colibra Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 bungy007 I think you are correct. Many people in the US are involved in kind of like co-op lawyers. People pay a small amount each month into a pool to be used by its members in cases of emergency. Something like this would be easily set up here in Thailand for ex pats. Parameters could be set up for acceptable uses and lawyers found that want to participate. Just an Idea that I have seen work other places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAWP Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 bungy007I think you are correct. Many people in the US are involved in kind of like co-op lawyers. People pay a small amount each month into a pool to be used by its members in cases of emergency. Something like this would be easily set up here in Thailand for ex pats. Parameters could be set up for acceptable uses and lawyers found that want to participate. Just an Idea that I have seen work other places. Seeing as the lawyers seem to be as crocked as the cops...be careful as to who you pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caf Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 The expats are falling into two camps here.We need to start wearing different shirts because the Thai-ier than Thai, immigration police are always right people that have no compassion for Simon are scary and who would really want to associate with them? So the hang Simon crowd should wear BLACK SHIRTS (to reflect their dark dead hearts). And those with a some decency and compassion for our fellow human beings who have fallen into a hellish predicament through a series of unfortunate events, should wear PURPLE SHIRTS. Not sure if purple is right for this, but red and yellow are taken. Completely agree with you. The "hang um" brigade on Thaivisa are a nuisance on any decent forum. This same thread is running elsewhere but without the flames and ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boater Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 well it has finally hit all the UK Press! i note they explain he was beaten and shackled. this will not look good for tourism Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boater Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Burrowes, concedes he used the words "fuc_king" and "idiot" in front of immigration officials when his flight, for which his ticket was non-refundable, left without him."They'd kept me waiting an hour studying my passport with a magnifying glass," he said. "I was angry. I grabbed my passport and walked out of the immigration area, saying, 'I'm a British citizen who has come to your country to spend my money. Don't treat me like a fuc_king idiot." Thai immigration police say it was they who were called "fuc_king idiots". His case could take a year, longer if he pleads not guilty, and the first hearing is not until 27 April. i can see how the Thai's got mixed up slighlty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boater Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/art...e#StartComments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinclapham Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Are there some people in Phuket who are willing to step up to the plate and help out this guy with a room, meals, spending money, and a suit of clothes if he needs that for court? I don't care how "rude" he was. He is a victim and if they have this tape (probably don't even need that, its his word against the cops and yes Thailand is racist against black people) he may indeed be going down for two years. We have many expat hotel and restaurant owners. This guy apparently needs help. The other poster is correct, if he gets arrested again for working illegally that will make it even worse.I have another reason why so many people take the officials side over our brother from the UK. They are deep down afraid inside that the next victim of Thai "justice" could be them. If you build up the case that any foreigner who gets in trouble here is always guilty and always a "bad farang" then you can feel more comfortable and smug that you being a "good farang" are immune from these random acts of injustice. Still, it isn't pretty to watch. Does anyone reading this thread actually know this guy? If so, you could help relay any helpful offers ... Based on his description maybe it wouldn't be that difficult to identify him walking the streets. Please help out this guy with some human kindness. It may be some of the only decent living he gets for two years and two years in bad Thai prison is a life threatening experience. .........I think this and Edward Moulton's thread are the best threads I have read regarding this issue, well said, good to see a spark of human kindness left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colibra Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 well it has finally hit all the UK Press!i note they explain he was beaten and shackled. this will not look good for tourism Well if tourism is down that should make some of you want to be more Thai than Thais happy. I hope tourism drops to ZERO. Would serve the Thai government right. There would seem to be a double standard on Thaivisa.com. People who want it to stay same, same, one day and change the next, when it deals with the poor, repressed people and educational standards in Thailand, they want change, but when it has to do with Thailand halving respect for its so called Guests we should all just shut up or go home rather than be treated with courtesy afforded to Guests. I have personally met the most rude, and prejudice people at the immigration office. Take about power tripping a$% &$#@$$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splatter Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 A one in 1,000 glitch is not very reassuring.... considering there are 1 million British visitors to Thailand every year. "Her Britannic Majesty's Secretary of State Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty all those whom it may concern to allow the bearer to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zehner Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 The expats are falling into two camps here.We need to start wearing different shirts because the Thai-ier than Thai, immigration police are always right people that have no compassion for Simon are scary and who would really want to associate with them? So the hang Simon crowd should wear BLACK SHIRTS (to reflect their dark dead hearts). And those with a some decency and compassion for our fellow human beings who have fallen into a hellish predicament through a series of unfortunate events, should wear PURPLE SHIRTS. Not sure if purple is right for this, but red and yellow are taken. Completely agree with you. The "hang um" brigade on Thaivisa are a nuisance on any decent forum. This same thread is running elsewhere but without the flames and ... Indeed. Why should puny Thai law have to apply to a fine British gent? It is a true travesty that one cannot swear at those silly little brown immigration people without fear of imprisonment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisspursbkk1 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) Amazing Kwailand, i thought what with all there other problems they wouldn't want bad publicity. Just gos to show you can't educate an idiot. Edited March 10, 2009 by chrisspursbkk1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boater Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Amazing Kwailand, i thought what with all there other problems they wouldn't want bad publicity. Just gos to show you can't educate an idiot. spot on .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seri thai Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 The expats are falling into two camps here.We need to start wearing different shirts because the Thai-ier than Thai, immigration police are always right people that have no compassion for Simon are scary and who would really want to associate with them? So the hang Simon crowd should wear BLACK SHIRTS (to reflect their dark dead hearts). And those with a some decency and compassion for our fellow human beings who have fallen into a hellish predicament through a series of unfortunate events, should wear PURPLE SHIRTS. Not sure if purple is right for this, but red and yellow are taken. Completely agree with you. The "hang um" brigade on Thaivisa are a nuisance on any decent forum. This same thread is running elsewhere but without the flames and ... Indeed. Why should puny Thai law have to apply to a fine British gent? It is a true travesty that one cannot swear at those silly little brown immigration people without fear of imprisonment. "To be born an Englishman is to win first prize in the lottery of life" Cecil Rhodes "Ex-Pats who live in Thailand are people who can't make it in the real world" My ex-wife...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackspratt Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 In a certain way I'd actually agree that Mr Burrowes is a victim - the victim of living in a society that has been destroyed by liberals, do-gooders & the politically correct, where children learn nothing about respect, misdemeanours go unpunished, strong values, morals & principals are of little importance....................where do you stop? Unfortunately Clayton, cheered on by your sycophant-in-chief, neverdie, you don't stop. But feel free to do so, asap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boater Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 "To be born an Englishman is to win first prize in the lottery of life"Cecil Rhodes "Ex-Pats who live in Thailand are people who can't make it in the real world" My ex-wife...... excellent quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texpat Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 No manners. Maybe he'll learn some in prison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackspratt Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 This must just be a good example of the eduction level of our younger generation today. You may have a good point there. A lot of youth culture revolves around "street cred" witch is mainly about the interactions between gang members. Once they are taken out of that "gang" environment they are a little like a fish out of water and that's within their own national cultural surroundings. Add into that a totally different set of cultural values and the individual could quickly lose the plot. Surely you overlooked the smiley at the end of your post. Otherwise, unless you wish to be more specific about what country and culture you are talking about, it is absolute nonsense Okay I apologise for using all those long words that are beyond your stone age comprehension. In future I will try and only use monosyllabilic words for folks like yourself. I guess you need the smilies the same as you need the pictures in the comics so as to understand the story. Okay, happy now? You should apologise to yourself for making yourself look so silly. Given that you have been unable to supply any details of countries, cultures etc, when you talk about "street cred", "gang members". etc, it seems pretty obvious to me who has quickly lost the plot. :jerk: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffcoat Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Well a lot of excitement over this case and clearly the details of what actually took place are in dispute not least by the UK embassy according to the Guardian report linked by a previous poster. For those whose first language is not English it is worth noting that the 'apology' apparently given is actually a well crafted insult, self righteous in the context can be read no other way. The agreed facts appear to be that the immigration officers were suspicious of the passport and checked it very closely to see if it had been tampered with and then contacted the relevant embassy who told them it was not genuine. The immigration officers therefore very reasonably believed that the man they had detained was using a false passport and was therefore probably a criminal of some kind. The man in question then became verbally abusive,aggressive (in that he grabbed the passport) and attempted to leave (flee the scene?) and was arrested. He was imprisoned and remained in prison because he could not meet the bail provision. Thus far I cannot see anything in the behaviour of the Thai authorities that would not be duplicated if the same set of circumstances were to happen at Heathrow, JFK etc. In the UK if you use abusive language F#+# etc you can be arrested under the criminal law and charged so there is no excuse for a Brit to think you can do this elsewhere in the world and get away with it just because you have spent holiday money. I understand from my friends in the police (UK) that it is quite normal to only enter one charge on initial arrest rather than all possible charges for reasons of convenience. This may explain why the charge regarding his behaviour was only officially presented when the passport charge was dropped (just supposition on my part). Transporting a prisoner who is physically imposing and a trained martial artist in restraints is standard practice around the world so I see nothing surprising in that element of the story. If he was assaulted with a belt then there is no defence for that but realistically that would be very hard to prove. Personally I feel sorry for him because he was put in a terrible position by the apparently inadequate support of the UK embassy. But unfortunately he reacted in a foolish way and made a bad situation very much worse and he has only himself to blame for that. I have no idea what sentence he will receive but I hope they take into account time already spent behind bars and then deport him. At least then he would be on a par with the idiots who make jokes about bombs in their luggage at airports and get arrested and spend a few nights inside to consider just how funny they really are (I believe the theoretical maximum prison sentence for that in the USA is 15 years). Quite how this one plays out in the UK press and impacts the general view of Thailand is hard to say as the pillars of our freedom in the press have at least three basic stories to play with depending on which will sell more copies. 1/. Incompetent civil servant lands Brit in jail. 2/. My Jail hel_l in Thailand. 3/. Brit thug gets a taste of discipline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverdie Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 The expats are falling into two camps here.We need to start wearing different shirts because the Thai-ier than Thai, immigration police are always right people that have no compassion for Simon are scary and who would really want to associate with them? So the hang Simon crowd should wear BLACK SHIRTS (to reflect their dark dead hearts). And those with a some decency and compassion for our fellow human beings who have fallen into a hellish predicament through a series of unfortunate events, should wear PURPLE SHIRTS. Not sure if purple is right for this, but red and yellow are taken. Jingthing....I'm a bit like simon, I like to run around with my shirt off, if thats okay for you? So I wont be wearing a black shirt, perhaps a arm band might do?.....I know how much you like to put little things in boxes, but sometimes life isnt so clinical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahmburgers Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Re; the miscombobulated number of the Passport: There appears to have been a phone conversation between a vexed Thai official in Phuket and a worker at the Brit embassy in Bkk. The Thai official was emotionally distraught (he/she had already spent an hour looking at one page of a passport while intentionally keeping the traveler off his flight) and was bent on continuing to make life miserable for the unrepentant traveler. It's plausible that the Brit official vouched for the passport's legality - whereas the Thai official falsely declared (to those in the Phuket office) that the passport was bogus. Anger and revenge can do strange things. Every comment I have made still stands. Irrespective of the circumstances he should have shown dignity & respect, a trait that is sadly lacking in the UK, clearly he didn't & now he's paying the price - had he kept his mouth shut he'd have been out in a few days. It still concerns me that a martial arts instructor lost his self discipline so easily. Yes, the Brit traveler was rude. Is being rude grounds for locking a guy up for a week and threatening him with two additional years in the slammer? Clayton, your high-minded disciplinarianism might fit well in an all-boys catholic school, but this incident happened at the exit gate of a gaudy little island which makes its bread and butter from debauchery on the backs (and fronts) of thousands of mid-teen tarts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverdie Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaytonSeymour Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) It's plausible that the Brit official vouched for the passport's legality - whereas the Thai official falsely declared (to those in the Phuket office) that the passport was bogus. Anger and revenge can do strange things. It's also plausible that the British official decided to 'sit on it', him/herself thoroughly p_ssed off with the weak UK justice system, sensing an opportunity to see loutish behaviour, of the kind that they are often forced to tolerate themselves, rightfully punished. Is being rude grounds for locking a guy up for a week and threatening him with two additional years in the slammer? He failed to either demonstrate or maintain respect for those in authority - he should be punished & I've no problem with the maximum sentence under Thai law being applied, though I doubt it will be anyway. In some countries, he'd be looking at more than two years along with the possibility of corporal punishment. Edited March 10, 2009 by ClaytonSeymour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) If he wasn't black, they would have never even given his passport a second look. Many Thais think the UK is a FARANG COUNTRY, and farang is WHITE. Edited March 10, 2009 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverdie Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 If he wasn't black, they would have never even given his passport a second look.Many Thais think the UK is a FARANG COUNTRY, and farang is WHITE. ABSOLUTE RUBBISH JT, Why do you have to bring race into this. I would suggest that theres been heaps of white trash that has had similar troubles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyd Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Come to think of it, when I first went to Thailand, the immigration wifey in the booth gave me an awefully funny look when I gave her my passport. It turns out that most Brits slap aside immigration officials with their passports, and she was bracing herself for the hit. Now alot of immigration booths and checkpoints have perspex glass to protect their employees, because of Brits. True story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverdie Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 ^ talking about slapping scottyd, I have been told that when babies are born that the doctors sometimes slap them on the backside (as some form of kick start)....I heard when you were born, the doctor slapped your mother? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyd Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 It's true. It was not a normal slap though, it was a British Passport Pimp slap just to let her know what to expect in the future. Doctor gave her it with my compliments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 If he wasn't black, they would have never even given his passport a second look.Many Thais think the UK is a FARANG COUNTRY, and farang is WHITE. ABSOLUTE RUBBISH JT, Why do you have to bring race into this. I would suggest that theres been heaps of white trash that has had similar troubles Oh really. Well this would be the place to hear about that then. Are you a white Brit who had their passport validity questioned by Thai immigration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverdie Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 No JT, I'm a black Australian & theres nothing I hate more than people playing the race card all the time. An observation, yes I have seen white trash getting a hard time at the airport before.........trash comes in all shapes & colours, do you understand my point, its not a racist one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 No JT, I'm a black Australian & theres nothing I hate more than people playing the race card all the time. Another right wing black guy? It takes all kinds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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