Australian Women Arrested In Phuket Over Bar Mat

[walkertalker]

texpat nailed it .

" it"s about taking idiots to task "

pure and simple !

[baramunchies]

Many strange details in this story..!Why would a woman leave her handbag out of sight? How did the police know,that the mat was there?Did they sit and stare at her handbag all evening?If so,if they saw what happened,then logically they also saw WHO put the mat there.Why did they not interfere at that moment?If they did not see it,again,how did they know? Collaberation with somebody in the bar,perhaps? Many qestions,few answers.

it was not on the bar anymore, obviously, cause it's a "bar" mat. so the staff has seen it and called the police.

[Lozfranco]

"Patong Police claim Smoel stole a bar mat from Phuket's Aussie Bar. Smoel spent the next day in a four-metre-by-four-metre cell with three other women"

Is Smoel a real name? how to pronounce it? "Smowel" that would sound <deleted> in an ozzy accent.

Geordie is the correct spelling not Jordy

She gets to spend a day in 4x4m "cell" with three women, for free?. How is that a punishment?

Last time I did that it cost me over 2000 baht and there were only two women, lucky bitch.

Now Sheilas, will you all stay at home and look after the kids.

[wolfmanjack]

Corruption pure and simple.

This kind of shit rarely happened when Thaksin was in power. Now corruption is at near plauge proportions. This is a common occurance. These cops are stalking tourist areas looking for shakedown opertunities.

I have been coming to thailand since 1995 and lived in thailand since 1998. I have owned a business here since 1999 and The only time I have seen corruption slow down is when the military junta was in charge right after the coup. During that time I was never shaken down by the traffic police or police at my place of business. Corruption was rampant during Thaksins term in office and picked up again when his cronies took over. So far since Abhisit has been in office i have not been pulled over by the police and none have shown up at my place of business. The normal government workers have not even shown up yet but i expect they will sooner or later.

[bungy007]

Seems the same ill-informed posters who tried to convince themselves the Burrowes case was about his passport are now trying desperately to convince themselves this case is about a beer mat.

It's about taking idiots to task.

Oh, how right you are, Tex. As we all know, it's nothing to do with a beer mat as she didn't steal one and didn't leave the bar with one on her person. It's what we call a 'trumped up charge'. Repeat after me, children 'A trumped-up charge'! It took the BIB 8 days to come up with Simon's trumped up charge once it was established that his passport was not forged and that he really is a British Citizen - born and bred in the UK. So, it will be interesting to see how long it takes before 'Night-time theft' is turned into Plan B - whatever that maybe!!

Then of course, we have to think about her visa. Is she on a thirty day visitors visa from the airport? Will she have to extend to be able to stay legally in Thailand to await her court appearance? will the Phuket Immigration also refuse to extend her visa if it would expire before her court date? If she does have to stay in Thailand past the expiry date of her visa will she be faced with a 20,000bt fine like Simon? Is there a common theme here? So many 'ifs'. Whatever, Tex is very right. This was never about the non-theft of a 'slopps rag'.

[asiawatcher]

If mummy dear stole - too bad - do the crime be prepared to do the time. As for ownership - bars ,police, bad image Thailand - give me a break. Can it be fixed - yes - pay the fine (bribe) and get the hel_l out of Thailand. If the owner is truly an Aussie, and he has Thai partners (naturally - or he would not be in business) then we should all settle down, let the press run away and then the 'protocol' can be fixed, lady out, Thai's happy and media not destroy Thailand any further - why blame Thailand ? The lady stole - end of story.

[taxin]

The bar is obviously owned by an influential Thai - policeman or politician.Would a Farang owned Bar have undercover cops working in it? Would the police care if a Farang owned bar got ripped off? Certainly not, because the police are looking to do just that - rip off the Farang owned bar themselves by searching for unauthentic music on the computer or Thai CD's etc or absolutely any other "law" they can make up to extort baht from the owner. (yes, I've owned a Bar in Thailand so I'm talking from first hand experience)

So,this is some Thai scumbags bar and they are putting a tourist in jail for stealing a towel. I suggest you avoid this bar if you're ever in Phuket and tell everyone that you know to avoid it as well.

yes i for one will avoid this bar,,and also if i were the falang owner i would drop the charges against this woman now...

Try reading the report before commenting. The farang owner did not press any charges. And the bar is not owned by a Thai, in fact the Aussie bar is known for having the least amount of Thai influence than any other bar on Bangla !

As for undercover cops Bangla is swarming with them, not just the Aussie bar. Its called "security", something you Aussies never had when your beloved Bali was bombed !! And if the Aussie bar lets the local cops in for a game of pool then fair play to them, if anything that should make people even more comfortable.

I have no doubt that you guys will be the same lot slagging off Patong for not having enough cops when something serious does happen. Your pathetic the lot of you !!

[tlusername]

According to ABC News Australia, the woman tried to bribe the police.

Not a simple theft!

Silly, silly woman

Thats standard protocol - you only have to try and drive more then 200k to find that out.

[JonnyF]

It seems like she had plenty of opportunity to laugh/joke/smile/pay her way out of this mess. A good attitude and possibly a "round of drinks" for the cops in the bar and this problem would have likely disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

We don't know for sure but it sounds like she was pretty offensive to the local police chief and now the barmat is the least of her problems.

I've met some great Aussi's over the years, but I have to say some of the Australian tourists (men AND women but mainly women) I've met in Patong could start a fight in an empty room. The Irish bar a few doors down from the Aussi bar seems to attract quite a few of these loud drunks as well and if she was acting anything like the people I've seen in here then I wouldn't be surprised she's ended up in trouble.

As a side note, there's no need to mention her kids all the time, it's just a cheap attempt to gain sympathy IMO and has no bearing on her innocence or guilt. If you want to leave your six year old at home and go drinking on Bangla then that's your decision to make but don't then try to use the kids for a sympathy vote when you land up in jail.

Innocent or guilty I do have sympathy for the severity of the action against her. Even if guilty she has surely learnt her lesson by now, I hope the "Spite/Face" factor doesn't lead to her being detained too much longer.

[phil2]

I listened to the radio interview with the lawyer and the bar mat in this case is the mat they put the glasses on while filling them. The type that retains liquid spills due to the deep pattern in the rubber.

Also in the interview the women who supossedly put the mat in her bag filed statements from Australia. Call me cynical, but if they're not willing to go back to Thailand and help it doesn't count for a lot. Oh note it's a different audio than mentioned above at the same website.

So they played prank on someone that is in jail and flew back to Australia.

Is there another word for this mess or is it just prank. How about a setup?

[hagler]

I do believe "shakedown" is the appropriate word in this situation. 20,000 baht and she would have walked free. Now it's going to cost her a lot more to stay here for the court proceedings and end up with a measly 500 baht fine and deportation.

Corruption pure and simple.

I just asked my Thai wife what would happen if a Thai person was caught for the same offence.

Just a small fine was her response.

Yeah and who thinks that a smart head couldnt have dropped 5 or 10k on a 'fine' and walked if handled right.. Whose betting loud mouth drunk ozzie women giving it the 'you cant do that to me' attitude that comes out when they are on Bangla (or Bali ??)..

Dont forget in her own words (radio interview) they told her to stop, she gave them the bag, then tried to do a runner down the stairs and out into the street.. You do a runner from Thai cops and your going to be in the shit list straight away.. Act like a <deleted> and pay the price basically.

Yes no doubt she was another bogon Aussie "transplant" from Bali mouthing off as usual. Some people shouldnt be given passports.

we are not talking about some 40 or 50sqm piece of cr#p struggle street bar here. The Aussie Bar on Bangla is a very large professionally run operation with solid management practices and proceedures and the falang owner Steve is a good operator who is very, very well connected in Phuket. Having had a chat with him on more than one occasion I would be staggered to find out that there isnt another side to the story that is being sprouted by the Aussie slapper and her menagerie of moronic hangers on.

Hope she gets her passport blacklisted.

Edited May 19, 2009 by hagler

[homebody]

Assuming that there is not more to the story, I am seriously considering not visiting Thailand anymore. I do NOT condone theft, even petty theft, but this appears to be extremely harsh, especially for a country that has all sorts of hard-core criminals walking around free.

Another nail in the coffin that is Thailand tourism

I disagree Thailand is that bad more than other parts of this world. Thais also get alots of problem with bad farangs who did crimes as they couldn't do in their land. And think that their consulate's potential set them free at the end. I don't belive she did not have food for 4 days either, if she meaned pizza or hambeger perhaps that correct!!!

[katasyd]

I do believe "shakedown" is the appropriate word in this situation. 20,000 baht and she would have walked free. Now it's going to cost her a lot more to stay here for the court proceedings and end up with a measly 500 baht fine and deportation.

Corruption pure and simple.

I just asked my Thai wife what would happen if a Thai person was caught for the same offence.

Just a small fine was her response.

Yeah and who thinks that a smart head couldnt have dropped 5 or 10k on a 'fine' and walked if handled right.. Whose betting loud mouth drunk ozzie women giving it the 'you cant do that to me' attitude that comes out when they are on Bangla (or Bali ??)..

Dont forget in her own words (radio interview) they told her to stop, she gave them the bag, then tried to do a runner down the stairs and out into the street.. You do a runner from Thai cops and your going to be in the shit list straight away.. Act like a <deleted> and pay the price basically.

very, very well connected in Phuket.

Gotta pay to play

[taxin]

I do believe "shakedown" is the appropriate word in this situation. 20,000 baht and she would have walked free. Now it's going to cost her a lot more to stay here for the court proceedings and end up with a measly 500 baht fine and deportation.

Corruption pure and simple.

I just asked my Thai wife what would happen if a Thai person was caught for the same offence.

Just a small fine was her response.

Yeah and who thinks that a smart head couldnt have dropped 5 or 10k on a 'fine' and walked if handled right.. Whose betting loud mouth drunk ozzie women giving it the 'you cant do that to me' attitude that comes out when they are on Bangla (or Bali ??)..

Dont forget in her own words (radio interview) they told her to stop, she gave them the bag, then tried to do a runner down the stairs and out into the street.. You do a runner from Thai cops and your going to be in the shit list straight away.. Act like a <deleted> and pay the price basically.

Yes no doubt she was another bogon Aussie "transplant" from Bali mouthing off as usual. Some people shouldnt be given passports.

we are not talking about some 40 or 50sqm piece of cr#p struggle street bar here. The Aussie Bar on Bangla is a very large professionally run operation with solid management practices and proceedures and the falang owner Steve is a good operator who is very, very well connected in Phuket. Having had a chat with him on more than one occasion I would be staggered to find out that there isnt another side to the story that is being sprouted by the Aussie slapper and her menagerie of moronic hangers on.

Hope she gets her passport blacklisted.

One thing is for sure, the whole Australian population knows shes a common thief. I wonder how much of the population buys her story of it being a prank from her mates, and that she did not intend to steal it ? She stole it, she got caught, its that simple. The prank story is a merely a desperate attempt to try and get her off the hook.

Her mate who was told by the cops to go away for claiming it was a prank is very lucky, she could be in the slammer too for lying to the police !!

[myfriendyou]

“You've got to help me, I have not done anything wrong, this is a crock.''

If this is how you address a prime minister I can imagine how the Thai police were addressed, way to go Sheila

[ratio]

As said so many times before .When in thailand and other countries be polite to the people and study there rules before going on holidays. As said on the radio she ran from the police even with her friends around ?.

Never talk back to police and show respect,that is the law. Its not just about the bar mat its the way she acted when confronted by the law and the actions she had taken.

[khunjamespittman]

I'm sorry, but I find many of attitudes on here puzzling. IMO, it is all just more Thai-bashing from Westerners who feel that all of Thailand should bow and scrape to them.

The woman in question ran from the police during questioning, resisted arrest, and then verbally abused the chief-of-police. In the USA, where I am from, any of these crimes carry serious charges. But in Thailand, where the Westerner is to be worshipped at all cost because all Thais should be whores to the tourist dollar (regardless of their station), the Thais are awful for detaining her while they decide how to handle this case and what charges to press.

In the end, it will probably be a small fine and no jail time just as with the Burroughs case (and in his case he abused and threatened airport security and immigration personnel which would also be a big crime in the US). That is not a big punishment to pay considering the circumstances. The woman from Australia is the one who made a petty problem very serious by her actions. Consider in your home country what would happen if you fled the police, resisted arrest, and verbally abused the cheif-of-police. But in Thailand, tourists should be able to do whatever it is they want according to the reasoning of some.

I DO agree that Thailand has endemic problems with police corruption, and criminal justice can be a twisted thing in LOS. However, in this case, I think the Thai authorities are within their rights. What must the Thais think when they are asked to excuse serious crimes for the sake of sucking up to tourists (and, no, I am not talking about a stolen bar mat)? It perputuates the sterotype many Thais have that all Westerners think Thailand and its people should excuse any behaviour and any crime from tourists and Westerners to save face with Westerners and their media.

Many of us know the worst thing one can ever do in Thailand, especially with authorities, is to raise one's voice, especially if verbal abuse is involved. This is NOT a case about a bar prank or a missing bar mat, and it must infuriate Thais that Westerners and their media want to paint it as such. Now the woman and the media are trying to insult the Thais and the Thai authorites involved by conducting a media campaign that makes Thailand look bad for holding someone in such a case (fleeing a police investigation, abuse of police staff). That is not a winning move on her part as she is now just fanning the flames, making a bad situation worse, and hardening the attitudes of the Thai authorities involved.

And had this happened in a Western country to a Thai person (and Thais who travel to other countries would probably never behave in such a manner) that fled police when being questioned and verbally abused the police and their cheif, would all of us be in an uproar? The woman (and any of us) need to learn that one must respect the laws, the authorities, and the customs in ANY country in which we choose to travel, and that being a Western tourist in a devloping country dependent in part upon tourism and tourist money does not give us the freedom to act in whatever manner we like and to break any laws we wish.

JMHO, and presented as another opinion in the face of all the rampant Thailand-bashing in this thread and the "another-nail-in-the-coffin" crowd who frequent the TV forum.

Sorry pete! So many people in the forum seem to be incapable of reading. The Charge is night time theft. It is not abusing any of the many people referred to or resisting arrest. If the charge is abuse, or running away for the polece (resisting arrest) please have the police make appropriate charge. If on the other hand it is just that the police didn't like her attitude that's another matter. I don't believe that the law requires that anyone make the police like them. My suspicion is that the abuse that is be bantered so much and is much more the thin skinned police and not a legal problem.

[G54]

While not condoning theft, this has to be harsh in the extreme.

Not having read every page and post there are variable accounts as to who exactly did what, but all this heavy duty Police action over something as trivial as a bar mat is incredible.

The media are rightly up in arms over this and I, for one, hope something is done to help this woman and soon.

With an English educated and speaking Prime Minister here, you would think he would be able to see the stupidity and over the top reactions like this against Farang and do or say something about it - even though he is seen as a puppet by many.

[MartinBKK]

"I presume Simon Burrowes won't be swearing at any more immigration officials if he ever comes back to Thailand."

I think the point is - Simon and the millions of people who have read about these incidents around the world won't be coming back to Thailand.

Tourists arent interested in the police/immigration and their "face saving" egos. They come here to relax and enjoy a trouble free vacation.

[tomo22]

As said so many times before .When in Thailand and other countries be polite to the people and study there rules before going on holidays. As said on the radio she ran from the police even with her friends around ?.

Never talk back to police and show respect,that is the law. Its not just about the bar mat its the way she acted when confronted by the law and the actions she had taken.

Yes I totally agree all this slagging of off a persons Country of origin does no good either. Aussie Brit Canadian French Spanish shall I go on. Every country from my experiences have a few people who are best kept at arms length.

My personnel opinion is she should be given a slapped wrist and sent home. You only have to watch Thai TV to see how the Thais treat the police and get away with it.

I do not believe there was any physical violence if at the worst maybe some verbal abuse which the Thai police would not understand.

For god sake Thailand get your act together before it costs you your country.

I think a few members on Thai Visa need to grow up some what.

Edited May 19, 2009 by tomo22

[loong]

I'm new here so just want to know if its usual to read the OP and then skip to last comment and ask about things that have already been answered several times in the posts?

In one word - Yes.

Many people can't be bothered to read the thread or the articles in the links. Or if they have read some, they're not really interested in any opinion except their own.

I'm pretty sure that the owner stated that the bar staff had said that the police saw the friend put the towel in the bag, but many people still are sure 100% that she is a thief.

[edwinclapham]

As said so many times before .When in Thailand and other countries be polite to the people and study there rules before going on holidays. As said on the radio she ran from the police even with her friends around ?.

Never talk back to police and show respect,that is the law. Its not just about the bar mat its the way she acted when confronted by the law and the actions she had taken.

Yes I totally agree all this slagging of off a persons Country of origin does no good either. Aussie Brit Canadian French Spanish shall I go on. Every country from my experiences have a few people who are best kept at arms length.

My personnel opinion is she should be given a slapped wrist and sent home. You only have to watch Thai TV to see how the Thais treat the police and get away with it.

I do not believe there was any physical violence if at the worst maybe some verbal abuse which the Thai police would not understand.

For god sake Thailand get your act together before it costs you your country.

I think a few members on Thai Visa need to grow up some what.

an intelligent blogger at last well said

[Americanmade]

Sad she stole any thing in the first place, but serious does make so many wonder of visiting Thailand, and wonder how safe it really is , as many find themselves with limited rights.Thais have been ripping off tourist too long ,Phuket streets are near empty these days so the few that dare too visit must expect to burden the balancing of the cost. Thats been proving with the vast increases in cost thats found in relationship with tourism , But it seems daily a tourist has become dead in some sort of unexplained act or of arrest for what many would call petty crimes and find them selves lock in a cage as dogs . Sad Thailand's own greed toward tourist when so many other south east Asian country's are open arms with welcoming travelers.

I suggest many too think about do they really want to visit a land where Police do as they will

or were a tank controls the people.

Thailand has changed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[OZEMADE]

That is the name of the bar, The AUSSIE BAR on Bangla.

[myfriendyou]

Tourists arent interested in the police/immigration and their "face saving" egos. They come here to relax and enjoy a trouble free vacation.

That should have read "most"

However this one chose acording to witnesses to run from the police and was abusive. As one other poster said if this was in the USA she would have ended up chased and tazered before being filmed and shown on "cops" worldwide for the next 15 years.

If you want a trouble free vacation, stay out of trouble and be polite.

[PAUL1774]

she is a thief face the facts?

[mackayae]

They sell the bar mats plus other paraphernalia as souvenirs.

[grandpops]

Been reading this (apologies for the repost) Am learning abit about oz culture with its Bogans, Tracy Grimshaw, Kath and Kim etc.

Am heartened to see that many ozzies are tired with this bogan behaviour and the bleeding hearts that leap to their defense when they get what they deserve.

May post along the lines of "Thailand is a place I want to go if they uphold laws and expect better standards of behaviour".

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/comments/...077-661,00.html

Sympathy in short measure.

[hazz]

I was under the impression that the tourist police were created to stop this face saving lunacy of individual officers causing the whole country to loose face, silly me.

Of all the dangers that await the wood-be tourist; the one that really worries them more than terrorism is overactive government enforcement. I has dealing with a number of german firms operating in turkey and depending on german tourists; when they had the islamist bombings a few years back. Strangely it was not this that killed the tourist numbers, but a turkish customs officer having a german tourist locked up in jail for three months whilst they worked out wether or not a beach pebble his son had put in their luggage was an ancient artifact or just a rock.... proved to be latter; took a couple of years for the numbers to recover.

who wants to go to a country were government employees are the primary risk to you having a safe holiday? there are just so many other places to go. thailand clearly wants to give dubi, greece and turkey competition for the 'insane law enforcement' on tourists award.

[Oberkommando]

I suspect she was drunk, was abusive to the police, etc. People often forget they are guests in this country, and should treat it and the people with utmost courtesy. I am amazed at the garbage attitude many farangs have toward Thailand. I think they should get out.

I suspect the undercover or off-duty Thai Police were drunk, were abusive to the customers, etc. Thais often forget we are paying guests contributing to their country, and should treat us a with utmost courtesy. I am amazed at the garbage attitude many Thais have toward farangs. I think they should wise up.