Return To Phuket Turns Into Holiday From Hell

[george]

Return to Phuket turns into holiday from hel_l

'Stung for $60,000'

It seemed like a good idea to return to paradise. That was the memory a Melbourne-based American couple had of the Thai holiday island Phuket where they used to live.

When they did return for a short holiday early last month, it became a holiday in hel_l.

After a night in prison plus $60,000 in mysterious payments through a Kafkaesque legal system, it was a very expensive hel_l too.

Logan Hesse and Urica Lopez met in Phuket four years ago where they were both working.

In May 2007, the house they were living in burnt down while they were out to dinner with friends.

Mr Hesse says police investigators told them at the time the cause was an electrical fault.

Soon afterwards, they left Thailand to come to Melbourne where they were enrolled as students at La Trobe University.

Mr Hesse revealed his story yesterday following revelations Melbourne tourist Annice Smoel faced jail on the island over the theft of a beer mat.

He believes such cases are due to a tourism downturn because of the global financial crisis and recent civil unrest.

These had bitten into the usual source of `supplementary income' for Phuket's police and other officials, Mr Hesse claims.

"Their pockets are lighter so they are turning on tourists," he said.

Mr Hesse said nothing more had been heard about their house fire until they arrived at Bangkok last month. They were immediately detained and their passports were confiscated by police who told them a Phuket arrest warrant was outstanding for "criminal damage".

The costs started piling up from that point.

The couple were expected to cover the $265 price of an air ticket for a police officer to accompany them on to their island destination.

In Phuket, they were refused permission to speak directly to the US embassy and were slapped in jail for the night.

Their problems were compounded by arriving at the start of the Thai New Year, when all officaldom shuts down for a week.

Although the initial police investigation found an electrical fault was the cause of the fire, a subsequent report some months later changed the cause to a cigarette, even thought they were out at the time.

The house owner was pursuing them for $60,000 in a civil action.

Under Thai law, the civil action had to be resolved before any criminal trial could take place, so they were uable to leave.

Mr Hesse said this could have meant waiting in Thailand for years with no source of income.

The lawyer who claimed he had been appointed by the US embassy then tried to pocket $7000 until they made a fuss in his office.

The pair then negotiated with the house owner to reduce his claim to $50,000 and a further $1500 went to the police to have the matter heard expeditiously.

"In court the judges didn't even speak to us, we just had to hand over a wad of money to the landlord and we were fined 10,000 bhat ($380) for criminal damage," Mr Hesse said.

"We were never able to find if the house was insured.

"I think the landlord was able to organise a second fire investigation, either because he had no insurance or he was under pressure from the bank.

"They knew we would come back because we had friends [in Thailand]."

Mr Hesse said he and Ms Lopez had set up a blog to tell their tale and hopefully recoup some of their total $60,000 in costs from sympathisers.

-- smh.com.au 2009-05-20

[think_too_mut]

Mr Hesse said he and Ms Lopez had set up a blog to tell their tale and hopefully recoup some of their total $60,000 in costs from sympathisers.

He obviously sold the story for money.

What's happening? Everybody is trying to make money on Thai stories? Who is suffering from global slump, Thais or story sellers from Oz? Third in 2 months.

Harry the writer first, then drunk woman and her husband staying in Phuket semi-detained until they get enough money from Oz media, now this couple "alleging" and fabricating stories for money too....

Funnuy enough, the shits like that can fool people who have never been to Thailand. Don't know how about those who have or even live there.

I remember the barrage I received when I said that Harry the Moron was a liar....and he was.

Thailand could be an easy target for such scenes. Nobody is trying in Saudi Arabia or Dubai.

Edited May 20, 2009 by think_too_mut

[horsewell]

They lived and worked in Thailand but didn't know about Thai law... I wonder what would have happened if it was the Aussie government looking after them? Seems a lot more important than a stupid bar towel "mat". How much US help did they get? You can't help think that they were "scammed" because they could afford it. It's hard to think that the owner of the house would go to all that trouble, if it wasn't a sure bet.

[sriracha john]

Return to Phuket turns into holiday from hel_l

'Stung for $60,000'

It seemed like a good idea to return to paradise. That was the memory a Melbourne-based American couple had of the Thai holiday island Phuket where they used to live.

When they did return for a short holiday early last month, it became a holiday in hel_l.

After a night in prison plus $60,000 in mysterious payments through a Kafkaesque legal system, it was a very expensive hel_l too.

Even more PR for Phuket and the Aussie Bar, in particular...

It was a case of deja vu for Natalie Appleby when she heard of Melbourne mother-of-three Annice Smoel's plight in Thailand.

$3000 the price of Thai justice

Natalie Appleby and her fiance know all too well the problems Annice Smoel faced - the High Wycombe couple went through a similar ordeal last month.

While Mrs Smoel, a mother of four, is safely back in Melbourne after spending four nights in a Thai jail on charges of stealing a $50 bar mat, Ms Appleby still shivers at how her fiance suffered a similar - and much more expensive - fate.

Like Mrs Smoel, Ms Appleby's fiance - who only wanted to be identified by his first name, Michael - went for a drink in the popular Aussie Bar in Phuket.

He had surprised Ms Appleby, who travelled to Thailand last month to act as bridesmaid at a friend's wedding, by travelling to Phuket.

On his first night in Phuket, and the night before the wedding, Michael went with a group of people to the Aussie Bar.

"He doesn't remember finishing his second drink. The next morning he had no recollection of the night but found he had woken up in a Phuket jail," Ms Appleby told WAtoday.com.au.

Michael manged to find an English-speaking detective in the jail and made a phone call to his worried fiance.

Her father went to see Michael, and things began to get worse.

"First of all they tried to charge him with stealing, but a Thai lady there said the shop he was accused of stealing from was actually closed," Ms Appleby said.

"They then said they had made a mistake and charged him with damaging the roof of a house. There weren't any houses there, but they said it would cost $5000 for the charges to go away. They said if we talked to the Australian Consulate, (Michael) would be taken to the Bangkok Hilton (the notorious Thai jail, Bangkwang prison)."

After negotiating with a detective - "he wanted the money in an envelope" - the family paid $3000 to have the charges dropped. Ms Smoel pleaded guilty to her charges - in order to leave Thailand - was fined $38 and placed on a good behaviour bond.

"(The detective) told us everything would be sweet and to enjoy the rest of our holiday," Ms Appleby said.

"We could've done like (Mrs Smoel) and fought the charges but he would've been there for quite a few more days. Michael was obviously petrified. There were big, big grey patches in what they were charging him with."

Michael left Thailand for Perth almost immediately. Ms Appleby suspected his drink had been spiked, and said the incidents were a warning for Australians visiting the tourist mecca.

"People need to know to watch out. You need to be with friends and they need to be watching out for each other," she said.

"You have to be careful of having a big night. It's a shame. I don't want to say don't go there, because it can be good, but maybe the bad publicity will make them clean up their act. People there say this sort of thing is happening all the time and Thai prostitutes will drop drugs into Westerners drinks."

- Western Australia Today / 2009-05-22

[david96]

In the case of the US couples statement.

Did the house burn down? There must be a record of this. Eg newspaper report.

Why did they not go to the US Embassy and report their experiences before they departed Thailand?

Why did they return to Thailand?

One should not believe this unless they (the US couple) can bring up some solid documentary evidence to support their statements.

Should regard as a scam to extract money.

Edited May 24, 2009 by david96

[Colabamumbai]

In the case of the US couples statement.

Did the house burn down? There must be a record of this. Eg newspaper report.

Why did they not go to the US Embassy and report their experiences before they departed Thailand?

Why did they return to Thailand?

One should not believe this unless they (the US couple) can bring up some solid documentary evidence to support their statements.

Should regard as a scam to extract money.

I tend to agree with you.

Why do foreigners come here and do things that they would not do at home? What goes around comes around. Do they think that because they are in Thailand they can go out and party and not have to pay the consequences that they would in their own countries? Do they think that Thailand is backwards and they can get away with things that they would never thing twice about doing in their homeland? "cry me a river."

[markg]

In the case of the US couples statement.

Did the house burn down? There must be a record of this. Eg newspaper report.

Why did they not go to the US Embassy and report their experiences before they departed Thailand?

Why did they return to Thailand?

One should not believe this unless they (the US couple) can bring up some solid documentary evidence to support their statements.

Should regard as a scam to extract money.

I know them both personally. They worked here for a number of years. Their house really did burn down with ALL THEIR STUFF IN IT. They were left with just the clothes they were standing in.

They came back to visit friends and were arrested upon arrival. The cops said the a cigarette caused the fire, even though the first report said it was an electrical fault and they were out of the house at the time of the fire.

They lost everything.

And to the poster who suggested that 'what goes around comes around'.

I wonder how many people who live in rented accommodation here in Thailand, have full house insurance in case of fire.

How many?

5 % of people at most. Or probably less than 1%. I don't actually know ANYONE who has house insurance for a rental place. Do you?

Same back home in the UK. If you rent a house, you generally get your own insurance to cover the contents. Its generally up to the landlord to insure the bricks and mortar of the house.

Two of you are idiots for posting this. Logan and Urica were left with nothing. Imagine that for a moment.

[Lancelot]

I know them both personally. They worked here for a number of years. Their house really did burn down with ALL THEIR STUFF IN IT. They were left with just the clothes they were standing in.

Fella, one thing you need to learn about this forum is that any suggestion that Thailand is not heaven on earth will not be well received

[Colabamumbai]

I know them both personally. They worked here for a number of years. Their house really did burn down with ALL THEIR STUFF IN IT. They were left with just the clothes they were standing in.

They came back to visit friends and were arrested upon arrival. The cops said the a cigarette caused the fire, even though the first report said it was an electrical fault and they were out of the house at the time of the fire.

They lost everything.

And to the poster who suggested that 'what goes around comes around'.

I wonder how many people who live in rented accommodation here in Thailand, have full house insurance in case of fire.

How many?

5 % of people at most. Or probably less than 1%. I don't actually know ANYONE who has house insurance for a rental place. Do you?

Same back home in the UK. If you rent a house, you generally get your own insurance to cover the contents. Its generally up to the landlord to insure the bricks and mortar of the house.

Two of you are idiots for posting this. Logan and Urica were left with nothing. Imagine that for a moment.

My posting was not to this posting specifically but to the ones about the people who come here go out and get drunk and end up with problems or carry on in a manner that they would not at home. No offence meant in a fire situation, it is bad for everone. I apologize if you though it was directed to this.