Beer Mat Mum Follow Up

[Samuian]

.....

The woman was let go by police inside the bar, only to be grabbed again outside by staff and brought to other police at a police box close by.

I still do not understand what she did wrong that has everyone so upset, she was not the perpetrator, everyone freely admits this, and yet there is still all forms of hostility towards her. Is this normal to keep condemning the wrongfully accused when the real perpetrator has come forward?

.

Well, living and working for nearly 2 decades in the LoS -

I say there is MORE to the story then the media knows....

The staff must have been really upset by something,

one may assume that this woman, drunk may have badly

insulted the staff - why the owner assumable an aussie too

would otherwise keep pressing for charges?

Why?

Is everyone involved "insane" except her?

Something is fishy here....!

[sanook2me]

I cant believe how many people holidaying in groups land in this sort of deep <deleted>....

There is always more to the story than they say in the press.

Myself i have been smashed so many times in the LoS ended up alone and in all sorts of places/hotels/sois/rooms/ and cant remember how i got there and sort of wake up as if i've been abducted by aliens and then dropped off somewhere i have lost countless hours here and never once touch wood had a problem like this...

i just don't get it......

YOu don't get arrested for just stealing a beer mat - you get chased down the street by the waiters to give it back and there i'm sure the story hasn't been told to us...

some pork pies from all concerned

[TheLaughingMan]

Should be pretty obvious that given the differences in cultures, the normal way falang women react to being wrongfully accused would be deemed extremely troublesome to Thais.

[TheLaughingMan]

YOu don't get arrested for just stealing a beer mat - you get chased down the street by the waiters to give it back and there i'm sure the story hasn't been told to us...

some pork pies from all concerned

No, everyone has agreed that she never left the bar with the mat. Why am I having to say this? It's all been said. She never left the bar with the mat, full stop. She never actually stole anything even if she was trying to, she did not put the mat in her bag, she did not leave the bar with the mat.

What so many of you are not willing to consider is that Falangs are regularly accused of all kinds of things, many of them not valid accusations. Sometimes legitimately its a mistake, sometimes it's a scam to make money by staff or police and yes sometimes the falang is guilty.

I also dont see why people are wondering why the Thai staff was so adamant in this situation, people try to explain that she must have angered them and it is her fault for being a bad person. I have never known Thais to be reasonable, if they think you did something wrong and you loudly insist that you did not then "you bad man". They probably truly believe the person is guilty and it makes them angry they would deny it, but they seem very unreasonable from that point on, because of the saving face issue, they cannot be wrong.

[wamberal]

What would have happened to her if she was caught doing the same in OZ?

Nothing.

What would have happened to a Thai doing this in OZ

and would there be the same Fuzz in the Thai Papers?

Again, nothing. Why would there be a fuss (fuzz?) about somebody souveniring a bar mat. A frigging bar mat?????? Five years in jail?

Get a life.

[sanook2me]

YOu don't get arrested for just stealing a beer mat - you get chased down the street by the waiters to give it back and there i'm sure the story hasn't been told to us...

some pork pies from all concerned

No, everyone has agreed that she never left the bar with the mat. Why am I having to say this? It's all been said. She never left the bar with the mat, full stop. She never actually stole anything even if she was trying to, she did not put the mat in her bag, she did not leave the bar with the mat.

What so many of you are not willing to consider is that Falangs are regularly accused of all kinds of things, many of them not valid accusations. Sometimes legitimately its a mistake, sometimes it's a scam to make money by staff or police and yes sometimes the falang is guilty.

I also dont see why people are wondering why the Thai staff was so adamant in this situation, people try to explain that she must have angered them and it is her fault for being a bad person. I have never known Thais to be reasonable, if they think you did something wrong and you loudly insist that you did not then "you bad man". They probably truly believe the person is guilty and it makes them angry they would deny it, but they seem very unreasonable from that point on, because of the saving face issue, they cannot be wrong.

You seem to have read more details than i have about this case but i can only assume then that there was a drunken/loud/mouthing off/angry/shouting/swearing scene that somebody took offence too and it all got out of control rather too quickly.

I don't buy it that she was innocent and it was all fabricated to extract money...bullsh1t..

They were drunk and got mouthy and gobby and forgot they were not back home ...sure this is the case....100%

Its easy for holiday makers to get wrapped up in the LoS and think they can behave badly..

This sort of press may be bad for tourism and i hope other people don't come here who may behave like this....

bad news is good news for this case!

[Samuian]

What would have happened to her if she was caught doing the same in OZ?

Nothing.

What would have happened to a Thai doing this in OZ

and would there be the same Fuzz in the Thai Papers?

Again, nothing. Why would there be a fuss (fuzz?) about somebody souveniring a bar mat. A frigging bar mat?????? Five years in jail?

Get a life.

As it may be assumed that there must have been more to the story....

Insult a thai - ever tried it?

I Got arrested for allegedly "drink'drivin" in Down Under, her hometown,

and was treated by the cops as if I was a criminal, never ever have met

cops who have been "up theirs" like those 2!

And besides you seem to conveniently overlook that "the law is the law"

see Nicolaides LM case...see the punishment for drugs.. Singapore, Malaysia,

it's simply not enough to assume that, one may steal in his home country and

nothin' will happen - that this is the same way anywhere else....!

[loong]

They were drunk and got mouthy and gobby and forgot they were not back home ...sure this is the case....100%

It's because of posts like this that the other threads on this topic were closed.

"I assume that" seems to figure a lot in your posts and that is all they are - assumptions, the same as many others who have posted here. Yet you are 100% sure?

What are you basing your assumptions on - the fact that they are Australian women on holiday?

There are few actual facts known about this case, yet so many people can state 100% certainty EXACTLY what happened just through reading a few reports.

I like the idea of "Beyond reasonable Doubt" it's a pity that so many people obviously don't.

May I please remind you and others for the umpteenth time, she was charged with theft, she was not charged with being drunk, mouthy or gobby.

May I also remind you that the Governor of Phuket, a person who will have had access to a lot more facts than any contributors here, has stated that she was not at fault and that he has apologised. She pleaded guilty in order to bring this to an end with the assurance from the Governor that she would not go to prison.

[loong]

I Got arrested for allegedly "drink'drivin" in Down Under, her hometown,

and was treated by the cops as if I was a criminal, never ever have met

cops who have been "up theirs" like those 2!

They should have locked you up and thrown away the key. Don't you know that drunk driving is dangerous and is against the law? You don't say where you originate from, but I suppose drunk driving is ok there is it????

[sanook2me]

They were drunk and got mouthy and gobby and forgot they were not back home ...sure this is the case....100%

It's because of posts like this that the other threads on this topic were closed.

"I assume that" seems to figure a lot in your posts and that is all they are - assumptions, the same as many others who have posted here. Yet you are 100% sure?

What are you basing your assumptions on - the fact that they are Australian women on holiday?

There are few actual facts known about this case, yet so many people can state 100% certainty EXACTLY what happened just through reading a few reports.

I like the idea of "Beyond reasonable Doubt" it's a pity that so many people obviously don't.

May I please remind you and others for the umpteenth time, she was charged with theft, she was not charged with being drunk, mouthy or gobby.

May I also remind you that the Governor of Phuket, a person who will have had access to a lot more facts than any contributors here, has stated that she was not at fault and that he has apologised. She pleaded guilty in order to bring this to an end with the assurance from the Governor that she would not go to prison.

Thats correct i assume may appear alot in my posts because its my own opinion and assumption - please give me another word or sentence to use when stating my thoughts,ideas,assumptions,opinions etc and i'll gladly use them..

As i don't usually quote from sources i cannot reference my opinions or assumptions.. so the logical writing would be to state " i assume" meaning my own opinion. If you have another idea or suggestion i will be only too happy to read them and utilise them in my postings if i am able too.

My assumptions about this story is that we do not know the whole story and people don't usually get arrested for not stealing a beer mat and then been charged with stealing it. None of it makes sense.

Just because she wasn't charged with being drunk does not imply she was not drunk either. She may or maynot have been but i think we can glean from the story that drink had some part in this saga. Would you not agree?

[PanzerJohn]

Trawling around the international press there have been several instances of tourists having similar problems in this bar. There are many conflicting elements to this story but my gut feeling is that something is going on in this bar which is not good.

[waza]

Trawling around the international press there have been several instances of tourists having similar problems in this bar. There are many conflicting elements to this story but my gut feeling is that something is going on in this bar which is not good.

Maybe this bar is sick of people stealing their beer mats. Maybe thats why there was a plain clothes policeman there. She was a loud foul mouthed woman and deserved worse than she got. Just my opinion.

[mc2]

Trawling around the international press there have been several instances of tourists having similar problems in this bar. There are many conflicting elements to this story but my gut feeling is that something is going on in this bar which is not good.

Maybe this bar is sick of people stealing their beer mats. Maybe thats why there was a plain clothes policeman there. She was a loud foul mouthed woman and deserved worse than she got. Just my opinion.

i agree with this sentiment.

she may or may not have had intent to steal, but she did a runner and got overly rude with the cops, then she sugar coats her side of things and seems unwilling to take responsibility for her role. i actually thought she went as far as lying in her report. eg "it was raining outside so i ran to the beach" nonsense .... she was doing a runner, the silly woman.

[CFIT]

If I ever needed an excuse to stop buying the Phuket Gazette since Chris Husted left, I've got one now with this week's editorial that is chock full of conjecture and old fashioned sexism with plenty of nauseating Thai apologist's self-righteousness.

( It doesn't seem to be available online)

He blames both Burrowes and Smoel entirely for their ordeals " Behaving badly..." and the front page article quotes,

"various news sources" without naming any as basis for the accusation that Smoel was abusive and out of control , though she was not charged with anything remotely connected with " bad" behavior. In fact if she didn't put the item in her purse , as was affirmed, nor left the premises , it's hard to claim she "stole" anything .

The article states she was interviewed at the airport but contains no quotes attributed to her aside from a mention she expressed," relief."

I hope she sues the crap out of Phuket Gazette.

Burrowes, it seems is not only guilty of losing his cool after being detained and wrongly accused of harboring a fake passport but also having an unusual passport picture and Davies manages to weave, " war on terrorism" imagery into the fiasco with " Immigration has to be careful who they allow on a plane..", conveniently forgetting they are foremost tasked with screening who they let INTO into the country.

Davies shows his 'ol codger colours when he claims Burrowes should not have used, " ..such language in front of a woman..."

He ends with a smug assertation both, " paid for their behavior."

All in all, a shamefully biased editorial.

I'd like to ask Mr Davies how many business interests or how much property does he own and stand to lose money on if tourism or ex-pats begin en masse a well deserved exodus from Phuket and Thailand ?

Edited May 22, 2009 by CFIT

[TheLaughingMan]

You seem to have read more details than i have about this case but i can only assume then that there was a drunken/loud/mouthing off/angry/shouting/swearing scene that somebody took offence too and it all got out of control rather too quickly.

I don't buy it that she was innocent and it was all fabricated to extract money...bullsh1t..

They were drunk and got mouthy and gobby and forgot they were not back home ...sure this is the case....100%

It wasn't fabricated, someone did indeed put the overly large mat into a too small handbag thinking it was funny, this person confessed and was ignored.

Maybe this bar is sick of people stealing their beer mats. Maybe thats why there was a plain clothes policeman there. She was a loud foul mouthed woman and deserved worse than she got. Just my opinion.

Just your opinion? You seem to want to paint her as a horrible person calling her loud and foulmouthed with no basis to say that, either because you simply don't like falang women or you want any vicitim in this country to be at fault to justify your presence here?

It is turning out that this exact bar has a history of doing these kinds of things to tourists. Why is that so hard to believe? Even with witnesses now coming forward all claiming the same thing?

[TheLaughingMan]

she may or may not have had intent to steal, but she did a runner and got overly rude with the cops, then she sugar coats her side of things and seems unwilling to take responsibility for her role. i actually thought she went as far as lying in her report. eg "it was raining outside so i ran to the beach" nonsense .... she was doing a runner, the silly woman.

And why think she was lying? It is pretty easy to confirm if it was raining, why not believe she ran across the road to get out of the rain? And who says she got rude with the cops? You mean the owner witness that was not there, right. The police said she was loud and they did not understand her, sounds like a hysterical woman crying her eyes out at being in jail wrongfully accused.

[mc2]

You seem to have read more details than i have about this case but i can only assume then that there was a drunken/loud/mouthing off/angry/shouting/swearing scene that somebody took offence too and it all got out of control rather too quickly.

I don't buy it that she was innocent and it was all fabricated to extract money...bullsh1t..

They were drunk and got mouthy and gobby and forgot they were not back home ...sure this is the case....100%

It wasn't fabricated, someone did indeed put the overly large mat into a too small handbag thinking it was funny, this person confessed and was ignored.

Maybe this bar is sick of people stealing their beer mats. Maybe thats why there was a plain clothes policeman there. She was a loud foul mouthed woman and deserved worse than she got. Just my opinion.

Just your opinion? You seem to want to paint her as a horrible person calling her loud and foulmouthed with no basis to say that, either because you simply don't like falang women or you want any vicitim in this country to be at fault to justify your presence here?

It is turning out that this exact bar has a history of doing these kinds of things to tourists. Why is that so hard to believe? Even with witnesses now coming forward all claiming the same thing?

its far more likely its the tourists stealing , owner is sick of it, cops are sick of it .

the lady is a liar as far as im concerned, running "because it was raining" what a load of bs, everyone knew that. and i can imagine the silly goose going balistic at the cops with self righous indignation

should get an oscar for playing the victim though

Edited May 22, 2009 by mc2

[mc2]

she may or may not have had intent to steal, but she did a runner and got overly rude with the cops, then she sugar coats her side of things and seems unwilling to take responsibility for her role. i actually thought she went as far as lying in her report. eg "it was raining outside so i ran to the beach" nonsense .... she was doing a runner, the silly woman.

And why think she was lying? It is pretty easy to confirm if it was raining, why not believe she ran across the road to get out of the rain? And who says she got rude with the cops? You mean the owner witness that was not there, right. The police said she was loud and they did not understand her, sounds like a hysterical woman crying her eyes out at being in jail wrongfully accused.

yes, she said she was angy the cops said she was loud, add it up , thats rude in anyones language... and in thailand, thats plain stupid

if she really thought things were ok, why did she leave her handbag behind ? why not wait until it was settled ? come on man .... add it up ....

at that stage she may have well painted "guilty" on that noggin of hers

lucky she is a brilliant actor, sucked in a lot of people

[CFIT]

You seem to have read more details than i have about this case but i can only assume then that there was a drunken/loud/mouthing off/angry/shouting/swearing scene that somebody took offence too and it all got out of control rather too quickly.

I don't buy it that she was innocent and it was all fabricated to extract money...bullsh1t..

They were drunk and got mouthy and gobby and forgot they were not back home ...sure this is the case....100%

It wasn't fabricated, someone did indeed put the overly large mat into a too small handbag thinking it was funny, this person confessed and was ignored.

Maybe this bar is sick of people stealing their beer mats. Maybe thats why there was a plain clothes policeman there. She was a loud foul mouthed woman and deserved worse than she got. Just my opinion.

Just your opinion? You seem to want to paint her as a horrible person calling her loud and foulmouthed with no basis to say that, either because you simply don't like falang women or you want any vicitim in this country to be at fault to justify your presence here?

It is turning out that this exact bar has a history of doing these kinds of things to tourists. Why is that so hard to believe? Even with witnesses now coming forward all claiming the same thing?

its far more likely its the tourists stealing , owner is sick of it, cops are sick of it .

the lady is a liar as far as im concerned, running "because it was raining" what a load of bs, everyone knew that. and i can imagine the silly goose going balistic at the cops with self righous indignation

should get an oscar for playing the victim though

Even the Phuket Governor felt she was wrongly accused.

And here's 3 Aussie lasses who are saying the very same bar tried to scam them just last February

Women tourists taunted at Phuket bar where Annice Smoel arrested | Herald Sun

Amelia Harris

May 21, 2009 12:00am

THREE young Melbourne women say they were interrogated and taunted by staff over an alleged stolen bar mat at the same Phuket bar where Annice Smoel was arrested.

Best friends Leigh Purdie, Rosie Peters, and Katie, all 20, partied at The Aussie Bar on the first night of a 16-day Thai holiday in February.

At the bar they met a 19-year-old man from Melbourne.

Ms Purdie, who lives in Melbourne's east, said bar staff accused the trio of stealing a bar mat.

"We left saying, 'If you're going to accuse us, we're leaving'," the customer service worker said. "We got halfway down the road and we didn't think twice about it.

"Then we got surrounded by Aussie Bar security, who basically detained us and made us sit around a table while we got interrogated."

Leigh said they were questioned by six security staff for about 90 minutes while police watched.

"One security guard said to me, 'Do you know what it's like for girls like you in a Thailand prison?'," she said.

"The other taunt that they gave us was that, 'You should start calling the Australian embassy because there's a good chance you won't be seeing your family again'."

Ms Purdie said when the 19-year-old Melbourne man heard what was happening he returned and confessed he had stolen the mat.

"He was immediately put in handcuffs and a towel was wrapped around his hands and he was made to sit next to us," she said. "The owner said to all of us do what they say and you'll be released.

"Eventually the police let him go."

Leigh said they were horrified to hear about Annice Smoel, being arrested and charged after allegedly stealing a mat from the same bar.

"We actually felt a little bit guilty," she said. "We knew at the time we were lucky. Now we know just how lucky we are."

In another incident last February, a Wollongong man says he saw two Thai policemen interrogate two young women at the same bar after they allegedly stole a bar mat.

After watching the girls "hysterical and crying" from a nearby table, Jamie Tuckwell said he lent them 1000 baht ($37) to pay the total 8000 baht police had demanded for their release. "The cops were quite happy to take the money and let the whole thing go," he said.

Edited May 22, 2009 by CFIT

[loong]

Okay, there is something else I'd like to understand.

This bar is up stairs and what, 100 metres from the beach?

I wonder what shoes she was wearing.

As so many people here seem to know exactly what happened, perhaps they can give me a clue. Not liking to make assumptions, but I would guess that she was not wearing high heeled shoes or any sort of ladies heeled shoe for that matter. Obviously she must have been wearing running shoes. That's the only way that I can imagine a 36 year sheila, drunk out of her head managing to run out of the bar with the police in hot pursuit, down some steps and into the street and get all the way to the beach before the police caught her. Those Phuket police must be in pretty bad shape.

Edited May 22, 2009 by loong

[CFIT]

And this couple claim the man was drugged IN THE VERY SAME BAR and then fleeced by police

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/3...90522-bhp8.html

<h2 class="cN-headingPage prepend-5 span-11 last">$3000 the price of Thai justice</h2> Photo: courtesy Channel 10

Chalpat Sonti

May 22, 2009 - 12:49PM Natalie Appleby and her fiance know all too well the problems Annice Smoel faced - the Perth 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 managed 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."

[loong]

http://www.3aw.com.au/displayPopUpPlayerAc.../190509_Ben.mp3

Another story - apparently this guy's girlfriend did steal a mat, but he got the aggression.

[mc2]

its far more likely its the tourists stealing , owner is sick of it, cops are sick of it .

the lady is a liar as far as im concerned, running "because it was raining" what a load of bs, everyone knew that. and i can imagine the silly goose going balistic at the cops with self righous indignation

should get an oscar for playing the victim though

Even the Phuket Governor felt she was wrongly accused.

And here's 3 Aussie lasses who are saying the very same bar tried to scam them just last February

Women tourists taunted at Phuket bar where Annice Smoel arrested | Herald Sun

Amelia Harris

May 21, 2009 12:00am

THREE young Melbourne women say they were interrogated and taunted by staff over an alleged stolen bar mat at the same Phuket bar where Annice Smoel was arrested.

Best friends Leigh Purdie, Rosie Peters, and Katie, all 20, partied at The Aussie Bar on the first night of a 16-day Thai holiday in February.

At the bar they met a 19-year-old man from Melbourne.

Ms Purdie, who lives in Melbourne's east, said bar staff accused the trio of stealing a bar mat.

"We left saying, 'If you're going to accuse us, we're leaving'," the customer service worker said. "We got halfway down the road and we didn't think twice about it.

"Then we got surrounded by Aussie Bar security, who basically detained us and made us sit around a table while we got interrogated."

Leigh said they were questioned by six security staff for about 90 minutes while police watched.

"One security guard said to me, 'Do you know what it's like for girls like you in a Thailand prison?'," she said.

"The other taunt that they gave us was that, 'You should start calling the Australian embassy because there's a good chance you won't be seeing your family again'."

Ms Purdie said when the 19-year-old Melbourne man heard what was happening he returned and confessed he had stolen the mat.

"He was immediately put in handcuffs and a towel was wrapped around his hands and he was made to sit next to us," she said. "The owner said to all of us do what they say and you'll be released.

"Eventually the police let him go."

Leigh said they were horrified to hear about Annice Smoel, being arrested and charged after allegedly stealing a mat from the same bar.

"We actually felt a little bit guilty," she said. "We knew at the time we were lucky. Now we know just how lucky we are."

In another incident last February, a Wollongong man says he saw two Thai policemen interrogate two young women at the same bar after they allegedly stole a bar mat.

After watching the girls "hysterical and crying" from a nearby table, Jamie Tuckwell said he lent them 1000 baht ($37) to pay the total 8000 baht police had demanded for their release. "The cops were quite happy to take the money and let the whole thing go," he said.

well the governers in damage control thats all

as for the 3 women,

their response was "oh if you will accuse us, we are leaving" dumb response IMO

i notice they didn't explain why the acusations were false, or what exactly led up to the accusation since that is the crux of the story. makes me believe they were petty thieves

Edited May 22, 2009 by mc2

[Shotime]

Who else are they going to blame? I can actually understand her pleading guilty. I'm not sure what happened or what she did, but she didn't deserve the result. In a situation like that, I always act mentally challenged. Usually, they (the police) will just walk away shaking their heads. Which is fine with me. I like when they walk away from me.

The first time I was here, I put a smoke out on the sidewalk. A policeman walked over and started explaining the 2,000 baht fine. I acted like an idiot, and walked away. Keep your guard up.

[loong]

Women tourists taunted at Phuket bar where Annice Smoel arrested | Herald Sun

..............

as for the 3 women,

their response was "oh if you will accuse us, we are leaving" dumb response IMO

i notice they didn't explain why the acusations were false, or what exactly led up to the accusation since that is the crux of the story. makes me believe they were petty thieves

I think the fact that they didn't steal the mat is explanation why the allegations were false.

In this case the girls had a chat with a man in the bar, that man then stole a mat. That man is a thief for sure, no doubt about that. The girls stole nothing and yet you call them petty thieves.

If you talk to a man in a bar and he steals something - that makes you a thief, right?

If I happen to chat to a lady in Tesco Lotus and it turns out she is a shoplifter, in your mind I would be a thief because I had talked to her?

You know, the Thai police, during the course of their work will have to talk to a lot of thieves, by your reasoning that would mean that the Thai police force are thie.........oh, wait a minute.

[farseer]

Trawling around the international press there have been several instances of tourists having similar problems in this bar. There are many conflicting elements to this story but my gut feeling is that something is going on in this bar which is not good.

You are right, the owner is not a very nice sort of person and he has trained his staff to be like Rottweilers. He will try and get money out of a customer "any" way that he can.

Remember everyone, he called the police in the first place. He never withdrew the charges.

Why would the police approach the woman and ask her to open her bag? Because the owner made a report that is why!

[TAWP]

Trawling around the international press there have been several instances of tourists having similar problems in this bar. There are many conflicting elements to this story but my gut feeling is that something is going on in this bar which is not good.

You are right, the owner is not a very nice sort of person and he has trained his staff to be like Rottweilers. He will try and get money out of a customer "any" way that he can.

Remember everyone, he called the police in the first place. He never withdrew the charges.

Why would the police approach the woman and ask her to open her bag? Because the owner made a report that is why!

Now you are claiming things that none of the news-reports seem to validate, as it was reported that undercover officers approached the woman without the staff notifying them.

[CFIT]

Trawling around the international press there have been several instances of tourists having similar problems in this bar. There are many conflicting elements to this story but my gut feeling is that something is going on in this bar which is not good.

You are right, the owner is not a very nice sort of person and he has trained his staff to be like Rottweilers. He will try and get money out of a customer "any" way that he can.

Remember everyone, he called the police in the first place. He never withdrew the charges.

Why would the police approach the woman and ask her to open her bag? Because the owner made a report that is why!

Now you are claiming things that none of the news-reports seem to validate, as it was reported that undercover officers approached the woman without the staff notifying them.

The Gazette is saying this was mis reported and there were no undercover police. Of course they are covering for their advertisers who are in a panic that the truth about Thailand is making HEADLINE news around the world !!

Oh it's so DELICIOUS !!

[mc2]

Women tourists taunted at Phuket bar where Annice Smoel arrested | Herald Sun

..............

as for the 3 women,

their response was "oh if you will accuse us, we are leaving" dumb response IMO

i notice they didn't explain why the acusations were false, or what exactly led up to the accusation since that is the crux of the story. makes me believe they were petty thieves

I think the fact that they didn't steal the mat is explanation why the allegations were false.

In this case the girls had a chat with a man in the bar, that man then stole a mat. That man is a thief for sure, no doubt about that. The girls stole nothing and yet you call them petty thieves.

If you talk to a man in a bar and he steals something - that makes you a thief, right?

If I happen to chat to a lady in Tesco Lotus and it turns out she is a shoplifter, in your mind I would be a thief because I had talked to her?

You know, the Thai police, during the course of their work will have to talk to a lot of thieves, by your reasoning that would mean that the Thai police force are thie.........oh, wait a minute.

the way i read it was the guy was covering their arse ... for their mistake, or to get the girls off the hook .

maybe the boy did do it

theres a thing called accessory to theft btw

[loong]

Women tourists taunted at Phuket bar where Annice Smoel arrested | Herald Sun

..............

as for the 3 women,

their response was "oh if you will accuse us, we are leaving" dumb response IMO

i notice they didn't explain why the acusations were false, or what exactly led up to the accusation since that is the crux of the story. makes me believe they were petty thieves

I think the fact that they didn't steal the mat is explanation why the allegations were false.

In this case the girls had a chat with a man in the bar, that man then stole a mat. That man is a thief for sure, no doubt about that. The girls stole nothing and yet you call them petty thieves.

If you talk to a man in a bar and he steals something - that makes you a thief, right?

If I happen to chat to a lady in Tesco Lotus and it turns out she is a shoplifter, in your mind I would be a thief because I had talked to her?

You know, the Thai police, during the course of their work will have to talk to a lot of thieves, by your reasoning that would mean that the Thai police force are thie.........oh, wait a minute.

the way i read it was the guy was covering their arse ... for their mistake, or to get the girls off the hook .

maybe the boy did do it

theres a thing called accessory to theft btw

Are you for real???

Now you're suggesting that this guy came riding in on his white horse to rescue these girls? Would you confess to a crime that you didn't commit in Thailand to cover a stranger's arse?

"maybe the boy did do it"

So you've changed your tune from talking to a thief means that you must be a thief. Now talking to a thief means that you must be an accessory.

So using my previous example..

If I happen to chat to a lady in Tesco Lotus and it turns out she is a shoplifter, in your mind I would be an accessory to theft because I talked to her?

If you're talking to a guy in a bar and he pulls a gun and shoots the bartender, that makes you an accessory to murder - correct?