Foreigners in Thailand warned about people impersonating immigration officers

[joebrown]

It's easy enough to distinguish a real immigration officer from a fake one. The fake officer will be wearing a smart tight fitting brown uniform. The real IOs always wear baggy pants to accommodate their oversized sphincters.

[Mr Meeseeks]

12 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

That resembles the stories I have read. I’ve not heard of the 100,000 THB hotel shake down (apart from an event in Phuket involving some ‘pink coloured hotel’ near the HKT Airport a few years back). 

 

I have read that the non-uniformed customs guys are looking to catch guys who’ve entered Thailand with goods exceeding their duty free allowance and hoping to extort them with an excessive fine.

 

I’ve not read of any such stories for a good few years though, ten or so.

 

 

I can imagine how threatening it is for someone to be stopped outside of an airport and searched - in such a situation I would always want to return back inside to the relative security of the airport.

 

 

I still think the ID thing is irrelevant - ID can be easily faked and how many of us know what the real Thai Police or Immigration ID looks like anyway ?

If I was a tourist it would have been the last time I would have set foot in the country. No doubt about it. 

 

As you state international airports are meant to be regarded as relatively safe and less experienced travellers would have really been intimidated by this. I have travelled extensively as I worked offshore for many years and been to West Africa, Timor, PNG, South America etc. and this was up there with one of the most unpleasant experiences I have had in any airport globally, and I include incidents of being extorted taking expensive equipment into Equatorial Guinea, having no luggage on arrival in a remote airport in Cameroon and being stranded among armed militia in Nigeria when I lost my bodyguards. 

 

Fortunately I had already been in Thailand on and off for 14 years and so knew the lay of the land and how to play the game.

 

Bet if I had been travelling with my Thai gf it wouldn't have happened. 

Edited July 14, 2021 by Mr Meeseeks

[Liverpool Lou]

11 hours ago, LikeItHot said:

Address certs are supposed to be free. They charge 300 baht in Phuket. The old boss got pushed out for corruption the new one came.in and said "If any of my officers charge you for this service report it to me....BUT I DONT THINK ANY OF THEM DO IT".  That's a real snitch confidence boost. And before you say "It's only 300 baht" remember they do it all day long year after year. That's one example. 

Sorry, you misunderstood my question, I was referring to extortion.  Do you have an example of your being extorted in the actual context of the thread's meaning?

Edited July 14, 2021 by Liverpool Lou

[jacko45k]

6 minutes ago, joebrown said:

It's easy enough to distinguish a real immigration officer from a fake one. The fake officer will be wearing a smart tight fitting brown uniform. The real IOs always wear baggy pants to accommodate their oversized sphincters.

You had me worried where you were going with this.

[Fortean1]

A few years ago four 'policeman' showed up in plain clothes.  They were selling concert tickets for an event in the Hua Hin area.  My wife told them we were not into music and too old to go out much, early 70s.  They insisted we buy tickets.  I asked for ID as they wore those cheap clip on security badges with shoddy photos and no identifying agency. They finally left.  My friend Dave in Hua Hin calls 'em the "music police."  Carabao was featured in the show.

 

Edited July 14, 2021 by Fortean1
Carabao added.

[kiwikeith]

On 7/13/2021 at 3:42 PM, JoePai said:

I've found the worst people impersonating immigration officers are the immigration officers themselves !

My wife said the sewing business is going well in Thailand,lots of orders for uniforms. 

[kiwikeith]

5 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

If I was a tourist it would have been the last time I would have set foot in the country. No doubt about it. 

 

As you state international airports are meant to be regarded as relatively safe and less experienced travellers would have really been intimidated by this. I have travelled extensively as I worked offshore for many years and been to West Africa, Timor, PNG, South America etc. and this was up there with one of the most unpleasant experiences I have had in any airport globally, and I include incidents of being extorted taking expensive equipment into Equatorial Guinea, having no luggage on arrival in a remote airport in Cameroon and being stranded among armed militia in Nigeria when I lost my bodyguards. 

 

Fortunately I had already been in Thailand on and off for 14 years and so knew the lay of the land and how to play the game.

 

Bet if I had been travelling with my Thai gf it wouldn't have happened. 

Fake security guards have been caught in NZ outside supermarkets, accusing shoppers of stealing, then if you fall for the search, they grab the bag and run. Usually they pick on women. 

Sadly these bad asses are worldwide, and with the pandemic it's only going to get worse. 

[mikebell]

23 hours ago, joebrown said:

I've lived in Sattahip and there is no IO there, so how can a cop in Sattahip make your 'visa application' difficult? What were the grounds for this threat that were serious enough for your wife to hand over 16,000bht?

'Impersonating a police or immigration officer in Thailand is a criminal offence.'  I used this last line of the article to include police and in particular Sattahip police.  I lived in Bang Sare.  I was waiting to turn right at a U-turn on Sukhumvit when two tearaways ploughed into the side of my car at 90kph. (No helmet/licence.)  The scruffy cop, arriving twenty minutes later, decided it was my fault for crossing a major road from a minor. Despite having 1st class insurance (Thannachart who were worse than useless) I ended up paying the real villains about 90K compensation.  The Sattahip cop levelling the charges muscled in on my wife.  (I knew nothing about it until six months later.)

[joebrown]

1 hour ago, mikebell said:

'Impersonating a police or immigration officer in Thailand is a criminal offence.'  I used this last line of the article to include police and in particular Sattahip police.  I lived in Bang Sare.  I was waiting to turn right at a U-turn on Sukhumvit when two tearaways ploughed into the side of my car at 90kph. (No helmet/licence.)  The scruffy cop, arriving twenty minutes later, decided it was my fault for crossing a major road from a minor. Despite having 1st class insurance (Thannachart who were worse than useless) I ended up paying the real villains about 90K compensation.  The Sattahip cop levelling the charges muscled in on my wife.  (I knew nothing about it until six months later.)

I can assume the policeman took a share of the 90,000 bht you paid. It's interesting what you say about your Insurers. I had 1 year free insurance with them on my new pick up. I cancelled after the 1st year on the advice of a friend who had experienced their interpretation of 'customer service'.

[Seeall]

On 7/13/2021 at 11:52 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

How have IOs tried to extort money from you?

you not been here long lol.......  how?  omg I could write a list....  how about going from person to person with a large brown paper bag saying WE NEED MONEY?

 

then theres the classic no change....... like my thai GF givs him 1000  and he says there is no change for a 500 thb fee....   counter of 8 officers and clients.. (victims)

 

wake up man...

[Seeall]

On 7/13/2021 at 8:28 PM, richard_smith237 said:

 

A number of years ago I was going to a fancy dress party with some Thai friends

 

No probs, I went to an area not far from the Grand Palace in Bangkok - lots of uniforms.

 

Uniforms for everything... I could have turned up at this party dressed as a Policeman, full on badges, ribbons, wings etc...  all the uniforms were there.

 

I flirted with the idea of turning up as a Thai Policeman, my friends at the party (Policeman themselves) told me that I wouldn’t be able to get a police uniform without showing the shop Police ID. They were surprised to learn how incorrect that is and that I’d actually selected a load of items and the shop owners had no issues selling it to me. 

 

Getting hold of uniforms is incredibly easy in Thailand. Any chancer can walk into these shops, walk out with a ‘real’ uniform and go an extort people as a fake policeman. 

 

 

Its the thai culture and how presumtios they are...

[Seeall]

On 7/13/2021 at 8:31 PM, Mr Meeseeks said:

I didn't have any cigarettes as I do not smoke but they seemed desperate to try and shake me down for something. 

 

After I had this experience I read other stories that had arriving foreigners with duty free cigarettes taken to hotel rooms and threatened with jail unless they paid 100,000thb or more. 

 

I was also refused to see the officers' IDs, the search was not conducted at the Customs area and their manner was thuggish and threatening. They were visibibly irritated when they didn't find anything on me and did not apologise either. 

 

A very unpleasant experience from 2006.

ametures...... otherwise they would simply plant the bullet  in ur case.....

[Seeall]

On 7/13/2021 at 3:48 PM, Bim Smith said:

If the ID is fake wouldn't the number on the ID also be fake. So what would be the point in phoning the number on that ID.

what number? and no English.....

[Liverpool Lou]

3 hours ago, Seeall said:

you not been here long lol.......  how?  omg I could write a list....  how about going from person to person with a large brown paper bag saying WE NEED MONEY?

 

then theres the classic no change....... like my thai GF givs him 1000  and he says there is no change for a 500 thb fee....   counter of 8 officers and clients.. (victims)

 

wake up man...

You don't know what extortion means, do you?

 

"how about going from person to person with a large brown paper bag saying WE NEED MONEY?"

Where and when did that happen to you?

 

So your girlfriend didn't have the correct money, why didn't she just go to get change?   Perhaps the IO didn't have any!   That is not extortion.

 

Wake up man.

[elgenon]

I thought you could buy the ID cards on Khao San Road? No, Yes?

[sambum]

On 7/13/2021 at 11:52 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

How have IOs tried to extort money from you?

A few years ago I wanted to change my visa/extension, which still had several months to run, but was forced into acquiring a new one at a cost of 5000 baht, instead of the usual annual renewal cost of 1900 baht,   

[Enzian]

I'm 6"2' and 200 lbs and always dress in cheap clothes and never had anyone try. But also the Thai gfs I've had with me have been smart cookies and question everything.

I like the idea of insisting on going to the station, like REALLY insist. 

And never carry the real passport, rather a copy and the pink card.

 

[LikeItHot]

On 7/14/2021 at 8:55 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

Sorry, you misunderstood my question, I was referring to extortion.  Do you have an example of your being extorted in the actual context of the thread's meaning?

 

 

 

ex·tor·tion

/ikˈstôrSH(ə)n/

 

noun

1. the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.

   Demanding money from a position of power for a free service is Ex-tor-shun.  r u ree-tar-ted?

[HAPPYNUFF]

Maybe someone has been taking the cream off the top of the cake and our hardworking, diligent, intelligent, honest  I.Os  are missing out somewhat.

[Liverpool Lou]

15 hours ago, LikeItHot said:

On 7/14/2021 at 8:55 AM, Liverpool Lou said:

Sorry, you misunderstood my question, I was referring to extortion.  Do you have an example of your being extorted in the actual context of the thread's meaning?

ex·tor·tion

/ikˈstôrSH(ə)n/

noun

1. the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.

Geez...

 

You said it yourself...

"the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats".