Police Controls Targeted At Foreigners ?

[cyrilmadrid]

Hello, I was surprised last week when I was travelling in a taxi coming back from Silom to Sukhumvit to meet a police control next to Lumpini, who stopped me and asked to get me out of the taxi (in previous case, it seemed that when they saw a foreigner in the taxi, they just let me pass). I was surprised to see that other 4 taxis, also with a foreigner inside where also stopped for the same control.

It didn't last very long, asked me a few questions and checked my idea, but also checked if I had drugs on me or anything suspicious, but I found that strange, especially when alone in the taxi, ...

Is that new ?

[MJCM]

Obama is in town so security is yanked up to a higher level !

[allane]

My guess would be that they were looking for a particular individual.

[Nisa]

It is more common around the entertainment areas for them to check certain farangs for drugs..

[IvanLaw]

Obama is in town so security is yanked up to a higher level !

"Yanked up", Like it

It is more common around the entertainment areas for them to check certain farangs for drugs..

You think they will stop Obama ?

[wellred]

I read of similar happenings around Thong Lor side... and what's worse even accusations that police were planting stuff in their pockets. If this ever happened to me

1) Don't let them put their hands in your pockets, if they do want to though ask to see their hands.

2) Empty your pockets out onto the ground keeping ensuring that pocket lining is turned inside out after. This way it doesn't give them the chance to try plant anything there.

Thing is though if they are looking for drugs why don't they just go to that soi where all the nigerians congregate?

[Nisa]

Obama is in town so security is yanked up to a higher level !

"Yanked up", Like it

It is more common around the entertainment areas for them to check certain farangs for drugs..

You think they will stop Obama ?

If he found himself alone in the back of a taxi around a red light district than possibly but alone or not if throw a cigarette down on the street then they will be all over him like white on rice and he'll be be making a 2,000 baht donation

[Nisa]

I read of similar happenings around Thong Lor side... and what's worse even accusations that police were planting stuff in their pockets. If this ever happened to me

1) Don't let them put their hands in your pockets, if they do want to though ask to see their hands.

2) Empty your pockets out onto the ground keeping ensuring that pocket lining is turned inside out after. This way it doesn't give them the chance to try plant anything there.

Thing is though if they are looking for drugs why don't they just go to that soi where all the nigerians congregate?

Do you really think any of this would help you if they were dishonest and conspiring to claim you had drugs on you? The only thing you would be doing is giving them a reason to hassle you. If you don't have anything on you then let them check you and be on your way. Challenging a cops authority is generally not a good thing but almost never a good thing in a less developed foreign country. Show respect, smile and then you'll be on your way very quickly.

[wellred]

Who said anything about not showing respect? I'm simply doing what they would be asking (ie emptying my pockets) before they ask me. Maybe you've never been scammed in Thailand but a lot of the time the police can be complicit. I'm simply covering my back.

[Nisa]

Who said anything about not showing respect? I'm simply doing what they would be asking (ie emptying my pockets) before they ask me. Maybe you've never been scammed in Thailand but a lot of the time the police can be complicit. I'm simply covering my back.

Again, how is it covering your back? If the police lie about saying they found something in your pocket or lie about saying they found something you took out of your pocket?

Up to you if you want to be paranoid and create self fulfilling prophecies but in my opinion it is not a good idea to suggest people not follow the directions of police and to tell police how to do their jobs or dictate to them how you will comply to their lawful orders while they are in the middle of an investigation. I can only imagine the reaction you would get in LA or NY if you tried to tell a cop in English not to put their hands in your pocket and that you'll reach into your own pockets and pull out whatever is in there yourself and yet you want to do this in Thailand were the cops probably have limited English and where they have a right to search you (even in your pockets) if they feel suspicion.

Telling people to: "Don't let them put their hands in your pockets, if they do want to though ask to see their hands." is asking for problems and accomplishes nothing and could result in getting somebody thrown in jail who otherwise may have been on their way in a couple minutes.

No it is not enjoyable to feel violated but if you got nothing to hide then in 99.9% of cases you will be on your way if you just grin and bear it and show respect. In fact, even if you do have something to hide, chances are you can still easily be on your way if you show respect but almost always a bad idea to challenge authority just for the sake of challenging authority as would be your suggestion because it certainly isn't going to stop a cop who wants to say you were carrying drugs from saying you were carrying drugs regardless if you took the ghost drugs out of your own pocket or they did.

Edited November 18, 2012 by Nisa

[wayned]

Was stopped a few months ago on highway 11 near Inburi. I had 4 Thais in the truck and five in the back. They made everybody get out and body searched them. They even had a female BIB to search the women, Hands down the pants and bras. The funny thing was they never searched the inside of the truck or me. I just stood there and watched and smiled. I guess that they were looking for pills and my pockets could have been full but no search. They only asked for my DL. Really wierd!

[wellred]

Who said anything about not showing respect? I'm simply doing what they would be asking (ie emptying my pockets) before they ask me. Maybe you've never been scammed in Thailand but a lot of the time the police can be complicit. I'm simply covering my back.

Again, how is it covering your back? If the police lie about saying they found something in your pocket or lie about saying they found something you took out of your pocket?

Up to you if you want to be paranoid and create self fulfilling prophecies but in my opinion it is not a good idea to suggest people not follow the directions of police and to tell police how to do their jobs or dictate to them how you will comply to their lawful orders while they are in the middle of an investigation. I can only imagine the reaction you would get in LA or NY if you tried to tell a cop in English not to put their hands in your pocket and that you'll reach into your own pockets and pull out whatever is in there yourself and yet you want to do this in Thailand were the cops probably have limited English and where they have a right to search you (even in your pockets) if they feel suspicion.

Telling people to: "Don't let them put their hands in your pockets, if they do want to though ask to see their hands." is asking for problems and accomplishes nothing and could result in getting somebody thrown in jail who otherwise may have been on their way in a couple minutes.

No it is not enjoyable to feel violated but if you got nothing to hide then in 99.9% of cases you will be on your way if you just grin and bear it and show respect. In fact, even if you do have something to hide, chances are you can still easily be on your way if you show respect but almost always a bad idea to challenge authority just for the sake of challenging authority as would be your suggestion because it certainly isn't going to stop a cop who wants to say you were carrying drugs from saying you were carrying drugs regardless if you took the ghost drugs out of your own pocket or they did.

You don't seem to understand. I'm simple pre empting their desire to search my pockets and in the process not giving them the opportunity to plant anything in there. I know quite a few ex pats who do the same and they don't get any trouble from the police when being searched. If you want to stroll around with rose tinted glasses then go ahead. Ill watch my back though if that's ok with you.

[RudieTheFoodie]

Telling people to: "Don't let them put their hands in your pockets, if they do want to though ask to see their hands." is asking for problems and accomplishes nothing and could result in getting somebody thrown in jail who otherwise may have been on their way in a couple minutes.

This is not good advice.

Never let police search you if you are out on the street alone and there is two of them.

Tell them you will go back to the station and be searched there in the presence of a lawyer (if they don't accept you emptying your pockets yourself)

[wellred]

^^ I was wondering where all the normal people had got to. I don't know what bubble Nisa is living in but I'm glad I follow such advice when in Thailand. It's a beautiful place however beneath that there is something else so one needs to have their wits about them.

[Stradavarius37]

This is why I wear my public university faculty ID card around my neck all the time, including weekends - I know its saved me from hassles on multiple occasions.

[HardenedSoul]

This is why I wear my public university faculty ID card around my neck all the time, including weekends - I know its saved me from hassles on multiple occasions.

Yeah sure, just flash your university faculty card; that'll stop them pulling your taxi and searching you.

I'm out at all hours of the night so I used to get stopped regularly around my corner of BKK, Asoke.

The cops know who I am so they don't bother any more.

[TommoPhysicist]

I can only imagine the reaction you would get in LA or NY if you tried to tell a cop in English not to put their hands in your pocket and that you'll reach into your own pockets and pull out whatever is in there yourself and yet you want to do this in Thailand were the cops probably have limited English and where they have a right to search you (even in your pockets) if they feel suspicion.

Cops in LA or the UK won't put their hands in your pockets (or hair).

They know druggies put needles there to deliberately 'spike' them.

You empty your own pockets, they pat you down after.

Also police in LA and the UK are less likely to be planting drugs in the hope of extracting bribes.

Edited November 21, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[koolbreez]

There has been a push by the police since the 12th across the region looking for drugs, and weapons. So far 1600+ people have been arrested in Bangkok, and Pathum Thani on drug, and weapons charges.

[wellred]

Fair dos and those people deserve to be caught but there are protocols that must be followed to allow Police to identify those people. It's because some do not follow these that some resort to what we have discussed.

[Nisa]

I can only imagine the reaction you would get in LA or NY if you tried to tell a cop in English not to put their hands in your pocket and that you'll reach into your own pockets and pull out whatever is in there yourself and yet you want to do this in Thailand were the cops probably have limited English and where they have a right to search you (even in your pockets) if they feel suspicion.

Cops in LA or the UK won't put their hands in your pockets (or hair).

They know druggies put needles there to deliberately 'spike' them.

You empty your own pockets, they pat you down after.

Also police in LA and the UK are less likely to be planting drugs in the hope of extracting bribes.

I don't know about the UK but without a doubt you have no clue what you are talking about in regards to LA cops not putting their hands in people's pockets and if you broadened your reading, you'd find LA cops murder, plant, drugs, steal and so on. And if you read those stories in the news with the same mentality you do with the negative stories here about officials, you'd also come to the baseless conclusion that all cops do these things in LA too. Many many posters here have reported being searched and nobody is talking about having drugs planted on them or even the typical "I know somebody who knows somebody" stories. It is beyond my understanding why anyone would think a cop needs to put his hands in somebody's pocket to arrest them on a trump up drug charge or to get a bribe. And by the way, there are so many ways a corrupt cop can go to make money and extort tourists that are relatively safe for them to do as opposed to playing around with drugs which could result in a serious penalty for the cop (jail, lose job...). There are just too many farangs here doing wrong at any given time to need to be planting drugs on random tourist to make a few extra bucks or risk creating a international incident because they chose the wrong person to say had drugs. But I guess if we use logic I often witness here, in situations like this Thai police don't care about face, tourism or any of the other things that people claim are their motives for cover-ups and conspiracies in the plethora of other cases where farangs are accused of doing bad in Thailand or killing themselves ... logical too because we know they don't ever do these things at home and we know Thailand only attracts the highest quality of western visitors..

[boggle]

Discussed soooooooooo many times. Been happening for as long as can remember. Do a search on TV. Lazy buggers!

Edited November 25, 2012 by boggle

[Geratul]

I don't see any difference in checking Thai or foreigners. Police can not check me because I have a white skin, so I'm holy?

When you don't have anything to hide they may check me every time and you know also that when you travel in sudden areas they will check more frequently.

[wellred]

I never have anything to hide and am happy to be searched but i always empty my pockets and turn them inside out. Not had any problems so far so will continue to do so.

[Nisa]

Telling people to: "Don't let them put their hands in your pockets, if they do want to though ask to see their hands." is asking for problems and accomplishes nothing and could result in getting somebody thrown in jail who otherwise may have been on their way in a couple minutes.

This is not good advice.

Never let police search you if you are out on the street alone and there is two of them.

Tell them you will go back to the station and be searched there in the presence of a lawyer (if they don't accept you emptying your pockets yourself)

This is not a legal option here ... and not sure it is anywhere as police generally have a right to search people they come in contact with for their own safety and in fact are required in most places to search a suspect before transporting them to the police station. You don't dictate to police how they do their job unless you want problems. What you suggest accomplishes absolutely NOTHING except possibly challenging legal authority and the result that often follows. If the police wanted to arrest you on a trump on drug charge then ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you suggest would change this .... regardless if they put their hands in your pockets or even touch you or come within in a meter of you, they can say they found drugs in your possession and it will boil down to their word against yours. I mean come on, do you really think a dishonest cop who is planting drugs on innocent tourists is all of a sudden going to become an honest guy and care about your rights because you challenged his authority? Your refusal to allow a police search on the street would be a crime for which you could be prosecuted .... but you go right ahead with telling police what they can and cannot do and dictate to them how they will do it ... I'm sure it will go down here much better than it does back in your home country.

It is this kind of superior attitude by foreigners that cause them to be so miserable here and feel the need to constantly complain because it seems they are making their own problems or at best escalating what should be a minor inconvenience into a real problem.

Not too many people enjoy interacting with cops when they are being questioned but the idea is to get it over with as quickly as possible and at the least expense and not trying to escalate and prolong the contact.

Edited November 29, 2012 by Nisa

[wellred]

Telling people to: "Don't let them put their hands in your pockets, if they do want to though ask to see their hands." is asking for problems and accomplishes nothing and could result in getting somebody thrown in jail who otherwise may have been on their way in a couple minutes.

This is not good advice.

Never let police search you if you are out on the street alone and there is two of them.

Tell them you will go back to the station and be searched there in the presence of a lawyer (if they don't accept you emptying your pockets yourself)

This is not a legal option here ... and not sure it is anywhere as police generally have a right to search people they come in contact with for their own safety and in fact are required in most places to search a suspect before transporting them to the police station. You don't dictate to police how they do their job unless you want problems. What you suggest accomplishes absolutely NOTHING except possibly challenging legal authority and the result that often follows. If the police wanted to arrest you on a trump on drug charge then ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you suggest would change this .... regardless if they put their hands in your pockets or even touch you or come within in a meter of you, they can say they found drugs in your possession and it will boil down to their word against yours. I mean come on, do you really think a dishonest cop who is planting drugs on innocent tourists is all of a sudden going to become an honest guy and care about your rights because you challenged his authority? Your refusal to allow a police search on the street would be a crime for which you could be prosecuted .... but you go right ahead with telling police what they can and cannot do and dictate to them how they will do it ... I'm sure it will go down here much better than it does back in your home country.

It is this kind of superior attitude by foreigners that cause them to be so miserable here and feel the need to constantly complain because it seems they are making their own problems or at best escalating what should be a minor inconvenience into a real problem.

Not too many people enjoy interacting with cops when they are being questioned but the idea is to get it over with as quickly as possible and at the least expense and not trying to escalate and prolong the contact.

Wrong. If a cop wants to look for an easy mark farang to make some bhat from by way of a bribe then emptying your pockets yourself at least shows them your onto them if they try anything. I've done it plenty of times and from the sounds of things others here have too so I'm not sure what you are hoping to achieve in repeatedly insisting it accomplishes nothing.

There are many things here that are not legal but still are allowed to occur. Fake music publishing companies working with crooked police to extort farangs, jet ski operators working with police to extort farangs... The list goes on.

The point is whilst it's relatively safe here it doesn't hurt to be a bit street savvy eg this thread topic.

There is no way in hell I will ever let a policeman in Thailand put his hands in my pocket without me emptying it first. Anyway if all they are looking for is what's in my pocket and I show them that what's the issue? You seem to be fabricating some sort of anger that may spill out on their part if I do that but in reality when I've done that in the past they say 'ok you can go'. If one of them actually says I want look myself ok then that's fine but before they do put their hands in I would insist on quickly seeing their hands 360 for my own safety incase they have a blade or needle their.

Tips like this can mean the difference between being searched and being extorted for x bhat which can sometimes ruin a holiday. Please stop filling this thread with rubbish as I think it's quite clear by now I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

[HardenedSoul]

Telling people to: "Don't let them put their hands in your pockets, if they do want to though ask to see their hands." is asking for problems and accomplishes nothing and could result in getting somebody thrown in jail who otherwise may have been on their way in a couple minutes.

This is not good advice.

Never let police search you if you are out on the street alone and there is two of them.

Tell them you will go back to the station and be searched there in the presence of a lawyer (if they don't accept you emptying your pockets yourself)

This is not a legal option here ... and not sure it is anywhere as police generally have a right to search people they come in contact with for their own safety and in fact are required in most places to search a suspect before transporting them to the police station. You don't dictate to police how they do their job unless you want problems. What you suggest accomplishes absolutely NOTHING except possibly challenging legal authority and the result that often follows. If the police wanted to arrest you on a trump on drug charge then ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you suggest would change this .... regardless if they put their hands in your pockets or even touch you or come within in a meter of you, they can say they found drugs in your possession and it will boil down to their word against yours. I mean come on, do you really think a dishonest cop who is planting drugs on innocent tourists is all of a sudden going to become an honest guy and care about your rights because you challenged his authority? Your refusal to allow a police search on the street would be a crime for which you could be prosecuted .... but you go right ahead with telling police what they can and cannot do and dictate to them how they will do it ... I'm sure it will go down here much better than it does back in your home country.

It is this kind of superior attitude by foreigners that cause them to be so miserable here and feel the need to constantly complain because it seems they are making their own problems or at best escalating what should be a minor inconvenience into a real problem.

Not too many people enjoy interacting with cops when they are being questioned but the idea is to get it over with as quickly as possible and at the least expense and not trying to escalate and prolong the contact.

Wrong. If a cop wants to look for an easy mark farang to make some bhat from by way of a bribe then emptying your pockets yourself at least shows them your onto them if they try anything. I've done it plenty of times and from the sounds of things others here have too so I'm not sure what you are hoping to achieve in repeatedly insisting it accomplishes nothing.

There are many things here that are not legal but still are allowed to occur. Fake music publishing companies working with crooked police to extort farangs, jet ski operators working with police to extort farangs... The list goes on.

The point is whilst it's relatively safe here it doesn't hurt to be a bit street savvy eg this thread topic.

There is no way in hell I will ever let a policeman in Thailand put his hands in my pocket without me emptying it first. Anyway if all they are looking for is what's in my pocket and I show them that what's the issue? You seem to be fabricating some sort of anger that may spill out on their part if I do that but in reality when I've done that in the past they say 'ok you can go'. If one of them actually says I want look myself ok then that's fine but before they do put their hands in I would insist on quickly seeing their hands 360 for my own safety incase they have a blade or needle their.

Tips like this can mean the difference between being searched and being extorted for x bhat which can sometimes ruin a holiday. Please stop filling this thread with rubbish as I think it's quite clear by now I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

Just allowing the police to do whatever they want with regard to searches puts your wellbeing in their hands.

Doing what wellred advises - provided it's done in a respectful and non-confrontational way - is the best way of ensuring that your fate remains in your hands.

Being something of a partygoer and living in the Asoke area, I've been stopped and searched countless times over the last 5 years here.

I think instances where drugs are planted are very, very rare indeed but I'm not taking any chances so I insist that I empty out my pockets myself and the police have never had a problem with that. If I'm wearing pants that don't have pockets that can be turned out, I ask to see his hands before he touches me.

If - heaven forbid - it ever came to him saying I had drugs on me, he'd have to prove the package had my fingerprints on it. If the contraband allegedly in my possession was a single pill, I'd ask for a urine test since one pill would suggest personal use.

Being meek and submissive doesn't guarantee you a charmed life in this country.

One can be assertive without being aggressive.

[Nisa]

Telling people to: "Don't let them put their hands in your pockets, if they do want to though ask to see their hands." is asking for problems and accomplishes nothing and could result in getting somebody thrown in jail who otherwise may have been on their way in a couple minutes.

This is not good advice.

Never let police search you if you are out on the street alone and there is two of them.

Tell them you will go back to the station and be searched there in the presence of a lawyer (if they don't accept you emptying your pockets yourself)

This is not a legal option here ... and not sure it is anywhere as police generally have a right to search people they come in contact with for their own safety and in fact are required in most places to search a suspect before transporting them to the police station. You don't dictate to police how they do their job unless you want problems. What you suggest accomplishes absolutely NOTHING except possibly challenging legal authority and the result that often follows. If the police wanted to arrest you on a trump on drug charge then ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you suggest would change this .... regardless if they put their hands in your pockets or even touch you or come within in a meter of you, they can say they found drugs in your possession and it will boil down to their word against yours. I mean come on, do you really think a dishonest cop who is planting drugs on innocent tourists is all of a sudden going to become an honest guy and care about your rights because you challenged his authority? Your refusal to allow a police search on the street would be a crime for which you could be prosecuted .... but you go right ahead with telling police what they can and cannot do and dictate to them how they will do it ... I'm sure it will go down here much better than it does back in your home country.

It is this kind of superior attitude by foreigners that cause them to be so miserable here and feel the need to constantly complain because it seems they are making their own problems or at best escalating what should be a minor inconvenience into a real problem.

Not too many people enjoy interacting with cops when they are being questioned but the idea is to get it over with as quickly as possible and at the least expense and not trying to escalate and prolong the contact.

Wrong. If a cop wants to look for an easy mark farang to make some bhat from by way of a bribe then emptying your pockets yourself at least shows them your onto them if they try anything. I've done it plenty of times and from the sounds of things others here have too so I'm not sure what you are hoping to achieve in repeatedly insisting it accomplishes nothing.

There are many things here that are not legal but still are allowed to occur. Fake music publishing companies working with crooked police to extort farangs, jet ski operators working with police to extort farangs... The list goes on.

The point is whilst it's relatively safe here it doesn't hurt to be a bit street savvy eg this thread topic.

There is no way in hell I will ever let a policeman in Thailand put his hands in my pocket without me emptying it first. Anyway if all they are looking for is what's in my pocket and I show them that what's the issue? You seem to be fabricating some sort of anger that may spill out on their part if I do that but in reality when I've done that in the past they say 'ok you can go'. If one of them actually says I want look myself ok then that's fine but before they do put their hands in I would insist on quickly seeing their hands 360 for my own safety incase they have a blade or needle their.

Tips like this can mean the difference between being searched and being extorted for x bhat which can sometimes ruin a holiday. Please stop filling this thread with rubbish as I think it's quite clear by now I'm not the only one who thinks this way.

It is idiotic and not savvy to challenge a cop's lawful authority. What is more idiotic is to believe because you treat a cop as though he can't be trusted that this will make an dishonest cop honest. Do you think the folks (real or imagined) that weren't on to the cops who says they had drugs on them when they didn't were confused and thought maybe they did have drugs on them? Treating a cop as dishonest and not to be trust and being argumentative with them and refusing to obey lawful orders as well as challenging their lawful rights is just idiotic ... especially when a plethora of folks here have said they have been searched and thousands of others have with nobody claiming cops planted drugs on them,. And no I don't believe for one minute you have refused to cooperate with them plenty of times let alone been searched plenty of times unless you are calling attention to yourself by the places you frequent or your looks.

[Nisa]

Just allowing the police to do whatever they want with regard to searches puts your wellbeing in their hands.

Doing what wellred advises - provided it's done in a respectful and non-confrontational way - is the best way of ensuring that your fate remains in your hands.

Being something of a partygoer and living in the Asoke area, I've been stopped and searched countless times over the last 5 years here.

I think instances where drugs are planted are very, very rare indeed but I'm not taking any chances so I insist that I empty out my pockets myself and the police have never had a problem with that. If I'm wearing pants that don't have pockets that can be turned out, I ask to see his hands before he touches me.

If - heaven forbid - it ever came to him saying I had drugs on me, he'd have to prove the package had my fingerprints on it. If the contraband allegedly in my possession was a single pill, I'd ask for a urine test since one pill would suggest personal use.

Being meek and submissive doesn't guarantee you a charmed life in this country.

One can be assertive without being aggressive.

LOL, do you really think finger prints are going to come into play??? If you have a bindle of coke in your pocket it would almost certainly be wiped of finger prints from being in your pocket. It is always going to come down to your word against theirs and if they want to say you have drugs then they will and there is not a dam_n thing you can do to prevent it but telling them how to do their job is certainly going to make you somebody they want to look at further or just plain dislike. And again, I don't believe for a minute your claim of you doing this plenty of times. I have too many Thai police friends and extended family who say such a thing would almost surely result in consequences for the person refusing or dictating to them how they will do their job. All you doing with your claims is pretending to have some false sense of superiority over Thai police that you don't. I can only imagine your trying to pull this stunt with a cop in the west that told you to put your hands on the car for a search and you responded by telling them you want to see their hands first and they aren't allowed to search you and you'll empty your own pockets.

[wellred]

You seem to be confusing emptying a pocket with challenging a police officers authority. If they want your pocket empty and turned inside out then why would they consider it an affront if you do it for them... and in front of them? I'd like to understand where you are fabricating this nonsense from?

As it happens my ex gf's uncle is a senior ranking officer at Thong Lor station and when the subject came up he told me it was the right thing to do based on his own experience with crooked police.

If an officer asked me to empty my pockets and I said no I could understand why they may get hot under the collar but I've never once received any less than a smile from an officer whom I've pre empted a pocket search.

Rather than continue to babble on about how you think it complicates things why not give some actual real life experiences instead of fictional theories based on nonsense.

[Nana Cowboy]

Everyone except perhaps one poster fails to realize what is happening in Thailand these days with the Thaksin puppet government. It is becoming a police state. It is not the old Asoke scam happening in mass. Check points are set up all around the country. We were stopped at one last weekend. What I've been told is the police have a device that red flags drugs or weapons from inside autos. Legal stuff can make these detectors go off. In the case of the OP I'm sure something legal set it off and they searched him. Everyone needs to be aware of this not only in BKK but around the country. A poster mentioned 1600 arrests or something in a very short time. This has been ongoing for months and arrest totals are much higher. In my case my wife had some over the counter medicine in her bag that set off the check point detector. They asked both of us to get out of the car, said "check point" and searched the entire car including luggage and the trunk. They found the OTC meds in my wife's bag after a thorough search and were satisfied that set off the detector and sent us on our way. This is the reality now so people better be aware. I can only imagine the field day they could have over at Khao San Rd. Police state my friends and nothing we can do about it so let em search and keep clean or they gotcha and it aint about tea money. You be going to jail

PS: No they are not targeting foreigners but everyone which includes foreigners of course.

Edited December 1, 2012 by Nana Cowboy