Police Extortion

[smokie36]

I'm smelling the sweet aroma of bs.

[FritsSikkink]

Nothing you can realistically do at all. Welcome to Thailand.

Thanks...

Last Saturday night. They pulled everything out of my pockets and produced, in addition, a ball of tin-foil. I was pushed into the police depot and given two choices. They wanted 100K but my card had a limit. I have the ATM receipts.

I'm guessing I could do something, get a lawyer, file a law-suit, and expect to throw away a year of my life fighting this in court and much more than I paid out to these thieves; anyways we often hear about these extortion robberies, but never what happens afterwards...

Since when is a ball of tin-foil classed as a drug and why would you pay 80K for that.

[tuky]

Why are some of you finding this so hard to believe?

My BKK Bank ATM could withdraw 100k.

I have been stopped by the cops whilst in a taxi and searched.

My ex-wife had real concerns about the cops planting drugs on me, she kept a good look out at what the the cops were doing.

This would have been 2003/2004

I find this story completely feasible.

My suggestion to DavidJonson is to follow this up. Write a letter to the editor with a scan of the receipts. Go see someone at the embassy, Go to the local cop shop.

Embarrass the buggers, they are relying on the fear one has of being locked up in Thailand.

[DavidJonson]

Thanks to those who have provided suggestions on what might be done, this thread will hopefully be of use to others. I have seen police checks every night I have been out recently, a few on dark corners, and I have not been out for over a year, always back on the BTS before midnight.

I can provide details via PM if anyone thinks that would help to find a resolution to this problem. But I consciously made the post to the point in order to focus on what can be done now. I too keep saying to myself, 'I should have' done this or that, but in the heat of moment I only needed to walk away from that as quickly as possible. But yes it is hurting now.

I never saw the contents of the foil, and I did get angry and raise my voice, but friends, they didn't care, and my attempt to haggle did not work; they wanted 100K or a trip to the station were my choices. I have an ATM and credit card, 50K was my limit on the ATM, 30K was the limit on my CC. KBank allows you to raise your limit to 200K/day if you want, otherwise the default is 50K.

[kevvy]

sorry for the trouble you went through , i just hope you can do something about this and thankyou for letting all the people on TV know . i know what i will do from now on

[chris1dna]

Man that's some scary stuff.

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[johnnyj]

Next time only carry a card with a 20k limit.

Learn to haggle.

My Thai ATM limit is 25K. My overseas card even less. 80K limit?

we needed to do a large withdrawal from my wifes bank a few years back, she upped her daily withdrawal to 250k baht - via phone banking.

I think we had to do that in 50k lots though.

I got her to put it back down again though.

[Scully]

His wife probably made him some crap food in his tin foil container and so then treated his colleauges to a night out. I have only had money taken off me when I did something wrong like driving offences so can't rally comment, other than when I littered Sukhumvit and was asked for 2000 but got him down to 200.

I know a bloke who was set up for speeding which he wasn't he insisted the officer take him to the station until the embassy arrive, he was flagged on

[prestburypark]

Go to the station, ask for the new "White Police" to deal with you, shout "setup, extortion, scam". Maybe then the deputy prime minister will get in on it and tell you that it is traditional, then all will be fine again.

[mrtoad]

Just a thought but.....What's this guy got for a credit card? A black Visa? What kind of fellow has that kind of withdrawal limit whilst traveling abroad? Sounding kinda fishy to me. If true, perhaps not a big hit for such a big player eh?

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

Not really, I have a 100k limit on withdrawal and I am hardly a big player. He may well have used several different cards as well.

Which are was it in?

[Paangjang]

Next time only carry a card with a 20k limit.

Learn to haggle.

My Thai ATM limit is 25K. My overseas card even less. 80K limit?

I just got a standard Ayudhaya card, daily limit is 100K

Really? That's over US$3,300. Even my US bank card has a daily US$500 limit.

Really, i do. To add to that, i don't remember specifically asking for this kind of limit. Strange.... Has come in handy a few times though.

[cooked]

I only take my credit card with me when I have a special purchase in mind. Otherwise my direct debit card does it, never more than ฿30 000.- on that account, and that not for long.

[taninthai]

Moral of this story never let the bib search you on the street unless there are witnesses around ,if no witnesses around insist on going to police station for search.

As others have said if this did in fact happen it's quite possible they weren't even real police

[rgs2001uk]

Moral of this story never let the bib search you on the street unless there are witnesses around ,if no witnesses around insist on going to police station for search.

As others have said if this did in fact happen it's quite possible they weren't even real police

Moral of this story, dont take an ATM card with you.

Phone 191.

I would take my chances with the lock up for one night and face the judge in the morning, probably no more than a 2,000 baht fine.

Pure extortion, where did this incident take place, not the infamous Thong Lor precint was it?

[JurgenG]

I'm smelling the sweet aroma of bs.

Edited February 22, 2013 by JurgenG

[FritsSikkink]

Thanks to those who have provided suggestions on what might be done, this thread will hopefully be of use to others. I have seen police checks every night I have been out recently, a few on dark corners, and I have not been out for over a year, always back on the BTS before midnight.

I can provide details via PM if anyone thinks that would help to find a resolution to this problem. But I consciously made the post to the point in order to focus on what can be done now. I too keep saying to myself, 'I should have' done this or that, but in the heat of moment I only needed to walk away from that as quickly as possible. But yes it is hurting now.

I never saw the contents of the foil, and I did get angry and raise my voice, but friends, they didn't care, and my attempt to haggle did not work; they wanted 100K or a trip to the station were my choices. I have an ATM and credit card, 50K was my limit on the ATM, 30K was the limit on my CC. KBank allows you to raise your limit to 200K/day if you want, otherwise the default is 50K.

You never saw the content. No fingerprints of yours on the foil.

Next time tell them you phone your friend the Thai lawyer (get a phone number from an internetsite first).

[prestburypark]

OP, you cannot now "resolve the problem", what do think that you can do to resolve it?

They, whoever they were are long gone.

You do not have their id's , not that you mentioned anyway.

You have no receipt from the Police for your money, no witnesses. It is a bit late for resolving anything.

Either it happened, and you did all the wrong things, in which case, tough titty. Or, as many suspect here, you are trolling, in which case karma may bite you in the butt.

[DiNiro]

Since this can happen to anybody, maybe it's time the embassies start advising against travel to Thailand?

The bastards can easily put a farang in jail for years if they feel like it.

[richard_smith237]

Since this can happen to anybody, maybe it's time the embassies start advising against travel to Thailand?

The bastards can easily put a farang in jail for years if they feel like it.

Would you heed the published advice of an Embassy not to visit or live in Thailand ?

If you are in Thailand at the moment, you along with myself and many others are aware of these possibilities yet happily take the small risk. Warnings dangerous roads etc make far more sense.

In numerous years this is the first occasion I have read or heard of such a scam by the Police. There is no question that many of the Police in Thailand are scam artists, but they scam for small amounts. The Big Scam like this is so rare many question the validity of the story.

The Op could certainly have provided greater detail to validate his claim. Regardless of whether or not we believe the Op, it remains a good warning to us all, Foreign and Thai that scams are all around us, common sense and a little guard can often go along way.

It's difficult to know what do to in this situation. I like to think I would have refused payment and played tough, but I've no idea how I'd react until placed in that situation. I certainly would've been on the phone to coupe of well placed friends within moments.

[BoonToong]

Does anyone know of a 'good' lawyer that offers a service whereby you can call them 24/7 for advice in such an instance?

Perhaps more importantly, do you think this strategy would work (call the lawyer as soon as you 'smell a rat' and get him to speak to the BB)?

[JurgenG]

Does anyone know of a 'good' lawyer that offers a service whereby you can call them 24/7 for advice in such an instance?

Perhaps more importantly, do you think this strategy would work (call the lawyer as soon as you 'smell a rat' and get him to speak to the BB)?

This is getting ridiculous.

If a crook cop arrest you and ask you for money, it is because in a way or an other he saw "STUPID" tattooed on your face.

The best way is to make him realize that he made a mistake before things get blown out of proportion and it's getting too complicated to back off. Be polite, do not confront him, do not antagonize him, just say it's a mistake, lets go to the police station to clarify and let me call my consulate for advise. These crook cops just want easy, fast cash, they will back off.

Of course this is if you are really innocent

[scorecard]

Nothing you can realistically do at all. Welcome to Thailand.

Thanks...

Last Saturday night. They pulled everything out of my pockets and produced, in addition, a ball of tin-foil. I was pushed into the police depot and given two choices. They wanted 100K but my card had a limit. I have the ATM receipts.

I'm guessing I could do something, get a lawyer, file a law-suit, and expect to throw away a year of my life fighting this in court and much more than I paid out to these thieves; anyways we often hear about these extortion robberies, but never what happens afterwards...

So the police pulled the cab over at a check point? They searched you outside the vehicle and that's when the drugs were "discovered" or planted? Just wondering how the whole thing went down. 80K ain't peanuts.

What did the 'police' say to the taxi driver during this 'event'?

Did you make a note of the taxi number?

Where exactly was this / where did they stop the taxi?

"I was pushed into the police depot'. I assume you mean police station, what station?

Why 2 weeks before you say something?

Somehow I sense this is just a story.

"Police regulary pull farang out of vehicles and search them." This could of course happen but I've not seen regular reports of this. Anybody....

Edited February 23, 2013 by scorecard

[wellred]

Where abouts in Bkk was this and what time of night?

Generally speaking is the above posters advice about digging your heels in and saying ok to go to the station to discuss the best advise? They have tried searching my pockets on 2 occasions and on both I emptied them myself, nothing further happened. But this story is quite worrying.

[blackdug]

Does anyone know of a 'good' lawyer that offers a service whereby you can call them 24/7 for advice in such an instance?

Perhaps more importantly, do you think this strategy would work (call the lawyer as soon as you 'smell a rat' and get him to speak to the BB)?

This is getting ridiculous.

If a crook cop arrest you and ask you for money, it is because in a way or an other he saw "STUPID" tattooed on your face.

The best way is to make him realize that he made a mistake before things get blown out of proportion and it's getting too complicated to back off. Be polite, do not confront him, do not antagonize him, just say it's a mistake, lets go to the police station to clarify and let me call my consulate for advise. These crook cops just want easy, fast cash, they will back off.

Of course this is if you are really innocent

....I would love to see how big you are in the same situation as the original poster Jurgen ..I,m sure the smell of bulls?it would be coming from your pants.....anyone got something differant to say from your usual toosh and it makes them a troll...get out more and meet some real people and you might realize this is getting common in bangkok...

[DiNiro]

Does anyone know of a 'good' lawyer that offers a service whereby you can call them 24/7 for advice in such an instance?

Perhaps more importantly, do you think this strategy would work (call the lawyer as soon as you 'smell a rat' and get him to speak to the BB)?

This is getting ridiculous.

If a crook cop arrest you and ask you for money, it is because in a way or an other he saw "STUPID" tattooed on your face.

The best way is to make him realize that he made a mistake before things get blown out of proportion and it's getting too complicated to back off. Be polite, do not confront him, do not antagonize him, just say it's a mistake, lets go to the police station to clarify and let me call my consulate for advise. These crook cops just want easy, fast cash, they will back off.

Of course this is if you are really innocent

They may back off or set you up for 20 years in prison.

Police that pull this crap should be exterminated.

[DavidJonson]

If I report the incident, the cops of course will say I had the stuff, but there is no evidence. But what if I just say, ok, yes, I had it. That way there is no question about who might be lying; however, the fact remains that they harassed and extorted 80K from me. That is indisputable, what would be the consequences for extortion, and for owing up to possession without evidence?

How would you report this. Embassy, lawyer office, police station?

[rgs2001uk]

Does anyone know of a 'good' lawyer that offers a service whereby you can call them 24/7 for advice in such an instance?

Perhaps more importantly, do you think this strategy would work (call the lawyer as soon as you 'smell a rat' and get him to speak to the BB)?

This is getting ridiculous.

If a crook cop arrest you and ask you for money, it is because in a way or an other he saw "STUPID" tattooed on your face.

The best way is to make him realize that he made a mistake before things get blown out of proportion and it's getting too complicated to back off. Be polite, do not confront him, do not antagonize him, just say it's a mistake, lets go to the police station to clarify and let me call my consulate for advise. These crook cops just want easy, fast cash, they will back off.

Of course this is if you are really innocent

....I would love to see how big you are in the same situation as the original poster Jurgen ..I,m sure the smell of bulls?it would be coming from your pants.....anyone got something differant to say from your usual toosh and it makes them a troll...get out more and meet some real people and you might realize this is getting common in bangkok...

get out more and meet some real people and you might realize this is getting common in bangkok

Utter crap, please let me know where and when the incidents you talk of have occurred?

I have lived here for the last 7 years and have never heard of such crap, dont let that get in your way of spreading urban myths.

[rgs2001uk]

If I report the incident, the cops of course will say I had the stuff, but there is no evidence. But what if I just say, ok, yes, I had it. That way there is no question about who might be lying; however, the fact remains that they harassed and extorted 80K from me. That is indisputable, what would be the consequences for extortion, and for owing up to possession without evidence?

How would you report this. Embassy, lawyer office, police station?

Despite being asked as to where and when this "incident" took place you have still failed to provide any details.

Let me ask again, where and when did this take place?

[DavidJonson]

If I report the incident, the cops of course will say I had the stuff, but there is no evidence. But what if I just say, ok, yes, I had it. That way there is no question about who might be lying; however, the fact remains that they harassed and extorted 80K from me. That is indisputable, what would be the consequences for extortion, and for owing up to possession without evidence?

How would you report this. Embassy, lawyer office, police station?

Despite being asked as to where and when this "incident" took place you have still failed to provide any details.

Let me ask again, where and when did this take place?

What does it matter? I assumed you were a cop so no comment. It was on sukhumvit near nana late at night. I did say anyone who wants details can PM me. Edited February 24, 2013 by DavidJonson

[bangkockney]

If I report the incident, the cops of course will say I had the stuff, but there is no evidence. But what if I just say, ok, yes, I had it. That way there is no question about who might be lying; however, the fact remains that they harassed and extorted 80K from me. That is indisputable, what would be the consequences for extortion, and for owing up to possession without evidence?

How would you report this. Embassy, lawyer office, police station?

Don't do that, it would be silly.