New Police Scam - Got Set Up Today

[blackopsnz]

What happened to you is disgusting and totally unacceptable, if it is not dealt with now it will get totally out of hand and then there will be all sorts of posts by members on scams much worse.

I had a situation last year driving from Pattaya to Korat with my wife in a rental car, after being stopped by cops at temporary check points for the third time, each time they would not talk to me only my wife who was bullied into handing over 100B each time, I got rather pissed off so I called my embassy in Bangkok and spoke to the Police representative and asked him for advice. I was told to smile and make a big joke out of it and tell the cop you will not pay any money to him, the cop is to write a ticket and I will pay at the police station, the reason being I would send the ticket to the embassy and the officer would pass it on to the police anti corruption dept and get it sorted. It happened two more times, both times my wife told the cop she is not going to talk to him and I will call the embassy so that the cop can tell them why I have been stopped. Needless to say it was all a big misunderstanding and there was no problem; have a good day.

When you have some support and knowledge behind you it is a lot easier to deal with the situation. It is a sad fact that the way the police is set up, leaves room for massive corruption which is rearing its ugly head now that tourism is dead in Pattaya, but that is no excuse for what has happened.

My suggestion is to contact your embassy in the first instance for advise, taking video is a bold move and potentially dangerous if not done properly. You will need an accomplice wired with sound on a bike to get scammed while it is being videoed, this will add to the deniability factor. If you get caught start making phone calls or have someone phone for you (I mean in any situation not just if you get caught filming) the sooner the bent cops figger out that there scam is not going to stay secret the sooner it will be resolved. Be calm and talk in a submissive manner, be polite to the point of throwing up then get on that phone and make sure people know what you are doing. If you have a small audio recorder have it on and in your shirt pocket so you can back up your clams.

I suggest not contacting any local government as you don’t know how far the corruption go’s, sending a video to the tourism agencies might be a good idea as we all know this country and Pattaya can ill afford more bad publicity. Let me know if you need help doing this.

Bullies and corruption thrive on the weak, don’t be the weak victim, support each other.

[chuckd]

I had a situation last year driving from Pattaya to Korat with my wife in a rental car, after being stopped by cops at temporary check points for the third time, each time they would not talk to me only my wife who was bullied into handing over 100B each time, I got rather pissed off so I called my embassy in Bangkok and spoke to the Police representative and asked him for advice. I was told to smile and make a big joke out of it and tell the cop you will not pay any money to him, the cop is to write a ticket and I will pay at the police station, the reason being I would send the ticket to the embassy and the officer would pass it on to the police anti corruption dept and get it sorted. It happened two more times, both times my wife told the cop she is not going to talk to him and I will call the embassy so that the cop can tell them why I have been stopped. Needless to say it was all a big misunderstanding and there was no problem; have a good day.

My suggestion is to contact your embassy in the first instance for advise....

If you're an American, don't waste your time contacting the Embassy.

The current US State Department won't use up any "tough diplomacy" over anything as trivial as a few 100 baht traffic fines in Thailand.

[oMega69]

13/2 on Beach Road did me in today.

I was coming down beach road on my bike, helmet on, and as I turned into 13/2 I had to come to a stop because of a police truck and a small van blocking traffic. I pulled up to wait, stopped my bike but did not kill the engine, and some beach hooker comes out of nowhere and leans her butt against my bike and asks, "where you go?" Almost instantly a cop blows his whistle and runs out around the police truck.

He tickets ME for HER not having a helmet.

I kindly explain to him that I have no idea who she is and she is not with me, she just came up to me. He tells me I am lying because he saw me drive up the street with her on my bike. Then in a stroke of Thai genius, he tells me all the moto bike taxi drives saw the same thing. Of course, he never asked them what they saw. So I asked them, the all said in almost perfect sync, in broken English, that she was riding on my bike. The dirty bastards.

From there it turned nasty on my end as I knew I was being set up. I probably didn't help matters any by losing my cool, but as he took my keys and said he was going to take my bike, for nothing, I lost it a little. I then called the tourist police as I keep their number in my phone. They told me that they do not mingle in such affairs and that I should pay the fine or talk to his boss at Soi 9 station. Though, I've never had to call the tourist police before and I won't bother calling them again. I foolishly thought they were there to help protect us or at the very least help in assisting us with run ins with the locals. Thanks for nothing guys, you just became the ultimate joke to me.

So, after some nasty words with the dark buffalo of a policeman, I ended up at Soi 9 where I tried to plead my case to a higher up there. As you can guess, it quickly fell on deaf ears so I stopped wasting my time with it and chalked it up as a loss.

I paid my 400 baht and left.

I then went back near the soi, walked up to the area from the beach side and waited. Not surprised, I saw them do this EXACT thing to a few more falang. I tried to record this with my video phone but the quality is too poor to see as I was across the street.

Tomorrow I will be going back with my real video camera to expose this crooked f*** to anyone else who wants to watch it. Maybe if at least one Thai TV channel pics it up and exposes him, he will lose some face for getting caught. Then maybe he'll kill me if he sees me again, who knows?

So keep an eye on your back seat when having to stop. These cops are getting more and more desperate as tourism dies a painful death. There is no telling how low they are going to get to earn a few baht as tourist (and some expats) completly clear out of Pattaya.

You have been warned.

P.S. If I get this footage, I will post it here first. That is of course, unless the mods delete it.

I was behind your bike when this hapends. . i was on my way to the post office . . . To bad . .the cops are just bullshitt here :/

[blackopsnz]

13/2 on Beach Road did me in today.

I was coming down beach road on my bike, helmet on, and as I turned into 13/2 I had to come to a stop because of a police truck and a small van blocking traffic. I pulled up to wait, stopped my bike but did not kill the engine, and some beach hooker comes out of nowhere and leans her butt against my bike and asks, "where you go?" Almost instantly a cop blows his whistle and runs out around the police truck.

He tickets ME for HER not having a helmet.

I kindly explain to him that I have no idea who she is and she is not with me, she just came up to me. He tells me I am lying because he saw me drive up the street with her on my bike. Then in a stroke of Thai genius, he tells me all the moto bike taxi drives saw the same thing. Of course, he never asked them what they saw. So I asked them, the all said in almost perfect sync, in broken English, that she was riding on my bike. The dirty bastards.

From there it turned nasty on my end as I knew I was being set up. I probably didn't help matters any by losing my cool, but as he took my keys and said he was going to take my bike, for nothing, I lost it a little. I then called the tourist police as I keep their number in my phone. They told me that they do not mingle in such affairs and that I should pay the fine or talk to his boss at Soi 9 station. Though, I've never had to call the tourist police before and I won't bother calling them again. I foolishly thought they were there to help protect us or at the very least help in assisting us with run ins with the locals. Thanks for nothing guys, you just became the ultimate joke to me.

So, after some nasty words with the dark buffalo of a policeman, I ended up at Soi 9 where I tried to plead my case to a higher up there. As you can guess, it quickly fell on deaf ears so I stopped wasting my time with it and chalked it up as a loss.

I paid my 400 baht and left.

I then went back near the soi, walked up to the area from the beach side and waited. Not surprised, I saw them do this EXACT thing to a few more falang. I tried to record this with my video phone but the quality is too poor to see as I was across the street.

Tomorrow I will be going back with my real video camera to expose this crooked f*** to anyone else who wants to watch it. Maybe if at least one Thai TV channel pics it up and exposes him, he will lose some face for getting caught. Then maybe he'll kill me if he sees me again, who knows?

So keep an eye on your back seat when having to stop. These cops are getting more and more desperate as tourism dies a painful death. There is no telling how low they are going to get to earn a few baht as tourist (and some expats) completly clear out of Pattaya.

You have been warned.

P.S. If I get this footage, I will post it here first. That is of course, unless the mods delete it.

I was behind your bike when this hapends. . i was on my way to the post office . . . To bad . .the cops are just bullshitt here :/

You might have stopped and asked him if he needed some help! If we don't help each other no one else will!

[Ulysses G.]

Interfering with the police is not a good idea.

[OxfordWill]

honestly I would have pissed myself laughing and paid the 400 baht, and got on with life. up to you if you want to make it all personal. See the funny side and he probably would let you off next time he stops you for actually doing something wrong. hel_l remember you are the laughing farang. Or, get angry and put it on youtube and tell all the papers about something everyone knows about- police corruption- and if it makes you feel better thatll only last as long as until the next time something like this happens to you. So about 2 days or so. With such an obvious setup, and for 400 baht, theres no option but to laugh. Lighten up. Cmon. Never mind. Youll change nothing and next time he runs into you it will be the same or worse due to how you handled yourself.

Am I the only one who finds this really really funny? That cop is a genius!

I imagine 95% of the farangs he stops get angry. Make yourself different. Appeal to his humanity. Be the one who finds it funny or maybe even congratulate him on a great idea (if your thai is sensitive enough to do this without causing offence). Think long term. Get him on side. Play the game. Dont rebel, dont be western and dont let it bother you for more than a minute. Then, you win.

Edited June 16, 2009 by OxfordWill

[imaneggspurt]

Lets all see what the thai defenders " the sun shines out of their "@sses "

make of this one,jesus are they that desperate for money, unbeleivable,

[imaneggspurt]

honestly I would have pissed myself laughing and paid the 400 baht, and got on with life. up to you if you want to make it all personal. See the funny side and he probably would let you off next time he stops you for actually doing something wrong. hel_l remember you are the laughing farang. Or, get angry and put it on youtube and tell all the papers about something everyone knows about- police corruption- and if it makes you feel better thatll only last as long as until the next time something like this happens to you. So about 2 days or so. With such an obvious setup, and for 400 baht, theres no option but to laugh. Lighten up. Cmon. Never mind. Youll change nothing and next time he runs into you it will be the same or worse due to how you handled yourself.

Am I the only one who finds this really really funny? That cop is a genius!

I imagine 95% of the farangs he stops get angry. Make yourself different. Appeal to his humanity. Be the one who finds it funny or maybe even congratulate him on a great idea (if your thai is sensitive enough to do this without causing offence). Think long term. Get him on side. Play the game. Dont rebel, dont be western and dont let it bother you for more than a minute. Then, you win.

Really, so you would take this shit in your stride and laugh about it, please can i have some of your happy pills .

[sibeymai]

take a video of the scam and post it anywhere where it will get noticed, expect to leave Thailand in a box. Is that worth 400 baht ?

Edited June 16, 2009 by sibeymai

[bartender100]

If you do manage to get a video, put it on a memory tick and upload on a net cafe PC,just in case.

And thanks for the waning i will avoid beach road when driving.

[soundman]

Appeal to his humanity.

Forget that, pretend you've got the slime flu, SARS, leprosy or some sort of shaking disease (DT's work perfectly in this type of situation) when you go to hand over the 400B and watch the police officer recoil like a over-stretched matress spring!

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

On a serious note: If the OP or anyone else is planning a little video footage, I'd be very very careful I wasn't caught doing it......

[Phil Conners]

honestly I would have pissed myself laughing and paid the 400 baht, and got on with life. up to you if you want to make it all personal. See the funny side and he probably would let you off next time he stops you for actually doing something wrong. hel_l remember you are the laughing farang. Or, get angry and put it on youtube and tell all the papers about something everyone knows about- police corruption- and if it makes you feel better thatll only last as long as until the next time something like this happens to you. So about 2 days or so. With such an obvious setup, and for 400 baht, theres no option but to laugh. Lighten up. Cmon. Never mind. Youll change nothing and next time he runs into you it will be the same or worse due to how you handled yourself.

Am I the only one who finds this really really funny? That cop is a genius!

I imagine 95% of the farangs he stops get angry. Make yourself different. Appeal to his humanity. Be the one who finds it funny or maybe even congratulate him on a great idea (if your thai is sensitive enough to do this without causing offence). Think long term. Get him on side. Play the game. Dont rebel, dont be western and dont let it bother you for more than a minute. Then, you win.

I want some of whatever drugs it is you're on!!!

[pattaya_girl]

This is a disgrace.

We was on our Chopper last year, drove down Soi 7, turned at Beach Road, and the policeman pulled us over right outside the station and took the key out of the bike. (he was smiling, as they do)

We were both wearing Helmets, but he gave us a ticket because he said the Chopper exhaust was too loud.

I waited outside while my partner found someone he knew, who would get us off with it, we didnt pay anything and we was given our keys back.

I loved the look on that cops face as we drove away smiling. He looked sooo fed up.

Lucky for us we knew someone. Its not the money, its the principal and I am looking forward to see if you manage to get a video.

[Jingthing]

Be the one who finds it funny or maybe even congratulate him on a great idea

Such thinking is a very small step away from ganging up with some corrupt Thais to help them steal money from other foreigners.

Edited June 16, 2009 by Jingthing

[tropo]

What I find surprising is that you were ticketed and paid the fine at the Soi 9 police station.

Wouldn't that suggest that it's a scam from higher up in the department?

Who's getting the money? The policeman pulling it of in Soi 13/2 doesn't see the money as it has been paid to the fine clerk at the station. Normally you would expect the officers pulling off a scam to go for an on-the-street backhand payment.

If they are skimming this money at the police station, how does the fine clerk know that the fine was part of the setup and not a standard genuine offense? Do they have a secret mark on the ticket to indicate that?

Perhaps the street cops have been told by their superiors to increase their fine quotas for the day? Perhaps the cop involved with this scam had to get some more fines written up for the day because he was behind quota and he worked this scam independently. Don't cops get paid some commission on fines here in Pattaya?

We need some answers here. What if it is a push by the police department to increase profits and the cops have been told they can do what they like as long as they're careful about it. This could have some serious consequences for all expats who use their own transport.

[Tokay]

I went by there a few times tonight with the cam, didn't see anyone around. However, I did see YET ANOTHER beach girl round up tonight!!! That makes THREE this week. I'm not sure at 1am what harm they are doing anyone by sitting on the beach. There are no tourists to even complain about them.

I'm going to keep an eye out though as well as if I see that cop (or girl) on another soi. For sure they won't just run this one once, it was too clever. I have a feeling this sort of scam and many others are going to get wide spread as tourism dies even more and the police feel the financial squeeze.

[katana]

Reminds me a little of this video I saw on Youtube:

[junki3korean]

soi 13-2 is pizzahut and spagetti factory??

I`ve had similar experience....I hate motorbike taxis they did the same thing claiming they saw me speeding and overtaking dangerously...

took my key went and paid the fine...came back and the bloody cop was`nt even there waited 30mins for this <deleted>! and he smelt like sang song..

[philliphn]

This all makes me very sad.

I personally want to have a lot of respect for the BIB. But when they behave in a totally corrupt manner then they loose face.

When they round up women who are not doing anything they are hurting Pattaya. I love Pattaya. Lets face it you don't got to Pattayafor their lovely clean beaches. They are cutting of their noses to spite their faces. In the long run what they are doing is foolish. They need to cherish the farang expat and visitors who spend their money in Pattaya. We could go to Changmai or other destinations. If I can fly to the other side of the world; I can go any where. Make Pattaya unpleasant and people will leave.

[blackopsnz]

Interfering with the police is not a good idea.

I am not suggesting you get in the cops face and tell him to F#%! Off, you can get in a position to see and hear what is going on and if you think something is not right introduce yourself to the victim so the cop knows the victim is not alone, there is a reason the cop has the motorbike taxi drivers backing his story up, he knows what he is doing is wrong and it intimidates the victim into feeling helpless.

To Tokay

you say you went out last night with your video looking for the cop or other scams in progress, please take not of what some of us are saying about being careful, take a day or two to calm down and think through what you are going to do; you know you will be in big trouble if you get caught, do it but do it properly.

[Daffy D]

This kind of scam does make me angry. I realize we are in a country where corruption is part of the culture and I'll go along with it to an extent, if I REALLY was speeding I'll pay the cash. But this is something different.

It's easy being wise after the event but I would have taken a picture of the girl and asked to see her ID. I would also have taken pictures of the taxi guys with their their bikes, showing the bike reg plate and if possible their jacket number. I would also have made a note of the policeman's name and number, they have them on the uniform somewhere, and taken a picture of him also.

If there are protests about all this information gathering this say you are collecting evidence and getting witnesses for your defense in court or to present to the transport minister or your Embassy.

I realize all this picture taking is a bit extreme and possible the cop would not allow it but the idea is to intimidate them. I don't think the girl and taxi guys, while willing to be part of a easy scam would want the involvement if it was to get complicated.

Also make a big show of writing down every thing that is said again as "evidence"

The success of these scams relies on the Farang being isolated from the system and not knowing what to do, exept go along with the scam and pay up. These cops are only a small cog in the wheel and think their actions will not be noticed but if you can intimidate them into believing that they are not immune I think you can wiggle your way out of situations.

Just my thoughts.

Edited June 17, 2009 by Daffy D

[Humphrey Bear]

If it was Soi 13/2 - why not say you were heading for Boyz Town and wouldn't touch a female with his stick?

Also the local llaw were stopping riders in Soi Buakhow on Monday - near Soi Honey Inn.

Both heavily trafficked by farang moto-cy drivers.

[PTYstefan]

the police like to stand at soi 13/2 (soi postoffice) because it is a one way road and many many tourist also thais travel down the wrong way.

like yesterday they had the high way police making a check on all the cars and bikes that are driving by.

[tlcwaterfall]

Maybe the beach road freelancer was working off a potential 'ticket' for this wanke_r MIB or they were off-duty <deleted> buddies? Either way, live and learn. The key was you "losing you cool" which played right into his hands. It cost you 400 baht and the lost time. Don't even think about making a movie of this but thanks for the warning. It is really appreciated.

Losing his cool was the key to what???

He'd already been ticketed.

Agreed. He simply displayed a normal human emotion of not being happy when being treated unfairly.

If we all accept this type of behaviour and pay the fine and walk away it encourages the crooked authority figures to continue these criminal type actions.

"Don't even think about making a movie" Why the hel_l not? Do you agree with what happened to this guy? Why should he not try and expose this criminal practice?

Take the movie and send it to the relevant authorities and the press. Post it on Youtube and the Pattaya forums. I think we should all try to stamp out this corruption if we can. At least have a go and it will make these individuals think twice about doing these things in the future.

Sorry for the rant but I am sick and tired of falangs being "easy targets? I know we are but if we just lie down and accept everything it will get worse not better.

[pattaya_girl]

And the Government is worried that the Tourists are stopping coming to Thailand, I wonder why !!!

[perousing]

and they are wondering why the tourist numbers are down , wake up thailand!!!!!!!! farangs are pissed of with this happening daily

[smellyfarang]

I personally want to have a lot of respect for the BIB.

[Beacher]

Numerous times the suggestion has been made to capture this scam on video and post it various places, including this forum. It would be nice to hear from the moderators of TV to see if they would actually allow that. My feeling is that there's more chance of a pig flying by my window right now than the moderators of TV allowing that type of video to appear here.

[OxfordWill]

I was once in the back of a speeding car which didnt stop for a polie checkpoint. We nearly ran the policeman down (I was not driving). The guy threw his maglite at the car and hit the rear light, breaking it. Then he got on his motorbike and sped after us. We hit traffic before the next sidestreet and had nowhere to go, the policeman was pretty mad. The driver got out and checked out the damage from the maglite. Instead of getting angry, the driver congratulated the policeman on what was a very good shot and how it would have caused him X amount of baht to fix. He said how stupid he had been to accidentally not notice the policeman and to speed past him. But in a convivial, humourous, hierarchical (recognising the policemans status in a natural way, as older brother, not in a "im afraid of you" way) way. The policeman said he was very bad to have sped past. The driver explained he hadnt noticed because we had been having a heated discussion as to whether Esarn or Bangkok had more pretty girls (he noticed the policeman was definitely from the north east). Again he laughed about how much money it would take to fix the light. He congratulated the policeman on his fantastic shot. The policeman began smiling. Everyone was friends. He let the guy off with a warning. Things just don't work the same way here. Ive experienced this kind of situation with police so many times. How many of you who get angry and try to deal with it the farang way have had any success at all? Im confident your only chance is to get them on side through a process of upping their status, face and being absolutely not serious and entirely jokey and amicable about things.

edit: and this applies regardless of whether or not they are scamming you. A scamster in the west would decide to scam you and nothing could change his mind. Thais are more flexible. If soemone they know, is related to them, or they just happen to like, comes into their sights, they will forget they were involved in a scam and cheer you on your way.

Edited June 17, 2009 by OxfordWill

[pattaya_girl]

In a way, you are right Oxfordwill.

I once parked my car in front of a Restaurent, when i returned the owner demanded 500 Bt from me.

I was very angry as there were no signs, and we both started shouting and threatening to get the police.

In the end, I offered the guy my hand, to shake and make friends, and we calmed down, and I went on my way.

I appologised to the guy and this seemed to sort the matter out immediately.

I dont know with the Police though, never been in that situation - touch wood.