What to do if Thai police stop you and attempt a ‘shake-down’

[Liverpool Lou]

20 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

44 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

There is a 24 hour manned, emergency number, certainly at the British Embassy.

And will they even be bothered if you call them at 1 or 2 am while half cut and tell them you are being extorted by the Police at a check-point in Lad-Prao ?????

 

 

Its fine saying... they have a 24 hr manned emergency number.... but do they really consider police extortion an emergency, or something that we can just deal with ourselves ??? 

My point was that they are available, there is a 24-hour emergency number.  Whether they can assist in the manner that so many foreigners seem to think the civil servants of the embassy staff should is another matter.

[nigelforbes]

9 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Then why do you think you are qualified to reply to a post which was about riding a bike in Thailand?

You obviously have no idea about that. And what do smart people do if they realize that they don't know anything about what is talked about? Option 1: They listen. Option 2: They shut up. 

That's what smart people do. 

A road user is a road user, anyway, you're the one who's been pulled 100 times, not me so you tell me who is smart.

[markus]

Why not speak Klingon?

May they let you go...????

[keithsimmonds]

What to do if Thai police stop you and attempt a ‘shake-down’

 

Post immediately on the Asean Now forum and Seek advice from the 1000,s of armchair "Experts" on there

[richard_smith237]

1 minute ago, keithsimmonds said:

What to do if Thai police stop you and attempt a ‘shake-down’

 

Post immediately on the Asean Now forum and Seek advice from the 1000,s of armchair "Experts" on there

Quite the dumb comment that...

This very forum is designed specifically around ’seeking advice’ from the ‘community’....

 

.... many of the very people you call the arm-chair experts are the very ones who have encountered the very situations being discussed and are well placed to offer solid advice. 

 

 

Where do you go for your local advice ?...  ’the rough guide’ ???

 

 

[Confuscious]

I had a car accident a decade ago, with a Thai pedestrian.
A day later, at the police station, the whole family of the pedestrian came at the police station to claim what a good "boy" he was, supporting his parents and the family in the 15th degree.
As I was not speaking or understanding Thai very well, I could only understand that they asked 300,000 baht recompenses.
I decided to call my lawyer, who was a few minutes later at the police station.
He took the case over from me and told me politely to go home.
A few days later, he called me and said that everything was settled and he asked 5,000 baht for his services.
Ever since that day, if I encounter such cases, I call my lawyer and don't get involved with these things.

[Jonathan Swift]

Just to be on the safe side I printed those instructions on photo card stock to fold and keep with me in my satchel at all times. It sounds like good advice which any good lawyer would give. 

[kwilco]

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

When you write "they" it looks as though you think this OP is information issued by the police.  It isn't.

Well Y may have been referring to singular or plural, but I was in fact thinking of 3 articles I quoted so multiple sources or a singular one.

We use the singular “they” in two main ways - : firstly when referring to a generic person whose gender is unknown or irrelevant to the context and secondly to a specific, known person who uses “they” as their pronoun.

When referring to a generic person whose gender is unknown or irrelevant to the context, use the singular “they” as the pronoun.E.G -  if you use words like “person,” “individual,” or “everyone” or phrases like “every teacher” or “each nurse” in a sentence, use the appropriate form of the pronoun “they” as needed. Quite often it's used by racists in wild generalisations but in this case I'm referring to journailsts writing on the matter. who are preserving a certain ambiguity.

Edited February 1, 2023 by kwilco

[twchang]

23 hours ago, Upnotover said:

Quite so, but they do exist, I am doubtful telling them you are "waiting for a consular official" will cut it, at certainly if they see you are a Brit.

l came to thailand in 1975!

lam now 73 year old,

been stopped by police in routine check,

no problem,

a scooter drive into my side in the car

the driver on brand new bike no license 

thay beg my to take the blame!

l said than no, !

lat this girl pay for everyting ( was a insurance person there)

l " instructed" police lat her pay

penelty for no licence and helmet!,

 

police at police station was 100% agree

l have never ever had trouble with police

 

 

but not a criminal either!,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dj230]

Don’t do anything illegal and you’ll be fine 

[JimTripper]

5 hours ago, n00dle said:

what does being a brit have to do with anything?

Brits like to colonize

[paulikens]

17 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

How much do they want? 5000B? 10k?

 

Do you really want to argue about that kind of money? Give it to them, walk away, and forget about it. It is not worth to get annoyed or in trouble over an amount like that.

 

Sure, you can try to negotiate and offer only half or something like that. But do it like playing a game. I remember the first time the traffic police stopped me, and they wanted 400B. We talked and talked, and I told them it was the first time that I was in that area, and I won't do it again, and anyhow I have not much money. At the end I paid 100B and everybody was happy. TiT

 

@OneMoreFarang It depends what you've done. don't think id be too eager to pay 10k just for not having my passport on me or no helmet.  

[zzaa09]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Then why do you think you are qualified to reply to a post which was about riding a bike in Thailand?

You obviously have no idea about that. And what do smart people do if they realize that they don't know anything about what is talked about? Option 1: They listen. Option 2: They shut up. 

That's what smart people do. 

Huh? 

Smart folks?

Where?

[BritManToo]

On 1/31/2023 at 6:23 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

How much do they want? 5000B? 10k?

 

Do you really want to argue about that kind of money? Give it to them, walk away, and forget about it. It is not worth to get annoyed or in trouble over an amount like that.

If they want more than 200bht they'd have to shoot me and take the money from my cold dead wallet.

[bangon04]

20 hours ago, billd766 said:

Costa Rica I can easily believe, But Singapore is not so easy to believe though I haven't been there for a few years.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_in_Singapore

 

Corruption in Singapore is generally perceived as one of the lowest in the world. Cases are mostly handled by the Singapore Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), a government agency in Singapore that investigates and prosecutes corruption in the public and private sectors.[1] According to a Transparency International survey, an overwhelming majority of people in Singapore do not hear cases of corruption by public officials or institutions through media in their lifetime. In 2020, Singapore's public sector was ranked as the fourth least corrupt in the world and the most transparent in Asia.

 

https://www.indexmundi.com/surveys/results/1

 

Thailand is rated at #24

Costa Rica is rated at #68

Singapore is rated at #97

 

The higher the rating number, the less corrupt the country is.

In Singapore - if you actually see the police it is already too late..... you are in trouble. and attempting to bribe a regular officer in the street can get you even further into trouble.

[bangon04]

and what about the Tessakit - they pretend they are police and to the regular tourist they look like it. 

Should you bother to "deal" with them? The idiot in the box outside Benjasiri Park has tried twice to fine me for dropping a cigarette butt.... (I am a lifelong non-smoker) and twice I have had to call the Thai "friend".

[OneMoreFarang]

23 minutes ago, paulikens said:

@OneMoreFarang It depends what you've done. don't think id be too eager to pay 10k just for not having my passport on me or no helmet.  

If I don't have a helmet, then the police want cash or gives me a ticket. No problem.

But if they try to arrest you and you think they might do it now, that is a different situation - even if you are innocent. 

 

I also read all the comments here about calling some influential person, and that might work. But maybe not. Let's just pretend there is no influential person out there who wants to help you/me. 

[OneMoreFarang]

23 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

If they want more than 200bht they'd have to shoot me and take the money from my cold dead wallet.

It seems that is what they do in the USA. In Thailand I think they arrest you.

[paulikens]

Just now, OneMoreFarang said:

If I don't have a helmet, then the police want cash or gives me a ticket. No problem.

But if they try to arrest you and you think they might do it now, that is a different situation - even if you are innocent. 

 

I also read all the comments here about calling some influential person, and that might work. But maybe not. Let's just pretend there is no influential person out there who wants to help you/me. 

@OneMoreFarang Well maybe 10k isn't a lot of money to you but it is to me, especially for just no helmet but to be fair i doubt very much they would want 10k for no helmet anyway. 

[liddelljohn]

5 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

There is a 24 hour manned, emergency number, certainly at the British Embassy.

In my experience its totally useless ,, they dont care lazy sods ,, I actually ended up with an apology from the Thais  who actually got British embassy to pay them  and me compensation  when They let me down  back in 2007  ,  its a long story , Thai officials  tore a strip of the Ambassador ond consolar officials on my behalf  it was lovely to see their embarassment .  Fortunately I also now have an Austrian Passport  and they are proper people in the Embassy

 

[OneMoreFarang]

1 minute ago, paulikens said:

@OneMoreFarang Well maybe 10k isn't a lot of money to you but it is to me, especially for just no helmet but to be fair i doubt very much they would want 10k for no helmet anyway. 

I paid for no helmet mostly 100B and max 400B officially at the police station.

 

What I wrote earlier was about a situation where the police want to arrest you/me in the middle of the night. Or in fact they don't want to arrest us, they want money. If such a shakedown is serious, i.e. with planted drugs, then I prefer to pay instead of arguing the next morning in the police cell to get a lawyer.

[geisha]

What if you have no cash on you, or not much, and your card is in the hotel ? . I often  go out with 2000B in my pocket , or less, if I know I won’t need much ? I also always carry a photocopy of my passport.

[Morakot]

Quote

insist that you can call for a consular or embassy representative of your country.

Hard to imagine that any official from the British embassy would turn up, if you ever get to talk to them on the phone. ????

[fusion58]

On 1/31/2023 at 5:26 PM, snoop1130 said:

Secondly, the vast majority of Thai police are there to do a job, protecting fellow Thais and foreign visitors. But there are a few who will take advantage of situations where they think they can get away with stitching you up for a few thousand baht.

“A few?”

 

ROFL! ????

[Lizzy Duang]

I still believe in the case that inspired this article the Taiwanese woman would have paid 30 k in court. So if you are told to pay (almost) the maximum fine BEFORE a trial, you might as well insist on the trial, at least if you have time for it or you plan to never return anyway.

Edited February 1, 2023 by Lizzy Duang

[cowellandrew]

Always know somebody higher up the food chain,

Police shake down I phone colonel

Army, 

☻☻☻☻

[spidermike007]

14 hours ago, brianthainess said:

They don't ask ! they just do it. 

If your alone how can you film them searching your pockets?

Brilliant idea, "Officer would you mind waiting 2 days until Monday morning, when my Embassy opens so I can call them? you see they don't work weekends, Thai, or my home country's bank holidays and then they have a 6hr drive to get here, but I'm sure they'll rush to the scene" LMAO.

 

I cannot call my consular official, being an American. It takes weeks for me to even get an appointment online. 

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, Lizzy Duang said:

I still believe in the case that inspired this article the Taiwanese woman would have paid 30 k in court. So if you are told to pay (almost) the maximum fine BEFORE a trial, you might as well insist on the trial, at least if you have time for it or you plan to never return anyway.

I totally agree. Most of the time I push back a great deal, against the corrupt cops. Often it works. They tend to look for an easy mark. They just don't want to work too hard for their "villa money". 

 

People say you can't do that. You will get shot. I say this is not America. Cops don't shoot people here for sport. People say you will get arrested. For what? Resisting a fine? Often I just drive away. People say you will get arrested. Only one time did I have a cop who followed me. And he let me go when I showed him my Thai license. They know they are shaking me down. I know they are shaking me down. It is all one big game, and has little to do with law enforcement. 

[nigelforbes]

13 hours ago, Confuscious said:

I had a car accident a decade ago, with a Thai pedestrian.
A day later, at the police station, the whole family of the pedestrian came at the police station to claim what a good "boy" he was, supporting his parents and the family in the 15th degree.
As I was not speaking or understanding Thai very well, I could only understand that they asked 300,000 baht recompenses.
I decided to call my lawyer, who was a few minutes later at the police station.
He took the case over from me and told me politely to go home.
A few days later, he called me and said that everything was settled and he asked 5,000 baht for his services.
Ever since that day, if I encounter such cases, I call my lawyer and don't get involved with these things.

Same with any encounter like that, call the insurance company or a lawyer and let them deal with everything, you stay out of it.

[jerrymahoney]

15 hours ago, connda said:

Let my wife handle it.

Let my father-in-law handle it -- retired last year after 40  years with RTP.