2 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Stupid woman, this ain't the UK. 

 

 

 

Exactly, never do business with a Thai, or lend them anything, you will only come up shorthanded or lose everything (to include your freedom/life).

A lot more to this story, she is lucky to be out, just cut her losses and move on!

19 minutes ago, Chongalulu said:

We know it was £30k so are you implying it’s not worth it?

No, not that. But you don't know if the story is true and what she is accused of. Or do you know more?

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

What did she expect?

To be paid for the work she did for the agreed price?

Strange woman?

1 hour ago, kimothai said:

Am I missing something? Why would someone travel half way around the world to collect a debt? Too many holes in this story to even comment. 

I don't know about you, but a 30,000 pound debt is not something I would just write off.

As usual here, posters reflexively attack the victim. Empathy is a foreign virtue to so many people. We all know what the Thai Police are like, especially when they have been bribed. Thais complain about this regularly on Thai News programmes. ... I see that the British Embassy in Bangkok did its best to maintain its decades-long reputation of being useless when a British citizen has a problem.  The people there need to develop compassion. I suppose they were reluctant to leave their cocktail parties to help her.

22 minutes ago, lordgrinz said:

 

You sure? LOL

They did replace one squat unit for a euro style sitting toilet, non-flushing just the bucket and bowl in the corner...

No toilet paper anywhere.

Ohhh they did have wash basins, no soap or drying facilities, Thai style us your shirt tails

She obviously doesn't know a lot about Thailand what was she thinking?  Doing work for someone on the other side of planet without any kind of retainer or up front payment, what did she think was going to happen when she got here? The guy would be sitting in the airport ready to give it to her!

Some sympathy for her but not a huge amount doesn't sound like a very smart businesswoman.

1 hour ago, kimothai said:

Am I missing something? Why would someone travel half way around the world to collect a debt? Too many holes in this story to even comment. 

why wouldnt you travel 13 hours to collect a 30k gbp debt?    sure there are holes but she didnt write the story   

In Thailand, you must get collateral in advance or a downpayment. The woman didn't know this. 

Feel sorry for this lady. She did what she thought was the right thing and it all went wrong.

 

Come to Isaan love. Much better here.

Welcome to Thailand l. 
later she will post:

“ despite all the hardships she loves Thailand and intends to return to visit with her entire family and all company employees”

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Photo by Rachel Stallard via Daily Mail

What a moaner. That bathroom looks like a standard Thai bathroom. Certainly like what my Thai family in the village had.

1 hour ago, phetphet said:

I don't see what's funny about it. How would you feel if in her position?

 

It's funny because it's a foreigner and he hates other foreigners and thinks Thai people are superior to foreigners.  He imagines that he would never be in this position because he is "one of the good ones".

 

The fact that it makes Thailand look awful, means that he has to find it funny, he has to think that the foreigner is bad and deserves this, his mind won't let him view it any other way.

 

It's called "cognitive dissonance", and it seems most of the Thai apologist types experience it.

1 hour ago, lordgrinz said:

 

I avoid them, and I've only seen them a few times, most people have moved on from these.

Still normal amongst the peasants here in Isaan.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

After her ordeal, the British woman spent some time in Bangkok and other provinces in Thailand according to her post on LinkedIn three weeks ago. She stated that she plans to return to the UK soon.

If I'd been her I would have been busy getting out of Thailand as fast as possible.

It is called advance payments - unless you know your client well, that is the modus operandi - specially in  Thailand 😉 

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

That is normal... 

Looks like a normal nice toilet in esan

Better use the Chinese mafia i think to collect the money.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Despite her efforts to seek assistance from the British Embassy in Thailand, she criticised their response as inadequate.

Niaive in the extreme to expect that lazy bunch of leeches troughing off the taxpayer to do anything. Does She not know there a far more pressing matters, such as what putter to use on the eighth hole....

2 hours ago, kimothai said:

Am I missing something? Why would someone travel half way around the world to collect a debt? Too many holes in this story to even comment. 

How would you go about collecting it?

3 hours ago, webfact said:

If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison.

I doubt she'll be returning.

Needs a lot more detail. The person who owed the money could have said, “no” and that would be the end of it. 

2 hours ago, impulse said:

British woman jailed after collecting debt from Thai millionaire

 

Seems to be in error.  She was in jail after not collecting a debt. 

 

She just got an expensive lesson in how business is done in countries like Thailand.  I'd be surprised if "debt collecting without a work permit" isn't on the list of charges.  And it apparently cost her over 2x the debt to get out of jail.

 

My heart goes out to her, but this is a cautionary tale for anyone contemplating anything similar.  If I was her, I'd be making my way to Swampy before they get really mean with her.  The client may have plans to visit the UK, in which case her breathing in and out would be inconvenient for him.

 

She lost 70.000 quid. Not just pocket money.

2 hours ago, riverhigh said:

Another one of those articles lacking in detail. From the article I have no idea what was the dispute between her and her client. What was the alleged service she provided and did not get paid?

Another one of those readers that does not read the full article:- 

 

"Stallard explained that she travelled to Thailand to collect the unpaid service fee from her Thai client, who previously utilised her company’s consultancy services but failed to pay the £30,000 charge and stopped responding to communications."

 

Consultancy charges can be expensive - especially if you are dealing with a Thai millionaire!

It is a very believable story there are an awful lot of rich Thais here who are rather nasty and vindictive, and morally bankrupt. Their God is cash. There's no question that a guy in the right position could get the police to orchestrate something like this and the judiciary would be entirely cooperative for the right fee. 

 

It really just sounded like she out of her element, and had no understanding of how Thai society, the incredibly crooked cops and the bought and paid for judicial system here works. 

3 hours ago, ChipButty said:

The cleanest cell I have ever seen in Thailand. 

 

With a discrete, separate bog no less 555

 

Maybe that's the women's wing ...

I have heard of several cases over the years of foreigners getting into business disputes with connected Thais who then use the law to effectively tie up the foreigner. Usually this involves making an allegation which then prompts the police to confiscate the foreigner's passport. The foreigner then cannot leave the country without the permission of a court. This leaves the foreigner in limbo stuck in Thailand, unable to leave, unable to work and gives the Thai counter-party significant leverage.

 

There can also be periods of detention or remand in this investigation period, providing even greater negotiating leverage. It appears this happened here.

 

A very famous case was this one. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-20589033 However, there have been many.

 

Whilst we don't know the details of this case, locals weaponising the criminal justice system to resolve a civil matter is well-documented.

 

 

3 hours ago, kimothai said:

Am I missing something? Why would someone travel half way around the world to collect a debt? Too many holes in this story to even comment. 

And stay in the country after her release? Wouldn't be surprised if she got followers on social media

Thais do often have issues with paying debts to farangs. 

 

This Thai didn't have a 737 she could impound?