Big Trouble In Tourist Thailand

[Crossy]

I think it would be very hard to stay cool when dealing with Football fan mentality as with the English idiot who urinated on the taxi thingy.

A UK taxi driver may urinate on the rear left wheel of his cab, provided he has his right hand on the vehicle Perhaps the English chap was just demonstrating

[dragonfly94]

^HM, good enough mate! Curious are all the episodes completed? I'm guessing, but I assume you get advanced copies?

They are basically fully completed on the day of transmission believe it or not. Episode 2 was delivered on Monday Morning!!!!

I don't get advanced copies from the production company but from a source connected with the program but I doubt I will get advanced copies after episode 3 unfortuantely. The copy I have is classed as a rough cut and does not contain some graphics and end titles and the voice over is a temporary one done by the editor. By the way am I the only one who thinks the voice over guys voice is really annoying......even more than mine!!!

Having seen the latest film and what you have to put up with it probably is a good job you are there, if only to protect the locals from the visitors! Volunteers came across in a much better light this week.

[GungaDin]

^HM, good enough mate! Curious are all the episodes completed? I'm guessing, but I assume you get advanced copies?

They are basically fully completed on the day of transmission believe it or not. Episode 2 was delivered on Monday Morning!!!!

I don't get advanced copies from the production company but from a source connected with the program but I doubt I will get advanced copies after episode 3 unfortuantely. The copy I have is classed as a rough cut and does not contain some graphics and end titles and the voice over is a temporary one done by the editor. By the way am I the only one who thinks the voice over guys voice is really annoying......even more than mine!!!

Having seen the latest film and what you have to put up with it probably is a good job you are there, if only to protect the locals from the visitors! Volunteers came across in a much better light this week.

Agreed! Not a job I'd volunteer for.

[jonny48]

Sounds interesting.

Can someone in UK upload it to Pirateba

[moskito]

I know this is a Brit show and all, so obviously focused on Brits... but I wonder, for those of you who live in the main tourist areas... do you see a proportionate number of Americans getting themselves into the same situations? Honest question, because it has been my experience in Bangkok that American Expats lay a bit lower (dam_n I'd love to meet more, but I just never meet any when I'm out, mostly Brits and Aussies).... This isn't Brit-bashing, just an honest question. Or maybe there are just fewer American tourists/expats?

Re: the 'series' if you can call it that - dang there are some real dumb-asses that come to this country.... Tourist towns have gone downhill since I've been here 7+ years, and I don't see much, if any, improvement... sad, really, because Thailand had potential.... like a zillion years ago.... but now, greed greed greed... but understandably frustration too... can you imagine being a cop on walking street, seeing THE SAME <deleted> over and over again every single night every day of the year???? hel_l.

I guess you are right, because more young brits visit Thailand then Americans. The british guys mostly come in gangs and they are mostly normal workers or just unemployed lads which want have some fun....mostly in discos or beerbars. The average American tourist is much older and the young Americans which visit Thailand are often students or half kids. They are more in Ganja as in Beer like the Brits are.

Young americans in masses came here mostly by Navyships and then their behaviour is not different from the british seamen on a short leave from their vessel.

I came for my first longer holiday in 1988 and since 10years I am living here. The visitors have changed a lot. I am missing the old backpacker times where it was more important to travel around and try to find the way of easy living somewhere on a nice beach.

Nowadays it is more important to have "fun" and forget the <deleted> wich is going on at home i guess. The tourists which visit Thailand these days have mostly no clue about the country and its tradition. They know only the beer and the Thailadys are cheap and easy to get.

They come here because its CHEAP and not because of the country

I havent been in Patong since three years and avoid to visit sh....tholes like that. Its not Thailand its more like a game reserve

someone asks for the boy in the movie which was in the ATM scams. I heard they send him back to England while his father stays in Bkk Hilton. Is that right?

[Colonel_Mustard]

How come none of the tourist volonteer police guys can't speak any Thai - "Te ni man drive taxi" ???

I must admit that it surprised me how little Thai the volunteers seemed to speak (especially the bald guy in Pattaya). I'm sure I read somewhere that fluency in Thai was a prerequisite.

I wonder how they can communicate effectively with their Thai colleagues.

[Geekfreaklover]

How come none of the tourist volonteer police guys can't speak any Thai - "Te ni man drive taxi" ???

I must admit that it surprised me how little Thai the volunteers seemed to speak (especially the bald guy in Pattaya). I'm sure I read somewhere that fluency in Thai was a prerequisite.

I wonder how they can communicate effectively with their Thai colleagues.

It made me smile also when one of the two Surat Thani social worker type volunteer police rang the court to find out about Mishas case. She managed to say 'sawadee kaa' then it cut to her saying 'ok then chuck bye bye.'

No disrespect to these people, they seem to be commited, but surely you must be able to speak and translate in that kind of work.

[KhunAussie52]

How come none of the tourist volunteer police guys can't speak any Thai - "Te ni man drive taxi" ???

some of us can speak Thai......many of the Thai regular TP can speak English.

อาสาสมัครบางคนสามารถพูดภาษาไทย

[stevehaigh]

i just watched episode 2.

i wonder what the true story is with the ATM fraud kid. i have no sympathy for anyone in this show so far except that guy, who on the surface seems innocent and he's had 1.5 years in jail awaiting trail so far. that's wrong by anyone's definition.

[phuketrex]

i just watched episode 2.

i woner what the true story is with the ATM fraud kid. i have no sympathy for anyone in this show so far except that guy, who on the surface seems innocent and he's had 1.5 years in jail awaiting trail so far. that's wrong by anyone's definition.

Seems innocent! Waiting on a bike near the ATM while his dad was stealing the money.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Briton gets 18 years, nine months for ATM fraud

PHUKET CITY: Despite confessing to charges against him, a British man has been sentenced to 18 years and 9 months in prison for ATM fraud.

Mark Hubert Veerasawmy, 45, received the sentence at Phuket Provincial Court several weeks ago, British Honorary Consul Martin Carpenter said.

Mr Veerasawmy was arrested in February last year together with his son Sonny, 20.

Phuket City Police arrested the pair after receiving a report that two men were acting suspiciously in front of the Kasikorn Bank branch on Chanacharoen Rd, near the Robinson department store.

When the police came to investigate, they found them in possession of 15 withdrawal slips, 10,000 baht in cash and 35 fake ATM cards, Capt Supachai Petchkul of Phuket City Police said.

When police searched the men’s hotel rooms they found more than 100,000 baht in bundles separated by rubber bands, Capt Supachai added.

The son, still in Phuket Provincial Prison awaiting trial, denies the charges against him.

[Lancelot]

I don't know, the kid told a good story but my BS meter went off. I've been to the ATM literely hundreds of times and the cops never pounced on me to search me If the info reported in the above post is true, it would be pretty hard to "plant" 35 stolen ATM cards and 15 withdrawl slips on one or both of them.

If I were going to steal, I'd go back home, do the crime, then run away to Thailand and be a model good boy. At least back home, criminals get a MUCH better deal than in Thailand. Just plain dumb to try to rip off a Thai bank/ATM system. Try to steal 500 baht from a poor Thai and see what happens. It doesn't get any better with the rich or businesses.

Anyway, hope the kid gets his day in court soon, so he at least knows what his status is.

[CrossBones]

Reported elsewhere

A Swiss couple were reported to have fled Koh Samui yesterday after telling local Embassy officials that they that the couple had been threatened with a beating and rape if they failed to pay 65,000 baht (200 Swiss francs).

A source close to the Swiss Embassy said the couple were escorted to the airport by a consular representative and safely boarded a 3pm flight from Koh Samui to Bangkok after the threats by an operator on Chaweng Beach. “The woman was visibly shaking in the departure area.”

Officially the Swiss Embassy Consular department said they could not comment on individal cases and would neither confirm or deny the report. The couple could not be contacted to verify the report.

According to one Consular source, from data gathered together by foreign consular representatives between December and April this year there were in the region of 150 cases of tourists having to pay for damaged jet skis on Koh Samui, approximately one a day.

The congtroversial documentary series ’Big Trouble in Thailand’ is expected to highlight a jet ski problem in Chaweng in a later series.

Threatening a woman with a beating and RAPE

What gentlemen they are in the south

[cdnvic]

It's ridiculous enough to throw out that kind of judgement against millions of people based on the actions of one or two criminals, but to do it based on a rumour is irresponsible and out of line. If you want to make serious allegations against someone, be sure you can prove it. If you want to do the same about a large group of people without any substantiation, keep it off the forum.

[KhunAussie52]

"Threatening a woman with a beating and RAPE

What gentlemen they are in the south "

I cannot find the words to express or articulate my contempt for this mongrel.........!!!!!

I sincerely hope they are both ok,

[Lancelot]

In the second episode the guy in the green tee shirt who broke the bottle over someone's head was also American I think.

PS

More from JJ here where he says the show was fake and edited, with the intention of damaging Thailand's tourist reputation.

http://news.mcot.net/local/inside.php?valu...m50eXBlPWNsaXA=

Great link! I'll have o check out the english language there as well.

Funny how JJ is now the victim and really never understood what the film was about. If that were truly the case, why wasn't he "jai dee" and let the "bad" customers off the hook, free of charge? In the clips JJ seemed pretty street wise and appeared to relish his role as a "business man."

Interesting how polite he was when speaking on the MCOT clip. I'm waiting for the smoking gun, that reveals that the incident actually occured in Cambodia

[CrossBones]

i just watched episode 2.

i woner what the true story is with the ATM fraud kid. i have no sympathy for anyone in this show so far except that guy, who on the surface seems innocent and he's had 1.5 years in jail awaiting trail so far. that's wrong by anyone's definition.

Seems innocent! Waiting on a bike near the ATM while his dad was stealing the money.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Briton gets 18 years, nine months for ATM fraud

PHUKET CITY: Despite confessing to charges against him, a British man has been sentenced to 18 years and 9 months in prison for ATM fraud.

Mark Hubert Veerasawmy, 45, received the sentence at Phuket Provincial Court several weeks ago, British Honorary Consul Martin Carpenter said.

Mr Veerasawmy was arrested in February last year together with his son Sonny, 20.

Phuket City Police arrested the pair after receiving a report that two men were acting suspiciously in front of the Kasikorn Bank branch on Chanacharoen Rd, near the Robinson department store.

When the police came to investigate, they found them in possession of 15 withdrawal slips, 10,000 baht in cash and 35 fake ATM cards, Capt Supachai Petchkul of Phuket City Police said.

When police searched the men’s hotel rooms they found more than 100,000 baht in bundles separated by rubber bands, Capt Supachai added.

The son, still in Phuket Provincial Prison awaiting trial, denies the charges against him.

Probably found 500,000 in bundles

[CrossBones]

We should stop giving the tourist police such a hard time. They seem to be better than the Thai police! The Howard guy seems OK, I would rather deal with him than a local copper if I was in trouble.

I guess we think because the Thai police will act against us or take the side of a Thai, then why should farangs be helping them which is a fair point I guess, but is a bit of a negative one.

By the way if you want to live somewhere, and like Asian ladies and want to live somewhere fairly cheap and non-corrupt - PERTH is a good place! Its cheaper than singapore, many many nice and naughty Asian ladies, its safe - if European you can find a well paid job there and get sponsorship etc Also it is cheap and easy to get to Thailand from there if you do miss the place and want to go for a holiday.

Thailand is really getting so bad these days, its not safe at all. Id be wary of any kind of investment in the country including a condo because as we know laws and rules can change at the drop of a hat. If someone accuses you of anything illegal, you have to stay in the country before a court date or pay a massive bribe. That could be for a car crash that wasn't your fault. If non-Thai the force of the law is against you. This happens to innocent people all too frequently and the embassies don't give a monkeys.

I met a nice, very wealthy British couple who bought a house for 10m baht in Chiang Mai 5 years ago and were assured by Sunbelt Asia that this was all above board, bought through a Thai company. They ended up having the place confiscated from them for problem with Thai nominee and fake company that didn't turn over any money. They were such a nice couple, would have been Thailand perfect retirees.

When you start to hear of young female travelers threatened by rape by the police (presmably) you really start to wonder.

Perhaps a fantasy story but a few years ago someone told me of a European girl in Ko Phangan who was offered a joint by the police, had a puff of it and was arrested and raped for 2 weeks by the whole police station.

Ko Phangan, Samui and the areas around there are real mafia country. The Thais down there a different breed from elsewhere in the country, there is a huge amount of crime. There doesnt seem to be a culture of shame down there, anything goes and ripping off the tourist is fair game to many people. I have met many people like JJ down there. It is different in the north.

Is Thailand really a place to settle permanently and raise a family? I don't think so!

[LivinLOS]

I have been sort of ranting in the jetski threads how the people who run Patong see the fleecing of tourists as the right of the locals.. How all the cliques goes far beyond one or two bad apples and how the entire system backs up the scammers. Its seen as fair to do what they like to tourists.

Some people may be familiar with the gogo tout thugs.. This bunch of drug dealing slime balls physically threaten gogo owners into allowing them to continue their scam.. They have shot a gun into spicy, they sent a death wreath to a gogo owners family I know, threatened to kill his family (wife and child involved), they have vandalized his car (he has resisted them in 2 of his gogos) and generally act above the law.

In case anyone doesnt know what they do is entice people into a gogo and then that persons drink is 500 baht on top of the drink price.. If they take a crowd of 4 or 5 they pull a few 1000 out of the scam and the tourist gets clipped.. Same as any clip joint worldwide. Its a pure scam and it operates only on tourist ignorance that they are being targeted. If they resist paying the touts are quick to attack and back this up with violence also.

They are allowed to operate with impunity as they pay the police, per tout.. As you can see this is a lucrative scam.. If they manage a few people a night its a few 1000 baht nightly stolen in this con and they can afford to pay upstream to their police handlers.

Now as of last night they have been issued vests like licensed motorcy taxis and carry laminated 'bar representative cards' !! This is some kind of attempt to put a legitimate face on what is essentially a total scam.. Whats next ?? Legitimate licensed lady boy pick pockets ??

The governor is making all kinds of noises about stamping out the scams and bad apples.. As tho its one or two bad people among the 'normal population' yet while he does this the police are laughing at him with their little army of thug touts each out there every night ripping off the tourists providing no service whatsoever and demanding money with menaces, and now they have a uniform (so the police can see whose paying their fees) !!

The whole thing is laughably disgusting !! The noises on the Thai TV shows of how JJ is a black heart southerner etc happen all while at the very same time the legalized scamming of 10's of people per night has just been started.

[StateSix]

I thought the female volunteers came across well, and were performing the role as it should be. They acted as a liaison for Mica, trying to give her factual information on what could happen to her, and using their contacts to try and find information out. They were also helping out the injured at the full moon party.

On the other hand you have the Pattaya volunteers getting involved in things that are out of their remit. Why were they shown leading one of the 'mercanaries' along the street by the arm, with an extended baton. Getting involved in breaking up bar fights surely comes under the remit of the actual police. Then the voiceover talks about the investigation being led by one of them. Again, why is he 'leading' it? He has no jurisdiction over it. He was also completely unprofessional shouting out in public that the guy in the green shirt was a liar, regardless of whether it turned out he was. When the CCTV footage was shown, the voiceover said the guys 'policeman instincts' were right. Not sure what he did previously, but he isn't actually a policeman in Pattaya.

Are there any shows involving Bangkoks volunteers? I never read anything about them on here either, especially negative stuff. Is this because they just get on with helping people and don't get involved in stuff that is nothing to do with them.

I always thought that Howard and his guys got a bit of an unnecessary hard time on here, but watching this show makes me believe that maybe they are more about acting as fully fledged police officers and not as the volunteer support staff that they are.

[Donnyboy]

The governor is making all kinds of noises about stamping out the scams and bad apples..

yup all noise- from the BKK Post today ...

"Phuket governor Wichai Praisa-ngob yesterday said the clips might have been produced by someone who stood to benefit from Thailand tourism losing its competitive edge."

its a conspiracy!! Funny how Khun Wichai points the finger at others when all along he should have got his house in order

[CrossBones]

I thought the female volunteers came across well, and were performing the role as it should be. They acted as a liaison for Mica, trying to give her factual information on what could happen to her, and using their contacts to try and find information out. They were also helping out the injured at the full moon party.

On the other hand you have the Pattaya volunteers getting involved in things that are out of their remit. Why were they shown leading one of the 'mercanaries' along the street by the arm, with an extended baton. Getting involved in breaking up bar fights surely comes under the remit of the actual police. Then the voiceover talks about the investigation being led by one of them. Again, why is he 'leading' it? He has no jurisdiction over it. He was also completely unprofessional shouting out in public that the guy in the green shirt was a liar, regardless of whether it turned out he was. When the CCTV footage was shown, the voiceover said the guys 'policeman instincts' were right. Not sure what he did previously, but he isn't actually a policeman in Pattaya.

Are there any shows involving Bangkoks volunteers? I never read anything about them on here either, especially negative stuff. Is this because they just get on with helping people and don't get involved in stuff that is nothing to do with them.

I always thought that Howard and his guys got a bit of an unnecessary hard time on here, but watching this show makes me believe that maybe they are more about acting as fully fledged police officers and not as the volunteer support staff that they are.

They are police offers and do have power of arrest over foreigners. Actually civilians are also allowed to make a citizens arrest.

[Mark Wolfe]

I'd like to ask all those who think the JJ jet ski incident was stage this:

How is it that the jet ski in question had old damage? Was this some stage prop? Did the producers of the film come a month in advance and damage a craft for use later?

JJ does not deny that the damage is old. So the craft was rented with preexisting damage. There is no way around this.

[CrossBones]

I'd like to ask all those who think the JJ jet ski incident was stage this:

How is it that the jet ski in question had old damage? Was this some stage prop? Did the producers of the film come a month in advance and damage a craft for use later?

JJ does not deny that the damage is old. So the craft was rented with preexisting damage. There is no way around this.

If it was staged it doesn't matter about the damage does it, if the damage was new or old its irrelevant - just a movie.

Personally I think JJ is a total scum bag crook, and has run this scam many times - but the particular incident with the UK marines was staged.

[simon43]

Are there any shows involving Bangkoks volunteers...

AFAIK, none of the foreigners who work in BKK are featured in the shows. That's maybe because the work that they do (me included), would appear rather boring in a fly-on-the-wall documentary like this. The work is purely office-based, and we are unpaid liaison translators for the Thai police at Lumpini Police station, which is a main station for reporting of thefts, lost property, and similar incidents that befall tourists.

Eg, what did I do last Friday? Translated for a British man who was arrested with drugs (for personal use), contacted the British embassy on his behalf, assisted 2 Iranians who had lost their plane tickets and needed an insurance report, located the hotel for a drunk Japanese tourist who was too far gone to know where he was sleeping that night etc etc.

No strong-arm stuff and no shouting, at least not by me

Simon

[StateSix]

We should stop giving the tourist police such a hard time. They seem to be better than the Thai police! The Howard guy seems OK, I would rather deal with him than a local copper if I was in trouble.

I guess we think because the Thai police will act against us or take the side of a Thai, then why should farangs be helping them which is a fair point I guess, but is a bit of a negative one.

The view that the Thai police will do nothing is often wrong though.

One of the friends of the guy who got bottled at the full moon party was shown saying that the cops would do nothing, the attacker was Thai and this was Thailand etc. They appear at the police station a while after the incident has occurred and probably gave a very poor description of the guy, which would probably fit half the Thai guys on the beach.

To be fair to the police they arrested someone who had allegedly been seen acting suspiciously near the scene, but the guys couldn't identify him. One of the girls claimed he looked suspicious/guilty though

I guarantee that the outcome would have been the same in the UK - assault reported with poor descriptions and no CCTV and a no ID on a suspect equals unsolved crime. Yet these guys will be back in the UK saying that the Thai police were useless and did nothing.

[nemomil]

Here is some "reality" that any foreigner considering doing business in Thailand or even visiting Thailand should be aware of. It concerns the way in which the real Thai police and prosecutors are able to abuse the legal system for the purpose of extortion and how, when the National Police Chief, The Attorney General and even Khun Abhisit, the Prime Minister are asked to take steps to investigate it and establish the truth they simply close their eyes and turn a deaf ear.

I invite the series producer or any other broadcaster or journalist to get in touch with me for the full story. It is a very interesting expose of not only police and prosecution behaviour (or should I say misbehaviour) but of the political attitude and law-enforcement environment that condones and supports this conduct by its failure to address reported abuses of police and prosecution power and the subversion of the Thai legal system for the purposes of personal gain.

All businessmen, foreigners living in Thailand and even tourists should also be made aware of the evidence given to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights about the real state of law enforcement and prosecution system in Thailand as, no matter how innocent you may be, because the next victim could easily be you and you will have no-one to complain to.

Evidence to the United Nations Human Rights Council has highlighted the following facts:

(i) a high incidence of deliberately concocting criminal charges in exchange for cash or other favours;

(ii) (ii) cases being falsified by the police rather than pursuing and investigating the true culprits;

(iii) (iii) the inability of anyone in Thailand to make an effective complaint against a state official;

(iv) (iv) the lack of political and administrative will to address these issues."

For the full text please visit this link:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?s=...t&p=3002916

I have experienced all of the above in Thailand.

Here are the details:

I entered into a contract with two other farangs (one an associate director of the capital asset and risk management subsidiary of a British high street bank based in Hong Kong) to jointly participate in a residential development project in Thailand. They breached our contract and failed to pay the full amount due under our agreement. Although they were liable in damages to me in respect of their breach they pressurized me to recover money that they had paid.

Two years later I was arrested in what could only be described as a "shake down" by the Thai police. The only question I was ever asked in the course of the so called investigation into a business transaction which had generated 250 pages of documentation was "will you pay to settle this".

I refused all the way down the line because here is what I was accused of:

"That I intentionally and blatently decieved the two other farangs with false information and concealed facts which should have been revealed. As a result of this alleged deception and concealment of information the individuals had paid money to me"

What was the alleged false information that I had communicated? That I, a British Citizen, personally owned a plot of land in Thailand.

What were the actual documented communications?

"The land is held by a Thai company";

"The land is on one title and that has to be owned by a Thai company or Thai individual. There is just no way around that. Its Thai law."

"My ownership is, in the final analysis, 39% of B (the Thai company)"

Also the land title document supplied to the Complainants clearly showed the name of the Thai company that owned the land.

What had I allegedly concealed? The fact that foreigners are not legally permitted to own land in Thailand.

What were the actual documented communications?

"You are probably aware that a foreigner cannot hold freehold title to land in Thailand"

"a non-Thai company or individual cannot hold the land"

Both allegations were totally false, but here is where it gets bizarre

I was accused of "concealing" the law of Thailand.

What happened to the principle that everyone is assumed to be aware of the law? It seems that in Thailand the police and prosecutor can decide that certain individuals (in this case those seeking the money including a professional banker / risk manager) can be excused from any requirement to be aware of the law but that another individual has a legal obligation to "reveal" the law of Thailand to them otherwise he has illegally "concealed" the law the law of Thailand. (Apart from the fact that the allegation was a totally untrue fabrication think of the consequences of this for foreign businesses operating in Thailand or entering into contracts there!)

What was actually concealed? The complainants concealed the fact that a 30 year legal Thai lease had been executed in their favour.

When did the alleged offence take place? "at date and time 'which appears unclear' (sic) between 3 July 2005 and 3 October 2006".

When was the part payment under the contract made to me? The payment which was allegedly induced by the false (actually true) communications to the Complainants was made on 14 July 2005. So apparently the complainants were induced to make a payment by a (non) deception which occurred 11 days prior or 434 days after the payment was made. So the allegation was based on what "appeared" to be a 40:1 chance of impossibility.

Where did this allegedly take place? Phuket, Thailand.

Where were the Complainants during the 11 days prior to the payment being made? Hong Kong and Australia.

Now in any investigation amongst the first things that any policeman or prosecutor needs to know is where and when did it happen. How come the police did not establish even that basic information from the complainants? How come that they did not examine the allegedly false communications?

Does this seem like a genuine police investigation or a fabrication for the purposes of extortion?

During the so called investigation I was asked only one question by the police and prosecutor. "Will you pay to settle this?"

The details of the alleged offence of which I was accused did not appear out of a hat. Such an accusation should be the result of a detailed examination and consideration of evidence. Somebody had to draft the fabricated allegation. Either 2 foreigners had lied to the police and prosecutor or the police and/or prosecutor had fabricated a charge without any supporting evidence. If it was the former then it is the complainant's who should be prosecuted.

Was it reasonable for me to ask the Chief of Police and the Attorney General to investigate and determine the truth of this? This matter has completely disrupted my life and that of my Thai family. There is more but I will save it for another posting.

It would not take a lot of investigation… just ask the police and prosecutor to reveal the source of their "evidence".

Why have the Chief of Police, The Attorney General and the Prime Minister failed to address my detailed and documented complaints made during the past 2 years? I suspect that the answer is obvious to the UN Human Rights Commission (and, I imagine most TV readers with any real experience of Thailand).

Businessmen, foreigners living in Thailand and tourists beware of a police and prosecution system that is out of control and worse is permitted to operate unchecked by those in political power. You could be the next innocent victim. And to the farang police volunteers, I say, wake up to the reality of Big Trouble in Thailand.

If the producers or any other documentary film makers want some "reality" TV about the real police in Thailand contact me.

[MrJohnson]

I've just got around to watching this show. This video is not about Thais or the Thai judicial system. By and large - Misha the stupid teenager and her spineless boyfriend - (hello did u never hear about some countries being tough on drugs???) Sonny (something very dodgy there guys - maybe helping Dad bust a few ATM, the drunken mugged git at the full moon party (with the drunk friends berating the thai police - gee i wonder why they didn't take those lads serriously?) , the drunken, shameful, disrespectful Bristish sailors in Phuket and that D&**ckhead who urinated on the front of the Baht bus and on and on.......this is a show about idiot Brits who should never be isssued with a passport. What might be acceptable behaviour on the High St. on a Friday night in Old Blighty (thankfully) is frownd upon here. What a lot of <deleted> this show is..............if it is supposed to engender sympathy from viewers it certainly hasn't worked for me.

Pass me a bucket - I'm gonna be sick.

[GungaDin]

I'd like to ask all those who think the JJ jet ski incident was stage this:

How is it that the jet ski in question had old damage? Was this some stage prop? Did the producers of the film come a month in advance and damage a craft for use later?

JJ does not deny that the damage is old. So the craft was rented with preexisting damage. There is no way around this.

If it was staged it doesn't matter about the damage does it, if the damage was new or old its irrelevant - just a movie.

Personally I think JJ is a total scum bag crook, and has run this scam many times - but the particular incident with the UK marines was staged.

Prove it or shutup.

[StateSix]

I thought the female volunteers came across well, and were performing the role as it should be. They acted as a liaison for Mica, trying to give her factual information on what could happen to her, and using their contacts to try and find information out. They were also helping out the injured at the full moon party.

On the other hand you have the Pattaya volunteers getting involved in things that are out of their remit. Why were they shown leading one of the 'mercanaries' along the street by the arm, with an extended baton. Getting involved in breaking up bar fights surely comes under the remit of the actual police. Then the voiceover talks about the investigation being led by one of them. Again, why is he 'leading' it? He has no jurisdiction over it. He was also completely unprofessional shouting out in public that the guy in the green shirt was a liar, regardless of whether it turned out he was. When the CCTV footage was shown, the voiceover said the guys 'policeman instincts' were right. Not sure what he did previously, but he isn't actually a policeman in Pattaya.

Are there any shows involving Bangkoks volunteers? I never read anything about them on here either, especially negative stuff. Is this because they just get on with helping people and don't get involved in stuff that is nothing to do with them.

I always thought that Howard and his guys got a bit of an unnecessary hard time on here, but watching this show makes me believe that maybe they are more about acting as fully fledged police officers and not as the volunteer support staff that they are.

They are police offers and do have power of arrest over foreigners. Actually civilians are also allowed to make a citizens arrest.

Are you sure about that? Power of arrest over foreigners only? How would that work? Have they gone through full law training, powers of arrest, arrest procedures etc? Have they been sworn in as police officers?

They may have powers to make a citizens arrest much the same as any other citizen, but this does not make them police officers, as there are certain powers of arrest that are only open to sworn police officers, at least that is the case in the UK.

[Mark Wolfe]

Sorry, there is absolutely no way that the jet ski incident was "staged."

Do you suppose that the British marines were willing actors? The damage claimed was old and could not have been caused by the person riding the jet ski that day, so you suppose that the filmmaker said to JJ: "I want to film you scamming some sailors, can you do that? It will make you look bad and it will be bad for tourism and probably fuc_k up your business to some extent, but it's for ART! Whaddaya say?"

JJ: "I do for you, no problem!"

Yeah, sure it was staged.