New Tourist Scammed At The Airport

[Topprofile]

Just saw the thai news..

Some english guy was relieved of 25.000thb on the airport for having to many cigarettes. A cigarette that was lit outside the airport and was given to him by his friend..

He had scratch marks and bruises on him after the encounter..

Maybe someone has more info on this?

[Maverell]

Yep saw it on the Thai news as well. I wonder if the Bangkok Post will pick up on it ? Apparently happened on 12th August.

[CHAIYENYEN]

which news channel?

[IMA_FARANG]

Just saw the thai news..

Some english guy was relieved of 25.000thb on the airport for having to many cigarettes. A cigarette that was lit outside the airport and was given to him by his friend..

He had scratch marks and bruises on him after the encounter..

Maybe someone has more info on this?

No comprende.

Too many cigarettes? As in bringing into the country?

Relieved off? Confiscated you mean?

A cigarette lit outside of the airport? I.E. as after he entered the country?

Somehow I'm missing something here.

[noahvail]

Yep saw it on the Thai news as well. I wonder if the Bangkok Post will pick up on it ? Apparently happened on 12th August.

My wife and I watched the Channel 3 news tonight. Seems a Frenchman tried to bring in 800 cigarettes. He couldn't understand it was the law, gave the customs officials a hard time. 22.000 baht fine plus confiscation. There was a scuffle as he was holding onto his cigarettes, wouldn't let them go. That according to the customs official reporting it to the media.

[LaoPo]

Yep saw it on the Thai news as well. I wonder if the Bangkok Post will pick up on it ? Apparently happened on 12th August.

My wife and I watched the Channel 3 news tonight. Seems a Frenchman tried to bring in 800 cigarettes. He couldn't understand it was the law, gave the customs officials a hard time. 22.000 baht fine plus confiscation. There was a scuffle as he was holding onto his cigarettes, wouldn't let them go. That according to the customs official reporting it to the media.

If that's what happened it doesn't sound like a scam to me; just another passenger, having problems with customs and everybody knows you do not fool around with customs, where ever.

LaoPo

[Rinrada]

Smoking a fag outside of Suwanna ..He should have been BANGED up..........ugggg...well done the Customs lads.....

actually wiffes mate is No 2 at the Airport and on last visit I suggested to her that she should...............

[britmaveric]

3 cartons extra - what a <deleted>!! Customs fines you per pack, so hence the nice tidy sum!!

[cdnvic]

This is beginning to look like it should be titled "Smuggler Caught at Airport".

[Changian]

This is beginning to look like it should be titled "Smuggler Caught at Airport".

But if a mod changed the title, the thread wouldn't get as many page views or clicks on the Google ads

[PattayaParent]

3 cartons extra - what a <deleted>!! Customs fines you per pack, so hence the nice tidy sum!!

And I hope he was fined the 2,000 Baht fine for smoking them in a public place too!!

[OxfordWill]

legal smoking areas outside swampy.

[HTWoodson]

I saw the news clip the too. It was a little hard to understand, but I think the tourist claimed he was stopped after having passed through customs. He said that he was given the cigarettes by a friend after he passed through customs and that he didn't bring them through. It sounded like he was lying though, he wasn't very convincing. He also seemed a little surly and argumentative, which never helps you here, as we all know.

The messed up part of the news story was all the marks on his body. He claimed that the customs officials were roughing him up in the back room, and he had welts and bruises all over his body like he was getting struck. That part was a little more believable because of the marks he showed the camera.

My thoughts: There are signs posted in the airport about limits for importing cigarettes and alcohol. If you ignore them and get caught, you should have to pay the fine, no arguments. That said, 25,000 baht is a hel_l of a steep fine for a few packs of cigarettes in your suitcase! There are many smokers that are just trying to bring their favorite brand with them on holiday, and almost $800 US fine is kind of outrageous. Part of the news program had the customs officer showing documents to the reporter to prove that this was in fact the correct fine amount. She even seemed a little skeptical.

Second thought: Mouthing off to a law enforcement officer in Thailand is stupid, but it still shouldn't get you beat up. Period. Roughing up tourists in the back room is unacceptable behavior for professional law enforcement officers in any country of the world. This being Thailand doesn't give them a special pass, and the guy being argumentative doesn't justify it.

[lomatopo]

I too saw the Ch. 3 report. My understanding of the situation was that this one person was traveling with four friends. They each had one (1) carton of cigarettes, their duty-free allotment, for a total of four cartons. After clearing Customs this one person was left with all of the parties baggage as they went off to the toilet, bank, arranging transport. Excise officers then arrested the one person as he appeared to have four cartons of cigarettes. Ironically this one person does not smoke. A senior Excise official seemed to acknowledge that this arrest and subsequent fine was a mistake. Again that was my read on the report. It was a very long segment, and the foreigner was allowed to present his side of the story, which seems unusual for Thai TV?

[HTWoodson]

Yea, that makes sense. I didn't have the GF translating for me so I could only understand about 50% of the Thai language content.

A senior Excise official seemed to acknowledge that this arrest and subsequent fine was a mistake.

Oops! Maybe we shouldn't have beat him up back in the office.

[hazz]

This is the tricky problem. most countries customs and excise work together at the customs posts.

So its a real shame that at an airport with a reputation for scammers wondering around pretending to be government officers; we also have real government offices wondering around behaving like scamming thieves.

Maybe he thought they were scammers trying it on; they decided to prove they were real all over his face in a back office.

[marsteele]

3 cartons extra - what a <deleted>!! Customs fines you per pack, so hence the nice tidy sum!!

I agree how is this a scam? You are only allowed one carton of cigarette everyone knows that. Unless the thai authorities planted extra packs on him then he has broken the law. This thread is not very clear as to what actually happened.

[Jaydillon]

I saw the news clip the too. It was a little hard to understand, but I think the tourist claimed he was stopped after having passed through customs. He said that he was given the cigarettes by a friend after he passed through customs and that he didn't bring them through. It sounded like he was lying though, he wasn't very convincing. He also seemed a little surly and argumentative, which never helps you here, as we all know.

The messed up part of the news story was all the marks on his body. He claimed that the customs officials were roughing him up in the back room, and he had welts and bruises all over his body like he was getting struck. That part was a little more believable because of the marks he showed the camera.

My thoughts: There are signs posted in the airport about limits for importing cigarettes and alcohol. If you ignore them and get caught, you should have to pay the fine, no arguments. That said, 25,000 baht is a hel_l of a steep fine for a few packs of cigarettes in your suitcase! There are many smokers that are just trying to bring their favorite brand with them on holiday, and almost $800 US fine is kind of outrageous. Part of the news program had the customs officer showing documents to the reporter to prove that this was in fact the correct fine amount. She even seemed a little skeptical.

Second thought: Mouthing off to a law enforcement officer in Thailand is stupid, but it still shouldn't get you beat up. Period. Roughing up tourists in the back room is unacceptable behavior for professional law enforcement officers in any country of the world. This being Thailand doesn't give them a special pass, and the guy being argumentative doesn't justify it.

Professional LOL mate

[NamSod]

I dont understand how anyone would allow themselves to be 'roughed' up and the thai officials dont have a scratch on them. Maybe its just because I am tall and weigh close to 300 lbs. If my memory serves me right, I could eat a few of these thai officials for breakfast and they would definitely know that 'Elvis is in the house'. Bring it on! One or two good @ss whuppins and they would cut that sh!_t out!

[Lost in LOS]

3 cartons extra - what a <deleted>!! Customs fines you per pack, so hence the nice tidy sum!!

I agree how is this a scam? You are only allowed one carton of cigarette everyone knows that. Unless the thai authorities planted extra packs on him then he has broken the law. This thread is not very clear as to what actually happened.

how does everyone know that, ie: tourist? I don't smoke but would not know about problems having over 1 carton. I think if I was coming to a country for 30 days and didn't know if they had my brand, I would take a few cartons with me. It might be nice to post a short list of things you cannon t keep before you get the to declare exit. This way there is no excuse when you get caught. Just like there are containers before you go through the x-rays to get on the plane, you have a last minute chance to ditch something you may have without knowing of the problems.

only fair

[spidermike007]

This is one of those posts that gets right to the heart of an issue that seems to really bother alot of ex-pats, who are

exposed to the corruption here. I have read many of the replies, and there seems to be a sense of resignation. How

can anything change? Well, it is changing throughout the region. Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam are making

serious efforts to root out the corruption. Officials, CEO's, and people in positions of authority and power are getting

arrested, and sentenced. Of course, that seems almost impossible here, but I do hope it happens. I guess the aspect that

is not getting mentioned much, is why Thailand has so little interest in addressing it's staggering level of corruption. Malaysia

has set up a corruption commission, and is making DAILY arrests of top officials, ministers, local politicians, and businessmen. Indonesia

has set up a corruption commission, and so far their antigraft commission has achieved a 100-percent conviction rate in 86 cases of bribery

and graft related to government procurements and budgets. And where is Thailand in all of this. Why aren't men like Newin, and others, who

are coming up with expensive schemes to line their pockets being arrested, and tried? Why is the CEO of King Power still employed? Why is the

Police Captain in charge of the airport security, who appears to be involved in the King Power scam, still in his position? Does anyone really think

there is even a chance that the King Power scheme is not real? That they are arresting only guilty shoplifters? Does all King Power have to do is

post one video on the internet, of a guilty party, for all of us to let them off the hook? Is that all it takes? Even India is getting actively involved

in tackling corruption. When was the last time we heard of a government minister, or top official, or corporate CEO being arrested on corruption charges,

here in Thailand? There was a recent story of jet ski operators in Koh Samui, extorting $1,000's of dollars out of tourists, with the threat of,

and occasionally acts of violence, right on the beach in front of dozens of tourists, for supposedly getting a scratch on a jet ski. When one tourist

caught this on video, and presented it to the authorities, the culprits were confronted, and forced to a pay a fine of 1,000 baht! I am sure they

have not stopped laughing since the incident. Unless Thailand gets serious, and starts introducing fines and jail sentenced that are in proportion

to the crime, nobody will take them seriously. Thailand will continue to be the laughing stock of the world. They will continue to be considered

"that 3rd world country with so much promise, that could not do ANYTHING, to help itself". Or, "the country that always shoots itself in the foot".

Thailand is rapidly approching a point of being way past redemption. If nobody does something truly gutsy or courageous, the time will pass, for

Thailand to turn things around. History may show Thailand as having achieved it's greatest apex of development in 2000-2005. History may show

it being all downhill from there. The Thai people nor the Thai government seem to have no realization of how serious things are, and how perilous a

time this is for the nation. Very, very, very few people here seem to get it. A country can only make so many mistakes before the world leaves it

behind. Especially when neighbors like Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and others are making so much progress, and trying so hard. This makes

the lack of effort here seem all the more staggering, and shocking. Someone needs to act. So what if jobs are lost. So what if heads roll. So what if

people in power are humiliated, and their lives are ruined. So what. It is not too late for Thailand, but the time when it is, is rapidly approaching. Change

is hard. Progress is difficult. But, not impossible. Thailand is not beyond redemption. There are many good people here who would like to see things

different. Conviction, with fines of 500,000 baht and up, and jail terms of 5-10 years is a good place to star

[cymruambyth1]

I dont understand how anyone would allow themselves to be 'roughed' up and the thai officials dont have a scratch on them. Maybe its just because I am tall and weigh close to 300 lbs. If my memory serves me right, I could eat a few of these thai officials for breakfast and they would definitely know that 'Elvis is in the house'. Bring it on! One or two good @ss whuppins and they would cut that sh!_t out!

Fat b@stard

[Bluelotus]

I dont understand how anyone would allow themselves to be 'roughed' up and the thai officials dont have a scratch on them. Maybe its just because I am tall and weigh close to 300 lbs. If my memory serves me right, I could eat a few of these thai officials for breakfast and they would definitely know that 'Elvis is in the house'. Bring it on! One or two good @ss whuppins and they would cut that sh!_t out!

Fat b@stard

Oh I'm sure you'd just slap the sh@t out of them and they'd apologize and let you go , pal you are kidding yourself some of these Thai Officials are the hardest ,cruelest people I've ever met, Military trained and

Muay Thai hobbyists, I'm Tall ,Large ,strong and trained and wouldn't even think about fighting back in that situation. I can't see how it would help. Teach them a lesson are you nuts? Delusion train of thought.

[PattayaParent]

how does everyone know that, ie: tourist? I don't smoke but would not know about problems having over 1 carton. I think if I was coming to a country for 30 days and didn't know if they had my brand, I would take a few cartons with me. It might be nice to post a short list of things you cannon t keep before you get the to declare exit. This way there is no excuse when you get caught. Just like there are containers before you go through the x-rays to get on the plane, you have a last minute chance to ditch something you may have without knowing of the problems.

only fair

Well the Duty Free quotas for most countries are listed in the in-flight magazine of the airlines for starters.

AND there IS a nice big notice before the Customs desk advising what your Duty Free limits are and I think also notices posted all over the baggage carousel.

[Petsma]

This is one of those posts that gets right to the heart of an issue that seems to really bother alot of ex-pats, who are

exposed to the corruption here. I have read many of the replies, and there seems to be a sense of resignation. How

can anything change? Well, it is changing throughout the region. Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam are making

serious efforts to root out the corruption. Officials, CEO's, and people in positions of authority and power are getting

arrested, and sentenced. Of course, that seems almost impossible here, but I do hope it happens. I guess the aspect that

is not getting mentioned much, is why Thailand has so little interest in addressing it's staggering level of corruption. Malaysia

has set up a corruption commission, and is making DAILY arrests of top officials, ministers, local politicians, and businessmen. Indonesia

has set up a corruption commission, and so far their antigraft commission has achieved a 100-percent conviction rate in 86 cases of bribery

and graft related to government procurements and budgets. And where is Thailand in all of this. Why aren't men like Newin, and others, who

are coming up with expensive schemes to line their pockets being arrested, and tried? Why is the CEO of King Power still employed? Why is the

Police Captain in charge of the airport security, who appears to be involved in the King Power scam, still in his position? Does anyone really think

there is even a chance that the King Power scheme is not real? That they are arresting only guilty shoplifters? Does all King Power have to do is

post one video on the internet, of a guilty party, for all of us to let them off the hook? Is that all it takes? Even India is getting actively involved

in tackling corruption. When was the last time we heard of a government minister, or top official, or corporate CEO being arrested on corruption charges,

here in Thailand? There was a recent story of jet ski operators in Koh Samui, extorting $1,000's of dollars out of tourists, with the threat of,

and occasionally acts of violence, right on the beach in front of dozens of tourists, for supposedly getting a scratch on a jet ski. When one tourist

caught this on video, and presented it to the authorities, the culprits were confronted, and forced to a pay a fine of 1,000 baht! I am sure they

have not stopped laughing since the incident. Unless Thailand gets serious, and starts introducing fines and jail sentenced that are in proportion

to the crime, nobody will take them seriously. Thailand will continue to be the laughing stock of the world. They will continue to be considered

"that 3rd world country with so much promise, that could not do ANYTHING, to help itself". Or, "the country that always shoots itself in the foot".

Thailand is rapidly approching a point of being way past redemption. If nobody does something truly gutsy or courageous, the time will pass, for

Thailand to turn things around. History may show Thailand as having achieved it's greatest apex of development in 2000-2005. History may show

it being all downhill from there. The Thai people nor the Thai government seem to have no realization of how serious things are, and how perilous a

time this is for the nation. Very, very, very few people here seem to get it. A country can only make so many mistakes before the world leaves it

behind. Especially when neighbors like Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and others are making so much progress, and trying so hard. This makes

the lack of effort here seem all the more staggering, and shocking. Someone needs to act. So what if jobs are lost. So what if heads roll. So what if

people in power are humiliated, and their lives are ruined. So what. It is not too late for Thailand, but the time when it is, is rapidly approaching. Change

is hard. Progress is difficult. But, not impossible. Thailand is not beyond redemption. There are many good people here who would like to see things

different. Conviction, with fines of 500,000 baht and up, and jail terms of 5-10 years is a good place to star

I couldn't agree with you more. I believe that the pressure to implement these changes needs to come from abroad as I can't see the Thai Government doing it of its own accord.

[phill64]

This is one of those posts that gets right to the heart of an issue that seems to really bother alot of ex-pats, who are

exposed to the corruption here. I have read many of the replies, and there seems to be a sense of resignation. How

can anything change? Well, it is changing throughout the region. Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam are making

serious efforts to root out the corruption. Officials, CEO's, and people in positions of authority and power are getting

arrested, and sentenced. Of course, that seems almost impossible here, but I do hope it happens. I guess the aspect that

is not getting mentioned much, is why Thailand has so little interest in addressing it's staggering level of corruption. Malaysia

has set up a corruption commission, and is making DAILY arrests of top officials, ministers, local politicians, and businessmen. Indonesia

has set up a corruption commission, and so far their antigraft commission has achieved a 100-percent conviction rate in 86 cases of bribery

and graft related to government procurements and budgets. And where is Thailand in all of this. Why aren't men like Newin, and others, who

are coming up with expensive schemes to line their pockets being arrested, and tried? Why is the CEO of King Power still employed? Why is the

Police Captain in charge of the airport security, who appears to be involved in the King Power scam, still in his position? Does anyone really think

there is even a chance that the King Power scheme is not real? That they are arresting only guilty shoplifters? Does all King Power have to do is

post one video on the internet, of a guilty party, for all of us to let them off the hook? Is that all it takes? Even India is getting actively involved

in tackling corruption. When was the last time we heard of a government minister, or top official, or corporate CEO being arrested on corruption charges,

here in Thailand? There was a recent story of jet ski operators in Koh Samui, extorting $1,000's of dollars out of tourists, with the threat of,

and occasionally acts of violence, right on the beach in front of dozens of tourists, for supposedly getting a scratch on a jet ski. When one tourist

caught this on video, and presented it to the authorities, the culprits were confronted, and forced to a pay a fine of 1,000 baht! I am sure they

have not stopped laughing since the incident. Unless Thailand gets serious, and starts introducing fines and jail sentenced that are in proportion

to the crime, nobody will take them seriously. Thailand will continue to be the laughing stock of the world. They will continue to be considered

"that 3rd world country with so much promise, that could not do ANYTHING, to help itself". Or, "the country that always shoots itself in the foot".

Thailand is rapidly approching a point of being way past redemption. If nobody does something truly gutsy or courageous, the time will pass, for

Thailand to turn things around. History may show Thailand as having achieved it's greatest apex of development in 2000-2005. History may show

it being all downhill from there. The Thai people nor the Thai government seem to have no realization of how serious things are, and how perilous a

time this is for the nation. Very, very, very few people here seem to get it. A country can only make so many mistakes before the world leaves it

behind. Especially when neighbors like Malaysia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and others are making so much progress, and trying so hard. This makes

the lack of effort here seem all the more staggering, and shocking. Someone needs to act. So what if jobs are lost. So what if heads roll. So what if

people in power are humiliated, and their lives are ruined. So what. It is not too late for Thailand, but the time when it is, is rapidly approaching. Change

is hard. Progress is difficult. But, not impossible. Thailand is not beyond redemption. There are many good people here who would like to see things

different. Conviction, with fines of 500,000 baht and up, and jail terms of 5-10 years is a good place to star

I couldn't agree with you more. I believe that the pressure to implement these changes needs to come from abroad as I can't see the Thai Government doing it of its own accord.

This is my first post after a while just surfing only because this post by petsma i the best real thing i have read on here and i agree with you on every word !!!

Phill

[Lancashirelad]

This is one of those posts that gets right to the heart of an issue that seems to really bother alot of ex-pats, who are

exposed to the corruption here. I have read many of the replies, and there seems to be a sense of resignation. How

can anything change? Well, it is changing throughout the region. Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam are making

serious efforts to root out the corruption. Officials, CEO's, and people in positions of authority and power are getting

arrested, and sentenced. Of course, that seems almost impossible here................................................

With reference to whole post, excellent! Well said.