Australian man arrested with 26 iPhone smart phones at Suvarnabhumi airport

[webfact]

Man arrested with 26 iPhone smart phones at airport

By Thai PBS

 

 

BANGKOK: -- An Australian man was arrested at Suvarnabhumi international airport on Sunday as he tried to smuggle 26 iPhone X smart phones worth an estimated one million baht into the country.

 

The Australian, identified as Ho Won Harvard Lee, who claimed to be a music producer in Australia reportedly said that he intended to sell the smart phones in Singapore.

 

He claimed that he was not aware that he had to declare the phones with customs officials for tax assessment and payment because he was awaiting to connect a flight to Singapore.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/man-arrested-26-iphone-smart-phones-airport/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2017-09-25

[wakeupplease]

Someone wants a new IPhone 10 then, looks like they will get it.

[ezzra]

Apparently, the phones he was trying to smuggle were

smart, unlike this  "Australian" though....

[Jeremy50]

Thanks, I think we all know that an i phone is a 'smart phone'

 

[theoldgit]

I wonder how he got hold of that many, or indeed any, iPhone X's, they're not being sold until November.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

I think they mean iPhone 8!

[Wilsonandson]

 

[lordblackader]

iPhone X isn't available until Nov. 3, if he had 26 of them...

[harrycallahan]

Did he pass customs? If not I would have thought he was in the right. 

[Luckysilk]

 

Airport officials now have nice new phones.

 

 

 

 

[Thian]

If he stayed in the transitzone only i don't understand what he did wrong, except that the Iphone-X is not released yet.

[hansnl]

59 minutes ago, theoldgit said:

I wonder how he got hold of that many, or indeed any, iPhone X's, they're not being sold until November.

It is always possible to obtain things before the official date of sale.

Stock has to be moved to the points of sale, in the whole chain of supply breaches are possible.

[mikebell]

Ho Lee Mackerel!  How did they know he had all these phones?  Why would they X-ray luggage in transit?

[Boycie]

The report forgot to say that he passed through the 'Nothing to Declare Green Lane'.

 

Waiting for a connecting flight to Singapore.....after a few nights in Bangkok? Not the same as being in transit.

Edited September 25, 2017 by Boycie

[StayinThailand2much]

"He claimed that he was not aware that he had to declare the phones with customs officials for tax assessment and payment because he was awaiting to connect a flight to Singapore."

 

So why did he have to go through customs, then? And if his connecting flight left from the other airport, why didn't he declare them to customs?

 

Reads suspiciously just like stories from the Hong Kong - mainland China border, with guys taping dozens of phones to their body (then being picked out for their strange 'moonwalk'), or school kids from China, going to school in Hong Kong, in the afternoon smuggling backpacks full of i-Phones back to the mainland, in exchange for candies and fast food...

 

Maybe someone promised this guy the same: "You like yummy burgah?" - "Yes, suah." ---- Take these phones to Bangkok, and the guy who picks you up at Arrival will buy you a whole Family Meal..."

Edited September 25, 2017 by StayinThailand2much

[oxo1947]

Apparently the new iPhone X  will be excellent value at about 50,000-60,000.

It’s the last phone you’ll ever going to need for the next eight months.....

[CARBO]

They must be the clone iPhone X from China, or perhaps, genuine iPhone 8s.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

I have never heard of anyone getting arrested for trying to smuggle electronics. Usually the punishment is confiscation or fine, not arrest.

[thhMan]

44 minutes ago, harrycallahan said:

Did he pass customs? If not I would have thought he was in the right. 

That what I thought too.

I didnt know customs checked luggage on connecting flights... and also would not need to declare anything while waiting for his next flight

[Kadilo]

47 minutes ago, harrycallahan said:

Did he pass customs? If not I would have thought he was in the right. 

Yeah maybe but best take them away for further inspection :)

[Thian]

4 minutes ago, CARBO said:

They must be the clone iPhone X from China, or perhaps, genuine iPhone 8s.

I just learned that Apple asks several different factories to make their new models so they can do quality control. The factories who are not selected for the big production can keep their models and do whatever they like with them, so they'll sell them of course to get their investmentcosts back.

[Boycie]

5 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

I have never heard of anyone getting arrested for trying to smuggle electronics. Usually the punishment is confiscation or fine, not arrest.

 

The iPhone series 8 has not yet received permission to be sold or used in Thailand, so possession of the device was against the law.

[USNret]

Rather puzzling.  The depicted phone is on the "Rogers" network which is a Canadian service provider. They have international roaming, but not in Thailand and not in Singapore.  So how exactly did he expect to peddle these phones?  

[Thian]

4 minutes ago, Boycie said:

 

The iPhone series 8 has not yet received permission to be sold or used in Thailand, so possession of the device was against the law.

But he didn't sell or use them afaik.

 

I guess he went through the customs with them but the reporters forgot to mention that important fact.

[USNret]

10 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

I have never heard of anyone getting arrested for trying to smuggle electronics. Usually the punishment is confiscation or fine, not arrest.

 

Failing to declare is a crime.  Certainly this number of phones exceeds the limit of duty-free import.

[Thian]

6 minutes ago, Boycie said:

 

The iPhone series 8 has not yet received permission to be sold or used in Thailand, so possession of the device was against the law.

I also have electronics which are not sold yet in Thailand..brought it from Europe. Would that mean i did something illegal for Thai law?

 

So any person with an Iphone 8 from abroad is in fact doing something illegal?

[theguyfromanotherforum]

11 minutes ago, Boycie said:

 

The iPhone series 8 has not yet received permission to be sold or used in Thailand, so possession of the device was against the law.

 

So, if I buy my iPhone in Canada and bring it to Thailand for personal use, it is against the law?

 

I know well it is very unlikely to happen that customs will bother me, but strictly speaking about the law it is illegal?

 

Because if there is someone who wants to see a payday they can legally make an issue about it.

[Toshiba66]

5 minutes ago, Thian said:

I also have electronics which are not sold yet in Thailand..brought it from Europe. Would that mean i did something illegal for Thai law?

 

So any person with an Iphone 8 from abroad is in fact doing something illegal?

Not with one phone surely but 26 of them...................

[oxo1947]

Last time I was in Pataya this cute Issan teenager was showing me her state of the art phone in Soi 6, --(a gift of course) It's got everything, she boasted,  got-4g, wifi, big-gig memory, can search for everything , email tracking, this phone can do anything.

 

Really?  I replied. ---Can it find your father? .......

[StayinThailand2much]

5 minutes ago, Thian said:

I also have electronics which are not sold yet in Thailand..brought it from Europe. Would that mean i did something illegal for Thai law?

 

So any person with an Iphone 8 from abroad is in fact doing something illegal?

I would think that, at least, it wouldn't lead to any issues, if you brought just one for own use, rather than bringing in several, where your intention to sell them is obvious.