"I'll never set foot in Thailand again" - damning review by Taiwanese celeb "extorted by Thai police"

[webfact]

Picture: Thai Rath

 

Following news that the Royal Thai Police had allegedly offered a special 'VVIP' airport to hotel fast track service to a Chinese tourist for 7,000 baht comes even worse press for Thailand's recovering tourism industry.

 

That case - revealed in a clip - involved the tourist being escorted by immigration officers via a police motorcade to Pattaya.

 

It is the talk of Thailand. RTP chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittipraphat has promised a full investigation and, in print media, it has been reported that Thai PM Prayuth Chan-ocha in his capacity as chair of the Police Commission has demanded punishment for police.

 

Now a Taiwanese celebrity called  An Yu Ching in Chinese and known as Charlene An in English has taken to Instagram to relate her experience just after New Year. 

 

This was shared to the "Ni Hao Taiwan Chan Ma Laew" page on Facebook, reported Thai Rath.

 

Charlene said that on January 4th just a day before she was due to return home she was with friends returning to her hotel at 1 am when their taxi was stopped at a police checkpoint.

 

Police asked to see her passport and visa and she showed them a VOA or Visa on Arrival (the totally legitimate stamp many nationalities get at the airport for a short stay).

 

The police made trouble for her asking where was her proper visa. 

 

She was subjected to a body and bag search.

 

One person in the group sensing trouble started filming and the police told them to stop and remove what had been recorded.

 

She was then taken to the police station where she was made to apologise for something she had not done. 

 

She likened it to a shakedown in a Mexican drug movie but this was for real.

 

She managed to blurt out "khor thot" (sorry) in Thai knowing a few words but was "on her knees apologising" in the two hour ordeal with her friends.

 

Finally she was taken to a quiet corner and 27,000 baht was demanded to settle everything on behalf of her and her friends.

 

She had been extorted by the Thai police. 

 

The cops then got her and her friends a taxi to get back to the hotel.

 

She said that a group of five South Korean females were also at the police station (which wasn't named) and she wondered if their fate was the same.

 

She said it was a terrible experience and the scariest thing that had happened in her life.

 

"I thought my New Year trip would be great but it turned out like this.

 

"I will never set foot in Thailand again".

 

She warned her compatriots in the review to watch out in Thailand and not to keep large amounts of cash on them as the police would find it in a body search and have it.

 

She suggested that the police had gone without their cut in the pandemic as tourism floundered.

 

Now they were back extorting tourists.

 

The post is going viral in both Thailand and Taiwan.

 

She said something should be done about tourists being shaken down in this way as it was bad for tourism.

 

In the era of social media what with the speed with which information is disseminated it was inevitable that illicit practices would be revealed.

 

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[jacko45k]

Rotten to the core.....

[nigelforbes]

The story makes no sense. She showed her visa passport so she had no basis to pay anything, for any reason, she should have stood her ground.

[RandolphGB]

One suspects there is more to this story. 

 

There would have been a reason for cops to demand payment. Yes, police carry out random stop and searches but they don't ask for cash unless they find something. 

 

What did police find on her or her friends?

[smedly]

9 minutes ago, webfact said:

One person in the group sensing trouble started filming and the police told them to stop and remove what had been recorded.

why ?

[KhunLA]

Great news ... hope it goes viral internationally ????

Sadly, no vid for use to laugh at.

 

Hey ... one can dream.

[ozfarang]

Good to see the AN detectives are onto this case.

 

Should go to 2 or 3 pages ????

[Boomer6969]

1 minute ago, RandolphGB said:

One suspects there is more to this story. 

 

There would have been a reason for cops to demand payment. Yes, they do random stop and searches but they don't ask for cash unless they find something. 

 

What did police find on her or her friends?

I am busy right now, but I'll keep this in mind and come up with my "blame the victim" post shortly after lunch.

 

A bit difficult, as I remember the pre-Covid Thong Lor, pee tests and body searches...

[RandolphGB]

1 minute ago, Boomer6969 said:

I am busy right now, but I'll keep this in mind and come up with my "blame the victim" post shortly after lunch.

 

A bit difficult, as I remember the pre-Covid Thong Lor, pee tests and body searches...

Yes, I was searched twice in Thong Lor and once in Phrom Phong. Cops found nothing. They sent me on my way. 

[ezzra]

She should have gone with the ' Don't you know who I am' phrase coupled with few brown kind banknotes and she would have been good to go...

[Elkski]

Who would dare bet against this story being true?  Not I

[Artisi]

Surely a complete mis-understanding on her part.

[nigelforbes]

7 minutes ago, Elkski said:

Who would dare bet against this story being true?  Not I

If the sole basis for the bet was that nothing even remotely similar had ever happened to me in 20 years, I might give it a punt. Mind you, if I was a younger female and minor celebrity who was trying to get my name out there in print and to attract attention, my experience might have been different.

[steven100]

17 minutes ago, webfact said:

were also at the police station (which wasn't named)

Why not name the police station .....  Thai Rath scared ?

There are plenty of other people who won't set foot back in Thailand,  thiefs aplenty.

[Henryford]

Just a normal day in the Land of Scams.

[JonnyF]

I'm guessing this was Thong Lor police. Now I am no fan of Thai police but I suspect either she had something on her or she had the "Don't you know who I am" attitude and rubbed the police up the wrong way. Maybe even deliberately to get content for her social media profile.

 

I've been stopped and searched by them a few times (also outside The Robin Hood on 33/1) and as long as you are pleasant and don't have anything that you shouldn't, then they are OK and send you on your way. 

 

Having said that, if they asked me to do a pee in a cup at the side of the road test, I suspect I might end up spending a night in the cells for 'attitude adjustment' and making a donation to their annual party.

[proton]

17 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

The story makes no sense. She showed her visa passport so she had no basis to pay anything, for any reason, she should have stood her ground.

Easy to say when it's not you in a foreign country surrounded by aggressive and lying Policeman. They are well known for making up evidence and planting illegal substances on people.  

[nigelforbes]

Just now, proton said:

Easy to say when it's not you in a foreign country surrounded by aggressive and lying Policeman. They are well known for making up evidence and planting illegal substances on people.  

I am in a foreign country and I have been stopped my police. We were stopped whilst driving from Chiang Mai to Sukhothai and a hoard of police swarmed my car and inspected our lugage. They found nothing, they planted nothing, an officer supervised and was very professional, we even split some pizza with me whilst the work was underway!

[proton]

1 minute ago, nigelforbes said:

I am in a foreign country and I have been stopped my police. We were stopped whilst driving from Chiang Mai to Sukhothai and a hoard of police swarmed my car and inspected our lugage. They found nothing, they planted nothing, an officer supervised and was very professional, we even split some pizza with me whilst the work was underway!

She was not as lucky as you then, and was not in the same place, there seemed to be no case of standing your ground, apart from eating their pizza. 

[kcpattaya]

 

35 minutes ago, webfact said:

One person in the group sensing trouble started filming and the police told them to stop and remove what had been recorded.

Conclusion:
We cannot find any evidence of prostitution in Thailand nor corruption by the police nor government officials.

[Eric Loh]

Where is the police reform that was promised by the current prime minister. 

[jacko45k]

2 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Where is the police reform that was promised by the current prime minister. 

Oh it is still on the list of other forgotten promises. 

[nigelforbes]

11 minutes ago, proton said:

She was not as lucky as you then, and was not in the same place, there seemed to be no case of standing your ground, apart from eating their pizza. 

Sure, but you have to admit  it was an entertaining yarn. And they could have demanded something but didn't, because they knew to a man that I would have stood my ground, I just threw in the pizza as a nice diversion. 

[MRToMRT]

46 minutes ago, webfact said:

She was then taken to the police station where she was made to apologise for something she had not done. 

That seems to be the crux, what did they accuse her of. much as I detest the boys in brown there seems to be something missing here. 

[MichaelHunt]

40 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

What did police find on her or her friends?

THEIR money.

[jacko45k]

Just now, MRToMRT said:

That seems to be the crux, what did they accuse her of. much as I detest the boys in brown there seems to be something missing here. 

Not having a valid Visa appears to be the only thing mentioned... it is possible the police were not familiar with the VOA.....

[StayinThailand2much]

Welcome to Thailand (or not). Thailand doesn't seem to care much about Taiwanese these days, but more about tour groups from the People's Republic...

[ricklev]

Two words explains it all but I will just write the first. Thonglor... 

[StayinThailand2much]

20 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Where is the police reform that was promised by the current prime minister. 

I read somewhere that new uniforms are being discussed. There you go...

[sqwakvfr]

31 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

I am in a foreign country and I have been stopped my police. We were stopped whilst driving from Chiang Mai to Sukhothai and a hoard of police swarmed my car and inspected our lugage. They found nothing, they planted nothing, an officer supervised and was very professional, we even split some pizza with me whilst the work was underway!

Pizza?