British Couple Fights Bangkok Airport Extortionists

[brahmburgers]

Regardless of their guilt or innocence, once under police custody, there were not treated right. If there was a case against them they should have been charged and tried. Instead they were intimidated and made to pay £8000 before being released without charge.

Agreed. Plus, a police fine for a serious offense in Thailand might run five to twenty thousand baht max. £8000 computes to nearly a half million baht (Bt.456,000). That's over twenty times the average fine for a serious crime such as vehicular manslaughter (for a Thai). And that £8000 was paid to some guy's private account, and they called it 'bail.' It was actually a blatant pay-off to an extortion ring which included KP, the arresting officials (whether real or impersonated), and the Sri Lankan heister. There may also been some residual pay-offs to Tourist Police and other airport posted authorities who know how to 'look the other way' and not do their prescribed duties. Tourist Police in particular, are assigned to assist foreigners. If there were any tourist policemen involved, even peripherally (such as sloughing off a direct complaint from the accused), then they too should be busted.

[Thai at Heart]

Even as a long stayer, I may or may not have been able to get myself out of a false accusation like this sort of thing.

There is no defence for the police and corrupt b******* scaring the c*** out of people and acting like judge and jury.

As I said before, despite King Powers best efforts, to this moment the only reaction is that the embassy's have crapped all over the police at the airport by saying they are corrupt, and the merry happy government of Thailand hasn't lifted a finger to even investigate.

Maybe I should get help from the Old Etonians or Whykemists to get someone to do something because this is so obviously damaging the country and a most obvious offence of corruption.

[animatic]

Well let's see:

So far this week I have been called:

Bigot, Un American, un patriotic, likely a criminal, delusional, clueless, yellow,

railing, pontificating, like a thug politician, ranting... and more.

But also writing in a "distinguished artistic style which adds diversity", and always civil.

I must be doing something right!

Edited August 6, 2009 by animatic

[JetsetBkk]

Did anyone see the CCTV footage of the couple stealing? Its up on King Powers website, along with 2 other stealing incidents.

Here is a direct link to the British couple - British Couple Stealing Footage

You can also visit King Powers' homepage - King Power Homepage

What! How could we NOT have seen this.

KP 'agents' have been periodically bringing this to our attention for quite some time....

And the attorneys for the defense have been attempting to debunk it for just as long...

[stumonster]

They have a certificate from the Thai Police stating they are entirely innocent of the alleged offences.

yep - 8K for that , they got scammed alright - they are only 100 baht on ko sarn road

[animatic]

Did anyone see the CCTV footage of the couple stealing? Its up on King Powers website, along with 2 other stealing incidents.

Here is a direct link to the British couple - British Couple Stealing Footage

You can also visit King Powers' homepage - King Power Homepage

What! How could we NOT have seen this.

KP 'agents' have been periodically bringing this to our attention for quite some time....

And the attorneys for the defense have been attempting to debunk it for just as long...

Well it's clear they were denied benefit of council,

unless you call Sri Lanka Tony such...

[spongeman]

The video does not show them stealing.

They did not cry to a newspaper

Both a foreign minister and the Thai ambassador in London have been involved.

Well Caf me ould cheeseboard the bird in the video ain't putting on underarm before she leaves ,thats for sure. A very quick exit as well.

Its very conclusive from where I am standing.

[spongeman]

Why do we British always get caught. Everytime!!!

I was going to slag ye.....until I saw the Irish Bird !

Good girl yourself.

[shotover]

Bottom line for me. I won't put one foot inside a King Power Store anywhere, either inside the airport or any other locations.

[thairay]

Well let's see:

So far this week I have been called:

Bigot, Un American, un patriotic, likely a criminal, delusional, clueless, yellow,

railing, pontificating, like a thug politician, ranting... and more.

But also writing in a "distinguished artistic style which adds diversity", and always civil.

I must be doing something right!

congratulations for stirring up the place,just to keep the record up...you are off subject ha ha keep it up

[thairay]

^^^ ^^^

Not disagreeing with you, but I too, always thought that "air-side" was no-man's land.

So, how come cops can pull a villain off an aircraft even after "chocks away"?

i was on the tarmac in west africa when the military boarded with the idea of unloading two passengers from the plane,guns and loud voices were met with a refusal to leave the aircraft by the pair..soldiers got off without them...if you do not call a bluff you give the game up..p.s. .i think the King should be told that they are selling things at the airport and useing his name in vain......

[Sturbuc]

This is not the first time people have been jailed under strange circumstances after visiting King Power Duty Free. This is a company that ignores rules and laws and doubled their retail space simply by taking it over when Suvarnabhumi opened. They wanted to open another restaurant and quietly built a two story building next to the terminal without asking anyone's permission.

The couple may be guilty of theft but my gut says there is a different message here. Do not go near any of the King Power Duty Free shops. If you do you do so at your own risk. We all know the airport is full of criminals of all stripes yet because it is an airport with controlled space we feel a false sense of security. Saving a few Baht on cigarettes or alcohol is worth the risk?

I bet these people would not have the problems they had if they were shopping in Singapore's or Hong Kong's airports.

This is the sort of company king power are, i was travelling with a friend that wrongly asked the assistant in KP what ther cig allowance was for the uk ,she looks at a chart and tells him 200, he bought 2000 she never queried it, he was mysteriously stopped at heathrow and they were taken off him, coincidence ?. maybe, but the fact remains she did not limit him to 200, as allowed,,thai business all over, greed,.......

Well, it's not the business of the salesperson to make sure you're not violating the rules of you're destination. If she's told you about the limit but you're buying more, it's up to you! Nevertheless the King Power shops rejected to sell liqour to me as i'd had to change the plane within Europe.

THINK

P.S.

I tried to see the videos on KP's website. In my opinion the quality is to bad to cause any statemenet; if there are no goods found its hard to beleave they're shoplifters. And the story afterwards seeems to improve it had been a scam.

Edited August 7, 2009 by Sturbuc

[spongeman]

Further investigation revealed that King Power had built over the front of the entrances to many restrooms to get more retail space. Making money on the backs of poor bladder-bursting passengers who've just deplaned.

Thanks for that interesting tidbit.

Next time my stomach starts growling at Swampy, I'll just take a dump in a Prada handbag at King Power.

Remind me not to visit that section then.

[Serpico]

CBS News. Today. More Airport Extortion.

"Danish Embassy Consul Tove Wihlbrot-Andersen says the woman was accused of stealing an item worth about 1,500 baht ($45) after she unknowingly crossed from one shop to another. Her allegations mirror those made by the British couple: She was taken to a police station, contacted by Tony the translator, released on bail and then "taken to a bad hotel in the vicinity for almost a week," until she reportedly paid Tony 250,000 baht ($7,400) _ for an offense that normally results in a 3,000 baht ($90) fine, the consul said."

Link

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...n5223017.shtml

The Associated Press had this running Aug 7th.

[david96]

Statement from the Irish Government. Foreign Affairs Website.

http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=8493

Visitors passing through Suvarnabhumi Airport, or moving between shops and stalls, should be extremely careful to ensure that they have paid, and have receipts for, all items in their possession before they move away from the vendor. We have received reports that innocent shoppers have been the subject of allegations of suspected theft and threatened that their cases will not be heard for several months unless they plead guilty and pay substantial fines. Understandably, this causes great distress to visitors engaged in normal tourist shopping activities.

( A lot better than the UK FCO advice.)

[sokal]

This is not the first time people have been jailed under strange circumstances after visiting King Power Duty Free. This is a company that ignores rules and laws and doubled their retail space simply by taking it over when Suvarnabhumi opened. They wanted to open another restaurant and quietly built a two story building next to the terminal without asking anyone's permission.

The couple may be guilty of theft but my gut says there is a different message here. Do not go near any of the King Power Duty Free shops. If you do you do so at your own risk. We all know the airport is full of criminals of all stripes yet because it is an airport with controlled space we feel a false sense of security. Saving a few Baht on cigarettes or alcohol is worth the risk?

I bet these people would not have the problems they had if they were shopping in Singapore's or Hong Kong's airports.

Looks like theft on the video. I never steal because I am not a poor sack of sh*t with no money. Even if the wallet got put back without the video being conclusive, what I have learned is when your at KING or ant retailer in Thailand, MAKE IT OBVIOUS THAT YOU PUT STUFF BACK THAT YOU DONT BUY.

Edited August 8, 2009 by sokal

[grantbkk]

Attached is a link to a very widely circulated article posted as a top story on MSNBC. The hits just keep on coming.

Alleged scam targets tourists in Bangkok

European visitors say they were falsely accused of shoplifting, shaken down

updated 10:46 a.m. ET Aug. 7, 2009

BANGKOK - Travelers to Thailand have braved a variety of hazards in recent years but foreign governments are now warning about a new and different one: duty-free shopping at the airport.

Several European tourists say they were falsely accused of shoplifting at the Thai capital's main airport and some recount being taken to seedy motels where they were shaken down for thousands of dollars by a shady middleman.

A British couple paid the equivalent of $11,000 to secure their release five days after being accused of stealing a Givenchy wallet that was never found, say police, who along with airport authorities deny any wrongdoing.

The Thai government has vowed a crackdown at Bangkok's scandal-plagued Suvarnabhumi Airport, which has barely recovered from last year's public relations disaster when anti-government protesters shut it for a week and stranded 300,000 visitors.

The airport opened in 2006 and has been dogged by corruption allegations, taxi touts with "broken meters" and baggage thefts — prompting a recent order for luggage handlers to wear uniforms without pockets.

But the allegations of extortion take things to another level.

"We are quite concerned about this," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Vimon Kidchob said Thursday. "The government of Thailand is doing everything we can to ensure the safety of tourists."

It's hardly the image the self-proclaimed "Land of Smiles" wants to project, particularly as Thailand's vital tourism industry faces its worst crisis in years after political instability, the global financial crisis and swine flu scares.

The scandal has spawned lengthy chatter on travel blogs about other scams to watch for in Thailand and a string of overseas travel advisories on the perils of duty-free shopping in Bangkok.

Ireland is warning its nationals to "be extremely careful" when browsing at Suvarnabhumi (pronounced "sue-WANNA-poom").

"We have received reports that innocent shoppers have been the subject of allegations of suspected theft and threatened that their cases will not be heard for several months unless they plead guilty and pay substantial fines," says an Irish government travel advisory. It tells shoppers to keep receipts to avoid "great distress."

The advice was posted after a 41-year-old Irish scientist, who was visiting for an international genetics symposium, was accused of stealing Bobbi Brown eyeliner June 25. The embassy declined to discuss details of her case.

Britain and Denmark have updated their online travel advice to warn that Suvarnabhumi's sprawling duty-free zone has hard-to-detect demarcation lines between shops and patrons should not carry unpaid merchandise between them.

British couple Stephen Ingram, 49, and Xi Lin, 45, technology experts from Cambridge, took the alleged scam public in late June. Their ordeal was pieced together based on accounts from police, airport and embassy officials and an interview the couple gave to British media.

The couple was approached by airport security before boarding a flight to London on April 25 and told that security cameras showed they had taken a Givenchy wallet.

King Power, the company that owns the duty-free store, has posted CCTV footage on its Web site that appears to show Lin putting her hand in her bag while browsing a wallet display. The security guards found nothing, but turned the couple over to police, said Sombat Dechapanichkul, managing director of King Power Duty Free Co.

"We are not aware of what happened next. It was then the job of the police to proceed with the case," said Sombat.

Ingram told The Sunday Times of London that they were questioned at an airport police office and then transferred to a nearby police station where their passports were confiscated and they spent the night in jail. The next morning they were introduced to a translator — a Sri Lankan named Tony — who said he could arrange bail and get their case dropped, warning it could otherwise drag on for months.

Tony took them to a nearby motel, called the Valentine Resort, Ingram said. The couple managed a visit to the British Embassy on April 27 but then returned to the hotel fearing Tony, who had warned they would be watched, Ingram said. They didn't leave Bangkok until May 1.

An investigation found that the couple transferred into Tony's bank account 400,000 baht ($11,800) — half for bail and the other half for Tony's "fees," said police Col. Teeradej Panurak, who oversaw the case.

"Tony came in to translate for us. We can't control what the accused agree to with a translator," said Teeradej. He said the couple was released because there was not enough evidence to press charges.

A visiting British government official recently raised the case with Thai authorities, and the British Embassy was consulting other embassies about the alleged scam, said embassy spokesman Daniel Painter.

Tony resurfaced in June, when a Danish woman was arrested.

Danish Embassy Consul Tove Wihlbrot-Andersen says the woman was accused of stealing an item worth about 1,500 baht ($45) after she unknowingly crossed from one shop to another. Her allegations mirror those made by the British couple: She was taken to a police station, contacted by Tony the translator, released on bail and then "taken to a bad hotel in the vicinity for almost a week," until she reportedly paid Tony 250,000 baht ($7,400) — for an offense that normally results in a 3,000 baht ($90) fine, the consul said.

Newspapers have published a steady stream of outraged letters-to-the-editor that note the Thai police force's reputation for taking bribes and to call for arrests in the airport scam.

One recent letter in The Nation newspaper came from Mike Gilman in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, who lamented the scandal's potential damage: "More nails in the coffin of an already devastated Thai tourism industry."

Source: AP 7 August 2009

[Dave the Dude]

I wonder when somebody will get round to checking 'Tony the translators' bank account movements.

Now that would be interesting even if the tourists were guilty!

Dave

[toptuan]

I wonder when somebody will get round to checking 'Tony the translators' bank account movements.

Now that would be interesting even if the tourists were guilty!

I believe Tony would be too wily to run it through a traceable bank account transaction. Cash under the table usually travels another route--under the table.

Edited August 8, 2009 by toptuan

[hughben]

I'm surprised Ceylon Tony hasn't been used as a scapegoat.

Then again the Danish tourist scam happened in June around the time the two Brits went public.

In one report a few weeks ago the Police said something that was in effect throwing the blame towards Ceylon Tony.

He must have scarpered.

To the people who are calling all the 'victims' shoplifters and aren't innocent will you be boycotting KP or will you be taking a punt next time you're at the airport.

[CrossBones]

Time to bring Thaksin back - there is no discipline in Thailand anymore - from anyone.

BR>Jack

Thaksin bondage and discipline is not what Thailand needs.

These wouldn't be photographs of the Tak Bai incident in which a Thai court very recently ruled that army, police and government officials had done "nothing wrong."

Anyway there ought to be some prize for weird off topic obsessiveness.The quoted post would certainly win it.

Thaksin made some particularly callous and stupid remarks after Tak Bai, but a more interesting tack for the purposes of this thread would be his links with King Power which I believe were considerable.

I hope they do this to Thaksin when they catch him

Only Thaksin is allowed to be corrupt! Do as I say dont do as I do!

[toptuan]

Time to bring Thaksin back - there is no discipline in Thailand anymore - from anyone.

BR>Jack

Thaksin bondage and discipline is not what Thailand needs.

These wouldn't be photographs of the Tak Bai incident in which a Thai court very recently ruled that army, police and government officials had done "nothing wrong."

Anyway there ought to be some prize for weird off topic obsessiveness.The quoted post would certainly win it.

Thaksin made some particularly callous and stupid remarks after Tak Bai, but a more interesting tack for the purposes of this thread would be his links with King Power which I believe were considerable.

I hope they do this to Thaksin when they catch him

Only Thaksin is allowed to be corrupt! Do as I say dont do as I do!

The Thai military and police are an independent government within a "government." They do what they want. Thaksin or no Thaksin. Witness their actions since Thaksin.

[glegolo]

No one is saying that it's right that police take bribes, however this couple clearly proclaimed their innocence, In which case it WOULD have been a much worse thing that happened.

People have trouble finding compassion for the couple when the video clearly shows them as professional thieves. I believe they were blackmailed after being caught, but what was the alternative to paying off the police - 6 months in Jail?

I don't think the police should blackmail people BUT if they do I'd prefer it to be the guilty people like these guys.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I agree with you!!!!

Here we have 2 partys both bad ones, people cry over how badly they are treaten by the bad police.

I do not care... it is muck better to let us have a real exemple, where innocent people are being taken

by the police and blackmailed.

Than I can feel real anger. This English couple is thieves and bad representative for England. The best you

can do.... forget these idiots quickly.. and take care of your own good people, they are many.

Glegolo

[CRUNCHER]

I'm surprised Ceylon Tony hasn't been used as a scapegoat.

Then again the Danish tourist scam happened in June around the time the two Brits went public.

In one report a few weeks ago the Police said something that was in effect throwing the blame towards Ceylon Tony.

He must have scarpered.

To the people who are calling all the 'victims' shoplifters and aren't innocent will you be boycotting KP or will you be taking a punt next time you're at the airport.

This is a good point, but I am not sure I would call him a scapegoat. In reality, apart from the bail money, there is no "evidence" that the police or King Power got anything at all. Of course you can make assumptions and say "we all know what goes on". The fact is in this case we don't know.

It would be nice to get some sort of statement from the authorities as to what is being done about Tony. His guilt is more clear than anyones.

Then again if he was arrested he might reveal just what did go on.

[animatic]

Where you can read in these people are "Professional Thieves" from this video I will never guess.

So, you say from one unclear video that these people obviously make their living robbing?

Got any records from UK or other parts to base this on, or do you just THINK they looked professional.

Kiddo; Pros would have checked the camera and NOT been in the picture....

Pros would have planned a cheezy knock off replacement,

the big guy would have blocked the camera

as the SWITCH was made, that is pro.

It amazes me the adjectives in play in this thread,

with little or nothing but attitude and supposition to back them up.

Do you really think the UK government didn't check these people for criminal records or suspicions

AND this video, BEFORE opening the official gob versus another country?

Clearly other nations, all likely having viewed this video,

ALSO are dusting off their official warnings pronouncements for this scam.

Oh and about the theory that the wallet was found in a bin near the mens room.

See any gloves involved.

A SIMPLE finger printing would have proved BOTH their finger prints were on the wallet in the trash.

Since THAT has never be put in evidence, it most likely was not possible as evidence.

Since she was seen not going near the mens room, he would have had to handle it.

His weren't on it, no case to answer too.

I can't buy this post official aquital, KP face saving, slandering hatchet job.

Edited August 9, 2009 by animatic

[britmaveric]

Shoplifters getting their just desserts!!

[loong]

The 2 people in the video certainly do look like they may possibly have stolen the wallet -

I wonder who they are.

It is a shame that the video is such poor quality that no facial features are distinguishable.

I suppose that we will never know who the couple in the video are for sure.

I walked round Tesco Lotus in Khon Kaen today and I was sure that I saw the couple in the video - no wait. Another couple in the next aisle had a very strong resemblance to the couple in the video.

I couldn't believe it - 5 minutes later I saw yet another couple who bore an uncanny resemblance to the couple in the video.

I'm surprised that Tesco Lotus makes any money. The place is full of shoplifters. Don't tell me they are not shoplifters, they all somewhat resemble the couple in the video, so they must be.

[Oberkommando]

The couple in the video cannot be the Ingrams as the Ingrams have an official document from the Thai Police stating their innocence for the crime.

[andyww]

I am not sure why the issue of guilt is even being discussed since Stephen Ingram stated:

“The scam does not happen until you get to the police station. We had to pay, and for that we got letters from the prosecutor’s office and police saying there was no evidence against us".

He also stated that he has no evidence that King Power is in on the scam

He has been trying to clear his name because he believes the video does not implicate himself in the theft. The girl, Xi Lin has not made any reported statement.

I am also not sure where the story that the couple had changed their clothes came from, since the KP statement states "they had donned different outerwear clothing" ie they had put jackets on. He is carrying two bags which could have contained these.

[Serpico]

Kidnapping and extorting shoplifters.

That's what is happening in some cases.

On slow days, I believe the King Power cashier and police are setting people up.