Pattaya: Senior traffic cop transferred after allegedly extorting 30,000 baht from tourist(s)

[Confuscious]

What happened to big chief Tutu and he would end corruption?

Didn't it work out like he said?

[Udom]

34 minutes ago, Davedub said:

Fourteen years here and I can say it's definitely getting worse. I've been extorted twice for bogus traffic offences in BKK recently.

But the real point is that everyone, Thai or Farang is potential prey to corrupt police - we don't need to commit a crime to get shaken down.

 

I hear that police wages are not very high and that they have to buy their own uniforms, vehicles etc.

If this is true then real, effective reform will require paying them a fair wage, monitoring far more closely for 'unusual wealth' and sending any police convicted of corruption straight to prison for a very long time.

..."I hear that police wages are not very high and that they have to buy their own uniforms, vehicles etc."...

 

It is true!!!

[carlyai]

4 hours ago, ezzra said:

What is wrong with these guys? not only their reputation has been sullied and rubbished very badly lately and they still at it as if saying, sod you all, we will continue to shake down people and we don't give a sheet what anyone one of you say or think of us.. boggles the minds...

I don't know why everyone calls it a 'shakedown'. It's a buisness transaction

 

So the police pick you up in a random search and you have an illegal vaping device. So you probably have two choices: 1. Get arrested,thrown in the jail, have to then go to court (maybe months later), get fined or jailed because what you did was illegal.

2. Be humble and talk the price down a bit, smile, pay the fee and go on your way.

This is how it works in Asia.

As far as I am concerned it works just fine and is not a chakedown.

[Salerno]

22 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

Now the police have realised that this criminalisation by stealth of a product that is legal nearly everywhere else, including China, can be turned into huge money spinner with the return of tourists who have no way of knowing that vaping is illegal, as that is kept a dark secret until the surprise nocturnal shake down in pijin English by the BiB.  Who can blame them?

I really wish people would stop this nonsense. Any vaper claiming they didn't know that it is illegal, a fact that is included in the descent videos on airlines for years and has been covered in numerous news accounts around the world over the years, is either a liar or been living under a rock since 2014.

 

Non vapers may still be surprised as things that don't affect you personally tend to get glossed over by your brain; similar to when you start looking for a new car and close to deciding on a make and model you suddenly notice how many are on the road.

[Katipo]

Many outsiders have a very positive opinion of Thai people in general. Then it just takes one encounter with some form of government official to irreparably damage that.

[ThailandRyan]

And it continues on and on and on, with no end in sight no matter what happens to the ones caught out.  Extortion and envelopes are so ingrained in this countries culture that many do not see it as wrong.....

[Dogmatix]

2 minutes ago, Salerno said:

I really wish people would stop this nonsense. Any vaper claiming they didn't know that it is illegal, a fact that is included in the descent videos on airlines for years and has been covered in numerous news accounts around the world over the years, is either a liar or been living under a rock since 2014.

 

Non vapers may still be surprised as things that don't affect you personally tend to get glossed over by your brain; similar to when you start looking for a new car and close to deciding on a make and model you suddenly notice how many are on the road.

I am not a vaper and think it's a stupid and disgusting habit. However, given the amount of vaping you see in Thailand and the open availability of the equipment, I can sympathise with tourists who either didn't realise it was illegal or assumed the law wasn't taken seriously or not enforced at all.

 

What Thailand has achieved with this is selective enforcement and an king size opportunity to extort foreign tourists with a difficult to enforce law that is out of line with most countries in the world.  Given this situation I think it would be better to scrap it or make it just for "medicinal" use like dope 555.

[worgeordie]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

. He had initially taken him off traffic duties and put him in the admin section.

Maybe in the counting house ,counting the money from fines and corruption.

regards Worgeordie

[Freddy42OZ]

4 hours ago, cheapcanuck said:

This is common place in Thailand. You would be hard pressed to find any tourists that haven't been ripped off by the RTP. 

Ok we all know the RTP aren't perfect but why the need to exaggerate?

Most tourists won't have anything to do with the Police, and most of us that live here probably have nothing to do with them either.
 

[Deez]

The whole reason E-Cigs are "illegal" is so police can "fine"tourists

[anchadian]

1 hour ago, jbaldwin said:

Are you sure about this.  I have lived in Thailand for 20 years and have never had any problems with the police.

Possibly because you've never been anywhere.

 

I would think many of the older posters on here spend 24 hrs a day on AsianNow,

[Boyn]

Another story to make the country so attractive to rich tourists.

[TheFishman1]

In any other country, they would be fired here in the Land   of smiles they get transferred with pay it’s unbelievable, the penalty for taking money from people just an active post for a little while and then they get put back on duty somewhere else they should be fired, never to be placement again TIT

[Chongalulu]

6 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

Only transferred and not sacked!

 

What so of message does that send out to the rest of the corrupt police out on the street.

"Don’t get caught…" ? ???? 

[happydreamer]

As I've told my wife countless times...if you're ever worried that a situation may cause you to lose face...don't do something that would cause you to lose face.

 

I mean...i know the education system here is a bit antiquated but i learned about cause and effect in 2nd grade.  Hard to imagine the concept not catching on by adulthood

[Chongalulu]

2 hours ago, jbaldwin said:

Are you sure about this.  I have lived in Thailand for 20 years and have never had any problems with the police.

And I’ve never been killed in a road accident in all the years I’ve been in Thailand. Ergo it can’t have happened to the 25,000 killed on the roads here every year ..? You do understand the problem with relying on anecdotal evidence..? ????‍♂️ 

[jesimps]

5 hours ago, marin said:

What a bunch of BS. Yes these things happen for sure, but your paintbrush is way too wide. Maybe 1/1000 has even had an interaction with the police. 

 

2 hours ago, jbaldwin said:

Are you sure about this.  I have lived in Thailand for 20 years and have never had any problems with the police.

I've been in Thailand for 16 years and been stitched up by the traffic police three times. It was only 200 baht each time, but still a stitch up. Twice it was for "spending too much time in outside lane" whilst overtaking a line of cars and the other was when the BIB showed me a small wrinkled piece of paper with "120 KPH" written on it when I was actually well within the limit.

I payed up each time rather than surrender my license and drive to find some obscure police to pay the fine and obtain a receipt. Yes, I know, it just encourages them.

[happydreamer]

1 hour ago, Katipo said:

Many outsiders have a very positive opinion of Thai people in general. Then it just takes one encounter with some form of government official to irreparably damage that.

Or until you lend one money. ????

[Wabel]

2 hours ago, Davedub said:

Fourteen years here and I can say it's definitely getting worse. I've been extorted twice for bogus traffic offences in BKK recently.

But the real point is that everyone, Thai or Farang is potential prey to corrupt police - we don't need to commit a crime to get shaken down.

 

I hear that police wages are not very high and that they have to buy their own uniforms, vehicles etc.

If this is true then real, effective reform will require paying them a fair wage, monitoring far more closely for 'unusual wealth' and sending any police convicted of corruption straight to prison for a very long time.

Fourteen years for me as well, three times for me one in Bangkok and two in Chonburi 

[marin]

5 minutes ago, jesimps said:

Twice it was for "spending too much time in outside lane" whilst overtaking a line of cars

The problem with that one is, here in the LOS it is illegal to remain in the "fast lane". Silly as silly can be as the inside lane is often degraded by overloaded trucks destroying the roadway. But it is the law. Been stopped once in 33 years and learned to be more careful of this silly law. 

[Stevemercer]

The Prime Minister and police chiefs are intent on punishing the rank and file coppers hoping the real culprits escape notice. The real culprits are the top cops who claim to have no responsibility for what the rank and file do.

 

 

[EVENKEEL]

I think the corruption is just part of the charm of Thailand.

[Dave0206]

3 hours ago, findlay13 said:

Inactive post?

Yes it must be a massive place lots of government employees forestry .Land.police.military everyone contributed to the good name of Thailand 

[soalbundy]

8 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

Only transferred and not sacked!

 

What so of message does that send out to the rest of the corrupt police out on the street.

That he was a very silly boy for getting caught.

[phetpeter]

Hopefully the Cat (Vietnam) Rabbit (Chinese) is finally out of the cage, and the door is wide open, let's hope people will start the ball rolling, and start singing like a bird. Let the show begin, Lift the stone and watch the bugs run for cover, hopefully the big boot will flatten many of them. (opps I am feeling very poetic)

[Bangkok Barry]

9 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

Only transferred and not sacked!

 

What so of message does that send out to the rest of the corrupt police out on the street.

You didn't read this part, or didn't understand it.
The chief promised fairness to all sides and legal and disciplinary action if guilt is proven. 

[soalbundy]

1 hour ago, happydreamer said:

Or until you lend one money. ????

I lent 5,000 Baht to a man so he could bail his brother out of the local nick (probably corruption money) but he was true to his word and paid me back two days later as he said he would. Another occasion was a little strange, one of the men involved in building my house 16 years ago and lives in my village (a neighbour in fact) asked to 'borrow' 2,000 Baht with the caveat that he probably won't be able to pay me back, at least if he could it would take a long time. He needed it to repair his motor bike that he needed for work. Now I know this man well, a proud, honest man of few words who worked hard on the building sites in the locality, he seemed to be skilled at everything to do with house building but the pay in Isaan is low. Despite this he had built his own modest house and sent his two daughters to teacher training college. So yes I gave him the money as a gift for doing a good job on mu house, I told him to accept it as a bonus but he was never to tell anybody about it, especially his wife, I didn't want a bunch of ne'er do wells lining up outside my gate.

 

We mostly come from countries who pay well, we get paid sick leave and paid holidays (OK not Americans) we have good health care and pension rights but these people have none of that, no security, and yet they struggle on regardless, everything they have is by due of their own sweat, I admire them, I wouldn't survive 6 months in a farming village here.

[PingRoundTheWorld]

8 hours ago, ezzra said:

What is wrong with these guys? not only their reputation has been sullied and rubbished very badly lately and they still at it as if saying, sod you all, we will continue to shake down people and we don't give a sheet what anyone one of you say or think of us.. boggles the minds...

Exactly. One would think that given so much publicity over the last week these *****s would lay low for a while - but nope! Straight into another scandal.

[kidneyw]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

that the matter would be investigated fully using CCTV and witness statements

We all know how that works now.

[Grusa]

9 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

They would likely resign en masse if they are not able to extort the general public.

 

Those mia nois and Benz won't pay themselves. 

So where's the downside?