Phuket Police: Aussie Arrest No Laughing Matter

[spaceshipcrew]

Sounds like police tends to teach good morals to foreigners, but when it´s time for themselves to get educated and learn about dignity, respect, selfesteem, resposibilities and professionalism ?

When will girls stop ripping and cheating loving foreign boyfriends who care about them and bring new chances by pulling the whole family out of poverty ? When will those who participate in traffic stop smiling their responsibilities away and drive without bringing others in danger ?

Why they keep visarules for foreigners always updated but traffic rules don't matter and still not able to design safe roads and clean environment ?

The shortcomings to their own education and developments seems too often been projected on foreigners, most easy targets.

Stupid behaviour and stealing a bartowels is wrong (though in the western world it's a sport to collect bartowels and ashtrays this way) but let them please not teach foreigners about whats right and what wrong, because that's a big joke !

Edited May 20, 2009 by spaceshipcrew

[flyfrog]

They just want some money from here and the foreign press for the story, no big deal

Frog

[TAWP]

I can't believe this mountain being made of a mole hill........................ I have been to Thailand for many pleasant holidays, but I have just cancelled my booking for 4 of us and probably won't be going again........... There are many places that offer relaxing holidays without this over reacting.............. and after hearing of this magnification of a small infraction, and the fact that the owner of the AUSSIE BAR has let this thing go this far, count me out and hope that that owner of that bar lives long enough to recoup his losses over the bar mat................. He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones, and I will bet that the bar owner has a couple mis-deeds to his record as well.............

By canceling your trip you have indeed made a mountain out of a mole hill.

Congrats.

[easybullet3]

guilty or not, either way, she will be all over the Australian Media and this will make yet another black stain on Thailands already tarnished hands.

~as if the past 6 months (and more) hasn't provided the world with enough reasons not to visit Thailand!!!

i'm truly surprised why the "powers that be" dont 'step in' and quickly resolve such cases.

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism?

simple question:

Does a story like this have a DIRECT effect on tourism?

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism?

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism?

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism?

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism? etc, etc, etc,,

[ThaiEye]

She wasn't in jail for 4 days, she was in there for 2 nights. Including the night of arrest

Try verbally abusing police and resisting arrest in the USA - zzzzzz... Tasered !!

That's what she deserved.

[lectito]

There is a 20-page thread here http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Australian-W...et-t266333.html - is it necessary to have two threads running? Or can they be merged in one place?

[blakeimage]

I can't believe this mountain being made of a mole hill........................ I have been to Thailand for many pleasant holidays, but I have just cancelled my booking for 4 of us and probably won't be going again........... There are many places that offer relaxing holidays without this over reacting.............. and after hearing of this magnification of a small infraction, and the fact that the owner of the AUSSIE BAR has let this thing go this far, count me out and hope that that owner of that bar lives long enough to recoup his losses over the bar mat................. He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones, and I will bet that the bar owner has a couple mis-deeds to his record as well.............

I dont see why cancelling your flights are necessary? Unless you're planning on disrespecting the Thai culture also??

[edgarfriendly]

whats petty theft?

a beer mat? a tiny bit of coral? only a few million? just one continent?

Attitude, yea.

who was tucked up safe n warm in bed while that 'innocent sheila' was out til x.xxAM.

i bet she does miss her kids now.

ef.

aint no-one gonna tell her to fuc_k off home? hahaha.

[grantbkk]

Your opinion of the article and your grasp of the facts are right on. However, you can be too hard on the so called journalists in Thailand. They are tightly controlled by the government and usually don't have the requisite schooling or training necessary write a news story. The best you can ever do here is three or four of the five things we want to read in most new articles: Who, what, when, where and why. We cannot set our expectations too high or we are almost guaranteed to be disappointed. You may find, like me, that news sources are serving there masters and not the public. Most news here is manipulated in some way and may be total fabricated in some cases.

Grant, I don't expect it (better/good journalism) here...knowing the realities of the country. But, if we and Thais don't aspire for better, we and the country will never get it.

I'm not an Aussie, so I'll leave it to them to sort out... But...regarding the lead of the article, I'd argue that the case IS a laughing matter. The rest of the world is laughing at Thailand for handling this case in such a ridiculous manner. Even if she really did it, it doesn't deserve 4 days in jail and two weeks or more stuck in Thailand sans passport... all for a bar mat...

I'm not an Aussie either but it could have been someone from anywhere caught up in this. The article and the facts are ludicrous, leaving the reader to pick and choose what he want to believe. You are also correct that now the world "is laughing" at Thailand and the way things are done here. The punishment doesn't fit the alleged crime that's for sure.

THAILAND - BURMA WITH ELECTRICITY

Edited May 20, 2009 by grantbkk

[aussimike]

The silly cow deserves everything she gets except the cash handouts from the Australian media.

another brainless comment from a total d**khe*d - hate to see your wife in the same situation haaaa - or u gay >> - you really dont know what u are talking about do u -- and the story from Steve Wood leave a bit to be desired - he claims she was abusive to police - ran down the beach and that he was not going to press charges - what a pack of crap -- according to the interview with the police commander - he said that the owner sic Steve Wood was pushing for charges to be laid and no mention about running down the beach drunk - being abusive - i can just imagine the scene in the police station - everyone from police to barstaff wanting to get their word in and yelling what ever about the big crime of stealing a "bar mat" - no need to stretch the imagination here -- other people have confessed to the crime - haa but no word of them being charge - but the lady who happened to have the damm thing in her bag when the moonlighting police got her - inside the bar mind u = strange also -= just what were police working undercover in the bar in the first place - maybe moonlighting as security -- ???

[pattaya_girl]

Its an absolute disgrace, and I feel very sorry for this Woman.

why - she is a thief

No she aint - her friend said that she did it..

How can she be a Thief when her friend said that she did it ???

I see you have 14 posts up to date Hanzkneez, so welcome to Thai Visa by the way.

[webfact]

guilty or not, either way, she will be all over the Australian Media and this will make yet another black stain on Thailands already tarnished hands.

~as if the past 6 months (and more) hasn't provided the world with enough reasons not to visit Thailand!!!

i'm truly surprised why the "powers that be" dont 'step in' and quickly resolve such cases.

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism?

simple question:

Does a story like this have a DIRECT effect on tourism? NO

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism?

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism?

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism?

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism? etc, etc, etc,,

BTW - what has a government to do with this local issue? If you steal bananas in an US supermarket and get caught, do you think the US government comes to your rescue?

Try to argue in a bad manor or insult the police and you will realize what happens - this applies to every police force in the world

Only a thought... nobody knows so far what actually happened in that bar.

[ThaiEye]

The silly cow deserves everything she gets except the cash handouts from the Australian media.

and the story from Steve Wood leave a bit to be desired - he claims she was abusive to police - ran down the beach and that he was not going to press charges - what a pack of crap -- according to the interview with the police commander - he said that the owner sic Steve Wood was pushing for charges to be laid and no mention about running down the beach drunk - being abusive - i can just imagine the scene in the police station

Abusive to police, running down the beach. That's what all the witnesses are saying. You haven't been doing much reading.

Edited May 20, 2009 by ThaiEye

[easybullet3]

I can't believe this mountain being made of a mole hill........................ but I have just cancelled my booking for 4 of us and probably won't be going again........... and I will bet that the owner of the AUSSIE BAR bar owner has a couple mis-deeds to his record as well.............

By canceling your trip you have indeed made a mountain out of a mole hill.

Congrats.

hehe!!! funny reply!!

and, Whats the odds that the Aussie Bar changes its name after all this is done?

it would be nice if the owner gets a hefty loss in clientèle from this too,, (as he has really shown his lack of humanity) though I guess if the bar changes its name, it will be back to "business as usual" !

[skooldaze]

She is not a cow! In fact, some of her happy snaps show her to be quite a pleasant & buxom wench.

She is using a well-known law firm to extract as much (1) publicity & (2) cash out of a tawdry little event.

She is, with good make-up and clothing, quite photogenic - read all about it in the women's magazines.

Her recalcitrance has set up her beautifully to have a big earn from press and Television - so no sympathy for her, she is just earning income.

This is the fourth or fifth post about her "Earning big" from press. Are you all morons? Do you think the press pays for interviews? They don't have the money to and no self-respecting newspaper pays to interview ANYBODY.

Shows you what kind of idiots post on this site.

[justaskdan]

OK Two completely different stories regarding 'pressing charges'. Someone is lying like a politician, or a cop caught in a whore house.

I have lived in Phuket for 4 years and found that by being polite and respectable, there is nothing that the Thai people won't help you fix. And I am extremely polite and respectful to all Thai police and they have been very helpful and polite back to me. This includes the many times I was caught breaking Thai laws (although I am not stupid enough to steal). If you are in a foreign country you had better adhere to the laws of that country and do some research. This retard represents the worst type of tourist which is unfortunately common on Bangla Road.

I have no sympathy for her but it is indeed sad when you compared it to the Kiwi/German Race Car driver who was caught at a police check point leaving Patong with 3 different types of Class A1 Narcotics. He is the only person I know of who got his passport back before trial and was out of the country a week later. Race car drivers have some cash and he was obviously a lot smarter than this piece of monkey crap.

[meelousee]

I just heard from a friend that lives down there, seems Mr. Brown is the husband of the bar owner. I think most of you know where I am going with this. So I will stop short.

In this particular case no one has said the towel was NOT stolen so we assume it was. A drunk insult must have been passed and all it took was an excuse to exact revenge.

Yes revenge is a way of life in Asia especialy if one has an upper hand in pressing it.

[tischmibkk]

And I sincerely hope that word gets around in the world on how the Patong Police operates.

I was myself involved in a case there last week when some parking guards attacked a friend who parked his car at a parking outside of their "paid-parking area". They beat him up for 40B!!!

Dear One-off-poster.

Tell your friend to pay the 40B next time.

Go home to your own country.

Best regards, you friend.

Well, thanks! Obviously you have been here too long and too much "Thai" to understand what I and maybe some others in this thread are trying to say. You're right, he should've paid the 40 B. But that's beside the point....it's about treating all equal before the law and that's unfortunately not the case in Thailand.

[bigbadbobbolton]

Yes, indeed another reason to stay away from this third-world country. I'll be heading to more civilized nations in the immediate neighbourhood.

A country where they arrest people for committing a crime? Wow must avoid that place at all costs!

To be honest I feel much safer walking the streets here than I have in some of the so-called civilised cities of the world that's for sure. Pubs and bars are easy targets; if it isn't a bar towel then its a glass or an ash tray that tend to disappear on a regular basis; no wonder the bar owners get annoyed, replacing these items comes out of their pockets.

Reading some of these posts is unbelievable, are some of you that naive? The woman saw something pretty and decided it would go home with her, she took the risk and got caught. The aftermath of her actions are entirely down to her and as to the notion that this was her friends playing a joke.... let me think for a minute.......no I cannot say that I see any funny side to this scenario even if it was bizarrely true? Plus if this was the twilight zone and her friends did do this then why didn't they come forward immediately after the event? No its just bull really.

Funny thing is to get a work visa or permanent residence in Australia you have to produce evidence that you don't have a police record?

[bdenner]

Can someone answer two simple questions:-

Exactly how long did she spend in a cell?

Was Woods in the bar or in Australia?

I think I'll go back to the Thai soaps. Less contradictory but maybe not quite as entertaining!

[johnjydee]

Once again I ask, where were the oft-mentioned Foreign Tourist Police Volunteers when all of this chaos was occurring? Isn't providing assistance to foreigners during this the very sort of incident the reason usually given for why that they exist?

NO, the creation and the existence of the foreign tourist police is for show and publicity purposes only.

[orosee]

There's only one important lesson to be learned here: Never let your bag out of sight. If someone can manage to put something the size of a small bath towel inside you bag, how much easier will it be to drop 100 pills or 100g of an illicit substance into the same? Try arguing yourself out of that situation

Other than that, the pub sells liquor and lives from people buying and drinking it. The result is usually impaired judgment so why would anybody seriously be surprised if people in bars to stupid things?

[Miserere]

There can be only one sentence for bar mat thieves and that is clearly the death penalty.

This will serve as a lesson to those coming to Thailand from abroad that bar mat theft will not be tolerated and Thailand shouldn't be seen as some form of 'soft option'.

While bar mats are cheap and plentiful in the LOS they can fetch a princely sum overseas to collectors and the sales and profiteering when they are sold often goes on to fund other serious forms of crime ranging from drugs to terrorism and even the promotion of peadophilia.

Better to nip this type of crime in the Bud.

[aussimike]

I hope the self righteous police colonel will investigate just how this farang named Woods came about owning a bar in Phuket and if he is properly paying his share of all taxes. Sounds like some law may be stretched here. License laws need to be enforced and hours of operation in the Australian Bar demand to be scritinized due to the questionable behavior of customers that Mr. Woods cannot control.

I will pay three times the actual cost of a "bar mat" for the bar and during the grand re-opening I will give the first 500 paying customers a free Australian Bar "bar mat" as a commemorative gift.

yep and amazing how he loves to brag about the fact that he steals tv signals from PNG so he can show the aussi football matches in his bar so he can boost his business --- well i hope that very very few expat and visitiors will be spending money in his bar from now on - think its about time someone did take a look at the way this bar business is set up and how much tax is being paid -- hope he revenue is high - he has to stock up on bar towels - just incase some tries to steal another one

[CWMcMurray]

"The police brought her to Kathu Police Station for questioning, but she refused to admit her guilt and continued to insist that she was joking with her friends," said Col Grissak, who has extensive experience in the ways of foreigners from his work as head of the Tourist Police in Bangkok.

-- Phuket Gazette 2009-05-20

This is a pretty telling statement... the police told her she was guilty and she had the audacity to refuse her guilt.

[spaceshipcrew]

simple question:

Does a story like this have a DIRECT effect on tourism?

Does the Thai government care if it affects tourism? etc, etc, etc,,

Ofcourse it has.

This example is local government.

Edited May 20, 2009 by spaceshipcrew

[deve8]

The silly cow deserves everything she gets except the cash handouts from the Australian media.

Why is she a cow? Why does she deserve everything she gets? Are you suggesting that the Australian media is paying her for her story? I'm American, but I totally reject your suggestion that she is being paid by the Australian media. Good for the press -what ever the country- for covering this most unfortunate incident.

And shame on you for your complete lack of decency and compassion!

dam_n media here i Oz pay for all sorts of crap stories then blow them all out of proportion.... Just ask Matty Johns!!!

[OxfordWill]

Would you try and steal something on sale in a pub worth $60AU in your home country?

Would you run away from the police in your home country?

Would you verbally abuse the police in your home country?

What kind of 'mother' is she?

Have a look at the beer mat, they are nice and on sale in the Aussie Bar:

I worked in a pub in Bristol a long time ago, and someone tried to steal an ornate ash tray from near the fireplace in the main seating area. The manager saw it and confronted the guy who denied it and wouldnt let his pockets be searched, and got abusive/defensive in a loud voice when the bouncer came over to ask what was going on. Police were called, the guy yelled at the police. Police took him to the station. No idea how long he had to stay there, but he wasnt even drunk.

Edited May 20, 2009 by OxfordWill

[aussimike]

The silly cow deserves everything she gets except the cash handouts from the Australian media.

and the story from Steve Wood leave a bit to be desired - he claims she was abusive to police - ran down the beach and that he was not going to press charges - what a pack of crap -- according to the interview with the police commander - he said that the owner sic Steve Wood was pushing for charges to be laid and no mention about running down the beach drunk - being abusive - i can just imagine the scene in the police station

Abusive to police, running down the beach. That's what all the witnesses are saying. You haven't been doing much reading.

ya and your as stupid as the witnesses - do u really believe what a bar girl who values her job is not going to say what she has been told to say -- come on - get real - and when did you ever believe a bar girl when she said she loved u haaa or are u one of those who married one - the witnesses for her side said that she was not abusive -- up set yes and understandibly - sure i would be also - even sober - so again conflicting stories but i know what most readers here would believe and its sure aint the bar girls stories ----

[jackdanielsesq]

There goes the neighborhood - again. I had a similar problem with an Australian bar in Pattaya some years back - except one of his employees took off with my very expensive smartphone. When I tried to reason with the owner, he became beligerent, denied she worked for him, and even threatened to have me beaten to a pulp, then arrested by the local Federales and deported!! Oh Wow !! I vainly tried to press charges, all to no avail. Could not get the tourist polizei to even investigate. All this happened before witnesses.

Of course non of us have been back to Pattaya in 2 or 3 years - so they have lost all that revenue - forever. All my business colleagues were totally disgusted, one even wanted to go to his embassy back in UK. The problem with the gangsters who own a lot of these bars is they have very limited mental capacity, and as most folks are outa there in say 2 weeks, dont care about any consequences, as their little world is inside that bar or bottle, as the case may be. Whether it was a rubber mat or towel, the cost is a mere pittance compared to the damage caused to his bar, all the folks who work there & Phuket/Thailand as a whole. That the Embassy, et al, are involved is a disaster in management and damage control. That would of course never happen in a Hilton - anywhere.

There does appear to be a common denominator here - stupidity & obstinacy - they are both OZ - not that there is anything wrong with that! Of course, in the cold light of sobriety, it does all look rather pathetic & juvenile - thank Gawd neither have responsible jobs or drive or fly airplanes commercially.

One has to wonder whether the polizei even offered the perp the option of paying a ''fine''? Many of these instances are sacrificial lambs, like the mules in the drug trade - a simple gimme. They give the Feds a couple lame ducks, whilst 10 heavies go thru.

Is it small wonder the public were never told about the pending Tsunami, even though there was a clear warning, with 5 hour lead time before the first wave struck?!

BR>Jack