The Men In Blue Jackets

[bendix]

And, regarding spot checks outside customs, I've lived in a few real police states where your every move was watched and tailed home too.

Precisely my point. If you have, indeed, lived in a few real police states, you should perhaps be a bit more temperate in bandying the term around. I hardly call having a very randomly applied (I've never seen them, for example) extra spot check the symptom of a 'police state'.

In my opinion, customs here are VERY lax. Too lax. When I first started coming here, I had to fill in a customs form. That seems to have disappeared. I see probably one or two people per flight stopped at customs . It's incredibly loose.

Perhaps those boys and girls in blue are a very reasonable trade-off for the very liberal attitudes 95% of passengers receive from customs on every single flight.

[chinthee]

And, regarding spot checks outside customs, I've lived in a few real police states where your every move was watched and tailed home too.

Precisely my point. If you have, indeed, lived in a few real police states, you should perhaps be a bit more temperate in bandying the term around. I hardly call having a very randomly applied (I've never seen them, for example) extra spot check the symptom of a 'police state'.

In my opinion, customs here are VERY lax. Too lax. When I first started coming here, I had to fill in a customs form. That seems to have disappeared. I see probably one or two people per flight stopped at customs . It's incredibly loose.

Perhaps those boys and girls in blue are a very reasonable trade-off for the very liberal attitudes 95% of passengers receive from customs on every single flight.

Good job. You've convinced me there should be greater enforcement by CUSTOMS, but not anyone else outside the door.

Yes, we do get accustomed to a very easy life in LOS. At Don Muang you could walk through customs with an AK47 slung over your shoulder and get a smile. And at Suwanna, I never see anybody get stopped. Fine. Let customs beef up their scrutiny, no problem. But if you're asking us to accept screwballs stopping us outside with the other taxi touts, forget it.

[londonthai]

nowhere in the world's airports there is a second customs check. Waste of time and resources.

there are, however, flying patrolls (like those mentioned earlier near Dover or Cha Am) - but they are for the cars. In case of britain it's probably related as much to the internal security (terrorism), human trafficing, foot and mouth desease prevention. Since leaving the ferry/euro tunnel the customs needs some time to find out about the car owner (through car registration, different databases) and eventually pull it out on the motorway.

[chinthee]

nowhere in the world's airports there is a second customs check. Waste of time and resources.

there are, however, flying patrolls (like those mentioned earlier near Dover or Cha Am) - but they are for the cars. In case of britain it's probably related as much to the internal security (terrorism), human trafficing, foot and mouth desease prevention. Since leaving the ferry/euro tunnel the customs needs some time to find out about the car owner (through car registration, different databases) and eventually pull it out on the motorway.

Yes, my point exactly. Somehow Bendix is absolutely blindly supportive with respect to supporting anything Thailand does. Maybe he's really a TAT official in disguise? Or, maybe, he's just trying to convince himself that his adopted home and comcomitant investment is the right decision?

[samran]

nowhere in the world's airports there is a second customs check. Waste of time and resources.

well at airports, it is very rare, but given that thai govt departments aren't renowned for co-operating, even within the same ministry, what do you expect? Lots of overlap, everywhere in the RTG. Something like 8 different agencies just responsible for transport management here in LOS...which tell you alot.

Having said that, I think customs should be entitiled to roam, both inside and outside the airport. Smugglers need to know they can be caught anywhere.

[bendix]

Yes, my point exactly. Somehow Bendix is absolutely blindly supportive with respect to supporting anything Thailand does. Maybe he's really a TAT official in disguise? Or, maybe, he's just trying to convince himself that his adopted home and comcomitant investment is the right decision?

True. As someone who has burnt my bridges in my home countries, who is cadging drinks off fellow farangs at dozens of happy hours around lower sukhumvit to eke out my teacher's salary, and who has absolutely no options outside the disastrous life I've chosen here in Thailand, I have to justify it all, otherwise I'd go mad with despair.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a flight to catch to Singapore.

[cdnvic]

Thats right they are not customs they told me that they were tax and duty inspectors not customs yes i kept the cigs as it was only 3 cartons but told only 1 next time, they were very fair about it

The fact that they only appear when a flight from the Middle East arrives indicates this is a well planned and well rehearsed scam to extract tea-money from people who stray over the Duty Free limit.

It's nothing short of blatent harrassment and extortion.

There seems to be a contradiction here.

[Captain Chaos]

Seen more people being stopped at SVB than I ever did at Don Muang (coz I don't think I ever saw someone get stopped there during 4 years of flying in and out of BKK 3 to 4 times per month)

Never flown into SVB off a middle east flight, only from Europe, Singapore or HKG, but I have seen a few folks being stopped - usually Thais or Chinese with either lots and lots of bags or large, wrapped bundles

Was looking out for this 'blue jacket' mob when I arrived at SVB from Europe at sparrow's fart on Saturday morning - no sign of them - guess it was too early for extortion rackets ... whole plot sounds not quite right to me ...

CC

[colino]

dont forget revenue guys could stop you anywhere they wanted like in the uk as stated in a post before about dover some times they would let you through then pull you at dartford tunnel, just because you have passed through customs doesnt mean any contraband you have is now ok, ,,

if you want to see these guys yourself at the airport there little office is to the right hand side coming out of arrivals or if you were standing looking straight at the arrivals passenger door you will see there place it has smoked glass going around the top half of it ,

[chinthee]

Thats right they are not customs they told me that they were tax and duty inspectors not customs yes i kept the cigs as it was only 3 cartons but told only 1 next time, they were very fair about it

The fact that they only appear when a flight from the Middle East arrives indicates this is a well planned and well rehearsed scam to extract tea-money from people who stray over the Duty Free limit.

It's nothing short of blatent harrassment and extortion.

There seems to be a contradiction here.

Colino's post doesn't contradict anything I have posted. In fact it actually re-inforces what I have said - that these people are not Customs - merely another agency with their nose in the trough.

The fact that he was taken to an office, warned not to do it again and money never changed hands proves nothing. Perhaps in Colino's case they were acting on the behest of their superiors while in my case they weren't.

In any case, there are documented reports of money being paid to these people after their threatening behaviour and scare tactics have been used on visitors. The horror story of the family arriving on holiday only a few cartons of cigarettes over the limit is testament to that.

Whether that money is over or under the table is still very much open to debate and of course dependant on each individual case.

The reason I have come to the conclusion it is extortion is simply the manner in which these rogue officials operate, the manner in which I was approached at the airport and the manner in which these people conducted themselves during what appeared to be nothing more than a common shakedown. Having dealt with authority figures at all levels within Thailand I am very aware of the tactics used to harrass and extort people here.

Again, please Tud....go easy on Bendix. He believes every word, and supports every action, and we should try to support this.

[endure]

The point is that it's totally unnecessary to have another check in the arrivals area. That's where the red and green channels are for. If they want to check , they should do it there. And not bother people in the already very crowded arrivals area. People have enough trouble to ward off the taxi touts, who can be very annoying.

How can you say it's unnecessary when the very existence of this thread proves that offenders are being caught after passing through Customs?

[sjaak327]

^ because the place to do that is in the green channel not the arrivals hall. I think it is nothing short of an embarrasment.

I will be arriving in less then 2 weeks, and I hope they won't catch me, as I will have a little bit over the legal limit, simply for personal use, as it is very hard to get the tobacco I smoke, inside of Thailand.

Not to mention the ridiculous fines they are apparently charging, if I'm not mistaken it is the duty X 4, but I believe I read about people being charged 10 times the duty, extortion would be the right word for it.

[cdnvic]

Not to mention the ridiculous fines they are apparently charging, if I'm not mistaken it is the duty X 4, but I believe I read about people being charged 10 times the duty, extortion would be the right word for it.

This isn't uncommon anywhere. If the fines aren't much higher than the duties then the deterrent value is lost. In any case, it looks like you are basing it on hearsay.

Edited August 18, 2007 by cdnvic

[endure]

^ because the place to do that is in the green channel not the arrivals hall. I think it is nothing short of an embarrasment.

I will be arriving in less then 2 weeks, and I hope they won't catch me, as I will have a little bit over the legal limit, simply for personal use, as it is very hard to get the tobacco I smoke, inside of Thailand.

Not to mention the ridiculous fines they are apparently charging, if I'm not mistaken it is the duty X 4, but I believe I read about people being charged 10 times the duty, extortion would be the right word for it.

No, the place to enforce the law is all over the country, not just in specific places.

[sjaak327]

This isn't uncommon anywhere. If the fines aren't much higher than the duties then the deterrent value is lost. In any case, it looks like you are basing it on hearsay.

The charging of 10x the duty is indeed hearsay. There was a post on this exact same issue on Lonely Planet, where someone was actually taken to an office in Bangkok and was charged 10x the duty on the cigarettes over the limit.

I believe that for personal consumption, a fine isn't warrented. I brought back 20 packages L&M menthol for a Thai friend of mine back to the Netherlands (they are not available for sale there), I was 10 packages over the limit and got "caught" at Schiphol, paid just 1 time the duty. That's the way to treat these matters, not charging them with 4x the duty.

I presume by declaring them, I would just pay the duty ? Because I would hate to see them getting confiscated.