Canadian man being held against his will in Thailand, family says

[bkkcanuck8]

1 minute ago, Idiotabroad said:

Believe me, if I had one, they would have found it. I was seached for at least 15 minutes.

Wow, I am impressed - such diligence by law enforcement is not something I am use to.  Were they stopping other cars in in a similar manner - or were they focused just on your car like they were thinking you were someone of interest (a matter of wrong place, wrong time and you fit the bill while they were looking for someone else)?

[Jackin1960]

Stupit woman thinks it should make sence, thats a laugh. He was given the option to pay and go but now he is going to get time not just for the drugs but for the huge disapointment the BIB have at not getting the tea money.

[Idiotabroad]

11 minutes ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

Wow, I am impressed - such diligence by law enforcement is not something I am use to.  Were they stopping other cars in in a similar manner - or were they focused just on your car like they were thinking you were someone of interest (a matter of wrong place, wrong time and you fit the bill while they were looking for someone else)?

It was an organized check point, there were a few other Westerners there getting seached as well.

 

The taxi I was in was not searched at all, but the nice taxi driver made sure to keep the meter running for all that time.

 

I don't think they were looking for anyone in particular, but what do I know, I'm just an idiot abroad

Edited January 14, 2018 by Idiotabroad

[mikebike]

1 hour ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

Or was trying to buy it for the purposes of smuggling it back to Canada.

Yeah, next he may try bringing ice to the Norwegians... makes the same amount of sense.

[Ivanovitch]

Bob Marley going to jail for a pipe of ... Let him stay :-)

[bkkcanuck8]

7 minutes ago, mikebike said:

Yeah, next he may try bringing ice to the Norwegians... makes the same amount of sense.

Does not have to be the same drug as he had in possession - there are other drugs here... after all it does have the Golden Triangle which has attracted people here looking to smuggle drugs back to North America.   You laugh at ice, but you never know.... opium or heroin based drugs possibly?  He had MJ in possession, but was not the charge distribution?

 

I am still trying to reconcile the distribution charge - there has to be more to this story.

Edited January 14, 2018 by bkkcanuck8

[buick]

38 minutes ago, Idiotabroad said:

Agreed, I was pulled from a taxi on Asoke about a week ago, they thoroughly searched me and all my bags. Actually took every scrap of paper out of my wallet.

 

I am in my late 40's, white male and I was dressed in a suit at the time.

i've been searched several times at the same checkpoint (asoke at sukhumvit or asoke at rama IV).  last year, i had a backpack with some clothes and stuff as i'd been at an all day event at the mandarin oriental hotel.  not only did they search my body, pockets, socks, shoes plus all the same in my backpack, they also wanted to cut open my back pack as it had some soft 'tissue' (for lack of a better word) sewn into the backpack to protect the area where a lap top is kept.  i guess they figured i might have sewn a half kilo of heroin in there !!!  i do my best to avoid that stretch of road but sometimes i forget and then i get the full search program again.  i don't think they are planting drugs on people either, they've got plenty of people to pick off that are truly holding drugs.

[off road pat]

What kind of drugs did he had in his possession and how much ?

[buick]

36 minutes ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

Wow, I am impressed - such diligence by law enforcement is not something I am use to.  Were they stopping other cars in in a similar manner - or were they focused just on your car like they were thinking you were someone of interest (a matter of wrong place, wrong time and you fit the bill while they were looking for someone else)?

the reason they are so diligent at that particular checkpoint is they can make several hundred thousand baht in a few hours work.  i'm sure some of the people arrested end up in jail but the majority go to the station, pay 'the fine', and go home.  then the proceeds of the nights work are split amongst the officers on duty.  it is a nice boost to their salary.

[milys]

9 hours ago, Kerryd said:

What a load of absolute BS !!

He was busted for having drugs on him ! I suspect that the cops were telling him how much he'd have to pay for BAIL.

 

But the story tries to make it sound like he was kidnapped and being held for ransom (and being starved). Then, at the bottom, no surprise - a "gofundme" link.

Hence the "drama" in the story. Got to play it up and hope those donations start flowing in !

I can't find a link to a local news report about his arrest (which supposedly happened on 9 Jan). 

I totally agree with U. First when I read the article it sounded like somebody had been kidnapped and hold ransom. When I saw the picture of the guy I thought there has to be some kind of drugs involved. So it's another BS story trying to make the guy innocently hold. Why not take the opportunity and pay and make the case go away. Now when the embassy is involved he's going to have go to court which probably will end with two weeks in jail until he's going to court, a couple of thousand bahts fine and then he will be driven to the airport and put on a plane to Canada.

He will also not be able to come to Thailand for the next three years. I assume it was a small quantity of weed that they caught him with hence the small ransom they asked for.

[bkkcanuck8]

12 minutes ago, milys said:

I totally agree with U. First when I read the article it sounded like somebody had been kidnapped and hold ransom. When I saw the picture of the guy I thought there has to be some kind of drugs involved. So it's another BS story trying to make the guy innocently hold. Why not take the opportunity and pay and make the case go away. Now when the embassy is involved he's going to have go to court which probably will end with two weeks in jail until he's going to court, a couple of thousand bahts fine and then he will be driven to the airport and put on a plane to Canada.

He will also not be able to come to Thailand for the next three years. I assume it was a small quantity of weed that they caught him with hence the small ransom they asked for.

It will also very possible it will end up in RCMP Criminal records check (especially if he is convicted here) [I know when UK authorities get involved here - people assume if they serve their complete sentence here there will be no criminal record at home -- and they are most often disappointed].   If he goes and tries to enter the US - the US border agents have access to RCMP files (part of a reciprocal agreement) -- he could very well find himself being rejected since any drug possession arrest bars them potentially.  Then of course there is also the potential that he could be denied boarding on certain flights (I think 70% of "domestic" flights cross the US territory) since the US as of a few years ago gets a copy of every manifest of passengers flying over the US (and I believe can also reject them).  All sorts of potential pitfalls - which only get worse if it is a charge of distribution.

Edited January 14, 2018 by bkkcanuck8

[keithpa]

1 hour ago, jenny2017 said:

My reply to: "Regardless of Shawn's decision to plead guilty, he did state in his interview that he wishes to pursue a case against the police for violation of his rights"

 

   Pursuing the cops for violation being a criminal doesn't make much sense. Does it? 

Plead guilty and your sentence is halved. Doesn't make you a criminal.

[bkkcanuck8]

5 minutes ago, keithpa said:

Plead guilty and your sentence is halved. Doesn't make you a criminal.

What?  I am not sure I am understanding you - since the way I am reading it does not make sense.  

 

Pleading guilty to a criminal offence leaves you with a criminal record.  Pleading guilty to a lesser charge (of which I don't think there is a non-criminal drug possession charge possible) that is not a criminal offence will give you no criminal record.  But the jist of it is that he is charged with a criminal offence and even with 50% off for pleading - it is still a criminal conviction.

 

BTW, the US bars based on arrest - not on conviction. The question they ask is "have you ever been arrested" -- not "have you ever been convicted"

Edited January 14, 2018 by bkkcanuck8

[milys]

4 hours ago, sawadeeken said:

I can't help believe that he was targeted because he is 'black'..... and since he was found involved with drugs he was held.......

Thailand is sweeping the streets of 'blacks' mostly because of the 'Nigerians and their likes'.......... It can't happen in 'first world countries' because of anti-discrimination laws.............. BUT Thailand is having a 'helluva success' with it since they aren't encumbered by such foolish laws.......... In the US our cops have their hands tied behind their backs with such laws and cannot do their jobs properly for fear of 'crying racist' claims........... 3 cheers for Thailand not letting 'them' hide behind that 'discrimination BS'........... One of the few good things I can give Thailand credit for...... IS....... they can see a spade.... as a spade.......... and when it looks like a 'spade'.... IT MOST LIKELY IS A 'SPADE'.........

You must give Thailand 'credit' where 'credit' is deserved........... Their 'BLACK sweep' has been very successful, although they have checked a FEW blacks and found no violations........ and those blacks are living happily ever after.............

I guess you are reading police interviews in the news saying "The Black Eagle Operation" has been very successful. Yeah, they have caught about a hundred small street pushers as a show for the gallery but their places has long ago been filled up with new ones. Around the lower numbers of Sukhumvit there are many places as bars, restaurants etc. that are packed with black pushers of mostly smack but also coke and meth. They can operate pretty undisturbed because they make big donations to the RTP. So I would suggest that you check out the reality and don't base you're comments on what the police want us to believe.

[keithpa]

1 minute ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

What?  I am not sure I am understanding you - since the way I am reading it does not make sense.  

 

Pleading guilty to a criminal offence leaves you with a criminal record.  Pleading guilty to a lesser charge (of which I don't think there is a non-criminal drug possession charge possible) that is not a criminal offence will give you no criminal record.  But the jist of it is that he is charged with a criminal offence and even with 50% off for pleading - it is still a criminal conviction.

Try reading what I said again, carefully, then make you comment.

[captspectre]

held in a basement by two men? sounds phoney to me! probably looking for a hand out! time will tell.

[bkkcanuck8]

7 minutes ago, keithpa said:

Try reading what I said again, carefully, then make you comment.

I must be daft because I read two sentences ... one stating that basically if you plead guilty your sentence is halved.  That was easy to understand.  The next sentence fragment (it is not a sentence as such I interpret it to be poorly written English that this is not a separate thought but part of the first sentence of the same paragraph).  "Doesn't make you a criminal".   So the only way I see this to be made whole with anything of context is to really combine it with the first sentence -- which effectively takes 

 

"Plead guilty and your sentence is halved. Doesn't make you a criminal." 

 

and becomes:

 

"[If you] plead guilty your sentence is halved"  [conjunction] "doesn't make you a criminal".

 

or "If you plead guilty your sentence is halved [and / which] doesn't make you a criminal."

 

Sorry if I am too daft to read it the way you want.

[1happykamper]

His gofund has collected over 3.000 usd! These gofund me things are waaaaaay crazy! Should I start one to pay for my next holiday? Or how about a daily soapy gofund me.. Absolutely ridiculous.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[wakeupplease]

For god sake write the headlines as they are not as you want them to drag people in. There was I on first read thinking the cops where at it again, which they sort of are demanding money or court and it looks likes drugs are involved and he unless planted brought them in.

 

If its drugs and he had them, here is my contribution to his go fund me page You are an idiot man the weed is a drug and is evil.

[bkkcanuck8]

2 minutes ago, wakeupplease said:

You are an idiot man the weed is a drug and is evil.

Drugs are good.  The more people take too much drugs, the less likely they are to be hungry enough to compete in the professional job market - the less competition there is from young whippersnappers - and the more likely I will have more work to do 

[Allen Ginsing]

[free123]

in th if u do the crime u gotta have the cash to pay of the cops....3000 to 5000$ a weak day turnover in the drugs world ..

Edited January 14, 2018 by free123

[owl sees all]

I don't think this guy has done anything wrong. He is standing firm and refusing the pay the extortion money.

 

He should try to turn the incident into a big thing; to shame the cops and Thailand. 

 

Let's hope he doesn't  kick the bucket in captivity.

[Kerryd]

20 minutes ago, bkkcanuck8 said:

What?  I am not sure I am understanding you - since the way I am reading it does not make sense.  

I believe he's trying to insinuate that innocent people will plead guilty so that they will only get half the sentence they'd get if they pled not guilty, went to trial and were then found guilty anyways.

 

If someone does a crime, gets caught and confesses, their sentence is (usually) half the maximum sentence as a reward for not wasting the time (and cost) of having to go to trial. Then they can hope for a Royal Pardon to knock some time off their sentence or even be released (except for those convicted of drug offences or violent crimes). Foreigners could also try for a prisoner transfer after a minimum time has been served (and in the case of Canadians, they'd probably be released as soon as they got back to Canada if the offence was deemed minor enough, or was one that wouldn't normally merit prison time, like a minor possession charge).
If they don't confess and are found guilty anyways, they would normally get the maximum allowable penalty.

Which would still beg the question - why is he apparently planning on pleading guilty to a distribution charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 10- years ? If he was only in possession of a small quantity of a Class V drug (in Thailand that would mean less than 10 kgs of marijuana for example), the maximum sentence would only be 5 years. A distribution charge would (presumably) mean they caught him trying to sell (or actually selling) drugs.

Which leaves me wondering as well. In Canada it doesn't matter if you are caught with the bloody knife in one hand and the head in the other, on video, in front of a hundred eye witnesses, you still plead "not guilty" when you get to court. 
Makes me wonder why Johnson didn't do that, regardless of whether or not he did anything. Unless he did do something and knew he was caught and knew that he'd get boned if he tried to play the "innocent" part.
 

[jenny2017]

 

 "They called us in the middle of the night>" ( Considering the time difference, no surprise) He'd never smoke weed, he's such an angel. 

 

     Let's use a Gufundallthatshite and let others pay for his mistakes. 

[jenny2017]

6 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

I believe he's trying to insinuate that innocent people will plead guilty so that they will only get half the sentence they'd get if they pled not guilty, went to trial and were then found guilty anyways.

 

If someone does a crime, gets caught and confesses, their sentence is (usually) half the maximum sentence as a reward for not wasting the time (and cost) of having to go to trial. Then they can hope for a Royal Pardon to knock some time off their sentence or even be released (except for those convicted of drug offences or violent crimes). Foreigners could also try for a prisoner transfer after a minimum time has been served (and in the case of Canadians, they'd probably be released as soon as they got back to Canada if the offence was deemed minor enough, or was one that wouldn't normally merit prison time, like a minor possession charge).
If they don't confess and are found guilty anyways, they would normally get the maximum allowable penalty.

Which would still beg the question - why is he apparently planning on pleading guilty to a distribution charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 10- years ? If he was only in possession of a small quantity of a Class V drug (in Thailand that would mean less than 10 kgs of marijuana for example), the maximum sentence would only be 5 years. A distribution charge would (presumably) mean they caught him trying to sell (or actually selling) drugs.

Which leaves me wondering as well. In Canada it doesn't matter if you are caught with the bloody knife in one hand and the head in the other, on video, in front of a hundred eye witnesses, you still plead "not guilty" when you get to court. 
Makes me wonder why Johnson didn't do that, regardless of whether or not he did anything. Unless he did do something and knew he was caught and knew that he'd get boned if he tried to play the "innocent" part.
 

I assume that he got busted while selling something, eventually to an informant. There are cops who drive TukTuks in their free time, who also do business. But they could also hang somebody, depending on the situation. 

[Sir Dude]

Probably not a tourist and got caught sell something or scamming. Nothing new here, move along. Even has already set up a "Go fund me" page....red flags flapping in the wind everywhere on this one.

 

If you pull the s%it then expect to be called out.  

[Kerryd]

1 minute ago, jenny2017 said:

I assume that he got busted while selling something, eventually to an informant. There are cops who drive TukTuks in their free time, who also do business. But they could also hang somebody, depending on the situation. 

I remember years (and years) ago when I'd be walking down Walking Street and touts would sidle up to you asking if you wanted to buy cigarettes and then, very quietly, whisper "ganja" as well. I always suspected that more than one of them (if not most of them) were actually cops. I don't do drugs anyways so it wasn't an issue but when you watch what goes on there for awhile, I definitely got the impression that all was not as it seemed.

 

And why not ? Why wouldn't Thailand have undercover agents ? Especially when it comes to dealing with foreigners. It's been in the news recently (and noted earlier in this thread) that the police have been targeting "African" gangs so you'd expect they'd be staking out places where deals are known to be happening and maybe trying to snare some "small fish" to try and get to the "bigger fish". Maybe they thought Johnson was a "small fish" and found out that he was just a "tourist". (Doesn't explain the distribution charge though. Would be nice if there'd been an actual news report about the incident. Been 5 days now and not a whisper about it in the local English language media that I've seen)

But as it always seems to be, we get one, seemingly biased, side to the story and that's it. 

We've had so many stories recently that seem a tad bit too outlandish (and most of them also had "GoFundMe" links as well) that you start to wonder every time you see another story crop up and then notice the gofundme link at the bottom.

Like the Brit couple that tried to claim they'd been robbed and beaten on their first day in Thailand (and set up a GoFundMe to cover their medical expenses) when in fact they'd been trying to break into hotel rooms and the husband was hurt jumping from a balcony.

Or the Irish guys who claimed they'd been raped and that their insurance company was refusing to help them when in fact they apparently had been engaging in unprotected sex and tried to get their insurance company to pay for STD testing, then went home and made up the rape story so they could be tested (for free). 
Or the woman who claimed she was at a bar with a friend who went to the bathroom and the next thing she remembered was waking up in a "windowless" room, tied up on a mattress, with 6 men (one dressed as a policeman) who were trying to rape her. She was apparently able to escape by jumping out a window and then hiding in some bushes for "6-7" hours "while the police were searching for her and her plane tickets were mysteriously cancelled (etc, etc). That GoFundMe apparently got them over $8,000 when the goal was only $3000. She and the guy who had "gone to the bathroom" (and who somehow needed airfare home as well) were able to fly back in style (oh but they were going to donate some of the extra to charity of course).

Not to mention the GoFundMe's that need $75,000-100,000 (+) to "get Uncle Diddlesworth's body home and pay for the funeral".

When the headline reads something like "Canadian man being held against his will in Thailand, family says" and then you see the "GoFundMe" link at the bottom, it almost begs you to look a little closer, with a little (lot) more skeptical attitude.

(Though there are many who buy such stories hook, line and sinker without even the least amount of suspicion.) 

[dpdp]

Nowhere I see mentioned drug, they only talk about weed.

 

Anyway only stupid people believe that you go to jail in 2018 fr some weed.

 

He will be fined 2000 thb and be sent back home.

 

 

[Russell17au]

3 hours ago, captspectre said:

held in a basement by two men? sounds phoney to me! probably looking for a hand out! time will tell.

I would guess that, that is what he told his family and friends back in Canada to make it easier to scam money from people through GoFundMe