Just curious. Was chatting with a friend about visiting Thailand, and I was explaining that alot of Farangs complained that the Boys in Brown regularly pulled them over for "Tea Money", bribes, etc. Then I was thinking, I wonder if they do that for the ladies too. The men, yeah I can see that. But I really do not think that they would hassle ladies like that. But then, I am not a lady or farang so I thought, well let's ask the ladies what they're experience has been with the BIB's. Generally do they leave you alone, or do you get extorted too?

Well, being a lady and a farang I guess I qualify A couple of months ago I was driving and pulled up behind a cop on a motorbike at the lights. I wanted to do a U-turn and seeing no signs saying 'no u-turn' assumed I could do one. This was 'confirmed' when the cop did a u-turn. As soon as I followed him around he signalled me to pull over and told me it was illegal and wanted 500 baht!!! I couldn't control my laughter at how ridiculous the situation was so with a lot of wai-ing and a lot of big smiles he looked embarrassed and let me go! As if I would pay when he did the exact same thing and there was no sign saying you couldn't uturn there! But I know if I was a guy laughing I'd probably be hauled down to the police station and made to pay a lot more then 500. The joy of being female in this male dominated society does have its perks occasionally

Yes, women get hassled too. Somebody I once knew got accused by the BIB for disposing a wbottled water lid/cap on the street in Bangkok. He demanded a 2,000 Baht fine and was threatening to take her to the police station! She soon shut him up by presenting the lid/cap which was in her pocket! Apparently, this particular BIB had his pockets full ..of lids/ciggy butts and was preying on victims.

In the five years that I have been here, never had any bother at all.

i have never been hassled. the few police i have ever encountered (there are none where i live) have been really nice to me

Edited April 13, 200818 yr by girlx

Got pulled over once, as the police were checking everyone's license. Showed him my DL from home, he looked at it, said ok and let me go. My husband laughed when I told him the story as he believed the guy could not read English, told me I could have given him my library card and that would have worked ok too

But that's the only time I have ever been stopped by the police here. They all pretty much know who I am by now and leave me be

By traffic police, sure. All the time. Happens to anyone who druves here, male/female, thai/farang.

Other than that tho, noto to speak of.

Just curious. Was chatting with a friend about visiting Thailand, and I was explaining that alot of Farangs complained that the Boys in Brown regularly pulled them over for "Tea Money", bribes, etc. Then I was thinking, I wonder if they do that for the ladies too. The men, yeah I can see that. But I really do not think that they would hassle ladies like that. But then, I am not a lady or farang so I thought, well let's ask the ladies what they're experience has been with the BIB's. Generally do they leave you alone, or do you get extorted too?

Yes, I've been stopped. Not so often now as I try to use the skytrain/underground as much as possible. One time I had actually gone through a traffic light as it turned red. Didn't end up with a ticket that time, remarkably. But mostly stopped for bogus reasons and asked for cash contributions.

I've never been stopped, but then I do not drive or smoke (so, I don't discard cigarette butts). I've always been afraid of getting caught in the raids of after-hour spots, though. But, that would affect everyone, not just women.

I know Burmese women who get stopped, harassed, threatened, molested, abused, and extorted by the police all the time, though. Does that count?

i drove on phuket for over a year and got stopped only once. that was after a night out with khall and oldcroc. it was about midnight and i was driving through the kathu checkpoint. there were police there and i just pretended to be ignorant and drive straight through when one policeman put his hand in front of the windscreen. he asked me 'can you speak thai' (he was speaking english). i told him (in english) that i could a little bit. then he repeated his question to me again in english and i replied exactly the same. he went on to ask me a couple more times in english and when i finally replied in thai, he was happy. 'yes, i know you can speak thai because i see you every day. you have been living here for six months already so you should speak thai'.

and you know what? I HAD been living in phuket for 6 mths at that stage! im glad he didnt ask me for my licence as i didnt have one! haha. he didnt ask me for anything at all.

i used to drive past that checkpoint twice a day and was never hassled again.

having said that, i now live in bali. i was driving along (again, pre-licence) a few weeks ago and was stopped by the police. they searched the car (as they usually do) and then he asked to see my licence. i told him that i had left it at work and that it wasnt with me. he said 'well this is a big problem then. you will have to go to court and get a big fine and then maybe go to jail'. i knew that this wasnt quite true, but realise that i am the one breaking the law by driving without a licence, so i eventually paid the fine of 100,000Rp which is about 11USD and was on my way. i could have got it at half the rate but i didnt have small money! now i keep a 50 on top of the sun visor for situations such as that.

and now i have a licence.

Hi Sub, Yes they do. I my experience though it has always been done in a pleasant way either paying on the spot or being asked to go to the station. In each case I was in the wrong.

I have also been driven home by Thai policemen (friends), had dinner with quite a few of them and went out with one for several months. Something quite cute about those BIB

The only time I will stop for a cop is if they attach themselves to my bumper and I am dragging them down the road. I fastitiously avoid eye contact at all group corner cop muggings and just keep eyes forward...keep on driving.

I have a very sweet, innocent farang friend who is learning Thai and Thai ways. She told me once she was stopped by an officer. He asked her, "Madame, you know what is....Kah Rahp Shun?"

"No" she replied.

"Please give me 500 baht.." he said.

This is true, I swear!

The only time I will stop for a cop is if they attach themselves to my bumper and I am dragging them down the road. I fastitiously avoid eye contact at all group corner cop muggings and just keep eyes forward...keep on driving.

I have a very sweet, innocent farang friend who is learning Thai and Thai ways. She told me once she was stopped by an officer. He asked her, "Madame, you know what is....Kah Rahp Shun?"

"No" she replied.

"Please give me 500 baht.." he said.

This is true, I swear!

I know I shouldn't laugh, but this is the funniest thing I've read all day - thanks for the smile. Makes me think of home (Africa) ....

Sorry to hijack thread, but what happens if you don't pay and say ok let's go to the station? Do they shake you down, threaten you? What if you still refuse to pay and say ok, charge me? In all the time I have been in Thailand I have successfully avoided the BiB by doing as another poster has done - careful avoidance and getting out of the way. I have been harboring a secret desire to resist the tea money routine and am wondering if it's worth it just to make a point? If I am being an idiot in that respect, I know someone will tell me.

Glad to be of service. I've got a million of 'em. Been here quite a while.

Edited April 21, 200818 yr by debcmai

Never been extorted but have been very embarassed. I was stopped the other day by the police looking for drugs. They checked my bag pretty thoroughly and eventually uncovered a long forgotten pack of *ahem* french letters. Whereas a british policemen would turn red and quickly pretend he hadn't seen them, the Thai cop loudly tells all his buddies what he has found, who all quickly rush over and proceed to tease me mercilously and ask me if I want a Thai policemen as a boyfriend. I think I would have rather paid a 500b fine!

Sorry to hijack thread, but what happens if you don't pay and say ok let's go to the station? Do they shake you down, threaten you? What if you still refuse to pay and say ok, charge me? In all the time I have been in Thailand I have successfully avoided the BiB by doing as another poster has done - careful avoidance and getting out of the way. I have been harboring a secret desire to resist the tea money routine and am wondering if it's worth it just to make a point? If I am being an idiot in that respect, I know someone will tell me.

A mate of miine was stopped by the BIB for speeding (which he was guilty of) and the cop refused a bribe and made him go to the cop shop to pay the fine. Of course his license was lost for 4 days so it's probably better paying the tea money than having the hassle of frequent trips to the cop shop and having to pay more anyway.

In Phuket, once for not wearing a helmet on a motorbike (didn't fit on when I had my hair up in a knot to go to the gym) 300 Baht, but that is fair enough.

Then again in Phuket, just a licence check when I was wearing a helmet on a motorbike, I had an Australian car and motorbike licence at the time, no questions.

Then not long ago I had my cars front left tyre blow near Chumphon at 150 km/h, no spare, no tools, could not source any roadside assistance, called a friend who knew a police guy in the area who came and took the wheel to get it fixed, new tyre put on, took me to lunch while waiting, all took 4, 5 hours until the wheel was back on the car. Helpful, but the problem was he did not want a tip, but hassled me with personal advances, told me a story about the breakup with his wife, and wanted my phone number to talk to me from time to time and next time I am in Chumphon ... and so on .. I tried to force the tip on him instead so he would leave me alone, in the end he took half of what I offered, but it was still feeling hassled by the guy.

Never been extorted but have been very embarassed. I was stopped the other day by the police looking for drugs. They checked my bag pretty thoroughly and eventually uncovered a long forgotten pack of *ahem* french letters. Whereas a british policemen would turn red and quickly pretend he hadn't seen them, the Thai cop loudly tells all his buddies what he has found, who all quickly rush over and proceed to tease me mercilously and ask me if I want a Thai policemen as a boyfriend. I think I would have rather paid a 500b fine!

That is so embarrassing, but pretty funny for us reading it!

Sorry to hijack thread, but what happens if you don't pay and say ok let's go to the station? Do they shake you down, threaten you? What if you still refuse to pay and say ok, charge me? In all the time I have been in Thailand I have successfully avoided the BiB by doing as another poster has done - careful avoidance and getting out of the way. I have been harboring a secret desire to resist the tea money routine and am wondering if it's worth it just to make a point? If I am being an idiot in that respect, I know someone will tell me.

Want to know what's next? Here what've happened to my friend and her husband. They took a train (their 1st time as wanted to experience it) to Hua Hin and during the journey were being checked by a police and her husband forgotten to carry his passport but he did show his ID. They were being "invited" to the last cabin which was stocked up with carton boxes. A group of BIBs started to approach them questioning them and took away my friend's passport and her husband's ID. They knew that where the BIBs were coming from but her husband was stubborn not to give in and pretended not understand their intention. Eventually, one police couldn't hold on anymore as they were reaching Hua Hin station soon told them that they were in big trouble and if they couldn't produce passport they will be heavilyy fine with few hundred thousand bahts and put behind bar. The BIB started to fill up a couple forms and wanted them to sign on it but they insisted anything should be done in the station and furthermore they do not understand thai wording. After reached the station they were escorted to somewhere like police station for train or transport and stay there for 1 over hours before tranferred to the main police station in Hua Hin. Again being throw 1 corner and her husband finally started calling his thai friend (whom know high ranking people) for help. Make story short, all efforts didn't work out and her husband had to be placed under detention while my friend rushed back to bangkok to get his passport. During their stay in the police station, they witnessed how the BIBs asking money from people selling imitation goods beside confisicated the goods and how lazy and irresponsible behavior they handle some cases.

Their conclusion, don't waste your time or test on what's right or wrong in LOS (especially someone with authority), just denote some bahts and your life will be easier.

They checked my bag pretty thoroughly and eventually uncovered a long forgotten pack of *ahem* french letters.

what are french letters?

They checked my bag pretty thoroughly and eventually uncovered a long forgotten pack of *ahem* french letters.

what are french letters?

http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/French+letters

I guessed I missed the "French Letters" the first time...thought she wrote "French Fries"... And I'm like, yeah I guess if someone finds an old pack of French fries in my bag, I would be embarrased...a bit more embarrasing this way.

Thanks for the replies ladies...very enlightening.

They checked my bag pretty thoroughly and eventually uncovered a long forgotten pack of *ahem* french letters.

what are french letters?

Sorry, I am English you know. I think I meant to say CONDOMS!!!!