Customs Or Not?

[Mattd]

I arrived back from a business trip to the UK on Sunday 21st December 2008 evening, the flight was via Abu Dhabi, whilst walking between gate E2 and immigration, I was stopped by two young guys in plain clothes, where they asked to see inside the plastic bag I was carrying from Abu Dhabi duty free.

I asked them why and if I could see some i.d. first, they told me they could look if they wanted to and quickly flashed a security badge at me.

I then told them there was 200 cigarettes, a bag and some aftershave in the bag and basically walked away from them.

Has anybody else had this experience at all??

I for one do not understand it, first off, whilst walking to immigration, then technically you are not yet in Thailand, so cannot be subject to the customs laws, secondly, I may well have been transiting to another country and what was stopping me purchasing more things at the duty free area you are forced to walk through at the immigration area?

Just wondering if they were really customs or not!

[G54]

It was happening a lot last year. Revenue men wanting to see what people were carrying, especially those entering from the Mid East. Not sure where, but there was a long running topic about this. They were handing out stiff penalties to those caught too, as I recall, though I never got stopped.

[2008bangkok]

I cant see anybody bein brash enough to try and fake customs approach air side if so i will defo have a pair of those <deleted>.....

i recon that if you fit the proifle your gonna get stopped, checked, and possibly a feel of the farah's.......

[samran]

I arrived back from a business trip to the UK on Sunday 21st December 2008 evening, the flight was via Abu Dhabi, whilst walking between gate E2 and immigration, I was stopped by two young guys in plain clothes, where they asked to see inside the plastic bag I was carrying from Abu Dhabi duty free.

I asked them why and if I could see some i.d. first, they told me they could look if they wanted to and quickly flashed a security badge at me.

I then told them there was 200 cigarettes, a bag and some aftershave in the bag and basically walked away from them.

Has anybody else had this experience at all??

I for one do not understand it, first off, whilst walking to immigration, then technically you are not yet in Thailand, so cannot be subject to the customs laws, secondly, I may well have been transiting to another country and what was stopping me purchasing more things at the duty free area you are forced to walk through at the immigration area?

Just wondering if they were really customs or not!

first of all, you are in Thailand. You may not have cleared customs and immigration yet, but you definetly are in the Kingdom. The only difference there is that there are relaxed rules about who can be there without a visa and relaxed rules about what can be purchased without incuring Thai excise tax.

Gary Glitter tried that "I'm not in Thailand" trick when he was on a stop over from his VN deportation, to avoid having to go back to the UK. The Thai authorities told him to shove it and bundled him off on the next plane.

The second thing that people don't realise is that customs and excise have juristiction anywhere in Thailand, and not just in some imagined cordoned off area of the airport or near a border. Sure, that is the most logical place for them to be, but they have just as much right to break down the door of a bootlegger stilling illegal alcohol in Nakorn Nowhere or someone who is selling home made ciggies down the pub.

From all accounts, the authorities are legit. They target flights from the ME as it has become a popular route for UK based cigarette smugglers. People who load up on popular UK brands at tax free rates on their ME stop over, who bring them into LOS and then take them home again (after picking up another load on their trip back to the UK). Cheapskates and the such who were looking to sell their ciggies back home to fund their jaunts to Pattaya and other well known cesspools. Fines are steep and well published.

Having said that, being airside is a bit of a strange place for them to be, unless you had already passed the exit to the transit area.... Previous reports suggested that they were targeting people outside of the airport.

Do a search on 'emporer tud' and fake officers on this site and you'll find the appropriate thread where this has been discussed before...

[samiinjapan]

Movies Law dont apply in real world

[londonthai]

customs are watching you the moment you disembark, they might have as well reports from the customs of your departure or even from the cabin crew - if you were profiled or you look suspicious they will follow through emmigration to collecting your luggage to customs. They have the right to search you anywhere between, for example to prevent the suspect of disposing the evidence in the bin or in the toilet. Usually they would allow you to the customs or even outside to bang you with all the stuff and eventually with accomplices.

I was flying in on monday evening from doha and there were undercover customs officers straith by the airplane as well as by the moving walkway.

[jackspratt]

I don't doubt the OPs experience,and support most of what Samran had to say.

Otherwise, there seems to be a fair bit of folklore and paranoia on the thread.

It is not illegal to import cigarettes (or any other licit substance) in excess of your allowances. The illegality occurs when you fail to declare the excess ie when you pass through the customs barrier.

If one of our eagle eyed posters has detected undercover officers airside, obviously they are no doing a very good job of disguising themselves

Sorry Samran - the good emperor's posts all disappeared at the same time as he "banned" himself from the forum. Made very good reading though

[londonthai]

the OP said about "plain clothed" gentelmen, I said about undercover ones - roughly the same and means not in an official uniform with a walki talki and watching carefuly leaving the plane.

[FarangFatal]

{quote name='Mattd' date='2008-12-23 15:25:44' post='2425122']

I arrived back from a business trip to the UK on Sunday 21st December 2008 evening, the flight was via Abu Dhabi, whilst walking between gate E2 and immigration, I was stopped by two young guys in plain clothes, where they asked to see inside the plastic bag I was carrying from Abu Dhabi duty free.

I asked them why and if I could see some i.d. first, they told me they could look if they wanted to and quickly flashed a security badge at me.

I then told them there was 200 cigarettes, a bag and some aftershave in the bag and basically walked away from them.

Has anybody else had this experience at all??

I for one do not understand it, first off, whilst walking to immigration, then technically you are not yet in Thailand, so cannot be subject to the customs laws, secondly, I may well have been transiting to another country and what was stopping me purchasing more things at the duty free area you are forced to walk through at the immigration area?

Just wondering if they were really customs or not!

K Op, mia kao jia TIT! Somebody pm the bloke so as not to boare the <deleted> out of the mongers mahk mahk about theis zone and explain how things go, you- know as in. Sawadee K. BIB Up to You!

[Mattd]

Gents,

I appreciate all the replies, mostly BS but there you go, again I reiterate, I have NOT attempted to smuggle anything yet (nor would I), as by definition, until any person passes through the customs barrier of any country then it is not, nor cannot be, an offense to carry a bag of any quantity of cigarettes off the airplane, so if I had more than 200 Cigarettes as I passed through immigration and didn't declare them, then yes an offense has been committed.

For sure if you go to the duty free shop, either going out or coming in, they will sell you just as many as you want to buy, illegal, nope, only when you try to import them.

for those that think otherwise, yes, there has been more than one occasion of customs (etc.) officers attempting to scam foreigners on arrival, it will happen.

Enough said.

[dingdongrb]

Gents,

I appreciate all the replies, mostly BS but there you go, again I reiterate, I have NOT attempted to smuggle anything yet (nor would I), as by definition, until any person passes through the customs barrier of any country then it is not, nor cannot be, an offense to carry a bag of any quantity of cigarettes off the airplane, so if I had more than 200 Cigarettes as I passed through immigration and didn't declare them, then yes an offense has been committed.

For sure if you go to the duty free shop, either going out or coming in, they will sell you just as many as you want to buy, illegal, nope, only when you try to import them.

for those that think otherwise, yes, there has been more than one occasion of customs (etc.) officers attempting to scam foreigners on arrival, it will happen.

Enough said.

I didn't think that you could reach the Duty Free shops when entering into the new airport??? (That is entering in arriving by air.)

[Crossy]

I didn't think that you could reach the Duty Free shops when entering into the new airport??? (That is entering in arriving by air.)

You have to walk through the bleedin' things to get to immigration, originally the travelators actually dumped you IN the shop. This is of course assuming that these particular outlets are 'duty free'

[geriatrickid]

You can access duty free in the arrival areas. There is a thread on it somewhere. In respect to Phuket, had I not been told of this, I wouldn't have known. On the International arrivals section, right before customs at baggage carousel, there is a duty free outlet. I snagged a bottle of booze for "cheap". It saves the hassle of lugging it onto a plane.

[moodysufc]

They are waiting about 50metres before the duty free shops when walking towards immigration from the arrival gate, was stopped last time to look in my carry on bag, had nothing in it (was flying via dubai) the guy in front had 1000 smokes, as soon as he walked off the guy was on the radio giving his description to customs and guess what he was pulled as he walked out the airport, have been told it is 15X tax rate if you are caught with more than 200 smokes at 35bht thats 525bht on each packet,

[Rinrada]

They are waiting about 50metres before the duty free shops when walking towards immigration from the arrival gate, was stopped last time to look in my carry on bag, had nothing in it (was flying via dubai) the guy in front had 1000 smokes, as soon as he walked off the guy was on the radio giving his description to customs and guess what he was pulled as he walked out the airport, have been told it is 15X tax rate if you are caught with more than 200 smokes at 35bht thats 525bht on each packet,

Could be the Thai Govs Ministry of Health dept trying to encourage visitors to their sunny shores to kick the filthy habit....Nice One ....

Wifes old school mate is no 3 in customs at Suwanna...must congratulate her on next visit..........

err...me thinks ...never had a problem...funny that...