British Traveller Speaks Of Thai Terror

[CLASBYCLAN]

Wierd story.

[neverdie]

Hopefully somebody tips of the Australian Authorities.....so they can give him a great big CAVITY search on the way in .....the last thing we need now is more travellers, create demand thus pushing up prices, its adversly effecting my plans for a grim recession.

[mackayae]

This is Thailand. Shit happens. If you want a safe trip, go to Switzerland. The average tourist is not aware of the Thai Police's criminality.

[mc2]

this boy must have shown disrespect , everyone should have it drilled into them before they come, don't show disrespect to cops or monarcy .

[Gravelrash]

As there isn't enough information to form an opinion it does seem futile to assume he was running a scam. Surely those here have heard or experienced enough police horror stories to accept that he could be just telling the truth?

Again though, more bad PR for Thailand. Would anything change things, even no tourists, probably not.

[neverdie]

this boy must have shown disrespect , everyone should have it drilled into them before they come, don't show disrespect to cops or monarcy .

s

Half the problem with society these days....theres no respect.

Little stint wouldn't do half of these little b#ggers any harm, maybe it was part of some adventure travel package?

[aussiechick]

And how much did the newspaper pay him for the story?

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

And how much did the newspaper pay him for the story?

I found his Facebook page and send him a message to get him information. he wrote back that he is willing to give info about the incident. He seemed to be unaware that the press was running with the story. He wanted to know what publications had the story and I pointed him to the UK paper and Bangkok post, Thaivisa. Unfortunately he hasn't followed up and answered the questions I posed about the name of the guesthouse etc and what happened.

I will post if/when he answers.

[Loaded]

...He was taken back to his prison cell while officials attempted to “negotiate” with Thai officials for his freedom. Chris said: "It was pretty scary. I had no idea what was going on." ...

...Chris then had a visit from his rep who told him the court had agreed to overturn his sentence, but he would have to stay in prison while the authorities decided whether to deport him. He was even told he would not have to pay for the bribery as he was a student....

I know the Honorary British Consul in Chiang Mai and this guy is saying that he bribed the judges. Absolute rubbish.

Little Red Ridding Hood is a more believable fairy tale.

[wayfarer108]

Agree. While we all know certain Thai politicians have used lese majeste to aggravate their opponents and enemies, I've never heard of the police cooking it up on their own, especially in the case of a foreigner.

Personally I find it difficult to believe he was incarcerated for 'insulting the King', ie there are plenty of other more plausible-sounding excuses they could have come up with.

Only way to find out for sure why he was allegedly tanked is to get a look at the docket. Otherwise we're only hearing one side of the story.

[Loaded]

I think the reality is he was arrested for making a false insurance claim

[snuggzzz]

Methinks I can smell something................................................................it's getting stronger............................stronger..................................ah

hhhhhhhhhhh....bullshit....................

[kjhbigv]

All sounds a bit dodgy to me. The Thai police are generally reasonable people. More to this story than meets the eye, but a guy from Watford, 21 years old.....mmmm....can be chopsy to UK police and get away with it....but not here.....was he too cocky in his 'attitude'?

You don't get banged up for no reason!

Who knows, maybe he will enlighten us with the true course of events??

Still.....a life experience for him!

[imaneggspurt]

As the police havent commented ( and are unlikely to ) maybe hes not quite telling mummy and daddy the truth !

[imaneggspurt]

this boy must have shown disrespect , everyone should have it drilled into them before they come, don't show disrespect to cops or monarcy .

s

Half the problem with society these days....theres no respect.

Little stint wouldn't do half of these little b#ggers any harm, maybe it was part of some adventure travel package?

Yes bring back national service i say, what !

[Ta22]

seriously i only take it as a tall tale story .

i been in thailand for many many years and had stay in many backpacker hang out and all kinda place you name it .

-

the story is so custom to make the teller look like a Lamb .

- so in my view . there story is only a cheery picked one side story .

chances is if you dig you will find more dirt .

.

this is thailand . and many tale had been told about how badthis place is and how scarey this country is .

but the fact is .

isusually tall tale of one with something to hide .

i know cos i been there .

i love thailand so do you , if not you would not be here reading this post right now . and ifyou do now agree and feel that you hate thailand ,

then i suggest you try other website whhahahahahaha

maybe japvisa or iraqvisa

[BigSnake]

Very Strange story here, maybe I miss something, I don't have to much trust in the Thai Police, but with a Brit Gov Rep at his side and a few Bahts to the boys in Khai he should have walk free in the first place. HMMMMMMMMM!

[papajohn]

Very Strange story here, maybe I miss something, I don't have to much trust in the Thai Police, but with a Brit Gov Rep at his side and a few Bahts to the boys in Khai he should have walk free in the first place. HMMMMMMMMM!

I am glad to see your post !! It is tripe like this that dummies in other

countries think is the norm here. I see a lot of it here on TV and it is pure BS.

The Thai cops are inept and all are on the take gives a very wrong picture to

the readers.

The story is not strange, it happens here. In the TPD office is a BIG sign

that states that " you are making a statement of fact and it will be investigated

and you will be prosecuted for false statements" ( sic). If you make a false report

and sign it thinking you put one over on your insurance company you are in deep

kim chee if caught. The TPD give the tourists plenty of respect and expect same.

I was surprised that they took him to his room at the GH, most times they radio a car to check out the room for the reported "lost" items. When you sign the police report it gives them legal right to investigate. Yes I believe this article. My question is where is the THAI TERROR ? This is an example of a CRY BABY generation that

thinks that they can get away with fraud by making fools of another country.

To those of you who believe the crap you read here "beware" you could end up

doing hard time ( not terror) poor baby. If you want real terror go to Afganistan or the middle east or Africa.

Happy Holidays

[pothai]

Well said...too much doomsday stuff...in these pressing times we need to focus on the positive rather than the negative....and lets be real....there are far more positive things to discuss rather than negative.....

[phraxos5]

Urban legend, or he lost his cool and the police interpreted something he said as insulting to the King? That would explain the imprisonment. He already said he was scared when they found the items. He may have been asked to pay the police for finding the things, and became indignant. Frustrated, scared, hung over from a long night in spicy!.... Angry that sterling had lost 30% of its value in the middle of his trip? Things might have slipped out of his mouth.

Anyway Ive heard this type of thing before. Also offering to pay the police more money for helping usually lets things move along more easily here. (right or wrong, us lifers know that!). Most young backpackers consistently FREAK OUT when told to pay something under the table. They just dont understand how things work here. Urban legend or not, the penal system and law enforcement in Thailand may need some fine tuning. Lets try to support that happening in positive ways.

[RakJungTorlae]

2 months back i faced a 2 year prison sentence (will not get in to details) 100 K – walk free (“agreed, )quick thinking on my part was allowed to hold my mobile phone while in the holding . Called a few people to pull some strings and managed to get the fine down to 15 K and walk out. Had 2 hrs to pull it off before there shift is up. IF i dident I would have been in there for a while. Because these deals are done before the signing the guilty or release statement.

I’m sure he didn’t know how to play ball and he’s time ran out.

he’s crime sounds Stupid, Didn’t know there was such a crime. But the boys saw an advantage and it didn’t work out to plan. ROFL.

[phraxos5]

Urban legend, or he lost his cool and the police interpreted something he said as insulting to the King? That would explain the imprisonment. He already said he was scared when they found the items. He may have been asked to pay the police for finding the things, and became indignant. Frustrated, scared, hung over from a long night in spicy!.... Angry that sterling had lost 30% of its value in the middle of his trip? Things might have slipped out of his mouth.

Anyway Ive heard this type of thing before. Also offering to pay the police more money for helping usually lets things move along more easily here. (right or wrong, us lifers know that!). Most young backpackers consistently FREAK OUT when told to pay something under the table. They just dont understand how things work here. Urban legend or not, the penal system and law enforcement in Thailand may need some fine tuning. Lets try to support that happening in positive ways.

More crap

how so?

[/quote

The police in chang mai are notorious for taking payments under the table especially from farangs. With that being said, it makes the laws, which may be perfectly written as you point out, ineffective in the sense that faced with the possibility of receiving several times the normal monthly salary, a police officer may be tempted to bend the situation to his advantage in order to profit from it. Also the perpetrator may commit a crime thinking he can just pay his way out. You are living in a dream if you think this is not happening here. I think what you mean to say is that you can use it to your advantage if you are clever enough. Also I think we could all do without your multiple and antagonistic replies. If you have soething to say, say it, but don't be an asshol_e nobody needs that in these times.. I have reported you by the way.

HoHoHo

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

Well said...too much doomsday stuff...in these pressing times we need to focus on the positive rather than the negative....and lets be real....there are far more positive things to discuss rather than negative.....

I traded a few emails with Chris Ambrose who is the subject of the thread. He did nothing to answer any of my questions. He could not ever give me an answer about the charge or even the name of the guesthouse. Just a bunch of double talk. My guess is he got pinched for something more serious like a drug charge etc.

Like others have mentioned he crafted a vague BS story to whitewash it for his parents.

Maybe someone with ties to CM police can shed some light on it.

[kurnell]

Another urban legend to add to the long list about Thailand. This country would have to be the safest country in the world to travel in and only drunks and sloppy, selfish people get themselves into trouble.

what are you on about?

The above is self explanatory. Would you like it in another language?

[yogi]

if this story is real,then victim is the most unlucky guy on this planet

[Jingthing]

The fact that the British guy doesn't want to talk about this anymore doesn't prove anything at all. Perhaps he wants to forget a horrible experience. Perfectly understandable. Its not as if he has anything to gain or any hope of compensation from Thailand.

I was also offended by the poster calling the Brit stupid because he didn't understand the ins and outs of the corrupt Thai police system. That is a tall order for a casual tourist or even most long term expats.

Edited December 22, 2008 by Jingthing

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

The fact that the British guy doesn't want to talk about this anymore doesn't prove anything at all. Perhaps he wants to forget a horrible experience. Perfectly understandable. Its not as if he has anything to gain or any hope of compensation from Thailand.

I was also offended by the poster calling the Brit stupid because he didn't understand the ins and outs of the corrupt Thai police system. That is a tall order for a casual tourist or even most long term expats.

except when I first contacted him he said he would gladly provide info on the incident. Since then he replies to my emails but just dances around and never says anything concrete.

Put yourself in his hypothetical place. The Thai's throw you into a stinky crowded jail for a week and your not going to talk about any of the details? An innocent person would be livid. He just talks in generality and will not answer anything specific like the guesthouse or charges. He doesn't want to provide any info because it will undermine his story.

Chris Ambrose told me in one email. Copy and paste quote.

CSN comment. This guy is almost apologetic. Incredible. If I innocently by mistake filed a police report and the items were not really missing and they threw me in jail for a week then I would want someone's head mounted on my wall. And even then I would still be pissed off.

Chris is hiding something much bigger.

[silentjob]

This is quite fitting.

I went to the tourist police on Faham road, the same branch Mr Ambrose visited. I went after being duped out of 10,000 baht by a dodgy landlord, hoping the police could help me in some way [they could not]

Whilst I was there, and after striking up a convo with the police man who spoke very good English, told me of a 'stupid' English man who had tried to make him look stupid, by trying to file a fraudulent insurance claim, saying that he had gone away on a trip only to return to find his camera, mp3 player and mobile phone had been 'lost or stolen'. The Thai policeman said he encounters this kind of story all the time, and could smell something was amiss.

On the wall is a big plaque that reads - any person knowingly witholding information, will be arrested.

Said Policeman, took great pride and pleasure of leafing through the statement file, to show me a statement, and also a written apology from one Christopher Ambrose, of Telford England, stating how he was sorry to have wasted the police's time, and that he really regretted making the story up...

I really cannot believe this has come to light, as I have been telling people this story, purely out of the sheer lack of data protection I am so used to in the UK.

Why would anybody who owns a mobile phone, mp3 player and camera, on his 'much anticipated, two year in the making holiday' go away for three days, and not take these items with them?? I know I would be taking mine with me.....

I'm sorry, but I know this is a load of <deleted>. Insurance scam as plain as day.

Edited December 22, 2008 by silentjob

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

This is quite fitting.

I went to the tourist police on Faham road, the same branch Mr Ambrose visited. I went after being duped out of 10,000 baht by a dodgy landlord, hoping the police could help me in some way [they could not]

Whilst I was there, and after striking up a convo with the police man who spoke very good English, told me of a 'stupid' English man who had tried to make him look stupid, by trying to file a fraudulent insurance claim, saying that he had gone away on a trip only to return to find his camera, mp3 player and mobile phone had been 'lost or stolen'. The Thai policeman said he encounters this kind of story all the time, and could smell something was amiss.

On the wall is a big plaque that reads - any person knowingly witholding information, will be arrested.

Said Policeman, took great pride and pleasure of leafing through the statement file, to show me a statement, and also a written apology from one Christopher Ambrose, of Telford England, stating how he was sorry to have wasted the police's time, and that he really regretted making the story up...

I really cannot believe this has come to light, as I have been telling people this story, purely out of the sheer lack of data protection I am so used to in the UK.

Why would anybody who owns a mobile phone, mp3 player and camera, on his 'much anticipated, two year in the making holiday' go away for three days, and not take these items with them?? I know I would be taking mine with me.....

I'm sorry, but I know this is a load of <deleted>. Insurance scam as plain as day.

score SilentJob!!!! I forwarded this to Chris Ambrose and asked for his comment. It surely sounds like the plausible explanation but maybe he will finally close any loose ends on this story. Would not be surprised if he is speechless.

The power of Thai visa members !

[iainiain101]

Said Policeman, took great pride and pleasure of leafing through the statement file, to show me a statement, and also a written apology from one Christopher Ambrose, of Telford England, stating how he was sorry to have wasted the police's time, and that he really regretted making the story up...

Telford is a long way from Watford!