Big Trouble In Tourist Thailand

[MB1]

Having been visiting Thailand for the last 8 years or so I was interested to see what the Bravo programme was going to be like so watched it in the UK last night, overall I think IMO that the first part was a fair view of what was screened.

Watching the part about the young girl locked up in a police cell for being caught with cannabis, well she only had herself and her boyfreind to blame, lets wait and see what the outcome of her crime will be, will she pay the bribe all too common in Thailand and return home to the UK swifly, or will she pay the price and receive a large fine or a prison sentence, or maybe even both, it just amazes me though that people go to Thailand knowing that if caught doing or dealing drugs they face severe fines and terms of imprisonment.

As for the welsh guy locked up for 15 years, reduced to 7 and a half for pleading guilty, he's only got himself to blame, he left the UK with cash in his pocket, was by his own admission involved in a bar, cash ran out and he chose the route of drug dealing, got caught and is now paying the price. Did he not also say on the programme that he had been involved with the police and drugs in the UK.?.

Maybe these two little tales of drugs in thailand will serve as a reminder to those living or travelling to Thailand not to get involved with drugs.

As for the Marines being taken for a ride by JJ, (pun intended) IMO the whole scene was scripted, funny how the cameras were there to film the whole proceedings, exciting viewing for some, total BS to others, yes the scams are happening and tourists are being taken for a ride, but were the marines not warned to not hire the jet ski's.?.

Marines on R&R versus Bad Boy JJ and his mafiosa cronies, blood would have been shed on both sides but it just ended up with a hand shake and off every body went, probably to all have drink together and to return the money.....

Now to Pattaya and Walking Street, can honestly say that of my 8 years of travelling to various areas of Thailand I have never had a problem where I have needed to involve the police, I have never spoken to a member of the tourist police in Pattaya which is the only place I have ever seen them...

Why all the agression towards them, why all the bitching and nasty comments, their doing an unpaid job giving up their free time to help tourists, okay maybe the uniform needs to be changed to a more freindly looking one, black the wrong colour, so how about a bright pink one hey, very gay freindly in a place like Pattaya.

Maybe the uniform needs getting rid of all together and the tourist police name be changed to Translation Police and just have an ID card and HI Vis vest as from what I have read it seems that translation was their main role but over time they seem to be doing more and more duties which involve crimminality and assisting the Thai police for free..

As for the tourist police who were involved in the prositution sting, do i sense a hint of jealousy, these guys getting their leg over for free paid for by the police.

From what I saw on the programme last night with regards to the drunken guy who had a head wound, the volunteers did an A one job, they listened to the guy rant and rave at them, they took insult after insult but still continued to try and help him, took his phone and got his father on the phone who came and picked him up, IMO the guy was a complete idiot who should have spent the night in a cell if it would have been up to me, so hats off to the volunteers for their tolerance in this situation.

I wonder how the guy felt in the morning when he had sobered up.

Edited September 8, 2009 by MB1

[deon]

Thanks alot for poting the links to the shows, that poor girl all that stress just for abit of pot.Still i know even not to have it in Thailand just not worth the stress.

I must say i dont usaly like police at all, but that Howard seems to do a fair job and treats folks well , how he dealt with that pissed up ozzie .Some coppers in the uk would of nicked you for acting like that .I do hpe that girl gets no time, it would be good to see next week show pittyi dont have bravo lol.

[LaoPo]

Phuketrex:

Thanks for posting the YouTube movies.

Tranquil Thailand images at it's best

LaoPo

[Brigante7]

Thanks alot for poting the links to the shows, that poor girl all that stress just for abit of pot.Still i know even not to have it in Thailand just not worth the stress.

I must say i dont usaly like police at all, but that Howard seems to do a fair job and treats folks well , how he dealt with that pissed up ozzie .Some coppers in the uk would of nicked you for acting like that .I do hpe that girl gets no time, it would be good to see next week show pittyi dont have bravo lol.

I'm sorry Deon but I've no sympathy for the stupid girl who got caught with drugs, I've been in trouble in the UK involving drugs and I paid the penalty but never once when I went to another country did I get involved, it's never worth the risk, and for somebody to go to another country either unaware of the penalty for drugs or too stupid to care then they deserve all they get.

Brigante7.

[dragonfly94]

Is this about the pretend Police?

Another chance for them to big note themselves on TV as that's all I've ever seen them doing in real life.

Then maybe you would like to volunteer and show us all, how it should be done!!! (ex volunteer from Udon Thani)

Why should I volunteer to do a job that real Police officers should be doing? Thailand has one of the biggest per capita Police forces in the World after all.

I notice one of the volunteers was caught in Pattaya this week dealing drugs and using his status on the force as cover.

How could anyone lower themselves to work with the Thai Police? I think you get the answer from watching Howard, he really gets off on the power trip and the feeling of being a somebody when he's just another ex pat who ran away from the UK strutting around in a silly T shirt with Police volunteer on it. The real Police are out collecting bribe money, or as happened to a dead friend in Pattaya last year, stealing off the dead, while Howard and his mates are doing their dirty work for them for free. I wonder how many pedo's and sunee plaza sickos Howard has arrested in his 7 years?

[jpolten]

Sounds like a scripted encounter to me at least from the Thai perspective. What is to stop the producers from going to a jet ski vendor and slipping them a few baht to create a confrontation? Do you really think Thais would be pulling guns in front of the cameras?

If it is scripted, Khun JJ isn't doing his business any favors!

[GungaDin]

Thanks to phuketrex for the links.

I understood that JJ knew the camera team was in town and called them in to bignote himself.

JJ will rue that phonecall soon.

I thought the program was ok, except for the crap narrator /voice over.

[carmine]

Having been visiting Thailand for the last 8 years or so I was interested to see what the Bravo programme was going to be like so watched it in the UK last night, overall I think IMO that the first part was a fair view of what was screened.

Watching the part about the young girl locked up in a police cell for being caught with cannabis, well she only had herself and her boyfreind to blame, lets wait and see what the outcome of her crime will be, will she pay the bribe all too common in Thailand and return home to the UK swifly, or will she pay the price and receive a large fine or a prison sentence, or maybe even both, it just amazes me though that people go to Thailand knowing that if caught doing or dealing drugs they face severe fines and terms of imprisonment.

As for the welsh guy locked up for 15 years, reduced to 7 and a half for pleading guilty, he's only got himself to blame, he left the UK with cash in his pocket, was by his own admission involved in a bar, cash ran out and he chose the route of drug dealing, got caught and is now paying the price. Did he not also say on the programme that he had been involved with the police and drugs in the UK.?.

Maybe these two little tales of drugs in thailand will serve as a reminder to those living or travelling to Thailand not to get involved with drugs.

As for the Marines being taken for a ride by JJ, (pun intended) IMO the whole scene was scripted, funny how the cameras were there to film the whole proceedings, exciting viewing for some, total BS to others, yes the scams are happening and tourists are being taken for a ride, but were the marines not warned to not hire the jet ski's.?.

Marines on R&R versus Bad Boy JJ and his mafiosa cronies, blood would have been shed on both sides but it just ended up with a hand shake and off every body went, probably to all have drink together and to return the money.....

Now to Pattaya and Walking Street, can honestly say that of my 8 years of travelling to various areas of Thailand I have never had a problem where I have needed to involve the police, I have never spoken to a member of the tourist police in Pattaya which is the only place I have ever seen them...

Why all the agression towards them, why all the bitching and nasty comments, their doing an unpaid job giving up their free time to help tourists, okay maybe the uniform needs to be changed to a more freindly looking one, black the wrong colour, so how about a bright pink one hey, very gay freindly in a place like Pattaya.

Maybe the uniform needs getting rid of all together and the tourist police name be changed to Translation Police and just have an ID card and HI Vis vest as from what I have read it seems that translation was their main role but over time they seem to be doing more and more duties which involve crimminality and assisting the Thai police for free..

As for the tourist police who were involved in the prositution sting, do i sense a hint of jealousy, these guys getting their leg over for free paid for by the police.

From what I saw on the programme last night with regards to the drunken guy who had a head wound, the volunteers did an A one job, they listened to the guy rant and rave at them, they took insult after insult but still continued to try and help him, took his phone and got his father on the phone who came and picked him up, IMO the guy was a complete idiot who should have spent the night in a cell if it would have been up to me, so hats off to the volunteers for their tolerance in this situation.

I wonder how the guy felt in the morning when he had sobered up.

these scams, rip offs do happen, all the time, and i know of worse cases than this jet ski incident. It's totally unfair to all the hard working, honest Thais and ex pats that work in the tourist industry that the authorities allow these thugs to operate. What this film does is highlight a REAL problem.

I have lived here for a very long time and sadly, over the years this situation has not changed.

Lastly, i don't think people are jealous of someone getting a free "leg over".....i think most of us just feel their time would be better spent doing what they are supposed to be doing.

[phuketrex]

Don't like the way these Volunteers appear to be doing actual Police work when they are touted as being Tourist Assistants which to me means giving help and assistance to tourists...not going off without Thai police with them to investigate a THAI street seller supposedly selling yaba as we see Howard do. The Thai police must think it wonderful they have all these foreigners bending over backwards to help them and doing it for free!

As for JJ...he's going to regret flashing that gun on camera once the Phuket Governor gets to see the tape.

Edited September 9, 2009 by phuketrex

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

I thought the program was ok, except for the crap narrator /voice over.

My thoughts too. I hate that voice (Simon Allix), and he can't even pronounce 'Phuket'.

[MB1]

these scams, rip offs do happen, all the time, and i know of worse cases than this jet ski incident. It's totally unfair to all the hard working, honest Thais and ex pats that work in the tourist industry that the authorities allow these thugs to operate. What this film does is highlight a REAL problem.

I have lived here for a very long time and sadly, over the years this situation has not changed.

Lastly, i don't think people are jealous of someone getting a free "leg over".....i think most of us just feel their time would be better spent doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Firstly yes scams do happen, but the programme only highlighted one scam over the jet ski's, which I still say that in my opinion is was scripted,Marines versus JJ for viewing effect, yes there are problems in Thailand and yes it seems that certain authorities allow certain thugs to operate in certain areas, that's where there is a big problem is in Thailand. CORRUPTION AT MANY LEVELS, and nothing is ever going to change no matter how long you live in Thailand until corruption is wiped out. I await the outcome, but doubt it will ever happen in my life time.

As for the comment on "someone getting a free leg over" that was actually tounge in cheek from me, hence the , but what do you actually think that they should be doing with their time ?. I actually think that they should be doing what I believe the Volunteer Tourist Police were originally set up for, mainly for the purpose of translation when helping tourists.

Below is an article as per the Thai Tourism Authority.

"With the growth of tourism over the last 30 years a special unit has been set up by the Royal Thai Police force to deal with the safety and well-being of tourists. The officers of the Tourist Police wear a distinctive badge on the their arm and speak English and some other European languages. They can be called upon in all kinds of situations, such as road traffic accidents, theft, disputes with hotels or shop keepers where a foreign tourist is involved. They will act as arbitrators on disputes, and in our experience they do so in an unbiased fashion."

Link supplied....And I must say that the article is not in favour of MR HM........

http://thailandlandofsmiles.com/

Edited September 9, 2009 by MB1

[dragonfly94]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbFAqKpGV8M

Here's Howie again laying down the law, his own law that is and claiming to be the Police when he's just a voluntary dogsbody

[dragonfly94]

@ Udonfarang52

It is not about being personally offensive, but it also gives me an uncomfortable feeling if a diagnosed PSTD walks around in in an uniform.

Once again a comment made that i am still in uniform......If, i repeat if,you had read earlier posts you would have noticed i am know longer a volunteer.repeat, no longer a volunteer........yet i still support the establishment of Of the T.P volunteers.And positive input to improve public relations.

Nowhere do I say you are still in uniform, but you were and that is disturbing for me! (please note the past tense)

nuff said

It is not about being personally offensive, but it also gives me an uncomfortable feeling if a diagnosed PSTD walks around in in an uniform.

Present tense,"walks around" in a uniform,please try not to display your biases against those with PTSD

Surely anyone with PTSD is not mentally/emotionally fit and should never be considered for a volunteer in the first place. One of my best pals here in Bkk is a vet with this and he is certainly not up to the task.

[KhunAussie52]

@ Udonfarang52

It is not about being personally offensive, but it also gives me an uncomfortable feeling if a diagnosed PSTD walks around in in an uniform.

Once again a comment made that i am still in uniform......If, i repeat if,you had read earlier posts you would have noticed i am know longer a volunteer.repeat, no longer a volunteer........yet i still support the establishment of Of the T.P volunteers.And positive input to improve public relations.

Nowhere do I say you are still in uniform, but you were and that is disturbing for me! (please note the past tense)

nuff said

It is not about being personally offensive, but it also gives me an uncomfortable feeling if a diagnosed PSTD walks around in in an uniform.

Present tense,"walks around" in a uniform,please try not to display your biases against those with PTSD

Surely anyone with PTSD is not mentally/emotionally fit and should never be considered for a volunteer in the first place. One of my best pals here in Bkk is a vet with this and he is certainly not up to the task.

Since when do you have the right to ascertain my fitness to do anything,grow up.........Maybe your Vietnam veteran mate,is not taking medication...!!

Discrimination against those with PTSD will not be tolerated.......!

What are you qualifications to make these comments????

[MB1]

[www.[/]

Here's Howie again laying down the law, his own law that is and claiming to be the Police when he's just a voluntary dogsbody

&lt;deleted&gt;, where did HM claim to be the Police in the U Tube clip, and in the clip near the end Harrison who was filming said and quoted

"But you do need permission to tell you the truth"

Spare time at the moment so I'll type the full U Tubes film conversation....

Miller..... Why are you filming like that?.

Harrison..Sorry, why are you asking me?.

Miller......If your going to film like that then we ask you, if you ask to film then thats fine.

Harrison..Film like what?.

Miller......If your filming covertly then I wanna no why.

Harrison..Covertly?.

Miller......Is there any reason for it?.

Harrison..No one can film here.

Miller.......You can film no problem at all, but if you film us you must ask us beforehand.

Harrison.. But you do need permission to tell you the truth.

Miller...... I'm sorry and who are you?.

Harrison...I 'm tourist Police.

Miller........Your not in uniform.

Harrison....No I'm not in uniform sir.

So there you have it, where did HM say he was the police ?, the only person who mentioned the police was Harrison who was filming.

Moral to the tale, engage brain before typing finger..

[perousing]

[www.[/]

Here's Howie again laying down the law, his own law that is and claiming to be the Police when he's just a voluntary dogsbody

&lt;deleted&gt;, where did HM claim to be the Police in the U Tube clip, and in the clip near the end Harrison who was filming said and quoted

"But you do need permission to tell you the truth"

Spare time at the moment so I'll type the full U Tubes film conversation....

Miller..... Why are you filming like that?.

Harrison..Sorry, why are you asking me?.

Miller......If your going to film like that then we ask you, if you ask to film then thats fine.

Harrison..Film like what?.

Miller......If your filming covertly then I wanna no why.

Harrison..Covertly?.

Miller......Is there any reason for it?.

Harrison..No one can film here.

Miller.......You can film no problem at all, but if you film us you must ask us beforehand.

Harrison.. But you do need permission to tell you the truth.

Miller...... I'm sorry and who are you?.

Harrison...I 'm tourist Police.

Miller........Your not in uniform.

Harrison....No I'm not in uniform sir.

So there you have it, where did HM say he was the police ?, the only person who mentioned the police was Harrison who was filming.

Moral to the tale, engage brain before typing finger..

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sjaak327]

Do you really think Thais would be pulling guns in front of the cameras?

Yes.........

What do you think is the IQ of the average Thai criminal?

Most likely higher than yours, He got his bht35,000

Yeah he did get his 35.000 baht. To be honest, if I were anybody of importance in Phuket, it would certainly be the last 35K baht he scammed out of somebody. People like that give the country a bad name, and it's time something's done about it.

[cyb]

Do you really think Thais would be pulling guns in front of the cameras?

Yes.........

What do you think is the IQ of the average Thai criminal?

Most likely higher than yours, He got his bht35,000

Yeah he did get his 35.000 baht. To be honest, if I were anybody of importance in Phuket, it would certainly be the last 35K baht he scammed out of somebody. People like that give the country a bad name, and it's time something's done about it.

I couldn't agree more

[mrtoad]

Thought it was quite entertaining. Certainly some of the toursists didn't come out well with their behaviour, but also not exactly painting Thailand in a great light either. Sure that JJ wont be up on any TAT brochures or adverts any time soon, what a tool.

[thaimate]

Just watched it on u tube ,agree that the jet ski bit seemed scripted ,felt sorry for the silly girl ,especially when she said in England its three strikes and your out. Darling this aint England,the sooner silly tourists realize this the better,hope she gets out though.

As for the vaulantier police ,no problem with them ,although i have better things to do than walk around all night in a gestapo style uniform(change it boys) but again they seem ok.

[Travel2003]

Sounds like a scripted encounter to me at least from the Thai perspective. What is to stop the producers from going to a jet ski vendor and slipping them a few baht to create a confrontation? Do you really think Thais would be pulling guns in front of the cameras?

If it is scripted, Khun JJ isn't doing his business any favors!

Agree.

The way this JJ talked, with his street lingo taken from a bad movie, seeed like it was rehearsed.

By the way, can anyone here confirm that this JJ actually exist?

[GMoney]

The JJ bit definitely seemed scripted. There were at least 2 cameramen there filming the whole thing given the different angles - you aren't going to have people acting 'normal' with a camera crew right there. And I don't see how marines who have just been in combat are going to be scared of a group of thugs. Worst case, they pay the fine and come back later with stronger numbers.

[syd barrett]

The JJ bit definitely seemed scripted. There were at least 2 cameramen there filming the whole thing given the different angles - you aren't going to have people acting 'normal' with a camera crew right there. And I don't see how marines who have just been in combat are going to be scared of a group of thugs. Worst case, they pay the fine and come back later with stronger numbers.

''Bloodshed was only avoided when Marine Police Sergeant and Detective Commander Tim Wright arrived on the scene and told Tebbot: 'Ok lad, we told you not to hire jet skis.

The sergeant said later: ''Had it come to the crunch we could have easily fought them and got all our lads out of there. But there would have been some claret spilt on both sides.''

LINK BELOW:

Phuket Marines Link

[phuketrex]

The boatyard scene was obviously set up. Supposedly the Marine in trouble managed to get out a text calling for his mates. How did they and the military policeman manage to locate the boatyard out the back of Patong never having been there before and probably never to Patong before from a simple text then? ...and would you really shake hands with someone after a bust up like that!!?? I'm sure halfway through it you can see JJ give a little smile as if to say "I'm doing alright for the camera".

[0zz1]

I thought the doc was very entertaining and will look the other parts as well for sure.

I also thought the JJ part was a set-up... other parts looked pretty real, specially that Aussie guy who should have got his ass kicked.

My own experiences of TP's are not good, but from the doc you get pretty good impression of them and their work.... oh well.. worth watching anyway.

[Travel2003]

Maybe I didnt see or understand it clearly, but it seemed like the Volunter Tourist Police guy had some sort of right to search people (or their property), when he found the pills.

Have they been given the authority to search people?

[hm1973]

Maybe I didnt see or understand it clearly, but it seemed like the Volunter Tourist Police guy had some sort of right to search people (or their property), when he found the pills.

Have they been given the authority to search people?

I think you didn't see it properly. I picked up the pills from the floor but did not search any person but did assist in searching the food vending cart under the supervision of a Thai Officer who arrived on-scene and can be seen on the film.

Edited September 9, 2009 by hm1973

[dragonfly94]

Maybe I didnt see or understand it clearly, but it seemed like the Volunter Tourist Police guy had some sort of right to search people (or their property), when he found the pills.

Have they been given the authority to search people?

I think you didn't see it properly. I picked up the pills from the floor but did not search any person but did assist in searching the food vending cart under the supervision of a Thai Officer who arrived on-scene and can be seen on the film.

But why were the tourist police volunteer force investigating a Thai? I thought they were only meant to help tourists yet here you were investigating (or assisting) a serious crime by a Thai, nothing to do with tourists.

[stevehaigh]

i think Thai's should be more horrified by the kind of tourists Britain (and Aus) sends over here than brits horrified by Thailand.

[GungaDin]

^^^ I guess you missed the Police tape of the American, high on yaba!