Possible Legal Trouble

[captainkeith]

Dear Sir;

I received 6 emails in May of this year from an anonymous group in the USA and the Royal Thai Police (maybe), making accusations about me and my trip to Pattaya in March or 2007. They are accusing me of have sex with an underage prostitute there. The letter goes on to say I will be arrested and prosecuted upon my return to the Kingdom for having sex with a minor. I was with one woman there who claimed to be 18. I have never been arrested for any crime in any country.

What concerns me the most is that this group has sent out my photos and their accusations to various organizations and people. She has sent these emails to the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington D.C., the Royal Thai Police, and who knows where else.

I am a little worried about returning to the Kingdom in January. I want to find a way to determine if I am likely to be detained or arrested or worse BEFORE I land in BKK and pass through customs. I have recently applied for and received a 60 day Tourist Visa from the Thai Embassy in Honolulu Hawaii. How should I proceed?

Do I hire an attorney or private investigator to check and flight the claims?

Do I contact the Thai or US Embassy? Do I contact Customs or the Police and ask if my name is on Black List of Persona Non Grata individuals?

On the one hand I do not want to bring attention to myself by

making inquires with officials. But on the other hand my worst fear in doing nothing is to someday be arrested or detained in Thailand or another

country for that matter, while entering or exiting.

Your suggestions and opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Captain

[Maestro]

I think you should consult a lawyer, in the USA where you live. At the very least, this anonymous group is guilty of defamation and/or libel. If this group has any money, sue them for everything they’ve got. Once your complaint is filed with the police or a court, the group will not be anonymous much longer.

--

Maestro

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I think you should consult a lawyer, in the USA where you live. At the very least, this anonymous group is guilty of defamation and/or libel. If this group has any money, sue them for everything they’ve got. Once your complaint is filed with the police or a court, the group will not be anonymous much longer.

--

Maestro

Good suggestion Maestro.

[Padkapow Guy]

How did they get your e-mail address?

How did they get your photo?

Sounds like a scam to me. I would contact some lawyers to check and see if you are a person of non grata in LOS.

I would skip the january trip until you find out the facts behind this.

It almost sounds like somebody who you know(or knows you) is looking to make a little extra cash off of you.

PKG

[papaya9]

How are you really supposed to determine a Thai girl's age before you have consensual sex? I've seen many girls in their early 20's that look 15-16! Are you expect to card them, prior, and also know the difference between a real and fake Thai I.D.?

Edited November 6, 2007 by papaya9

[H2oDunc]

Captain Keith, the advice to seek legal advice is a ,very good one . The one thing that to me makes it a scam is that the Kingdom of Thailand has very good, strong extradition treatys with the USA especially to do with sexual tourist crimes. The same also with the UK. For me if your own police force has not contacted you then maybe dropping into your local police station and explaining what has happened may be all it takes to resolve things.If allergations have been made then they will know of them. I know it must be a worrying time not knowing for sure. I hope it is resloved soon for you and does not spoil yor plans to return, though maybe Pattaya may not be the place to return to.

[pampal]

Having sex with a minor is a crime in most (if not all) jurisdictions around the world,

Why haven't they arrested you in the US if their accusations were true?

The police in Thailand can have you arrested in the USA for this crime, if they were after you, you would know it by now.

Sounds like an attempt at blackmail or revenge or something along these lines.

Edited November 6, 2007 by pampal

[Momo8]

CaptainKeith it sounds like a crock of s...t to me and you are being singled out for a scam unless you are not telling us something.The key words here are 'underage prostitute' so who else the girl has 'serviced' is receiving these e-mails?It's probably some pimp or the girl herself.What do they want?

Why would they contact you by e-mail (six of them) as opposed to an official knocking on your door?LOL what next, throwing a rock through your window with a letter?

'They' are only claiming to have sent your photo and details of your exploits to various organizations and people call their bluff.Whakos who make this stuff up should be prosecuted for public mischief and harassment.

Seek legal advice anyway but I would block the e-mails and carry on,sure the Thai royal Police have better things to do than chasing a one time offender.

[britmaveric]

Nought to worry about - if it was serious your local police would have arrested you and you would be extradited back to thailand. Me thinks someone is pulling your leg.

[johnnyk]

Yes, a crude blackmail attempt.

If its real they can have the US fuzz bust you. A Canadian was just busted at Vancouver airport by Canadian cops at the request of the Thai police.

[thai_narak]

if you did not do anything wrong why worry? sue them! yes, get a lawyer and sue them...

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Talk to a decent attorney at home.

[Scott]

If this group is legally registered then it's not anonymous, legally. If it's not registered then it's not a legal entity with which you need to concern yourself very much.

[Travel2003]

if you did not do anything wrong why worry? sue them! yes, get a lawyer and sue them...

What if the lady actually was a minor, but looked and acted as not a minor.

I remember one of my first time to Thailand (looong time ago), and yes I met a bar girl.

She looked so cute and all, but I wanted to make sure she was not a minor so I asked to see her ID card.

Bet most of you already have heard about stories where underaged girls fool the guys, and then blackmail them later in order not to tell the Police.

Little did I know back then that it was not possible for me to actually read the card, as I didnt know the calender differences (543 years).

So,

If the OP actually (without knowing it) had sex with a minor.

Would it not be self incriminating to follow up the story, and make a lawyer start digging?

I think the members here that advice OP to just forget it, as he has not been "picked up" by the police yet, are correct.

[jstumbo]

Nought to worry about - if it was serious your local police would have arrested you and you would be extradited back to thailand. Me thinks someone is pulling your leg.

They wouldn't even have to send you to Thailand. The US could prosecute you for flying to Thailand to have sex with an underage person. It is a crime in the US to travel to other countries to have sex with underage people, even if it is legal in that country.

[jstumbo]

If this group is legally registered then it's not anonymous, legally. If it's not registered then it's not a legal entity with which you need to concern yourself very much.

Maybe some holier than thou non profit group that feels it is their business to out people traveling to foreign countries to have sex with minors?

If you got emails from them, you must have some way to track where they came from.

[jstumbo]

What was the email address for the one from the Thai Royal Police. Let me see, I think Thai immigration uses hotmail.com, customs uses yahoo.com and I am not sure, but I think Thai Royal Police uses gmail.com?

Seriously if you have the emails from the supposed Thai Royal Police, looking at the headers you should be able to tell where they came from. They must have some official government server that they use.

Could get pretty expensive getting attorneys involved. They would have to check with Interpol, or the Thai government themselves and that would have to be pretty expensive. Then, they might not even tell the truth. If they were looking to bust you if you tried to enter again, why would they tell your lawyer that they were waiting for you?

[blizzard]

doesn honolulu give 60 day tourist visas?

only had 1 gurl sir?

Edited November 6, 2007 by blizzard

[thai_narak]

if you did not do anything wrong why worry? sue them! yes, get a lawyer and sue them...

What if the lady actually was a minor, but looked and acted as not a minor.

I remember one of my first time to Thailand (looong time ago), and yes I met a bar girl.

She looked so cute and all, but I wanted to make sure she was not a minor so I asked to see her ID card.

Bet most of you already have heard about stories where underaged girls fool the guys, and then blackmail them later in order not to tell the Police.

Little did I know back then that it was not possible for me to actually read the card, as I didnt know the calender differences (543 years).

So,

If the OP actually (without knowing it) had sex with a minor.

Would it not be self incriminating to follow up the story, and make a lawyer start digging?

I think the members here that advice OP to just forget it, as he has not been "picked up" by the police yet, are correct.

i would agree with you if the incident happened in europe or usa as the woman there looks older than their age. an 18 yrs old in thai will definitely look so young like a 13 yrs old american girl. if a thai girl looks like 18 yrs old chances are she is already 20+. but i may be wrong or the OP has eye problems...

[TheDon]

Mate its a scam, if you did sleep with a minor I very sure you wouldnt be here emailing us right now.

Also sleeping with a minor is a criminal act even if you knew or not. I hope she is just a legal girl trying to scam you because its the elders responsibilty to find out what her age is and not to sleep with anyone who is under age.

I would never sleep with a girl who looked young or who was borderline, because you could end up in some serious sh1t for a few hours pleasure, definately not worth it.

But i say you should go in January and have a good time (but with older looking girls)

[Acquiesce]

making accusations about me and my trip to Pattaya in March or 2007. They are accusing me of have sex with an underage prostitute

I

was with one woman there who claimed to be 18. I have never been arrested for any crime in any country

.

What concerns me the most is that this group has sent out my photos and their accusations to various organizations and people.

I am a little worried about returning to the Kingdom in January.

I think there is more to this story than you are saying here, Thailand is thankfully cracking down on foreigners comming here for sex with children.

I'm not going to help you feel better about yourself, unlike others on here.

[thai_narak]

if this is real they will not e-mail you just to say that you will be arrested. why do they want you to hide in a rat hole? if this is real, they'll catch you unaware.

[Dakhar]

I would have to agree... police work via e-mail? This is Thailand right? E-mail!

Any how, if you had commited a crime, such as described, I imagine you would have been busted by now. That is if, the minor in question was actually upset about the situation. But that is a different topic all together.

Sounds like a scam to me.

[geriatrickid]

Basic U.S. legal counsel is of little use. What is needed is counsel with representation or access to Thai legal counsel. There is a distinct possibility that a warrant has been issued that is of local jurisdiction only, i.e. detain and hold for questioning. There could also be a civil suit filed that the OP is unaware of, hence the need for local Thai counsel. I see nothing wrong with making an inquiry with the Royal Thai consul asking about any pending arrest warrants. If the lady is an adult, then the OP did nothing wrong. He can always say he was in love if he is embarrassed. If it was me, I wouldn't set foot back in Thailand until I knew what this was all about.

[Maestro]

Basic U.S. legal counsel is of little use...

Well, my advice was to sue the person who sent him an email in the name of an anonymous group, not to hire a lawyer to find out it the OP is wanted by the police in Thailand.

It’s not that simple, perhaps. First find out who the person sending the email is and if he indeed acted in the name of a group. Then find out if this person or group has money. If they have money, make an arrangement with a lawyer to pay no fee to him but he gets 50% of any damages collected. Then sue them for everything they are worth.

--

Maestro

[Stephen Cleary]

Well, it seems that the Captain didn't really have much of a problem after all. You would have imagined that after starting a thread on such a serious matter that he would have been back as soon as possible to read the feedback and advise.

Alas...looks like he has fled the scene!

[thai_narak]

maybe arrested while posting at suwanaphum airport...

[blizzard]

wot a fraud!

there is no thai embassy in honolulu...............lol.

[Travel2003]

if you did not do anything wrong why worry? sue them! yes, get a lawyer and sue them...

What if the lady actually was a minor, but looked and acted as not a minor.

I remember one of my first time to Thailand (looong time ago), and yes I met a bar girl.

She looked so cute and all, but I wanted to make sure she was not a minor so I asked to see her ID card.

Bet most of you already have heard about stories where underaged girls fool the guys, and then blackmail them later in order not to tell the Police.

Little did I know back then that it was not possible for me to actually read the card, as I didnt know the calender differences (543 years).

So,

If the OP actually (without knowing it) had sex with a minor.

Would it not be self incriminating to follow up the story, and make a lawyer start digging?

I think the members here that advice OP to just forget it, as he has not been "picked up" by the police yet, are correct.

i would agree with you if the incident happened in europe or usa as the woman there looks older than their age. an 18 yrs old in thai will definitely look so young like a 13 yrs old american girl. if a thai girl looks like 18 yrs old chances are she is already 20+. but i may be wrong or the OP has eye problems...

Needless to mention maybe, but I didnt go with that lady back then.

Just in case.

[t.s]

wot a fraud!

there is no thai embassy in honolulu...............lol.

good god man, is your high ongoing or are we seeing residual damage?

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