Big Trouble In Tourist Thailand

[hughben]

The couple who claimed they were ripped off with their accommodation by the foreigner - why did they hand their passports over?

You don't hand your passports to anyone.

And they are the property of your country.

If I was in a similar scenario, I think I would have told the police they were stolen, got replacements and told the police/consulate who stole them as I was leaving the country.

[BTITmaker]

whistleblower - 2 things ... I meant what's shown/how it's portrayed as one thing.

A journalist with a series on TV MAY be one thing (but doesn't count for a hill of beans these days I promise you), but a journalist with a TV series on BRAVO? A Channel that was complained of to OFCOM last week - on the grounds of factual inaccuracy - which the following week, aware of this complaint, goes on to say a woman who died (widely reported) is alive? Somehow, I think the Ambassador's got more pressing stuff to attend to.

I'm not sure Howard always negotiates in favour of the Thais - maybe in the programmes it looks that way, maybe not, but doesn't it take a court to decide these things? I hadn't a clue how much you could get a toilet seat for in B&Q until I just learned - Thai Visa's a wonderful thing.

I'm not sure the Thai police regulars were bothered enough to issue any warnings - during filming our series wasn't taken quite as seriously as it was after.

Don't think I was around for the bloke who lost his phone in McDonalds so I don't know how that concluded - but I am unhappy with the way the series has been edited - judgements have been made in the edit suites that I am not pleased about, and I've come out and said so. Like faking stuff.

Edited October 20, 2009 by BTITmaker

[maithing]

the volunteer police must do his job for that he is taken, translate and help for tourist, just when the Thai police him ask to help, but many from this volunteers don´t speak thai, I look many time in walkingstreet, sometime I want ask th e tourist police why he take so many MACHO man ( tatoe - 2 telephone - nife on the bell ) te most people with a uniform like this is a poor man at home and want show the world who he is ,,, a macho,,,, and a part of the bath what every body must pay, and a brown arm when he make his visa

for the few good man sorry

[Patsycat]

Well, I'm off to Benidorm or Torremollinos next summer - Seems like all the yobs will be in Thailand!!! So I shall have a nice quiet holiday.

I enjoyed this last episode -

Aging Lotharios - made me laugh.

Also, thought it was a bit OTT not editing the bit about Lydia. We all followed that story here and on other websites and newspapers. May she rest in peace.

Howard - keep up the good work and i hope that your wedding will be full of joy and happiness!!!

And can we have some piccies!!!

Edited October 20, 2009 by Patsycat

[whistleblower]

BTITT maker

You could have done the 'we asked the British embassy to comment on this or that, but they declined to comment or werent interested thing. at least then people watching were privy to know that basically they are not interested.

The British ambassador doesnt have anything more pressing to do (unless you count pressing his nose up some Thai govt officials ass and kissing it), or making apologies for what some other ambassador said 50 years ago)

In regards to Howard (sheriff of pattaya), for the sake of balanced journalism, couldnt we please just have one scene where he actually helps a tourist???? He comes off as a (polite) guy who doesnt want to side with anyone apart from the people who gave him his uniform. Also in the series you say these volunteers have been drafted in to help the thai police. drafted in from where??? are they on attachment from their own police force in their countries. Or are they business owners in Pattaya, who could get trouble of their own if they dont side with the locals. Never understood why they volunteer to mix with (unfortunately) mainly brit pissheads, hookers and thai low life for free?? You could have done a bit on why are guardian angels are in thailand in the first place.

[hm1973]

Also when the middle eastern guy who thought he had his phone stolen in mcdonalds was proved wrong, why didnt they continue to view the tape and find out what happened to it??

We did, we were there for over an hour looking for the phone. You seem to have a problem grasping the concept of a tightly edited TV documentary compared to real life. Think a bit more before you post.

[kurnell]

Also when the middle eastern guy who thought he had his phone stolen in mcdonalds was proved wrong, why didnt they continue to view the tape and find out what happened to it??

We did, we were there for over an hour looking for the phone. You seem to have a problem grasping the concept of a tightly edited TV documentary compared to real life. Think a bit more before you post.

I was going to ask this also and your response above is not clear. You were there for an over an hour and what, the tape ran out?

[whistleblower]

Also when the middle eastern guy who thought he had his phone stolen in mcdonalds was proved wrong, why didnt they continue to view the tape and find out what happened to it??

We did, we were there for over an hour looking for the phone. You seem to have a problem grasping the concept of a tightly edited TV documentary compared to real life. Think a bit more before you post.

You too, so where was it?? and what happened??

Tightly edited?? 200hrs made into 8 hour series. F**king 'shoehorned i would say!!!

[whistleblower]

Also hm1973 care to answer any of my other questions???

BTITT maker, Dont wanna get on your back or anything and you may have answered in the other 70 odd pages, but you seem to blame veera productions and another company for innacuracies etc. Does this mean you were only the cameraman and not the maker? If so wouldnt a name change on this forum be in order?

[whistleblower]

No answer from hm1973, he must have rushed off to shaft.... sorry save another tourist

[BTITmaker]

whistleblower - well, I came up with the original idea (Thai Cops - but a more balanced blend of Thai cops and farang helpers), shot the pilot, spent nearly two years -unpaid - getting the series off the ground (Sky One optioned it first and then turned it down), and when Bravo - eventually - went for it I produced, directed and filmed it. So, I can't shirk the responsibility. But it is a Frankenstein's Monster. My mistake was in relinquishing editorial control - believing Vera Productions would handle the material responsibly and fairly. No. 1 on my agenda would have been not to have upset the Thai authorities - the JJ/Royal Marines story could have been told watchably without causing the fallout it did, which was unnecessary. The title of the series, which caught me completely off-guard, was a bad decision. I haven't been involved in the naming (except to protest) nor the editing of the series, nor the writing of it. That's all been done by editors and an Edit Producer supervised by an Executive Producer in London - structuring the shows from the material I shot. But they weren't the ones threatened with arrest and imprisonment. I have to accept some of the blame because Thai Cops was my idea, but the litany of factual inaccuracies - that's not my fault. On balance, though, I think you're right about my title BTIT, so I may reinvent myself.

Edited October 20, 2009 by BTITmaker

[taffylee]

Not sure if BTITmaker is the guy that had to leave Thailand, maybe you can confirm or tell me to mind my own business.

I don't know what you're worried about, there's allways Howard to come to the rescue,

Howard what's the going rate for producing a programme deamed to be damaging to Thailand???

Is there a sliding scale or do you just come up with a figure off the top of your head... (Judge Dred, I liked that )

[whistleblower]

you've been pretty honest in your replies to me. Who are Veera productions? uk company? I thought produced meant you had a hand in what went in it and how it was edited.

As for the threat of being arrested, i think all readers would agree that this is another brainfart reaction from the thais. They cant handle critisism or more importantly anything that will affect revenue coming into the country.

I think many of us who live in Thailand (me 10+ years inBkk) know what Thailand and especially Pattaya is like. The show did very well in convincing either sex tourists that Pattaya is their Shangrila or normal tourists that Pattaya is a shithole and the police r corrupt.

But it would have been nice to see a positive outcome for a tourist (i think everyone in trouble had to pay something)

Also a background on the volunteers would have been nice. If i was going on holiday and there were natives of my country as volunteers i would want to know their background. Cynical me thinks these guys/girls are long term expats with business interests who protect them by helping out the local fuzz. If thats the case (and im not saying it is) then my instinct would be they wouldnt be much help.

You could have done a 'this is howard, by day a mild mannered ESL teacher, but by night he prowls the city of pattaya searching for justice for foreigners' type of thing (bit tongue in cheek)

[taffylee]

The background of the volunteers would be very interesting.

I know there is a lot of debate about this and If I understand right a former Tourist Police Volunteer (Howards Mob) being a right bad egg, is he in jail still?

There's alway the other on who likes to carry pepper spray off duty and dish out vigilante justice to ladyboys (Whatever happened to him? Run out of town I presume)

I'm sure Howard must be clean and my personal view is that he is a man of good character (there's nothing really wrong about dressing up as a policeman, it's every 5 year old kids dream come true), especially after his challenges to 'him who cannot be named' to produce criminal records in a kind of FPV vs TPV televised debate. But even with a clean record, many countries have thier own versions of the 'Rehabilitation of Offenders Act' which means disclosure isn't given for certain aged offences, so you can never be too sure...

A ex-police or military backround may be beneficial to the TPVs, but don't quite see the value a former DJ can offer though. And from what Ive seen up to now on the programme and in real life, well do I need say... You've seen for yourselves.

Edited October 20, 2009 by taffylee

[hm1973]

Also a background on the volunteers would have been nice. If i was going on holiday and there were natives of my country as volunteers i would want to know their background. Cynical me thinks these guys/girls are long term expats with business interests who protect them by helping out the local fuzz. If thats the case (and im not saying it is) then my instinct would be they wouldnt be much help.

You could have done a 'this is howard, by day a mild mannered ESL teacher, but by night he prowls the city of pattaya searching for justice for foreigners' type of thing (bit tongue in cheek)

I have to say that I agree (at last) with one of your posts. They actually shot some footage of me at work in my day-job which clearly has not made it in the program (so far, who knows what they will do with Episode 8 if there is one!).

Who is Howard, outside of the Tourist Police?

[BTITmaker]

Not sure if BTITmaker is the guy that had to leave Thailand, maybe you can confirm or tell me to mind my own business.

I don't know what you're worried about, there's allways Howard to come to the rescue,

Howard what's the going rate for producing a programme deamed to be damaging to Thailand???

Is there a sliding scale or do you just come up with a figure off the top of your head... (Judge Dred, I liked that )

taffylee - I had to leave Thailand anyway, I'm always leaving Thailand and that was always the plan, but having been in seven jails up and down the Kingdom I would prefer not to end up in one, as nice as they are. It was Virgin Media's bright idea to call the series 'Big Trouble In Tourist Thailand' that got the backs up of the Thai authorities, and rightly so given that we'd told them we were making 'Thai Cops'. And then the content of Episode 1 compounded Virgin Media's betrayal. How the ensuing fallout was covered in the Thai media is a different matter. I speak little Thai so didn't understand a word of it in any case.

[whistleblower]

Thats what ive been asking. Ive asked or posed numerous questions to you and you havent answered one. A volunteer policeman who is cagey about saying what he does in the day time, why he came to thailand and wont answer my other questions would make me suspicious of asking for your help. so come on answer my questions.

[taffylee]

Not sure if BTITmaker is the guy that had to leave Thailand, maybe you can confirm or tell me to mind my own business.

I don't know what you're worried about, there's allways Howard to come to the rescue,

Howard what's the going rate for producing a programme deamed to be damaging to Thailand???

Is there a sliding scale or do you just come up with a figure off the top of your head... (Judge Dred, I liked that )

taffylee - I had to leave Thailand anyway, I'm always leaving Thailand and that was always the plan, but having been in seven jails up and down the Kingdom I would prefer not to end up in one, as nice as they are. It was Virgin Media's bright idea to call the series 'Big Trouble In Tourist Thailand' that got the backs up of the Thai authorities, and rightly so given that we'd told them we were making 'Thai Cops'. And then the content of Episode 1 compounded Virgin Media's betrayal. How the ensuing fallout was covered in the Thai media is a different matter. I speak little Thai so didn't understand a word of it in any case.

Thanks for confirming that, I would have done exactly the same if I was in the same boat... Also through your filming, you probably appreciate that the police whether they be Farang or Thai cannot be trusted.

I and I'm sure others on this forum appreciate your valuable contribution and particularly your honesty in this thread.

I can understand the name change in the eyes of the people who eventually sold the series

Edited October 20, 2009 by taffylee

[BTITmaker]

you've been pretty honest in your replies to me. Who are Veera productions? uk company? I thought produced meant you had a hand in what went in it and how it was edited.

As for the threat of being arrested, i think all readers would agree that this is another brainfart reaction from the thais. They cant handle critisism or more importantly anything that will affect revenue coming into the country.

I think many of us who live in Thailand (me 10+ years inBkk) know what Thailand and especially Pattaya is like. The show did very well in convincing either sex tourists that Pattaya is their Shangrila or normal tourists that Pattaya is a shithole and the police r corrupt.

But it would have been nice to see a positive outcome for a tourist (i think everyone in trouble had to pay something)

Also a background on the volunteers would have been nice. If i was going on holiday and there were natives of my country as volunteers i would want to know their background. Cynical me thinks these guys/girls are long term expats with business interests who protect them by helping out the local fuzz. If thats the case (and im not saying it is) then my instinct would be they wouldnt be much help.

You could have done a 'this is howard, by day a mild mannered ESL teacher, but by night he prowls the city of pattaya searching for justice for foreigners' type of thing (bit tongue in cheek)

Vera Productions is a London-based production company owned by, among others, Rory Bremner - a TV impressionist. VERA is an anagram of the names of the founders. The 'R' is for Rory. I was sitting in the office one day and in bounded Bremner. "Thailand" he said "It's the only country that charges corkage if you take your wife".

Producing used to mean that you had a hand in the edit, but not these days. And this is my point. I started out in TV 20 years ago and, like everything, it changes. But TV has changed for the worse. It's more common these days for the Producer in the field (who organises and collates the coverage) to hand over to an Edit Producer who might never have been to Thailand but can be relied upon to give the Channel (Bravo) what they need - i.e. stereotypes. It also saves having to pay the Producer in the field to also oversee the editing of his footage, write the scripts etc. So, BTIT was being edited as it was being shot - to save money and to fit a last minute gap in Bravo's schedule (another story).

I welcome your critique whistleblower but, as I say, I had no part to play in the way my material has been presented, which I regret.

Edited October 20, 2009 by BTITmaker

[hm1973]

Thats what ive been asking. Ive asked or posed numerous questions to you and you havent answered one. A volunteer policeman who is cagey about saying what he does in the day time, why he came to thailand and wont answer my other questions would make me suspicious of asking for your help. so come on answer my questions.

I have never been cagey about what I do in the day. My avatar is a pretty good clue. I am the Managing Director of Pattaya One News and the co-owner of Pattaya 105 FM I am married with a 1 Year Business Visa and Work Permit and drive a Silver Chevrolet Pick-up. I wear extra large Marks and Spencers Underwear, I don't drink, don't smoke. I have been a Foreign Tourist Police Volunteer for 7 years and I am the Group Leader of the Pattaya Unit. Some say I was the first operation Foreign Tourist Police Volunteer/Assistant in Thailand but I have no proof of that.

In UK, I have one younger brother (3 years younger), Mother and Father. My Father is a Pharmacist and my Mother is a woman of leisure. My brother works for an Insurance Company in London and is also married with no children yet.

I was an DJ in UK for almost 16 years. I used to do Weddings, Engagements, Birthday Parties and Wine Bars. I was also a Licensee of Pubs and Nighclubs and before that worked for German and French Banks in London.

I think that covers it. Anything else you wish to know about me?

[BTITmaker]

whistleblower - perhaps we should swap titles. I sound more like a frustrated whistleblower and you a frustrated BTIT-maker!

[whistleblower]

quote 'Who is Howard outside of the tourist police?'

Answer: Obviously a nobody who didnt get to dress up as a kid. Someone who has had his fill of pattaya hookers and now gets his kicks by strutting around walking street looking important? who knows.

What we do know is that he hasnt got the balls to answer any of mine (or others) questions.

come on howard, youve had the glory of showing all your mates and the pretty bargirls your on tv. Now answer some questions

[hm1973]

quote 'Who is Howard outside of the tourist police?'

Answer: Obviously a nobody who didnt get to dress up as a kid. Someone who has had his fill of pattaya hookers and now gets his kicks by strutting around walking street looking important? who knows.

What we do know is that he hasnt got the balls to answer any of mine (or others) questions.

come on howard, youve had the glory of showing all your mates and the pretty bargirls your on tv. Now answer some questions

I just did!

[whistleblower]

i dont know the whole tv business thing. But i would be frustrated if a concept like yours was retitled/rewritten/twisted etc. But whatever it was called i think it has achieved the the views i stated in my last post to you.

So are you working on something new now?

[hm1973]

i dont know the whole tv business thing. But i would be frustrated if a concept like yours was retitled/rewritten/twisted etc. But whatever it was called i think it has achieved the the views i stated in my last post to you.

So are you working on something new now?

I only understand the first and last sentence of this post, please explain what you are on about!

[taffylee]

I don't think it is fair that this thread be directed at Howard personally... His private life is none of our business..

[hm1973]

I don't think it is fair that this thread be directed at Howard personally... His private life is none of our business..

No probs...I have no secrets.

[taffylee]

And I would have thought you were a shareholder in 'SECRETS' lol

[hm1973]

And I would have thought you were a shareholder in 'SECRETS' lol

Wish I could afford a share of it!

[whistleblower]

Sorry howard you posted your reply as i was writing mine.

Ok so thanx for the background but what about the questions i posed about the show.

Where did the mobile go?

Why 1500bht for the toilet seat?

Why do you get the foreigners to pay up instead of assisting them with the thai police? (in this i mean why didnt you tell the hooker that she was being completely unreasonable in asking 1500bht for the toilet seat)

and the bit where you got the western woman to wai a hooker was pitiful!

In the show you were always very polite (even when faced with pissed <deleted>) which is very commendable. But when your being f@*ked over by a hooker or scammer nice manners dont cut it. Help is whats needed. It seems all you achieved was facilitating the scammers in getting money, when you could have assisted the tourists at the police station.

As i said the pissed guy (who i now know was bailed out by BTITT maker) was gonna get arrested for not paying a bar chit, but you were quite happy for the hooker who nicked 2 computers etc to walk by herself to the local nick. Why didnt you attend the nick and assist this guy? What happened in this case? did she do a runner?