opinnion and excercing your rights seems to only belong to one group. Democracy my Butt

Lack of democracy is throughout the world. The only difference here is that the lack of democracy is more transparent.

I wonder when the Thais will realise that this is a battle between Royalists and Republicans??

Joking apart what would they get done for?

Thanks very much. Must be my ISP. I pinged the site too and no reply.

Thanks again.

Scott

Hi All,

I just tried to log onto Ebay.com Ebay.com.au and UK and got the address not found error message. When I logged on using a proxy server based in Germany I got on no problem.

Has Ebay been blocked in Thailand for some reason does anyone know or is it just a routing problem?

Have a great weekend!!!

Scott

Glad this isn't an advert.

My god! You cant even slap someone on the back without some bitter grumpy expired expat being snide.

Pathetic

Mr. Snide..actually. Okay - fine..then why not answer this poster's question?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=99996

He's trying to find "verifiable" stats of condos sold in the last month - Since you just bought, perhaps you and your new mate Mark can fill him in?

It's a good and valid question to get a real idea of what's really going on minus all the BS that goes on by the schills here on TV and the laughably optimistic nonesene spouted in the newspaper proprty pages - like the Nation's Property Quarterly whose headline shouted out that the Coup led to a boom in home purchases...I mean by whom? Soldiers expecting graft to come their way?

I hear that basically the property market is stagnant. I will ask and find out the answer to his question and let you know. My situation was different as my $ was here already.

My comment about being snide was rather snide too by the way...

Glad this isn't an advert.

My god! You cant even slap someone on the back without some bitter grumpy expired expat being snide.

Pathetic

After 4 years living in Thailand and too many bitter years in Indonesia, I decided that renting a condo was the only way to go as I was sick of being lead up the garden path by agents. I am the expat who hates being called a 'white nigger' and especially when I am looking to spend $200k on condos.

Anyway I finally took the plunge and bought and why? Cos I had a western guy take the reins, negotiate, sort out the paperwork and legal stuff and returned all my calls on time! Imagine going to an appointment to view and the Thai person actually turn up on time???

Anyway this isnt an advert but rather a pat on the back for Marc Holt.

If you want like me to be treated like a human and get your property sorted with honest no BS advice then call my new mate. PM me for details

Don't tell him it was me that recommended him but find out for yourself. Support your local expat especially one that goes to so much effort.

Cheers

Scott

Hi all,

I am not a regular contributor here as I generally don't have much to contribute. I have finally found out the correct and easy way if you have a Paypal accont here in Thailand and DONT have a Thai credit card to get payments sent to your Bangkok Bank account.

Its actually very simple and can be done with two emails. You need just one form and that's it! I was unable to upload the form here so if you need it or need any help just email me ******email address deleted***** and I will forward you the details.

They only charge $5 and 0.25% per transaction so its not a dear way to deal!

Cheers!!

Mod: Email deleted. See forum rule 12 "Due to potential spam problems, email addresses are not permitted in posts or signatures. " Please PM the mod if you have any questions.

Short answer. Yes. Leave your liberal claptrap at home.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Clearly the death penalty is inappropriate. In a flawed legal system with corruption how on earth could it be appropriate?

I mean its not as if they have the P E R F E C T sytem without corruption like the US huh and would never kill the wrong people.... NOT!!!!!

As someone who is totally not a liberal... intelligence helps when trying to be conservative!!!

Of course if a foreigner commits a crime against a Thai our boys in brown will follow-up.  What about the cop who committed premeditated murder of the two Brits in Kanchanaburi?  Has that case been dropped or what?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here here I agree.....I love living here but being called a "Nigger" all the time and being regarded as trash does get me down sometimes.

Lucky asians who get lots of rights in my country.....

http://bangkokexpat.blogspot.com/

I hope Thai officials do read those posts, they will then understand the cause of the problem. My opinion is:

We foreigners created prostitution at the first place by offering Thai's money they could never make that easy by working regurarly jobs. For example a standard price for one night with a Thai is around 1000-1500 Bht; when if the Thai was just working she/he would make around 6000-10000 Bht/month on a six days week, 8to 10 daily. If you do the Maths you will see that that 6 customers equal a full months salary and they can sleep for the rest of the month!

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sorry Prostitution throughout SE Asia is 95% for locals not foreigners. The areas such as Nana. Cowboy and Silom are just but the tip of the iceberg.

Whilst Thailand toes the US line and allows secret interrogation of terror suspects outside of international law at Utapao etc the world will do nothing about such blatant cases of corrupt courts.

Hi there,

Yes if we decide to go ahead with the idea then we will of course get work permits for the person (s) that we work with. I believe that the market locally would be expatriates initially and should everything go well we would expand into Singapore.

Dear Brian,

I quite agree with you posting that advice.The amount of Aussies defrauded by people here in Thailand selling stocks and shares is phenomenal. I read only a few days ago that these 'bolier room' operations are continuing here in Bangkok.

The very fact that people get defrauded with gems is what is motivating us to offer this service. With high turnover there is no need to make large margins. Jewellery shops for centuries have been making 100's % mark up on diamonds (hence why they always have top quality premises in the high street). Our thoughts on wholesaleing diamonds direct to the public is nothing magical its just down to simple cost cutting.

A diamond normally passes through 4 different hands prior to reaching the shop where the retailer then adds his huge margin (after all he has HUGE overheads). Our idea as we buy direct from the cutters is to just cut out all those middlemen and using www.escrow.com as a payment system allows our clients to check their deal out PRIOR to funds being released to ourselves. I think that the average Joe had been defrauded for years by family jewellers and I hope that should we get this venture off the ground that we will be able to provide a great service and inexpensive stones and at the same time make a profit oursleves.

Kind regards

Scott

PS LOL I didnt think I would have to argue a corner or explain my business here,..... I just want some expat help thats all!! Feel free to contact me at anytime

Dear Brian,

We are diamond dealers of high standing. Our websites include www.gemdealers.net thai-diamonds.com , moissanitesource.com.

We sell only CERTIFIED stones certiified either by GIA or IGI here in Bangkok. We also sell stones EXCLUSIVELY using ESCROW (www.escrow.com) thus buyer and seller are 100% protected.

I must say Brian a personal email making an enquiry about our business or a phone call would be more polite than a comment such as 'sounds like a scam to me'.

Please feel free to contact me at anytime should you wish to clarify any facts with me.

Regards

Scott

018378062

Hi there,

We are considering using telemarketing and direct sales methods of selling our diamonds. We are able to offer diamonds direct to the customer for 25% less than the standard Int wholesale price.

We are looking for motivated people (who have no knowledge of the gem trade!)who would like to join with us in the devolopment of this idea and put the plan into action. We envisage there being salaried and commission based opprotunities and welcome honest , forward thinking English speaking people to contact me as soon as possible.

+6618378062

Scott

Hi there,

If anyone is interested we are suppliers of certified loose diamonds and can also provide pointers on where to buy gemstones too here in Thailand. If we can be of any help to anyone looking to purchase such products please contact us. If you just want to know whether a website or shop is reputable we will happily give you our opinion.