Youre absolutely correct The Mask. The Thais couldnt care less about the farang and LOS is so imbeded in the class system i cannot see it ever changing.There are BKK hi-so people here particularly around Saphan kwai and ari districts who own hundreds of homes,golf courses businesses etc etc.They do nothing except hire people to collect the rent and travel o/seas to Milan,NY and London to shop. The poor here are getting poorer and poorer every day. Its very worrying. They cannot save money anymore which is potentially dangerous for everyone. The lucky ones can pimp out one of their wives or daughters to some old codger from Europe or the US and maybe they will be enriched by his ignorant generousity.I doubt if there has ever been a bargirl (isan) that genuinely likes her farang boyfriend or husband. Its always about the money........always!!. Ask her Isan boo-a sami. He will be floating around somewhere. They always are.

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It was a bit of a rant Patklang, but I'm NOT sure it deserved the FULL uppercasing...

Not much on the airport, I'd agree. Some reasonable points appropriate for half a dozen other threads.

Back to Cobra Swamp: I don't know. I'd like to whinge about it, or perhaps begrudgingly offer faint praise, but I've never been there hence I'll just follow the wise words of fellow TV members.

actually these tourists were shoplifters and proven by the CCTV footage. However the issue is extortion to get out of jail free. I'm quite positive the shoplifters would rather pay then go to the lockup.

The closed circuit TV footage didn't prove anything. It's not clear that the people pictured are the extorted couple. There have been stories of dozens of farang accused and extorted, on an on-going basis. Even if some of them were guilty, it's a large-scale rip-off, on par with the daily jet ski extortions at Pattaya and Phuket and Samui, and should be harshly dealt with.

how can it be extortion to get out of jail free.(?) There's nothing free about it!

In Thailand, a very serious offense (bilking government of tens of millions of baht, etc) might risk a fine of 2,000 baht. Whereas the frightened, harassed farang are getting extorted for two hundred times that amount for an alleged offense involving a 500 baht item.

It's akin to the jetski rip-offs, where weapon-wielding shouting punks are demanding 50,000 baht for a repair that would cost a couple hundred baht max. If nothing else, farang should become educated on the relative value of money in Thailand. At least then they would better understand the parameters of what's being bargained, even when they have weapons brandished in their faces or threats of inevitable years in crap hole of a Thai jail.

And this is a surprise?

Swampy nickname does not come from nowhere...

aka Scampy...

Thought that was Nana...