Suvarnabhumi Airport Horror Story !

[opothai]

People who blame the victim are, in truth, also terrified of the thought that it could happen to them too.

So the brains of these terrified people trigger a defense mechanism to protect themselves against such fear, and so they tell themselves, "It wouldn't happen to me because... ummm... because.... ummmm.... Oh! Because I'm not that stupid! It was his own stupidity that caused it! So I can feel safe now because I'm not as stupid as him!"

Similar to another thread where a farang was beaten up by cops for a ridiculously lame reason and the other posters blamed it on the victim's "stupidity" (he defended himself from a plainclothes drunken cop on a rampage and so the cop's other cop friends beat up the victim), and where some posters even said he deserved it.

good point

i read that post too, and as with this one, thier are some strange and interesting points of view.

but as in a lot of the posts than maybe construed as whinges, absolutely no compasion towards the falang.

we all make mistakes sometimes, or are some just downright perfect.

[Temporaneo]

People who blame the victim are, in truth, also terrified of the thought that it could happen to them too.

So the brains of these terrified people trigger a defense mechanism to protect themselves against such fear, and so they tell themselves, "It wouldn't happen to me because... ummm... because.... ummmm.... Oh! Because I'm not that stupid! It was his own stupidity that caused it! So I can feel safe now because I'm not as stupid as him!"

Similar to another thread where a farang was beaten up by cops for a ridiculously lame reason and the other posters blamed it on the victim's "stupidity" (he defended himself from a plainclothes drunken cop on a rampage and so the cop's other cop friends beat up the victim), and where some posters even said he deserved it.

Agree. We all could lose our passport. That's not good reason to be verbally abused and gun menaced.

[onzestan]

People who blame the victim are, in truth, also terrified of the thought that it could happen to them too.

So the brains of these terrified people trigger a defense mechanism to protect themselves against such fear, and so they tell themselves, "It wouldn't happen to me because... ummm... because.... ummmm.... Oh! Because I'm not that stupid! It was his own stupidity that caused it! So I can feel safe now because I'm not as stupid as him!"

Similar to another thread where a farang was beaten up by cops for a ridiculously lame reason and the other posters blamed it on the victim's "stupidity" (he defended himself from a plainclothes drunken cop on a rampage and so the cop's other cop friends beat up the victim), and where some posters even said he deserved it.

Agree. We all could lose our passport. That's not good reason to be verbally abused and gun menaced.

Indeed, but in this case he didn't lose it.

We all know that you have to have your passport and TM card ready when you approach the Immigration Desk. So he must have realized that he forgot his passport before he spoke to the immigration officer.

I can only compare his actions with what I would've done in the same position, and that's turnaround and run back to the exchange boot as quickly as I could.

I'm not implying anything here, but I do have questions on my mind about his story, and the story about being beaten by the police has absolutely no bearing on this case.

my 2 cents

onzestan

[MaiPenLai]

Please be very careful if you enter the Unites States and tell them you don't have a passport, but you'll give one of the kind Homeland Security folk 50 cents if he'll go look for it back down "that way". I don't think they'll be amused!

Just too fnnnn funny

[WISteve]

The odd request in a foreign language combined with the offer of money was probably misunderstood.

I can see how it might happen, and you can't expect immigration to be your goffer.

In hindsight it's easy to see you should have done your own fetching. Which you ultimately did.

The security officer was probably reacting to a perceived threat and stuff can escalate quickly in those situations.

Lesson learned but hardly a horror story. Common sense IMO.

~WISteve

[Phil Conners]

Actually an irate traveler shouldn't be cause to pull a gun unless he pull one first!

[Travel2003]

Unfortunately I am not surprised about the incident.

Does not matter how much I have learned to love this country, but the Immigration Officers at the air port are without a doubt the absolute worst representatives for this country.

9 out of 10 times when I arrive/depart, I'm just happy to pass without any more stupid (yes plain stupid) comments or complaints from the Officer.

99% of them never smile.

Each and every family member or friends that have visited me over the years have told me how surprised they are, since they have been told that this is the land of smiles.

By the way, I read in BKK Post some time back that it was decided to send all Immigrations Officers on a course to teach them how to be polite.

With and exception to the Immigrations Officers in "God's own country" (USA), where every visitor is treated as a potential treat to the country, the Thai Immigration must be a good number 2.

Luckily as soon as one has passed the Immigration, one keep learning all the time what a wonderful country this really is.

rgds

Sailor

[OxfordWill]

Thanks for sharing- an interesting story. Easily understandable when you are tired and not wanting to Q again. It surely could have happened to any of us.

[DirkGently]

It seems that the airport idea of sending the immigration staff on smiling courses has failed. Thai passport staff are the second worst I have ever met. The U.S being the first, after I landed on September 10th 2002 with a passport from an Islamic country, I am glad to say I am not a muslim and can still look at my self in the mirror, I was dragged to one side and questioned.

Singapore were the nicest. They joked with me about how many days I needed. A really nice welcome to their country.

[peter991]

Dirk: I second your comments about Changi Airport in Singpore. It is what Suvarnabhumi Airport should be like. Suvarnabhumi has improved since it opened. I was one of its first passengers and I went through earlier this week. Improved yes - but still a l-o-n-g way to go.

After 30 years in the planning - I expected a better airport than what Thailand has delivered. A showcase it is not.

Peter

[Toptrainer]

Peter,

So sorry this has happened to you it must have been very scarey.

Something tells me you have been to Thailand before and knew it would be virtualy impossible to get anyone to retrieve your passport with out offering to pay them.

I will remind you of one thing before you post here many of the people on this board are absolutly perfect and would never forget something or make a misteak.

I will also point out that you are in Thailand and that gives Thais the right to treat you in any manner they so desire. According to this board Thais are perfect just like the posters. If you cannot or will not accept this you should go home. It is perfectly reasonable to be over charged, harrased,or physically abused while in the LOS and you should be overjoyed when this happens because......well bad things can happen anywhere and the weather is good and there are lots of girls.

I hope this clears things up for you enjoy your trip and enjoy your posting!

[mikethevigoman]

my money goes that he didn't tell the whole story, and probably got aggravated at the thai immigration, when they refused to let him "keep his place in the queue" and his own aggravation (tired etc.. whatever) casued the police to become aggravated at him.

Theres 3 sides to every story, yours .mine, then the truth !

[mikethevigoman]

It would be an unusual response in most civilised countries.

Totally agree, if what he has said is true, its getting like iraq here !

[mikethevigoman]

NO Passport, No entry.

It's the same in every country.

Why didn't the OP go back to the money exchange and retrieve his passport, instead of asking the immigration ppl to do it for him, and offer them money?

No excuse for laziness, the immigration ppl are not here to fetch your belongings, they are charged with immigration duties, that should be clear enough, but some people will never learn.

On realising i had left it at the exchange i would have politely excused myself from the que and gone back for it,. from my experience here that would have done it with no problems,..

[PeaceBlondie]

I never noticed the Thai immigration officers at the airports (BKK or Chiang Mai) being worse than average. Each of us has had different experiences. Even when I came into BKK thinking I had a very good B visa (when I actually had no visa at all), both the ladies were courteous in telling me why my visa had been cancelled, and gave me a nice little visa-less stamp.

[BigSnake]

What happen to all that Sawsdee (smile and be polite)training the Airport Staff went to a few months ago?? I wonder, just another case of show a good face.

[onzestan]

Just one question.

Was he sober or drunk? He's hardly going to post "He I was drunk, got abusive, and the police pulled a gun on me" isn't he.

Learn to read between the lines plse.

onzestan

[peter991]

I am a non-drinker - nothing stronger than Iced Coffee or orange juice for me.

Peter

[blizzard]

this is like a non event.

if they shot this guy then we would have something to chat about...............lol.

about translating between languages. we are in thiland we should learn to speak their language not them to speak ours..............lol.

god i love this place!

[Thai-Spy]

Would be interested to know what the OP means by "gun pulled on me". Did the officer simply unholster his weapon and hold it at his side, or did he assume a firing stance and point his weapon at you?

[ProThaiExpat]

Peter: I don't think you would have posted this unless the experience upset you. Perhaps a language barrier issue is also involved.

My Aussie son-in-law left a message on my answering machine in Hawaii, before I met him, which included what I thought was a Russian word, godanya, turned out to be "good on you", in English.

Perhaps it is helpful to consider what might have happened, as it happened to my Thai mate returning from Australia through the new airport in November. When he turned from his baggage cart to the carousel to see if his bag had arrived and when he turned back, wallet, passport and all travel documents gone. He told police it was a matter of seconds.

They told him there were gangs of "foreign" illegal criminals working the new airport.

Edited April 28, 2007 by ProThaiExpat

[Just another BOF]

Would be interested to know what the OP means by "gun pulled on me". Did the officer simply unholster his weapon and hold it at his side, or did he assume a firing stance and point his weapon at you?

Surely only a policeman or a seasoned criminal would know this. If someone pulls agun out you are going to worry.

[peter991]

The Officer removed his gun from his holster and pointed the weapon at the ground.

I have worked in Law Enforcement and one never removes a weapon from its holster unless one is prepared to use it.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing: Looking back - what I should have done is quietly exit the queue, apologise if necessary and retrace my steps back to the Money Exchange.

I think uttering the words "I have lost my Passport" set off alarm bells in the head of the Passport Control Officer.

Peter

[Toptrainer]

Peter,

I will be the first on the forum to appologize to YOU. For someone to say that you might have been drunk is absolutly rediculous.

As often as I see Thai police or officials in uniform having a sit down to a few glasses of whiskey I would say that there would be a good case for the immigration guy being drunk.

PS I dont know Peter but I think it is really poor taste to accuse or harrass anyone who post a very typical story of offical abuse in a THIRD WORLD country.

[WISteve]

Something tells me you have been to Thailand before and knew it would be virtualy impossible to get anyone to retrieve your passport with out offering to pay them.

"

They are called immigration officers. They do not FETCH!

He made the mistake of not quietly leaving the que and going back to get his passport (which he has admitted in a later post BTW).

"I will be the first on the forum to appologize to YOU. For someone to say that you might have been drunk is absolutly rediculous.

As often as I see Thai police or officials in uniform having a sit down to a few glasses of whiskey I would say that there would be a good case for the immigration guy being drunk. mad.gif

"

And should one of us apologize to all thai officials for you assuming the immigration officer was drunk? Don't be a tosser. Don't accuse some immigration officer of being drunk on the job if you find it so offensive directed at some poster on a web forum. Besides the fact that you were not there and have no basis to make such an assumption.

And it's still not a horror story.

If you have so little regard for all thais...................................., well you know the line.

------------------------------------------------

Admittedly I've only been through thai immigration a few dozen times, but I've managed to get a respectful and pleasant enough response from the employees there. A little secret for you: be courteous and smile at THEM for a change! They just might surprise you and respond inkind.

That and don't do stupid stuff and try to bribe an immigration officer?

~WISteve

Edited April 29, 2007 by WISteve