Tourist Police

[konangrit]

I'm not about to slag off police volunteers or the like, but what is the attraction?

Hopefully it would be to help other people, but with my experience in life these sort of positions tend to attract failed police recruits and other misfits who have been bullied all their life and try to gain what little power they can.

I apologise to Howard who seems to be a genuinely nice guy from reading his posts, but why do it? Respected by nobody, disliked by all.

IMO number one rule anywhere in the world: keep yourself to yourself, why antagonise people?

[igotworms]

Best piece of advice I got from a well-seasoned expat upon my arrival to this kingdom:

"Keep to yourself, be polite and respectful, never voluntarily interfere with the affairs of a Thai person, and most of all, keep a weary eye on your fellow farangs, the unpredictable elements of this kingdom."

If you walk into a room or situation and you can't figure out who the sucker is, you're the sucker.

[konangrit]

Best piece of advice I got from a well-seasoned expat upon my arrival to this kingdom:

"Keep to yourself, be polite and respectful, never voluntarily interfere with the affairs of a Thai person, and most of all, keep a weary eye on your fellow farangs, the unpredictable elements of this kingdom."

If you walk into a room or situation and you can't figure out who the sucker is, you're the sucker.

Hehe, sorry to go off topic, but I think you'll know where I'm coming from, Igot.

Poker phrase: " If you don't know who the fish is you're him".

Sorry to paraphrase you, but so true in many walks of life.

[shellman]

Anyone using an internet connection in Thailand has to go through what are called "transparent proxies" - at asianet for example, they are the IP addresses 203.144.144.184 - 203.144.144.187. You can or can not use your providers proxy server, your traffic will still go through his transparent proxy where all logs are kept for review requests by police in case of criminal cases.

Sorry but you're now in an area where you obviously don't know what you're talking about. Transparent proxies only intercept port 80 and possible port 443 traffic. If you configure your browser to use a proxy server on another port such as 3128 you will not be intercepted by the transparent proxy.

I never said there are no ways around that - and I advise you to read the Inktomi Manuals i work for one of thailands provider by the way - and I have been administering different kind of internat related systems for 15 years, so I guess I know a few thigns about transparent chaching and how it works in thailand.

There are many ways to configure chaching software, it is not necessarly only port 80 that is being monitored. As an alternative an internet provider could also disallow http traffic on other then the standard ports (which some in europe do). What I was talking about here is the standard home internet user, do you think that any private users starts to look for open proxies on the net who will slow down his connection becuase they are anywhere but in his area? A good thing to use (and one of the few that really work in Thailand) is anonymizer (anonymizer.com).

But be my guest and try to use an anonymous proxy that uses any port, and see if you can access sites that are blocked otherwhise inside thailand. you might be up for a surprise if you are an asianet customer

cheers

[Ben Dover]

But be my guest and try to use an anonymous proxy that uses any port, and see if you can access sites that are blocked otherwhise inside thailand. you might be up for a surprise if you are an asianet customer 

Shellman Gues you work for Asianet then? and you know whay IP's Anonymizer works on?

I reckon its a good program and only 29 bucks.. How effective is it here?

I cant understand why anyone would want to visit banned sites anyway, most are sex sites, <deleted> would anyone living in thailand want with them?

Like living in a sweet factory but still insisting on going to 7/11 to buy chocolate..

[bkk barney]

shellman, i have never had a problem accessing sites banned by thailand on any of the servers i use, just use a proxy server and ur in like flint so to speak, regardless of which port...

[konangrit]

I cant understand why anyone would want to visit banned sites anyway, most are sex sites, <deleted> would anyone living in thailand want with them?

Gambling sites?

[pluto_manibo]

konangkrit your avatar looks like one from one of the american online poker sites...eh eh

[Phil Clark]

The Farang Tourist Volunteer Police presence has to be the most contentious issue to hit the Newsgroups, Chat Rooms, Discussion Boards et al since the debacle caused by rumours alluding to visa exemption regulation changes and early closing panic warnings manifested themselves, only to die a predictable death as they were bul***hit.

The latter two turned out to be cr*p, as expected, although the former issue has more sinister implications as it is real.

We actually see these farang striding around full of their own self-importance as they sport some cra*py T-shirt that they had to buy with their own money to elevate themselves to the level of the ‘unwashed’ (so some might say).

I happen to know of several of the ‘volunteers’ but am in many ways happy to state that I do not know them on much more than a nodding basis. I have always been careful with whom I mix as guilt by assocation has to be a consideration so whilst I know some of these people, avoiding them will hardly cause a stir as they cannot set me up for something I have not done.

Despite certain websites strangely deleting any mention of these ‘volunteers’, Thai oriented websites whose members consist of farang continue to debate the issue, just as Thaivisa.com does.

What I find interesting is the high profile that one of the already maligned volunteers adopts. I, of course, refer to the member of this forum who calls himself ‘******* the Volunteer’.

The conundrum to me is the fact that ****** does not make a very clear, simple statement to explain the obvious, so I will ask him ten simple questions:

1. Why did you join the Tourist Police Volunteers?

2. How did you join, were you approached or did you apply?

3. Do the Authorities have anything on you?

4. Was it suggested that if you did not comply then your current visa status etc might be reviewed?

5. What are your duties and the purpose of your role?

6. What powers do you have?

7. Do they supply you with a Work Permit (WP’s are issued for a particular ‘job’ so one you may already have is inapplicable, may the ‘job’ be non-paying or not).

8. Are you not concerned about the bad reputation volunteers have as the motive for enlisting is, to say the least, questionable?

9. Are you not concerned that some of the lowlife that exists in Pattaya may get to you before you, in their minds, get to them?

10. What would you do if you stepped in to a situation, potential or otherwise, and the farang told you to get lost or else?

Until the above questions are satisfactorily answered, I suggest that anyone wearing a T-shirt telling but not telling the world who and what they are supposed to be, then the so-called volunteers are putting themselves in jeopardy and undermining any good intentions they may or may not have.

Apologies if the above ruffles any feathers, but to my mind the only crime I can be accused of is stating the obvious. I also apologise if the answers to the above were in the thread that was deleted.

There are many genuine expat’s such as myself who wonder what lengths these volunteers will go to to retain their as currently is ‘dubious’ status.

Either way, it is time for the ‘defensive’ volunteer(s) to either put up or shut up.

Once we know what they are really all about, we can treat them accordingly.

It should not be that difficult, should it?

[bkk barney]

they are all pretty good questions actually, but i feel sure we will not get any answers.

as for howard saying he joined the flb forum b4 he moved over here, the forum was opened in 2000, and i feel pretty sure if memory serves me correctly howard was here b4 then, so we have his first lie exposed, lets have a competition of how many of his lies we can expose

if he is a good guy he lies to his fellow workers about seeing naked breasts, if he aint then we are all in trouble

howard u choose the path u have taken and obviously this is of great interest to other farangs living here, so far u have basically been quite evasive on this subject which obviously makes us all suspicious of our fellow farangs, we read the papers about farang volunteers setting up jade bar etc, ok that werent ur lot, but u have some control of a small news rag and a small tv news thing, so u have a slight control over wot goes into the media, obviously farangs do not trust the media anyway and with u having some control over wots published it makes us all the more paranoid.

basically u r in a no win situation unfortuneately, ur damned if u do and damned if u dont, but u chose to be in that situation.

[shellman]

shellman, i have never had a problem accessing sites banned by thailand on any of the servers i use, just use a proxy server and ur in like flint so to speak, regardless of which port...

well, which proxy would u use? gotta find an open proxy that works first. not the hard thing I know - so you tell me you can access all the online gambling sites by just using a proxy - excuse me when i do not believe this

cheers

[shellman]

But be my guest and try to use an anonymous proxy that uses any port, and see if you can access sites that are blocked otherwhise inside thailand. you might be up for a surprise if you are an asianet customer 

Shellman Gues you work for Asianet then? and you know whay IP's Anonymizer works on?

I reckon its a good program and only 29 bucks.. How effective is it here?

I cant understand why anyone would want to visit banned sites anyway, most are sex sites, <deleted> would anyone living in thailand want with them?

Like living in a sweet factory but still insisting on going to 7/11 to buy chocolate..

anonymizer works fine in thailand - you can get a peek by using their websites anonymize function: http://www.anonzmizer.com

The sites I want to access are some betting sites, I love to bet on some of the major sport events from time to time.

I never undertstood why they make a big issue with the betting - there are plenty of sites who would deserve to be banned and are accessable -

cheers

[Phil Conners]

Anyone using an internet connection in Thailand has to go through what are called "transparent proxies" - at asianet for example, they are the IP addresses 203.144.144.184 - 203.144.144.187. You can or can not use your providers proxy server, your traffic will still go through his transparent proxy where all logs are kept for review requests by police in case of criminal cases.

Sorry but you're now in an area where you obviously don't know what you're talking about. Transparent proxies only intercept port 80 and possible port 443 traffic. If you configure your browser to use a proxy server on another port such as 3128 you will not be intercepted by the transparent proxy.

I never said there are no ways around that - and I advise you to read the Inktomi Manuals i work for one of thailands provider by the way - and I have been administering different kind of internat related systems for 15 years, so I guess I know a few thigns about transparent chaching and how it works in thailand.

There are many ways to configure chaching software, it is not necessarly only port 80 that is being monitored. As an alternative an internet provider could also disallow http traffic on other then the standard ports (which some in europe do). What I was talking about here is the standard home internet user, do you think that any private users starts to look for open proxies on the net who will slow down his connection becuase they are anywhere but in his area? A good thing to use (and one of the few that really work in Thailand) is anonymizer (anonymizer.com).

But be my guest and try to use an anonymous proxy that uses any port, and see if you can access sites that are blocked otherwhise inside thailand. you might be up for a surprise if you are an asianet customer

cheers

Internet related systems for 15 years huh? That would make it like 1989? At that time "the Internet" was pretty much UUCP based and about a handful of servers only. I worked with Computers a little longer than that, and TCPIP based networks since they came into vogue early nineties. Anyway, not getting into a pi$$ing contest with you on this, nor am I saying you can't block everyting if you like to (though I daresay Thailand would start looking like Saudi if they did) but as it is today all you need is your own proxy server somewhere outside Thailand (and I'm not talking about the simple redirector/anonymizers, but a proper proxy server).

I have no interest in porn or gambling sites, or in any other way breaking Thai law, but many websites - particularly ecommerce websites - outside Thailand refuse access by Thai IP addresses, so it is handy having a proxy server when needed.

[Tufty]

u have some control of a small news rag and a small tv news thing, so u have a slight control over wot goes into the media, obviously farangs do not trust the media anyway and with u having some control over wots published it makes us all the more paranoid.

1999 springs to mind (The Thought Police)

Christ they will lock me up soon I have some terrible thoughts every time I go out

[bkk barney]

shellman try www.webwarper.net

then u will believe me, just dont tell anybody who may grass it up and get it banned by cat

[bkk barney]

or u could try some of these

61.50.172.128:80 **** elite, SSL China

203.145.184.158:6588 **** elite, SSL Australia

198.165.92.3:80 **** elite, SSL Canada

61.50.172.131:80 **** elite, SSL China

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217.96.195.202:6588 **** elite, SSL Netherlands

140.131.117.253:80 **** elite, SSL Taiwan

140.131.117.253:3128 **** elite, SSL Taiwan

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65.120.143.226:80 **** elite, SSL United States

65.120.143.228:80 **** elite, SSL United States

211.138.91.21:8080 - High Anonimity Elite SSL Proxy ! China (faster)

[shellman]

@madsere,

if a provider wants to block a site, it is possible. no matter if you use a proxy or not. but i guess that's off topic anyway

now i have never been a friend of censorship, not here and not anywhere else. i guess there would be enough REAL problems in thailand for the government to address just as unemployment, alcoholism, drug abuse, child prostitution, human trafficking, lack of education...the list is long. I loved thailand ever since i moved there in 1996 and I hope that it will get a government one day that does care about it's people and not only about their own bank accounts.

I think the Tourist Police Volunteers would be a good thing if they would do things like education the tourists about what dangers may be involved in certain situations or telling them what to avoid and what to pay attention to. Everything else should be left to the real police.

cheers

[splitlid]

I would suspect that the volunteer tourist police must make a daily and weekly report to their superiors.

Howabout,Howard posts a weekly report on this forum(exclude details,names etc).

But it may give people an idea as to what actions these guys are taking and what good they are doing for the community,

i dont live in pattaya but can see lots of posters jumping on the bandwagon accusing all tpv's of only in it for a personal reward.

apparently none of them are volunteering their time and efforts to help pattaya(according to many posters)

If they are really doing a good job then isnt it time...someone stoodup(Howard)and told the people of pattaya what they are really achieving!!!!

Please.

Then we can all stop guessing.

[wcr]

He won't do a report. He was approached by a monthly magazine in Pattaya to do something for them, but said he couldn't.

[Howard The Volunteer]

There is a plan now to do an interview with a popular local magazine. It will be a simple question and answer session. Ive just got to check first that the Tourist Police are happy for me to do it or not.

[splitlid]

sounds promising.

couldnt you ask the tourist police if you can do a weekly report also.

after all it would reflect on them also.

im not bagging you Howard,just wanna help clear up any missunderstanding.

surely you feel the same way.

you must be really p1ssed at people who only critise and not praise the work you guys do.

its a golden oppertunerty you prove the good you do.

[Howard The Volunteer]

A weekly report?

Why?

A Tourist Police report or a Volunteer report. We do keep daily statistics such as how many people come for advice at the Walking Street minibus and how many leaflets are taken and which volunteers work per night. You really want me to publish these facts. A bit boring dont you think. Specifics on any cases we deal with are either published in the local press or are too minor to even worry about.

I dont need to "prove" what i do to anybody.

[splitlid]

ok

[thaiflyer1]

I dont need to "prove" what i do to anybody.

Bit sad you should use this statement Howard........Splitlid was only trying to help you with all the negative posts you get on these forums.

[bkk barney]

howard, thats true u dont need to prove anything to anybody, but, and this is a big but, if u did prove that u were doing good, a lot more posters would respect u for wot u r doing, and not think that u r doing this for ur own benifit or for some sneaky reason, we both know that every week there will be stories of farang volunteer police setting up other farangs and as ur the most high profile it is u that will get the stick and the abuse, maybe ur reasons are noble for being a volunteer but we all know that some of the volunteers are not volunteers because they want to do good deeds and help ppl, as we saw by that nice mr belgian man who set up jade bar, fined 20 odd thousand baht becos they have no hotel licence which is a 100 baht license, and they cant get a hotel license becos they have less than 10 rooms. still howard its nice having u around so we got somebody to abuse when our favourite bars get closed down.

[Howard The Volunteer]

Bkk Barney,

Ok, Mr Barney, so tell me how I can "Prove" that I am doing good. Maybe a live web-link to a camera I wear on my shirt would help?

[astral]

"Keep to yourself, be polite and respectful, never voluntarily interfere with the affairs of a Thai person, and most of all, keep a weary eye on your fellow farangs, the unpredictable elements of this kingdom."

Very good advice for us all,

including the "volunteers".

Just a thought.

How long have Howard and his fellow volunteers been in Thailand?

Do they really think they understand the Thai way of thinking?

I am sure I still don't and I have been around for few years!!

Edited August 27, 2004 by astral

[bkk barney]

howard well first we have to decide whether u r an honest person and whether we should take ur word, so when did u join the flb forum? u stated u joined it before u moved to thailand, the flb was registered at the end of 1999, the forum was opened when?shall i check?when did u move to thailand howard?

[bkk barney]

hmmm , it seems we may have found ur first lie howard, in this woven web of intrigue, now shall i check when the flb forum started and when u first moved to thai, or would u rather say that u misunderstood the question,wot user name did u use in flb b4 u was htv? would u tell us?

[Howard The Volunteer]

Would you like my tax code and work permit number as well?

Is this BKK Barney a journalist or maybe an undercover cop or something. Too many questions for my liking.