This morning having received a phone call from the daughter and then passing on to the wife, I have had related to me an unfortunate tale.

Our teenage daughter with four other teenagers were quietly playing twopenny baht cards when they were raided by the BiB, they locked the door, but they tried forced entry, unable to gain entry, they contacted the owner of the house and effected entry.

Pretending to be kind and helpful, they elicited information that they were actually playing for a couple of baht a game.

They took the initial fine!!! from the five girls and then took them to the station, where they wrote a long report. ( A long report <deleted> )

12 hours later in the station, after they had called for back up and put them in ( from what I can gather, a riot van?? ) where supposedly reports were being written.

After paying the initial fine!! They have been threatened with court action, ( AFAIK ) this is going ahead tomorrow and the Bib have said a 20k fine, for playing cards for twopenny baht!!

I have several points,

how can anybody justify holding teenage girls for 12 hours,

the fines seem excessive

and surely they have better things to do.

Those who know me will know I rarely swear and I would like to think that I rarely knock Thai culture, but this appears to me to cross the Rubicon or be beyond the Pale.

My sister in law has said the guys are trying to make a name for themselves and the fine will not be 20k, but it is the incarceration of 12 hours that has really put me on the hoof.

Obviously can't put in General and I guess I just wanted a rant.

Moss

I know of a Thai woman in the UK who was travelling to a car boot sale of a Sunday morning with her 14-year-old daughter with the car laden with gear to sell. They were stopped by plod who nicked 'em both on suspicion of the stuff being hookey. The 14-year-old was placed in a cell at the nick on her own for 6 hours before mum was released without charge.

So it's not only in Thailand.

Scouse.

So it's not only in Thailand.

To be fair, I never said it was and both situations are a disgrace.

Moss

The word 'humanitarian' has yet to enter the lexicon of some sections of Thai society, especially for the brown robed ones when they go into extortion mode...... truly sickening when the adding machine is more important than the help line.

It's silly and pedantic, but from all accounts the police really like to throw their weight around on this one, regardless of what's being played for (or age of the people involved, so it seems).

I've been in a bar a few times where the girls have been playing Bot Daeng (?) for one baht a game, but there's always been a lookout keeping an eye should the BiB turn up.

Downright ridiculous.

The police caught a group of women playing cards (baht per hand) on the side of the street around here a few months ago. One of the women was 8 1/2 months pregnant. They were all kept in the lockup for a day.

Obviously excessive gambling is a total seperate issue. Whether "baht games" turn people into "bet the farm" types who knows?

I have never understood the appeal of gambling or why anyone would willingly 'fess up.

Exactly why gamling is illegal, so plod can make some money for himself.

What can you do mate? They just have to write it off to experience, hopefully next time they don't get caught.

Oh, and if your paying the fine, make sure they pay it back! How else will they learn.

The word 'humanitarian' has yet to enter the lexicon of some sections of Thai society, especially for the brown robed ones when they go into extortion mode...... truly sickening when the adding machine is more important than the help line.

As scouse says above it is not isolated to Thai society, however this is doing nothing for society, except being the money making exercise and promoting ones ability!!! to your immediate boss.

It's silly and pedantic, but from all accounts the police really like to throw their weight around on this one, regardless of what's being played for (or age of the people involved, so it seems).

I've been in a bar a few times where the girls have been playing Bot Daeng (?) for one baht a game, but there's always been a lookout keeping an eye should the BiB turn up.

I feel it is not silly nor pedantic, but dehumanising, putting teenage girls behind bars for such a long time over such a minor, if illegal activity.

Downright ridiculous.

"bet the farm" types who knows?

Yup, I agree, but she hasn't got many buttons to her name, let alone a buffalo or two.

Moss

I have never understood the appeal of gambling or why anyone would willingly 'fess up.

Each to their own lan, I have had some good poker nights in my time, bought my first colour TV and video some years ago after one hairy night, and they 'fessed after being bullied and coerced into a confession.

Oh, and if your paying the fine, make sure they pay it back!

You are right of course, but she has a young one, a husband that I will stay diplomatically quiet about and she has a struggling small business, I guess I'm paying then.

I don't really mind, because I feel they have turned over unjustly,

Moss

Oh btw, I forgot to reply to your PM, ' Whoosh', that was my thought, as it sailed blindly over heads.

Not to be alarmist, but these things typically don't happen by accident. How did they know in the first place (inside the closed house) that the game was taking place? And if they needed to elicit a confession, obviously they didn't observe the gambling happening?

The closest to this I've heard about is a friend's friend who runs a restaurant and had an employee with a grudge. The employee reported (and perhaps participated in) a very, very low stakes card game in the restaurant office after-hours, and guess who shows up knowing exactly what's going on and where? Yup, the BiB. Turns out the owner was partly responsible for what happened on his premises, and he wound up paying a rather large fine.

One might question which of your daughter's "friends" may have been the helping hand that got *you* targetted (they can't just randomly go around looking for 20K fines- they need a good reason to demand one and a party who's likely to have the money to pay).

It's an outrage, for sure, but not surprising, unfortunately. Would advise you tell your daughter that consequences of anything illegal she does in the house is going to be her (financial) responsibility and hint to her that it is a little strange to be an 'accident,' and see if you can identify which of the 'friends' might have been involved. Might be a loss of innocence, but with friends like those she may need to be less innocent.

Good luck.

"S"

I know of a Thai woman in the UK who was travelling to a car boot sale of a Sunday morning with her 14-year-old daughter with the car laden with gear to sell. They were stopped by plod who nicked 'em both on suspicion of the stuff being hookey. The 14-year-old was placed in a cell at the nick on her own for 6 hours before mum was released without charge.

So it's not only in Thailand.

Scouse.

My second son in the break between school and uni and a couple of his mates were helping out one of their friends who was working on some college project. Anyhow this involved him making a video of them running around out on the local common with toy guns (toys not replicas). I don't know any more details but that was the gist of it. Someone spotted them and called the police and subsequently PC Plod turns up and takes them all down the station for questioning. Now the police station in our town is closed weekends so he takes them to Aldershot nick five or so miles away. This was mid afternoon and they didn't get released until after midnight and no transport was offered to get them home (my ex wife had to drive over and get them).

Now it could be said that a bunch of teenagers running around with toy guns in these days of mass paranoia is a bit silly but surely PC Plod should have been able to work out for himself what was going on and just give them a bolloxing. But no, the officious little brainless retard has to go the whole hog and take them into custody. Then they get turfed out onto the streets after midnight in a town not noted for it's peace and tranquility facing a long trek home along unlit country roads.

On top of that they were threatened with prosecution which was later withdrawn, obviously by someone with rather more than a peanut for a brain.

So, no it is not only in Thailand but the only difference being that the police were not after funds for their next p1ssup, the British bobbies are not even smart enough for that.

Quite often you read in the Pattaya press of the BiB busting some evil gambling den, confiscating a pack of cards and a sum of money like 39 Baht. Not only pathetic given the rising level of street crime in the town but hypocritical given the number of upcountry illigal police/army run gambling dens.

But Ijustwannateach has a good point, even in Thailand the BiB don't just go around randomly kicking down doors. They must have had a tip off, I assume that this is a regular thing, if so, was one of the regular girls not there that day? Maybe the last time she played she lost heavily.

Oh, and if your paying the fine, make sure they pay it back! How else will they learn.

You are on the same wave length as the other half, she is playing hard ball with the poor girl, she has had to put in her wedding gold to some loan shark, to pay the bill.

I will let it go on for a short time, before I pay it, because I think they have all been turned over.

even in Thailand the BiB don't just go around randomly kicking down doors. They must have had a tip off, I assume that this is a regular thing, if so, was one of the regular girls not there that day? Maybe the last time she played she lost heavily.

I thought this rather strange, how would they know? I hadn't thought of a Fifth Columnist, I will ask if someone was absent.

Moss

Moss- That is ridiculous. Right down the road 4 top Sattahib govn. officials & the top high mucky muck in Bang Sare come to Bang Sare to play chicken fighting. They can loose upwards to 10,000 baht a day. No one even does anything. I can't understand why they go after anyone when there is blood on their own hands as well!

Moss- That is ridiculous. Right down the road 4 top Sattahib govn. officials & the top high mucky muck in Bang Sare come to Bang Sare to play chicken fighting. They can loose upwards to 10,000 baht a day. No one even does anything. I can't understand why they go after anyone when there is blood on their own hands as well!

There are some who just shrug their shoulders and say TiT.

And there are some who get angry at the injustice of Thai society and rant and rail against it.

And then there are others who say we are too critical of Thailand and if we don't like it we should go home.