NATION Journalist Held Up At Gunpoint By 'Police'

[MegaRanter]

The one that pulled the gun, is named Woxxxxn, he has been known to let off shots, but with the gun pointing towards the sky.

I know a mate that slammed him on the pavement quite hard. The case is still in court and my mate gets free visa till the verdict comes, its been 5 years, appeal and counter appeal.

If you happen to see him, just tell him, you will call Simeon(practically nuts). He would do a Flash.

[bunuel]

Corruption in the Thai police force??? How shocking - round up the usual suspects!!

No wonder these defenders of Thai culture were suspicious! As a professional writer myself, I find this account full of holes and very badly written. if the story itself is any indication, the term "NATION journalist" Is indeed an oxymoron.

Perhaps they were fed up with the abysmal journalist standards of the Nation.

[bunuel]

Roger on all counts, brother!

A very informative and thoughtful post that is right on the money, as far as this Muzungu is concerned. Fact that the Thais were never officially colonized is also a factor. In reality, Thais seem to have emulated their de facto colonizers the Japanese, who have all sorts of racial issues with their assorted inferiors. The other day, passed a club on Soi 39 with a sign in English saying " Japanese only!".

The irony, of course, is that the Japanese see the Thais as yet another barely human subspecies...Once again, the oppressed have taken on the worst qualities of the oppressors - as they do just about everywhere in the world..

Hi, I am an Indian who has been residing in Thailand for about 16 years now and simply love it. Most of my best friends here are Thai. Coming to the issue as to whether Thais are racialistic......well they are basically racialistic to everyone including their own kind ie Isaan versus The Northerners versus the Southerners etc....let along the different ethnic foreigners. They are racialistic towards their own neighbours ie The Burmese, Cambodians, Laos, Vietnamese, etc. It all originates from their own insecurity and ignorance. Once you understand that, simply play it cool and do not take things to hard. Racialism exists everywhere....The US, in Singapore, In UK, everywhere.

I have never had any problems in my 16 years in this country and sometimes it boils down to the individual.....how you conduct and potray yourself.

Having said that, you can also rest assured.....one of the reasons that I love this country is that everything has a price and the locals here.....even if u are black, indian or an old, ugly looking and dirty farang, will lick your private parts without any hesitation, if you pay the right price!

Some of those who claim to be educated and speak English are also the same. Some of those ladies who are married to farangs and pretend to be hi-sos and make also say things like their kind hates blacks and farangs.....are most of the time also discriminated by their own fellow thais who normally label them as .......you know what.

About the issues of hating Indians.....ya .....me myself sometimes hate some of the Indians u see here..........they are such miserly and crude business people....worst than the Thai Chinese......but unlike the Thai Chinese......they keep a low profile......most of the hotels, service apt businesses, diamond trading, colourstone trading, garment manufacturing, land businesses, plastic and chemical businesses are all controlled by Indians here. who never give anything back to society.

Any yes, on the lower end ...u have those pathetic Indian Money Lenders, Peanut Sellers who really need a wash!

Again, Thais cannot differentiate between Indiand and Pakistanis. (The latter known for various criminal activities here in Thailand and often creating a bad name for the Indians who assume they are Indians. According to the Indian Embassy......there are only about less than 5 Indians languishing in the various in Thailand. Now compare that to the number of British Citizens, Taiwanese, Chinese, Malaysian, etc.......

About the Lord Buddha....whether he is Indian or a Nepalese (Thais still hate Nepales and still lump them up as Kek.)why the Thais are praying to a "smelly kek" , i will never know. In fact they also pray to a lot of other "smelly" Indian Gods ie Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva, Goddess Lakshmi, etc.......Guess it tell a lot about them.

But then again....as I said ealier on.....just relax and chill out......its a great place if you know how to play it....when people are stupid and ignorant......use it to ur advantage and always pretend to be nice to them......there is a thousand and one things to get revenge in a sweet way.And remember, always be financially above them....as money is actually their God here and you can do anything with money here....its fun!

Anyway.....coming back to the main thing.....I do not thing that the crime was perprated towards the OP,just because he was an Indian......I think that those lower life forms would have targetted anyone that they could take advantage of.

What I am curious is to wait and see waht else the OP has done about the legal issues ie police reports etc. And perharps he should also use his capability in the papers to have releases sent to other foreign papers so that people would be more careful about coming to Thailand.

[ableguy]

they were real policemen, one in uniform, with badges and guns.

why they didn't stop at the journalist's house to check his passport (foreigners are obliged to carry their pass at all time - or at least a cophy of it) is a little strange, probably they decided, that wallets/ring/mobiles would be an easier prise, than entering the house and leaving empty handed.

What we need is a crack down on fake police men and also on real ones.

[bangon04]

they were real policemen, one in uniform, with badges and guns.

why they didn't stop at the journalist's house to check his passport (foreigners are obliged to carry their pass at all time - or at least a cophy of it) is a little strange, probably they decided, that wallets/ring/mobiles would be an easier prise, than entering the house and leaving empty handed.

What we need is a crack down on fake police men and also on real ones.

Can someone post a beginners' guide to how to tell the difference, please?

Are the real ones the ones you see on TV news shows with lots of gold braid on their caps?

[surayu]

Can someone post a beginners' guide to how to tell the difference, please?

just use the standard formula " same same but different"

[Ulysses G.]

Having said that, you can also rest assured.....one of the reasons that I love this country is that everything has a price and the locals here.....even if u are black, indian or an old, ugly looking and dirty farang, will lick your private parts without any hesitation, if you pay the right price!

Now you've gotten me all excited!

[mca]

and the locals here....will lick your private parts without any hesitation,

What like the spare oil filter I keep for my car?

[SteeleJoe]

Thanks for that - but a bargirl once told me it was the Thai word for guava.

Guess how Thailand (Siam) wound up with Guava? The Portuguese. Why do you think potatoes are called man farang? Cuz they aint from here, are they?

[MJP]

Thanks for that - but a bargirl once told me it was the Thai word for guava.

Guess how Thailand (Siam) wound up with Guava? The Portuguese. Why do you think potatoes are called man farang? Cuz they aint from here, are they?

'Spudders', it's a name we coined for big old sexpats.

[NikhilBkk]

What is desperately needed at the moment is: " A Crackdown on the Police by the Public!"

[TheLaughingMan]

What is desperately needed at the moment is: " A Crackdown on the Police by the Public!"

No, what is desperately needed right at this moment is a crackdown on retarded language arguments that have nothing to do with the op.

[Badbanker]

Just to give some clarity to this thread:

All Thai Police (Non Commissioned Officers) are not issued 6 shooters but can book them out of each individual Police Stations Amory at will. A 20 year old 6 shooter is going to cost you 20-30k baht.

Thai Police have to buy every thing they wear and often borrow money from family to buy guns which are normally about 50 k baht each.

Police Uniforms are expensive 1-2,000 baht shirt and pants and each of the chrome bits you see are 500 baht a piece to buy. Most fresh ranking officers have to spend at least 100k baht to get themselves fitted out when they come out of Police Academy. A fresh one star graduate gets 8,000 baht a month salary and a shared police flat! Nothing else!

Sure, Police have got to get income from other places to survive but some go overboard and a few are outright criminal.

They have a dam_n tough job to do dealing with the huge influx of drugs and laws that are riddled with problems and inconsistencies. Of course you have also got to have a higher ranking protector.

I love them and respect them and work with them every day and see their problems and issues.

Fortunately the level of professionalism has grown dramatically in the past 25 years I have seen and it is getting better every day.

99% of cops are good but it is the 1% that is what we hear about.

BB

[joefromdc]

99% of cops are good but it is the 1% that is what we hear about.

"Clarity" my lily-white ass (and I'm Italian, my ass ain't that white...)

[negreanu]

Haha...what a banker

[waza]

Just to give some clarity to this thread:

All Thai Police (Non Commissioned Officers) are not issued 6 shooters but can book them out of each individual Police Stations Amory at will. A 20 year old 6 shooter is going to cost you 20-30k baht.

Thai Police have to buy every thing they wear and often borrow money from family to buy guns which are normally about 50 k baht each.

Police Uniforms are expensive 1-2,000 baht shirt and pants and each of the chrome bits you see are 500 baht a piece to buy. Most fresh ranking officers have to spend at least 100k baht to get themselves fitted out when they come out of Police Academy. A fresh one star graduate gets 8,000 baht a month salary and a shared police flat! Nothing else!

Sure, Police have got to get income from other places to survive but some go overboard and a few are outright criminal.

They have a dam_n tough job to do dealing with the huge influx of drugs and laws that are riddled with problems and inconsistencies. Of course you have also got to have a higher ranking protector.

I love them and respect them and work with them every day and see their problems and issues.

Fortunately the level of professionalism has grown dramatically in the past 25 years I have seen and it is getting better every day.

99% of cops are good but it is the 1% that is what we hear about.

BB

So if you pay peanuts you get monkeys. Theres quite a few monkeys out there driving Mercs.

Edited January 15, 2011 by waza

[EyesWideOpen]

dam_n......Proving once again all things are relative, I used to be irritated at the endless police ( monkeys in uniform) checkpoints where I am extorted for 200 baht a pop. Now I see that the real dark side is where they kidnap you at gunpoint and strip out your bank account.....Now I will happily pay them the standard shakedown fee of 200 baht. 

Is this a new low for the Thai police?? So far we have murder for hire, drug dealing, extortion, shake downs, and now kidnapping.....  What is next ???

[TheOnceler]

You said "instead of turning into Suan Phlu and Immigration". When did this event take place? Immigration moved from Suan Phlu ages ago.

Bingo.

Although the headquarters moved last year, Suan Phlu wasn't completely closed and, in fact, the immigration detention centre is still there. A teacher from my school was banged up there just 3 months ago because of a passport problem (caught at Chang Wattana, then sent to Suan Phlu for processing), so there's nothing wrong with that part of the journalist's story... but who knows?

Edited January 16, 2011 by TheOnceler

[Buchholz]

99% of cops are good but it is the 1% that is what we hear about.

BB

^

Joke of the day.

Last year 751 people died in prison or police custody.

http://www.economist.com/node/11058580?story_id=11058580

[metisdead]

As the topic has already drifted off topic previously due to numerous replies to a troll post, another reply to the troll post has been removed in an attempt to keep this topic from veering off topic again.

[Badbanker]

So according to the article 751 people died in prison or Police custody in 2007!

This doesn't mean much when you think of the time and the fact that there I believe 500,000 prisoners in Thailand.

BB

[Buchholz]

So according to the article 751 people died in prison or Police custody in 2007!

This doesn't mean much when you think of the time and the fact that there I believe 500,000 prisoners in Thailand.

BB

It probably means quite a bit to the 751.

btw, cut what you "believe" by more than half.

Prison population total (including pre-trial detainees / remand prisoners) : 212,058

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/law/research/icps/worldbrief/wpb_country.php?country=114

btw (part II), the article in my original post also mentions an incident quite similar to the OP of this thread:

Among current cases are a group of border police accused of abducting innocent people and extorting money from them

as well as a whole host of other nefarious activities by the police.

Do you really expect people here to believe only 1% of police are bent?

I was born at night, but not last night.

Amazing.

Edited January 16, 2011 by Buchholz

[KhaoNiaw]

I seem to remember a gang of police officers out of Samrong were busted a year or two for shaking down (and perhaps murdering) some foreign businessmen. Probably back out there, or some of them weren't caught.

In that area, if they were from immigration, maybe they were from Samutprakan and heading for Paknam,

[swillowbee]

Is it just me, or does it seem in the last year or so that open season has been declared by crooked Thai officials and crooked Thai Thais on foreigners? Foreigners have always been targets, but it seems I am reading more and more of the in-your-face, out in the open, on camera, bold face, you-wanna-do-something-about-it crime purpetrated against foreigners.

The fake cops in BKK holding The Nation reporter and his son (ethnic Indians) at gun point? ... the jet ski thugs, with their crooked Royal Thai Police partners, openly threatening and scamming tourists (on camera)? ... the murder of the Canadian tourist in Pai by the Royal Thai Police? ... the Thai 'Litter Police' in BKK methodically extorting foreign tourists for allegedly littering? ... Suvarabhumi duty free shops with their Thai Airport Security criminal partners shaking-down tourists? ... and on, and on, and on?

Is this accelerating, or is it just me?

Is it possible that every Thai, public servant or private citizen, who has the slightest bit of larceny in them now sees clearly that there is no protection for foreign victims in Thailand, and that nothing will happen to Thai criminals if they go after foreigners?

I've lived here 10+ years, and it feels different now. This feels to me like a tipping point, where lawlessness is now a daily risk for any foreigner seen on the street, and no Thai institution has the ability, or an interest, to stop it?

Is anyone else here sensing this? Am I alone on this one? Are there other long-time foreign residents here who see this? I wonder if there is any reliable statistical data that might illuminate any trends over the last years.

I am thinking of what happened to Jamaica years ago, from which it has never recovered.

[surayu]

I am thinking of what happened to Jamaica years ago, from which it has never recovered.

Reggae?

...for the other issue, think about it, whoever wants to commit a crime here have a few options, to do it on one of his own, chances are he will not end up with much in his pockets and if caught, will get an harsh treatment, if targeting a foreigner he will looks more like a poor targeting the riches invasors, will get very likely only an apparent sentence, if any at all, much more chances to get more wealth, hardly any ripercussion from the family/affiliated of the victims, trying to target a local wealthy person is more of a death wish and they know it, doing so will make them becomes the victims instead of the perpetrators they want to be, more and more are getting into this way of thinking, just my opinion, i might well be wrong, i really would like to have got it wrong actually.... :jap:

[MAJIC]

If the "Google-Meter" is a fair measure, (and online news stories are perhaps only the tip of the iceberg), then it is easy to conclude that the Thai police seem to have a very good track record of targeting foreigners. In fact, I am thinking that the skill and enthusiasm of the Thai police in these matters could perhaps be utilized to spawn a new "thrill-seeker" style of "realism-tourism".. (I'm also thinking that HousePainter could write a fine piece of humour from this angle…)

The Statistics, from a Web-Centric point of view..

If you do a "focused" Google (key words in parenthesis) you get the following raw results.. (I used http://www.google.com.sg for this exercise in relatively uncensored news gathering..)

"Thai Police" + "Extortion" = 29,400 results (and a few fit the profile…)

"Thai Police" + "kidnap" + "foreigner" = 4,190 results (I thought it would have been more..)

"Thai police" + "Murder" + "foreigner" = 13,900 results (I hoped for a lower number..)

A few no-parenthesis Googles..

Thai police murder British Couple - -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Adam_Lloyd_and_Vanessa_Arscott

Thai police kill Canadian (193,00 results, this story stays, and stays on the blogosphere..)

http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2008/07/19/canadians-protest-murder-by-thai-police-july-19-08/

Then there are other news stories, where the hidden story of the police crime against the foreigner is way more interesting than the public story..

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/04/14/headlines/headlines_30031870.php http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/thai-police-arrested-over-kidnapping/2007/04/14/1175971400598.html?s_cid=rss_smh

JD

"UK Police" + "Extortion" = 155,000 results

"UK Police" + "kidnap" + "foreigner" = 31,800 results

"UK Police" + "Murder" + "foreigner" = 51,200 results

Unqualified stats are meaningless.

I presume you mean,your search results are referring to the cases worked on by UK Police,and not their criminal involvement.

Edited January 16, 2011 by MAJIC

[JennyTaylor]

It's actually very easy to distinguish between real and fake policemen in Thailand. One group is armed, wears uniforms and extracts money with menaces from Thais and foreigners alike; the other group wears uniforms, is armed and extracts money with menaces from foreigners and Thais alike. I hope this is now crystal clear.

[waza]

I am thinking of what happened to Jamaica years ago, from which it has never recovered.

Reggae?

...for the other issue, think about it, whoever wants to commit a crime here have a few options, to do it on one of his own, chances are he will not end up with much in his pockets and if caught, will get an harsh treatment, if targeting a foreigner he will looks more like a poor targeting the riches invasors, will get very likely only an apparent sentence, if any at all, much more chances to get more wealth, hardly any ripercussion from the family/affiliated of the victims, trying to target a local wealthy person is more of a death wish and they know it, doing so will make them becomes the victims instead of the perpetrators they want to be, more and more are getting into this way of thinking, just my opinion, i might well be wrong, i really would like to have got it wrong actually.... :jap:

I agree, foreigners in Thailand are disenfrachised, disempowered, dislocated, disarmed, disadvantaged, disaffected, disqualified and disrespected. Therefore, they are considered a soft target.

[swillowbee]

Is it just me, or does it seem in the last year or so that open season has been declared by crooked Thai officials and crooked Thai Thais on foreigners? Foreigners have always been targets, but it seems I am reading more and more of the in-your-face, out in the open, on camera, bold face, you-wanna-do-something-about-it crime purpetrated against foreigners.

The fake cops in BKK holding The Nation reporter and his son (ethnic Indians) at gun point? ... the jet ski thugs, with their crooked Royal Thai Police partners, openly threatening and scamming tourists (on camera)? ... the murder of the Canadian tourist in Pai by the Royal Thai Police? ... the Thai 'Litter Police' in BKK methodically extorting foreign tourists for allegedly littering? ... Suvarabhumi duty free shops with their Thai Airport Security criminal partners shaking-down tourists? ... and on, and on, and on?

Is this accelerating, or is it just me?

Is it possible that every Thai, public servant or private citizen, who has the slightest bit of larceny in them now sees clearly that there is no protection for foreign victims in Thailand, and that nothing will happen to Thai criminals if they go after foreigners?

I've lived here 10+ years, and it feels different now. This feels to me like a tipping point, where lawlessness is now a daily risk for any foreigner seen on the street, and no Thai institution has the ability, or an interest, to stop it?

Is anyone else here sensing this? Am I alone on this one? Are there other long-time foreign residents here who see this? I wonder if there is any reliable statistical data that might illuminate any trends over the last years.

I am thinking of what happened to Jamaica years ago, from which it has never recovered.

Reggae?

...for the other issue, think about it, whoever wants to commit a crime here have a few options, to do it on one of his own, chances are he will not end up with much in his pockets and if caught, will get an harsh treatment, if targeting a foreigner he will looks more like a poor targeting the riches invasors, will get very likely only an apparent sentence, if any at all, much more chances to get more wealth, hardly any ripercussion from the family/affiliated of the victims, trying to target a local wealthy person is more of a death wish and they know it, doing so will make them becomes the victims instead of the perpetrators they want to be, more and more are getting into this way of thinking, just my opinion, i might well be wrong, i really would like to have got it wrong actually.... :jap:

... (yes, yes, Surayu ... that incidious reggae scourge ... who'd a thunk, eh?)

... as more and more Thais recognize the vulnerablity of foreigners to Thai criminal acts, the failure of the Thai police to protect foreigners (even less than they protect Thais), the impotence of our embassies to help us, our lack of local 'informal' protection, Thais become aware that we are essentially defenseless ... we are the easy target ... the sitting ducks to whom they shift focus.

... mentioned above, is Thailand becoming better suited for adventure tourism? ... "Visit Lawless Thailand" ... the same way adventurers are attracted to Africa?

... the power of the Internet could eventually get to critical mass with such websites as http://www.scams-in-pattaya.com/, http://www.bangkokscams.com/ , http://www.thailandscams.com/ , http://www.justiceforleo.com/ ... regarded travel blogs and web sites now have special sections on the Thai crime scene ... has this the momentum to eventually change the appeal of Thailand to foreigners? ... investors, retirees, tourists.

[JennyTaylor]

You said "instead of turning into Suan Phlu and Immigration". When did this event take place? Immigration moved from Suan Phlu ages ago.

In fact, I have heard from an American friend that the Suan Phlu office is still open a few hours a week for making your (absurd) 90-day reports. The journey to Sun Wattana (sp?) is such a schlep. Hours, anyone?