Danish Embassy Warns Against King Power Dutyfree

[Oberkommando]

my god another falang who bends the rules and then moans stop bringing more cigs into los then your allowed the warnings have been up for the last couple of years and its pretty normal to be stopped

coming down from nong khai hello you broke the law you are at fault if there was a problem you should have phoned the tourist police simple

Still no excuse for extortion though.

[Oberkommando]

In continuing to speculate upon whether or not someone actually did steal from King Power, people here are missing the point. The scam is police extortion practised on the guilty and innocent alike without any regard for what may pass for due process of the law in Thailand. In extracting as much money as possible from their victims the police prey upon their quite warranted fear that they could be held hostage to the vagaries of the Courts for over a year.

The extortion racket operated at the new airport for over the past 2 years has involved at least 150 victims netting the local police estimated proceeds of over £2 million.

Frankly, the King Power incidents currently under microscopic examination are red herrings and only serve to deflect attention from the real culprits.

That is why the Danish warning is so important. The Thai Police have quite rightly been accused of systematic corruption within an international forum by a foreign government. Let us not lose sight of that.

In time to come King Power and the Thai Establishment will do its level best to churn out whatever propaganda it can to tarnish the scam's victims in the hope the real issue is obscured.

Don't play into their hands.

Best post on this thread IMO.

[elcent]

After all, nobody should contemn the whole police force, army or government units. There are many good people everywhere.

I wish Abhisit had more guts to clean up from within. I'm sure he knows about everything, but maybe is afraid. He got, as predicted, burned. It's time for him to stand up as a man and fight corruption from within. If he really wants to he could. Most people would join the fight for this, no matter how powerful some pretend to be. Otherwise he would earn his name as a weakling. With the tools of internet there is no place to hide corruption any longer. It's a choice for the leaders to be with the corrupted parts or to fight it.

Under Thaksin government projects were illegally "taxed" up to 15% of a project (including entertainment expenses). Some of the contacts came crying on my shoulder and complained of the practices. One, he wanted to spend time with his family but was called almost everyday out for to foot the sanook bills.

Now in recent developments we see 50%+ from a project value going into corrupt private wallets and at the cost of contractors and sub-contractors, the quality of work and especially harming the workers most.

Corruption starts from the top and goes down through the body to the toes. Most corrupted are those from the "established" elite, reinstalled in the recent goverment by the yellow shirts, some are from the red shirts.

In this recent development some may blame the opposition to create instability. But before coming to this conclusion I'd recommend to think twice. If a government cannot control it's work then it is better to leave and call for new election. Stop using commoners and foreigners as pawns at either side, one day it will definitely come back to those who created it.

[Publicus]

An excellent post of an absurd personal experience that one can appreciate thanks. Witty and wise. Sympathetic too towards Thai working stiffs such as the taxi drivers.

Is Thailand becoming more lawless (if possible) or might it just seem to be so?

expats and tourists in Thailand seem to fall for the same mistakes every time don't be a victim get your act together if you let people walk all over you then they will do it again and again common mistakes

The gentleman from Finland posting above makes an excellent suggestion (in excellent English if I may say). The BBC already is on this but contacting media in our own countries can effectively disseminate this information via our home country media.

The public revulsion that already has spread like wildfire can also encourage us to stand up to this shakedown by the most organized criminal operation in Thailand: the Royal Thai Police as they are described in the New York Times article cited earlier in the thread. So I welcome the posting by expatudon08 to encourage a tuffer response on our part.

Indeed, local scientific survey research have for many years found recurringly that upwards of 94% of Thais themselves say the police are the most corupt organization in Thailand. That would suggest considerable support for farang to take on the police in their well known gross criminal impudence.

I'll be arriving at SVB in early August and exiting same later in the month. I feel less exposed to this scam as the direct consequence of this thread and its many excellent postings and proprosals as to dealing with the extortion sams by lawbreaking lawmen. Just for good measure, however, I might hire a gorilla bodyguard to escort me through the airport! Of course I joke but it's sad to find myself only half making light of the police criminality regularly occurring at SVB with absolute impunity.

Edited July 21, 2009 by Publicus

[hansnl]

I was in fact held back for an hour myself by these security guards at my last trip back to my country.

I might have crossed an invisible line or not, but what was in my hand at first, I put back where it belonged, after showing it to my fiancee. Nothing unusual about that in a shop.

If they were watching the cameras, they surely would have noticed that.

I was taken away and searched for almost an hour and accused of shoplifting. A real nightmare.

Luckily, I was able to make my flight, when they couldn`t find anything, and let me go.

They were at first telling me a huge amount of bath I would have to pay to stay out of trouble, but I convinced them that I was broke, and was going home for good.

I can only imagine what others are going through, I was just glad I got off that "easy".

Better tell your story in detail: when, which flight you had, which shop you were in, what poduct you were holding etc.

It might help to solve this scam situation.

LaoPo

And while you are at it:

What did you have for breakfast;

How late did you get up;

Did you sleep well;

Did you have s*x;

How many times;

Your parents still alive;

Are you married;

You have children.......

LaoPo.......

What do you want with all this?

You are going to investigate?

Or kill the messenger?

[hansnl]

my god another falang who bends the rules and then moans stop bringing more cigs into los then your allowed the warnings have been up for the last couple of years and its pretty normal to be stopped

coming down from nong khai hello you broke the law you are at fault if there was a problem you should have phoned the tourist police simple

You miss the point.

The man agrees that, as a person, he brought in too many.

But as two others had taken over the cigarettes as personal, the man was not doing anything wrong.

The police/customs were quite overstepping the mark.

And you really think the tourist police would help?

The man was extorted, simple.

Don't close your eyes for wrongs things, and if you seen them don't try to erase the wrongs.

Either you speak out against the wrongs or better be silent.

It is advisable to switch on the brain before opening the mouth

[beerchang]

I've seen the video and it would appear that she is a thief. I read on TV that the wallet was found in a rubbish bin, sorry I don't know this as a fact, but I saw her take it to the other side of the display, put it down, open her bag and put it in. That's not how to shop!

I would like to know exactly what would have happened if they had said "we're not giving you any money, let's let a judge decide". I understand that they were scared but no wallet was found on them. What would have happened if they refused to pay? I believe, even in Thai law, that only a judge can send you to prison. There isn't a policeman in the world that can put you in prison is there? Detain in a cell yes, but prison? They got £7,500 from these two. Even if, without the stolen item, they were found guilty, what would have been the sentence? Fine (how much for lifting a wallet)? Imprisonment? Must be a member on TV who knows Thai law. Siam legal isn't it?

Perhaps embassies could issue the warning 'If your gonna shoplift and get caught, let the legal system deal with it and don't pay the extortionist scumbags'

I just posted this on the 'Airport Scam Or Tourists Shoplifting At King Power Tax Free, Suvarnabhumi?' thread explaining that I can't vote until I get an answer but I think it's relevant to this thread also. Plus more people on this thread and I would like to know the answer. I apologise if this has been covered already, I confess to not having read every post. Busy today.

[jackspratt]

my god another falang who bends the rules and then moans stop bringing more cigs into los then your allowed the warnings have been up for the last couple of years and its pretty normal to be stopped

coming down from nong khai hello you broke the law you are at fault if there was a problem you should have phoned the tourist police simple

You miss the point.

The man agrees that, as a person, he brought in too many.

But as two others had taken over the cigarettes as personal, the man was not doing anything wrong.

The police/customs were quite overstepping the mark.

And you really think the tourist police would help?

The man was extorted, simple.

Don't close your eyes for wrongs things, and if you seen them don't try to erase the wrongs.

Either you speak out against the wrongs or better be silent.

It is advisable to switch on the brain before opening the mouth

Even better - to know what you are talking about, before attacking the keyboard.

Do you know who owned the excess cigarettes ie who paid for them, and who was entitled to have possession once well away from NK?

You can't just "lend" them to someone else, for the purposes of circumventing the allowances.

[MaiChai]

The English couple are innocent, they paid 8000 pounds to get a piece of paper from the court saying so. Thus what are KP trying to prove with the video? The court of the land says they are innocent. Are they saying extortion is preferable rather than prosecution? Why is this so? Is this professional for a company like this?

[EmanuelSWE]

I believe these days it is much more "dangerous" for thai people do scams like this because of the internet. The word will spread out very fast and I will let you know an example.

Im from Finland and I read from this forum yesterday about the topic. After that I sent a hint about this to one of the 3 main news medias in Finland. After few hours there was a frontpage news/warning about these scams at the channel 3 website. And now I can see that people are linking that news to very popular forums all around Finland.

What we can do is that we can all go to our countries popular newspaper/website portals and send hints of these scams and warn the people.

By the way Thailand has been the no.1 travel destinations for Finnish travellers couple years but what Ive read the boards now, it seems that its not going to be that anymore. Sad for the honest people who run the tourism businesses in Thailand.

It looks like the cup is overfilled. We are not going to take this anymore.

I´ll do the same thing here in Sweden!

Just like Finland Sweden has a great number of tourists. Cheers neighbour!

[IvanDobsky]

Tourists warned of Thailand airport scam

Bangkok airport duty free

BANGKOK: -- Bangkok's showcase new international airport is no stranger to controversy.

Built between 2002 and 2006, under the governments of then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the opening date was repeatedly delayed.

It has been dogged by allegations of corruption, as well as criticism of the design and poor quality of construction.

Then, at the end of last year, the airport was shut down for a week after being occupied by anti-government protesters.

Now new allegations have been made that a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until they pay large sums of money to buy their freedom.

That is what happened to Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin, two IT experts from Cambridge, as they were about to board their flight to London on the night of 25 April this year.

They had been browsing in the duty free shop at the airport, and were later approached by security guards, who twice asked to search their bags.

Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin

Mr Ingram and Ms Xi were told they had to pay £7,500

They were told a wallet had gone missing, and that Ms Lin had been seen on a security camera taking it out of the shop.

The company that owns the duty free shop, King Power, has since put the CCTV video on its website, which does appear to show her putting something in her bag. However the security guards found no wallet on either of them.

Despite that, they were both taken from the departure gate, back through immigration, and held in an airport police office. That is when their ordeal started to become frightening.

Interpreter

"We were questioned in separate rooms," Mr Ingram said. "We felt really intimidated. They went through our bags and demanded that we tell them where the wallet was."

The two were then put in what Mr Ingram describes as a "hot, humid, smelly cell with graffiti and blood on the walls".

Mr Ingram managed to phone a Foreign Office helpline he found in a travel guide, and was told someone in the Bangkok embassy would try to help them.

The next morning the two were given an interpreter, a Sri Lankan national called Tony, who works part-time for the police.

They were taken by Tony to meet the local police commander - but, says Mr Ingram, for three hours all they discussed was how much money they would have to pay to get out.

police station

Mr Ingram and Ms Xi were taken to meet the local police commander

They were told the charge was very serious. If they did not pay, they would be transferred to the infamous Bangkok Hilton prison, and would have to wait two months for their case to be processed.

Mr Ingram says they wanted £7,500 ($12,250) - for that the police would try to get him back to the UK in time for his mother's funeral on 28 April.

But he could not arrange to get that much money transferred in time.

'Zig-zag' scheme

Tony then took them to an ATM machine at the police station, and told Ms Lin to withdraw as much as she could from her own account - £600 - and Mr Ingram then withdrew the equivalent of £3,400 from his account.

This was apparently handed over to the police as "bail", and they were both made to sign a number of papers.

Later they were allowed to move to a squalid hotel within the airport perimeter, but their passports were held and they were warned not to leave or try to contact a lawyer or their embassy.

"I will be watching you," Tony told them, adding that they would have to stay there until the £7,500 was transferred into Tony's account.

On the Monday they managed to sneak out and get a taxi to Bangkok, and met an official at the British Embassy.

She gave the name of a Thai lawyer, and, says Mr Ingram, told them they were being subjected to a classic Thai scam called the "zig-zag".

Their lawyer urged them to expose Tony - but also warned them that if they fought the case it could take months, and they risked a long prison sentence.

After five days the money was transferred to Tony's account, and they were allowed to leave.

Mr Ingram had missed his mother's funeral, but at least they were given a court document stating that there was insufficient evidence against them, and no charge.

"It was a harrowing, stressful experience," he said.

The couple say they now want to take legal action to recover their money.

'Typical' scam

The BBC has spoken to Tony and the regional police commander, Colonel Teeradej Phanuphan.

They both say Tony was merely helping the couple with translation, and raising bail to keep them out of prison.

Tony says about half the £7,500 was for bail, while the rest were "fees" for the bail, for his work, and for a lawyer he says he consulted on their behalf.

In theory, he says, they could try to get the bail portion refunded.

Colonel Teeradej says he will investigate any possible irregularities in their treatment. But he said any arrangement between the couple and Tony was a private affair, which did not involve the police.

Letters of complaint to the papers here in Thailand make it clear that passengers are regularly detained at the airport for alleged shoplifting, and then made to pay middlemen to win their freedom.

The Danish Embassy says one of its nationals was recently subjected to a very similar scam, and earlier this month an Irish scientist managed to flee Thailand with her husband and one year-old son after being arrested at the airport and accused of stealing an eyeliner worth around £17.

Tony told the BBC that so far this year he has "helped" about 150 foreigners in trouble with the police. He says sometimes he does it for no charge.

The British Embassy has also warned passengers at Bangkok Airport to take care not to move items around in the duty free shopping area before paying for them, as this could result in arrest and imprisonment.

-- BBC 2009-07-20

I have watched the Video and read the report. They would get a guilty verdict from me.

I have met many UK citizens here who take a delight in stealing from Thais in fact they will steal from anyone. I used to run fishing trips so called friends stole the beer, I helped run a computer course and so called friends left their bins unpaid, Need I go on. The world is full of thieves The Saudi way is best cut off their hands. I was in business in UK and thieving was the biggest problem we had after staff helping themselves.

Are you serious? Left their bins unpaid?

Cut off their hands? Absolutely, but what colour shirt is the thief wearing? yellow, no, red, no, blue, no, green, no, brown...ahem

[midas]

I´ll do the same thing here in Sweden!

Just like Finland Sweden has a great number of tourists. Cheers neighbour!

What about the large number of Russian tourists that arrive each year

but probably dont read this forum as much as other Europeans ?

They should be warned also............

[ExoticMatter]

Well, I'm coming to Asia for 3 weeks...only 6 days of which I'll spend in LOS.

I'm off to Bali instead. The writings on the wall....

RAZZ

check out the Gili islands all 3 of them (Gili Meno, Gili tarawanagan etc) very chilled and a world apart from the hectic-ness of Bali.

[WeeGB]

As this topic is now seemingly worldwide, thanks to the internet, there can be only one logical solution. Cancel King Powers contract, replace all police at the airport, and bring the culprits to justice, especially this Sri Lankan chap and "Mr Big".

Then contact all victims of these scams, and give them recompense, with maximum publicity, and wholehearted apologies.

Will this be done? I seriously doubt it.

Thailand needs to address this situation, pdq, or face the alternative of an airport with less and less tourists every year, that is full of duty free shops that are devoid of customers. Sadly Thailand is gaining a reputation as a country to avoid for tourists, because of the myriad of problems that a visit there entails.

People want to have a couple of weeks break, in the sun, with as few problems as possible.

How hard can it be for those in power in Thailand to understand that?

[getgoin]

The English couple are innocent, they paid 8000 pounds to get a piece of paper from the court saying so. Thus what are KP trying to prove with the video? The court of the land says they are innocent. Are they saying extortion is preferable rather than prosecution? Why is this so? Is this professional for a company like this?

Paying the fine on the spot and getting the record cleared seems to be a small price to pay for not having to sit in a Bangkok prison for shoplifting. A woman tries to steal a lip stick and a couple steal a wallet, what kind of people are these? I say, no to the payoff, put them in jail.

The sad part is that because of the corruption and the bribes that got these people free that some would begin to think that they are innocent. They are not.

[NamSod]

URL: http://www.tourismthailand.org/contact-us/

To make a complaint regarding Tourism Service Standard, Tourist Attraction Service Standard, Tour Operator and Guide Standard, Tourism Service, Tourist Facility and Safety.

Please contact :

The Office of Tourism Development, Ministry of Tourism and Sports

Address : National Stadium, Rama 1 Road Bangkok 10330 Thailand

Tel : +66 2 219 4010

Fax : +66 2 216 6906

Email Address : [email protected]

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

King Power contact information. Voice your disapproval!

King Power Suvarnabhumi Co.,Ltd.

Operates all commerical activities in Suvarnabhumi Airport

http://www.kingpower.com/2009/corporate_management.php

Unchalee Ruchipong C.E.O. & Executive Board Office Director

Winid Youngsurakan Legal Director

--Where's Richard Kuklinski when you need him? -

Edited July 21, 2009 by NamSod

[mommysboy]

The scam is police extortion practiced on the guilty and innocent alike without any regard for what may pass for due process of the law in Thailand.

Exactly.

I agree too.

Ironically the video evidence does seem to come out in favour of the authorites but it's about the extortionate amounts involved, and the fact that perhaps the majority of charges are pure set ups.

Odd that the tables have been turned in this manner, but sure enough they have.

ROUGH JUSTICE FOR THAILAND!

[NamSod]

Presumably this is quite a recent scam? Haven't heard of AOT supporting the gang e.g. Pointing out that the arrests were legitimate. I would think that they would want to avoid this kind of publicity.

I wonder if anyone else saw their official response and a copy of the videos?

Its on KP website.. lower left side.

"Shoplifting Case Explanation"

http://www.kingpower.com/2009/index.php

[mommysboy]

Many of the so called home truths, pearls of wisdom and cliches that I grew up with have all been cast to the side, even more so since living in Thailand. But one has stuck:

There's nothing worse than a bent copper.

But thanks to TV members I can see the fallacy of this one too! There is one thing worse than a bent copper!

Someone who defends a bent copper.

[moskito]

..........and I bet that a minimum of 80% of all members posted here in this thread have paid teamoney by theirselfs. Be it for a telephoneline or to get the permission to build a house earlier. Btw its the same ppl which want fight the corruption in LOfakedS

SO, where does corruption start and where does it end?

[Shah Jahan]

I will never buy anything or enter the duty free stores in the airport.

This is the best you can do anyway. Bangkok's Duty Free Shop is a joke! Just forget about it, it is by far overpriced. If you want to buy something, do it before you go to the airport, or at the Family Mart near the Check-In counters.

single malt scotch.

shh.....

[Publicus]

..........and I bet that a minimum of 80% of all members posted here in this thread have paid teamoney by theirselfs. Be it for a telephoneline or to get the permission to build a house earlier. Btw its the same ppl which want fight the corruption in LOfakedS

SO, where does corruption start and where does it end?

Farangs can't change the nature of Thailand and Thai culture, society and civilization. If you wanna be here you gotta play by the rules, and the rules are obscene.

UBC collected 12,000 Baht in installation deposits from me, saying I woud receive them when I left Thailand. Another Thai ripoff as I always knew it would be. I'm gone from Thailand and UBC has the Baht 12,000. As long as I wanted UBC there was and is nothing I could do about it.

Farang are visitors. Thailand is always Thailand. Its culture and reprisals prevail. Who you gonna appeal to to change this fact, your embassy? The UN?

Get real.

[billsykes]

it's a shame for every thai national.

Is this the right way to help the local tourism ?

Is this the right way to respect thetourists ?

Not at all, but,,,,,, this is the country we choose to live in. So, it is almost natural for these people to, what was that post? oh, yes, it's ok to con or decieve sombody for money in thic country, but not to steal or sell DRUGS??? mmmmm, who shall we send to the gallotine, pls , spelling might not be good, typing slowly for those that can not read well

[Spee]

In continuing to speculate upon whether or not someone actually did steal from King Power, people here are missing the point. The scam is police extortion practised on the guilty and innocent alike without any regard for what may pass for due process of the law in Thailand. In extracting as much money as possible from their victims the police prey upon their quite warranted fear that they could be held hostage to the vagaries of the Courts for over a year.

The extortion racket operated at the new airport for over the past 2 years has involved at least 150 victims netting the local police estimated proceeds of over £2 million.

Frankly, the King Power incidents currently under microscopic examination are red herrings and only serve to deflect attention from the real culprits.

That is why the Danish warning is so important. The Thai Police have quite rightly been accused of systematic corruption within an international forum by a foreign government. Let us not lose sight of that.

In time to come King Power and the Thai Establishment will do its level best to churn out whatever propaganda it can to tarnish the scam's victims in the hope the real issue is obscured.

Don't play into their hands.

Best post on this thread IMO.

I'll take it one step further. There is a day of reckoning coming as basic human biology dictates, though forum rules prohibit such discussion, hint hint. If things are this far out of control now, what are they going to be like in the future? (Or are things actually out of control?) Are the police and the military only biding their time before trying to turn Thailand into Myanmar? What will happen if a country like Denmark chooses to close its embassy and recommends that its citizens no longer do business with or travel to Thailand at all, much less avoid airport shopping? Things seem pretty bad now in terms of corruption, extortion and other methods of ripping off the golden geese. Is the worst yet to come? I fear the answer is yes. As circumstances are out of my control, my only option is to hope that I am mistaken.

[vahack]

vahack

don't you think that everyone has rights, including the two persons shown in the video apparently appropriating something from the store?

i certainly hope that, regardless of the couple's guilt or innocence, you are not saying that what the cops and that no good interpreter were doing, not only to this couple but apparently several other persons as well, are acceptable in thailand.

sorry about the delay in response.

had to waste an entire day yesterday

driving to immigration for my 90-day stamp.

now im on the pc at 3am catching up on work.

my comment wasnt in judgement of the cops or the couple.

all i said was at least in Thailand

you can buy your way out of a jam

if this happened in the US or another

developed/modern country then yes its bad.

but this place hasn't evolved much in the last 5,000 years.

(reference to the bones found in Ban Chiang)

other than transportation and communication,

its unlikely to evolve in the next 5000 years.

[loong]

Presumably this is quite a recent scam? Haven't heard of AOT supporting the gang e.g. Pointing out that the arrests were legitimate. I would think that they would want to avoid this kind of publicity.

I wonder if anyone else saw their official response and a copy of the videos?

Its on KP website.. lower left side.

"Shoplifting Case Explanation"

http://www.kingpower.com/2009/index.php

I wonder how many more people are going to post this link and think that nobody else has already

The videos and statements prove nothing. There are no clear facial features and it could be anybody. The video of the Irish lady? She puts a black smudge on the counter - could be one item - could be 2 close together. Is a Bobby Brown lipstick the traditional small tube? If so, the blob she puts on the counter looks bigger than just a lipstick. Remember she was accused of stealing the eyeliner as she only had a receipt for the lipstick.

The Irish lady claims that she was apprehended within minutes of leaving the shop.

The KP statement reads that the staff noticed an eyeliner was missing (very observant staff) and after reviewing video of the lady looking at the cosmetics and then supposedly only presenting one item for payment the security staff observed her walking and asked to check her bag. Checking the videos would take some time, certainly more than minutes.

How long after the accused left did they notice the item missing? As they had so few customers, I would have thought it sensible for the bored member of staff who is walking around swinging her arms to check the display while the woman was at the payment desk.

If they did actually look at any video first, they were very lucky to locate and identify this woman in such a huge place.

Nobody with an ounce of integrity could possibly declare these people guilty based on just the evidence we have been allowed to see.

I don't know if the foreigners are guilty or not, but a much bigger crime has been committed here by those who are supposed to "Protect and Serve"

[david96]

One may ask the question:

What is the legal opinion of the sponsors of Thai Visa on the subject, Siam Legal and Sunbelt Asia?

An opinion from the Thai side, they may be able to explain how the system works.

Are they not interested?

[Serpico]

I am also curious about the penalty for theft?

Terrorized, locked up in a short time hotel, 500,000 baht giving to a fake lawyer from a fake embassy to be divided up among police and mafia types??

Is this standard procedure in Thailand?

[sunnymarky]

The English couple are innocent, they paid 8000 pounds to get a piece of paper from the court saying so. Thus what are KP trying to prove with the video? The court of the land says they are innocent. Are they saying extortion is preferable rather than prosecution? Why is this so? Is this professional for a company like this?

Exactly Maichai, these MORONS on here who have been saying they commited an offence when watching the stupid video are the usual Buffalo Falang

[ozzieovaseas]

I am also curious about the penalty for theft?

Terrorized, locked up in a short time hotel, 500,000 baht giving to a fake lawyer from a fake embassy to be divided up among police and mafia types??

Is this standard procedure in Thailand?

In short YES.

of course your other option is to be thrown in a sh!ithole prison for god knows how long, only to be found guilty (whether you did it or not) and look forward to dirty dishwater rice soup peppered with cockroaches for 10 years or so

BUT obviously not enough people know this as fools like these Brits keep trying it on for a 2 bob wallet