Missing Swiss Student Tourist Alive And Well, In Thai Prison

[cup-O-coffee]

[OP]...which is proof positive that there is no transparency nationwide. Their databases are either not being used, defunkt, the users are incompetent, their face will not allow them the sanity and logic to communicate nation-wide, or any combination of the three. It is amazing how Thais are ignorant in their divulging of information; not being aware that the information, which they think they are cleverly divulging, shows how far their pants really are down around their ankles.

As to all criminals, you have need of no fear. And to all innocent victims of law enforcement; be afraid. Be very afraid.

It is odd that in the entire time I have been in Southeast Asia, I have never once been aware of anyone questioning the verity and accuracy of their criminal databases, as well as the standards of their methods and practices as units, groups and organizations working together (keyowrd emphasis on the term "working together").

Another interesting item is one never hears of criminals being convicted on the basis of finger print ID. I can only imagine the condition of that database. It is probably a microfiche system, with smudged, coffee-stained print ID cards jumbled into dusty xerox boxes and scattered all around the Kingdom, lying in dark, forgotten corners, and which was purchased second hand from their buddies in the land of the rising sun in the early 1940's.

This article sums up years and years of obstructed and hidden truth. I wonder how many innocents are languishing away and their loved ones and family think they are dead or missing.

Edited January 24, 2013 by cup-O-coffee

[XINLOI]

Out in the provinces, the local authorities are the law. They do what they like. Maybe she did steal the camera, maybe she didn't. She should have been allowed to contact somebody to tell them where she was. But the law is what the local authorities say it is.

Out of all these post this one is the truest of them all. Sounds like an extortion plan to me though. Cops will be getting 130K for the return of the girl?! A local wouldn't have gotten them 10K

[Semper]

Does anyone have anything positive to add instead of opinionated crap?

Well, she is live and well.

[EyesWideOpen]

The governments of these young tourist really need to do more to educate these ones before they travel. Especially the younger ones. They grow up in the society that condition them to think I AM THE CUSTOMER AND THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT

Also many young think its cool to abuse any official they want because in most cases the officials in their own country are trained properly in confrontation and are not allowed to retaliate to these brats and must cop it sweet.

Then they will come over here with their haughy taughty attitude and think they are superior to all...them will find themselves in VERY hot water if they try it on with the wrong official here.

Regardless of who is right and wrong there is a time to shut up and toe the line. I guess this is where the folly of youth does come to a big downfall. I suspect this one probably sitting in the cell right now pondering these things

She may be sitting there a while. If she is able to prove she bought the camera, then the goal of the police will be to try to save

face by keeping her for a long long time in the hopes this story will blow over.

There is also the folly of old age. I was sitting in the roadside office of a ranking policeman who was trying to extort money from me for nothing. I told him in Thai he was simply a mafia person in a police uniform, and all the Thais hated him. He turned beet red, and the officers around him had their jaws hanging down in astonishment. Guess I was lucky he did not shoot me on the spot..... :-)

Edited January 24, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[Docno]

Seems a touch unbelievable that, when you are already in hot water for over-staying and are being 'detained' by immigration, you would wander into a room and steal a valuable item owned by one of the officers. Especially an interrogation room that may have a CCTV. That would be plain madness. Something smells like naam plaa around here... .

[Udox]

This is in one way simple. The law is clear, if any foreigner is detained by the authorities [in all their manifold guises] they are required to advise the individual's embassy as a matte of urgency. No ifs, buts, or maybes.

This is serious breach whatever the circumstances. It is even more troubling that an individual should be held apparently incommunicado and the tale is then that she is guilty of a crime [but has not been brought before a court] to excuse this failure to meet basic legal safeguards.

Even if she is guilty of any crime the requirement to notify stands.

Regards

Ha !

All the 'Laws' here are "Clear" - in fact they are written down in Black and White

Tell me what an ounce of difference that makes to anything.

(Most of) The 'upholders' of law and order here have no respect for the 'law' and regularly break the law themselves. - Go figure !

[Puccini]

At this stage, you can only believe her version or the immigration officer's.

Pick your choice.

What is her version? I do not see it mentioned in the news article.

[geriatrickid]

This story has more holes in it than swiss cheese.

Perhaps one day we will get the truth, because the sory as written just is not credible.

[Ciaran Mc]

This story just doesn't add up, and I am not accusing anyone of anything. It's just bloody bizarre.

she probably made a big scene about the over stay, and yelled obscenities at the officers, so they planted the camera on her to teach her a lesson, stupid girl, she should've just paid and moved on quitely, she was at fault.

it's frightening how truely stupid some people really are !!!!!!

[Puccini]

This is a misdemeanour type offence isn't it ?

Yes, a 130,000 baht misdemeanor.

I have seen a court in Bangkok set bail at 100,000 Baht -- apparently the minimum amount being used for bail -- for a Thai national accused of the theft of an item worth 300 Baht.

[Puccini]

She had entered Thailand on December 8 with a tourist visa, which allowed her to stay for 15 days

Why is a Tourist Visa only valid for 15 days ? if she came overland with NO Visa she would have been given 15 days........ so say in the report. she had a Tourist Visa

A lot of people call the arrival stamp resulting from a visa exempt entry a visa or a tourist visa, therefore I think we should forgive the journalist and/or the police officer this error.

[DekDaeng]

Anybody that actually believes what they read in this sort of article is a total and complete moron.

Anyone who blames immigration officers 100% of the time is also a total and complete moron. Shock and surprise there are actually dodgy tourists who frequent the LOS, and not all of them are male.

There is no point in guessing. You do not know, have absolutely no idea, of what actually happened!

Well, not guessing about the overstay as she admitted to that herself. Regarding the camera, whose to say, but from the little information presented in this article, I'm still gonna say she just pissed off the wrong immigration officer that day.

Did I miss something?

Where is the evidence that this young lady stole a camera, and is now or was required to pay 130,000 baht for its replacement?

I'd like to know what kind of immigration officer can afford a 130,000 baht camera to sit in his/her office - cos a top Nikon with zoom lens and additional lenses is only 70K !!!

-mel.

Maybe there was CCTV. Maybe the immigration officer has a receipt or a statement showing the camera was theirs. I'm sure it will be revealed as the case progresses.

And the bail is 130,000 baht. It has nothing to do with the value of the camera.

Fines in lieu of arrest are often 10 times -

[hotandhumid]

So let's try to understand this.

She was arrested on a relatively minor offence on December 25th and placed in Ranong jail.

No attempt seems to have been made to contact the Swiss embassy

On January 23rd, after her parents had reported her missing, the Ranong police finally admit that she's in their jail.....

All I can say is - thank God she didn't commit a major offence!!

Simon

PS - and in response to FDog' post; yes, the Thai police are required to inform the embassy without delay if they arrest a foreign national.

Why 'thank god'? what do you care? do you know her?

[hotandhumid]

This story has more holes in it than swiss cheese.

Perhaps one day we will get the truth, because the sory as written just is not credible.

Yes, because 'we' really care don't we...

[dighambara]

Silly girl, the overstay was easily handled, all she had to do was pay and that would have been it, but pocketing an Immigration officer's camera, big mistake.

Suspicious - Not many Immigration officers keep cameras on their desk, but many many tourists routinely carry cameras.

Logically, it was her camera and was only an excuse to extort money.

Such is so common, as in motorbike - automobile accident, the auto driver is most often prosecuted, because he has more money than the motorbike driver. Most such accidents are due to careless motorbike operation.

[aidon]

Does anyone have anything positive to add instead of opinionated crap?

Nope, this is the 'Forum of Morons'

[Puccini]

This is a silly offence but if she was caught "red handed" on video or something they should just summarily deport her - letting her sit in a Thai jail all that time for petty theft is a waste of everybody's time and money.

As a rule, police are allowed to detain a person arrested for a crime for 48 days to complete the investigation and prepare the case for presentation to the court. If more time is needed, the court can grant an extension. Even if the case is sent to court earlier, the judge may have a backlog of older cases to deal with first. "They", ie the police, cannot deport her without a court order.

When bail is posted immediatly after the court grants it or within a few hours, before the close of day, there is not even a minute of detention in jail.

[advancebooking]

she sounds like a foolish and very immature girl

[DekDaeng]

This is a misdemeanour type offence isn't it ?

Yes, a 130,000 baht misdemeanor.

I have seen a court in Bangkok set bail at 100,000 Baht -- apparently the minimum amount being used for bail -- for a Thai national accused of the theft of an item worth 300 Baht.

And a woman found guilty of embezzling 30,000 baht from her employer (a bank) got 100 years, reduced (no doubt on compassion ;-) ) to 50 years.

& the guy who started the Asian financial crisis by embezzling 100's of mill got ten years. AFAIK.

Consistency in sentencing? Silly f'lung concept.

[pacman32]

It seems obvious to me that the girl was unhappy about her overstay fine and decided to make a fuss, the immigration officer felt a loss of face and the rest is history. I cannot believe the story of the camera theft but i do know how these things work.

My other half is in the police and has told me many crazy stories that used to shock me but now just bring a wee smile at the sheer lack of true justice in Thailand when it comes to foreign nationals. One story which can show as an extreme case is the time when a guy innocently living with his gf in the north east was arrested for possession of drugs, even after insisting his innocence to his own embassy and the courts he was dully sentenced to 5 years in prison as you would expect. The cruxe of this story and the point of me writing it is that it would seem the real truth behind his arrest was that a certain police officer quite fancied this guys gf and wanted him out of the way.........I wont say anymore but im sure you can fill in the blanks.

Thailand is indeed a dangerous place to get into trouble be it with criminals or with the law and it would seem sometimes there is a fine line between them descriptions..........maybe the girl was arrogant or stupid, or maybe just not aware of how things go, I would hate to guess either way but it is certain that their best action now is to pay up the bail and get the hell outta dodge, worry about anything else after she gets out of the country. To be brutally honest i am very opinionated but if it were me i would do that and not even bother to kick up a fuss as nothing will come of it.

Yes keeping her in prison like this is very wrong, even "if" she was guilty of the theft her embassy should have been informed. but it does show you how simple things can become major things very quickly.

Its a simple fact when in Thailand........."DO NOT MESS WITH ANYONE IN AUTHORITY" talk with a polite tone and do your best to do as they ask even if they themselves are being complete <deleted>.

I also wonder how it would go down if this happened to someone who had no family looking for them, would they just be lost in the system forever? Scary!

[Puccini]

Once again the key words are post bail of 130,000 baht to have Tscherina released. Money to line the pockets. Way too fishy what I read. There is way too much more about this. Yes stupid of her refusing to pay the fine. Corruption as usual..

Whose pockets do you believe that the bail money is lining? Culd it be that you have an incorrect understanding of bail?

[DiNiro]

Sounds like a version of the 'shoplifting' scam the police at the airport have been running for years.

Terrorizing a tourist for fun and profit.

[Puccini]

And will she be given bail?

Probably not you have to commit murder for that.

She was granted bail, set at 130,000 Baht, and in the meantime this bail has been posted and she has been released from detention.

[Puccini]

The governments of these young tourist really need to do more to educate these ones before they travel.

Is it not common sense that one must not steal? Is it not something that a child is taught at home, long before it goes to school?

[FritsSikkink]

stupid thieves are normally in jail already, and certainly aren't normally studying in Singapore university

she was stupid enough to overstay and then stupid enough not to pay the fine.

[FritsSikkink]

Perhaps the real story is that the girl had a nice new camera that was coveted by the immigration officer??

The immigration officers are all police officers & we all know how honest they are

And the tourist all behave, never get drunk, always drive save, respect thai culture, don't overstay.

[Puccini]

Quite a few posters seem eager to go to jail for defamation, judging from their posts suggesting, implying or stating outright that a police officer falsely accused this tourist of theft, but I believe they have to try harder to achieve that result. I suggest they go to the police station and say it to the officer’s face.

As for the tourist, judiciary rules say that she is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court, and I, for one, have the patience to wait for the court decision. Incidentally, this legal presumption of innocence applies even in a case of strong prima facie evidence or a confession and it does not imply that an accusation is false -- it is simply how the justice system works.

[mcnad]

I really find it amusing (aka sad) that most here are so quick to defend this girl regarding the camera. Nobody here knows this girl from Adam. She could be a freakin nutjob. She could be a kleptomaniac. The immigration officers could have used the camera to take her photo (since she was being arrested) and she didn't like that so she tried to steal the camera. She could be a snobbish self-intitled pratt who thinks she's above the law or shouldn't be held accountable to the same laws as everyone else. She could have gotten a piss poor attitude that she was being arrested and decided to steal a camera out of retaliation. She could have been low on funds (not able to afford the 1500 baht overstay) so she thought she could pawn the camera to make some fast cash. She could have some prejudiced attitube that she's smarter than thai people and they wouldn't be smart enough to search her/figure out that the camera wasn't hers. She could just be a stupid beyotch.

I also find it amusing (aka really sad) that people assume she's a saint just because she's a university student from Switzerland. News flash people, university students can do stupid things! Shocking I know considering I've never heard of a university student doing something stupid/making a stupid decision while visitng Thailand.

But carry on putting this girl up on a pedestal simply because she's a fair skinned maiden from the land of Swiss Miss.

[Commander Tamson]

Great Story from Robkey69

[Commander Tamson]

One thing's for sure - she'll remember her visit to Thailand. How her friends will all laugh out loud when she tells her stories back home!