++ Help Requested - Passport Held By Shop Owner ++

[lifeisrandom]

UPDATE:

I went to the US Embassy on Tuesday:They had a report there as sent by the Koh Tao police. I explained the situation:

1) The passport belongs to the US Govt. and they want it back

2) The dispute is between myself and the shop - however the US Emb. called there and tried to reason/bargain with them

on my behalf - no go. They want the whole enchalada.

3) The embassy has given me a replacement passport pending their pursuit of my original

4) The shop (Thai as far as I know - or at least run by Thais) is going to sue me and will inform Thai Immg.

and thus try to keep me from traveling out of Thailand.

5) I am contacting a lawyer tomorrow or tonight to handle this fo me or give me a letter for Imm etc.

6) I go to Thai Immg tomorrow to get my visa stamps replaced.

the saga continues...updates to come as they occur.

this is so stupid

just pay the 24 baht and seek revenge thai style later on

[lifeisrandom]

why would you leave ko tao and go to BKK without your passport,i would of taken a 2 foot length of 4 by 2 and threatened the hel_l out of the shop owner until passport was returned.

all you usually have to do is walk into shop ,lock door behind you and smile

i bet they try this trick much less often on russian and african guests

lol

[JimsKnight]

I just returned from Koh Tao. Upon returning an ATV to the shop owner they have tried to hit me up for 24K baht for what amounts to a few superficial scratches on an old and piece of crap bike. I refused to pay that ridiculous amount. I did offer 10K baht just to get rid of the situation but that was refused. The shop owner bragged about doing this to other tourist and said she would have my passport BLOCKED and I couldn't leave Thailand. The shop also mentioned that if I dont pay that she can sell it for a lot of money (black market).

We went to the police who did nothing. They made a report but no real action taken. MY wife later called (Thai) and the police told her that this shop will charge at least 4 times what is a reasonable fee. The police report just states that the owner will return my passport when I pay 24K baht.

QUESTIONS:

1. Can I get a replacement at the US Embassy given this situation?

2. Can I be BLOCKED from leaving Thailand?

3. Should I raise this as a security issue (black market thing)?

My options appear to be

1) report to embassy as described above

2) just report as lost passport

Any suggestions or follow up questions are appreciated

This is why I never rent a bike in Thailand, if I absolutely must rent, I hand over my Thai drivers license.

Yes, its a well known fact of life in tourist islands that this happens.

Some happy dutch scammer once tried blagging me with the 'just look over the bike before you rent with the owner in attendance' this is no guarantee either.

Report it as a lost passport, if it shows up you can play it like bogart and deny all knowledge.

The blocking passport thing is an unknown entity, I think they can threaten it, but unless you've robbed a bank or committed a massive crime I wouldn't loose too much sleep over it.

Does Koh Tao even have the tourist police? Its been a few years but the last time I live on KT there were only a bunch of dodgy regular cops from Surat Thani. Believe me, they are not much cop when it comes to actual police work.

The whole threatening strategy I have only seen work only ONCE, but this was a blatent case of theft of a motorbikes kickstart by the 'Fat Mechanic' (Koh Tao) against a man mountain of a farang expat, who mosseyed on down to the mechys workshop and within 5 minutes had his kickstart returned.

He had Thai support with him translating.

So really be careful.

Edited October 20, 2008 by JimsKnight