Travel blogger tweets pic of allegedly corrupt Thai official
By Coconuts Bangkok on 11.03.2013

BANGKOK: -- Thai netizens have joined well-known travel blogger Richard Barrow in condemning an official at the Revenue Department who allegedly asked a bogusly inflated fee for tax documents.

This morning Barrow (@RichardBarrow) was updating the progress of his visa and work permit renewal to his 21,000 followers when he came across the allegedly corrupt officer.

“Unbelievable,” Richard tweeted, along with a photo of the officer. “This revenue officer wants me to pay him 1,000 Baht before he will release my tax documents. I’ve refused.”

Richard continued live-tweeting the situation, saying he was able to get the price down to a normal rate and that he was later asked to delete the photo.

“Success against corruption,” his tweet read. “Price for my tax documents has gone down from 1,000 Baht to 260 Baht with receipt.”

“He now wants me to delete the picture that I took of him,” Richard continued. “I said I will think about it.”

But before it could be deleted, the photo began circulating throughout the Thai online community with help of many Twitter celebrities. Among those who re-tweeted Richard’s message were Nation Channel Noppatjak Attanon (@noppatjak), who has over 103,000 followers, and online TV host John Winyu (@johnwinyu), who has over 201,000 followers. MThai and Kapook, famous Thai portal sites, also picked up the story.

In the comment section on Kapook.com, some comments so far include:

“This is not a true story. If it was true, the price would need to be higher.”

“They do this everywhere, but it’s just not news.”

“There may be more to this story. We can’t judge yet with only this information.”

Source: http://www.coconutsbangkok.com/news/travel-blogger-tweets-pic-of-allegedly-corrupt-thai-official/

-- Coconuts Bangkok 2013-03-11

A Twitter battle against bribes

BANGKOK: -- Expat blogger Richard Barrow posted a photograph yesterday on Twitter of an officer from the Revenue Department in Samut Prakan of allegedly asking him for a Bt1,000 bribe.

Barrow refused to pay and the officer, upon realising his photograph was being taken, demanded that it be deleted. Eventually, Barrow managed to pay the Bt260 fee and left with a receipt.

After posting the picture and messages on Twitter, @RichardBarrow received comments from other expats who said Thai officials had demanded bribes from them as well.

British Ambassador to Thailand Mark Kent joined Barrow on his anti-corruption movement on Twitter by tweeting: "UK Bribery Act applies to UK citizens overseas. We encourage any UK citizen who is asked for a bribe to report it."

-- The Nation 2013-03-11

Do not you realize this officers family wwill now starve on his regular salary

Good on yer Barrow, but watch your back.

an official at the Revenue Department

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Has the official and his office been named?

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before it could be deleted, the photo began circulating throughout the Thai online community

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Can the photo be posted here for the English-language online community?

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Make a picture of the organization chart you see on the wall of almost every government office or police station and you get them all on one photo

^^ It's on Barrow's Twitter account, easy to find with a bit of Googling.

an official at the Revenue Department

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Has the official and his office been named?.

before it could be deleted, the photo began circulating throughout the Thai online community

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Can the photo be posted here for the English-language online community?

.

just go to his twitter acc ,can see it there.

^^ It's on Barrow's Twitter account, easy to find with a bit of Googling.

Yep, took about 30 seconds. Google twitter @RichardBarrow

British Ambassador to Thailand Mark Kent joined Barrow on his anti-corruption movement on Twitter by tweeting: "UK Bribery Act applies to UK citizens overseas. We encourage any UK citizen who is asked for a bribe to report it."

Report it to whom? The local police? The British embassy in Bangkok? Why on earth would they care?

Fair play to the guy if this is a true story.

THe new anti-corruption way...."Click and Tweet"!

Do not you realize this officers family wwill now starve on his regular salary

Really? I don't think so.

Sure, the Thai wage is much lower than ours but starving is a little bit of an exaggeration. He's working for the government so he's actually got an alright wage for a Thai national.

Do not you realize this officers family wwill now starve on his regular salary

No need to worry. Deputy prime minister Chalerm Earache will sort it out....... "This is a cultural tradition in Thailand"

Make a picture of the organization chart you see on the wall of almost every government office or police station and you get them all on one photo

Right on - wouldn't it more news-worthy to post a picture of a Thai official who wasn't corrupt? These poor guys are just doing what they've been instructed to do - not asking for a bribe screws them in their organisation. Barrow should have tweeted the official's pic as an example of a maverick who bucked the trend.

Never ever paid any bribe to any official here in Thailand since 24years. Every time I'm asked for I shout loudly into the hall, pardon me, I didn't understand what you've said? 2000 or 3000THB for what, please explain it to me! I don't understand Sir.! Silence after that, paying the regular fees and that's it.

British Ambassador to Thailand Mark Kent joined Barrow on his anti-corruption movement on Twitter by tweeting: "UK Bribery Act applies to UK citizens overseas. We encourage any UK citizen who is asked for a bribe to report it."

Report it to whom? The local police? The British embassy in Bangkok? Why on earth would they care?

Fair play to the guy if this is a true story.

Maybe Mark Kent wishes to remind the british expats that is ilegal to offer or give a bribe in any country.

https://twitter.com/RichardBarrow/status/310954225993654272/photo/1

Make a picture of the organization chart you see on the wall of almost every government office or police station and you get them all on one photo

Right on - wouldn't it more news-worthy to post a picture of a Thai official who wasn't corrupt?

Obviously not, since it's already been retweeted 60+ times and seen by 600,000 people on twitter alone, not too mention the millions of Thai who have seen it on hugely popular Thai portals.

What's amusing is how the Thai still can't support a farang. "There's got to be more to the story" or "this is a lie, if it was a real bribe it would of been more than 1000". Thai can do no wrong when it comes to Thai vs Farang.

Great. I've got a car cam with sound in my car just waiting for the cops to ask for a bribe or another vehicle to cause a crash Everyone should do the same. This is something we can do to help stop corruption instead of whinging about it all the time.

So what will Mr Mark Kent do about it when we report it to him or the honoury consulates in the regions ,there is only one answer " NOTHING "

so why make such a stupid statement.

Good on yer Barrow, but watch your back.

It's comments like this that make me throw up a little in my mouth. "Watch your back"

I hope this guy keeps exposing the people that are extorting and fight the good fight, protest and survive, its that simple!

If more people expose the extortion and corruption it would end.

Break the chain people, don't be a slave to corruption and greed!

Trouble is, Richard has no proof, unless he made an audio recording.

I smell a criminal case against Richard coming up, one in which he'll not have a leg to stand.

Whilst it is admirable, he's not very smart doing this.

I loath and detest these corrupt officials. The guy should had been sacked immediately.

But I think Richard Barrow should have approached the problem differently. He could have demanded to see a Superior, shouted the place down if necessary, and then explained the situation demanding that he is charged the correct fee for the tax documents service and then stood his ground until he obtained a desired result. If his complaints fell onto deaf ears or no action was taken, then he should have given a warning of what actions he would take and then gone to the extremes as has what`s now happened, although due to Thailand`s strict defamation laws he`s still taking a big risk. For example what happens if the official denies the allegations against him?

I have had similar experiences here in the past and after displaying my disapproval and letting them know that I`m no push over, without too much aggression, but just by being deadly serious raising my voice a bit and firm, I have always won the argument and after that never again had problems with any particular Government departments.

Let them understand, this is Thailand and the ways to deal with situations here cannot be equated with those of the West, even though in my mind I would like to see that moron tin pot official burned at the stake.

What are the odds that Barrow's twitter account will be blocked soon in Thailand?

While i admire his bravery and stand against corruption, i also find it silly in a number of ways.

To start with corruption is a way of life here, like it or not.

The only way to get things done fast and easy is to pay someone to do it fast and easy.

The amount was rather small, so lets hope he has all his paperwork in 100% order, because rest assured he would be audited in the near future.

Yes some Thai have supported him, but just like with everything else in Thailand it passes by pretty fast.

The next year he will try to renew his visa or WP he may find a number of obstacles, not to mention being refused, as WP and Visa is not granted but up to the discretion of issuing officer.

All those claiming to have never paid any bribes, either too oblivious or talking out of their backside.

Guess I have lived here too long, as there is no way I would do something like that. I like my life here and wouldn’t want to jeopardize it.

Do not you realize this officers family wwill now starve on his regular salary

LOL, don't think so, ill gotten ill spent !

It's not a reason to ask about bribes. Bored that farangs are incessantly scammed for services just because the employee is too lazy to do his job fast and well. Pay bribe to get faster an official document...

Congratulations to the poster who have enough balls to post it on the web with maybe a risk of retaliatory ! Condemning the corruption and officials bad behaviour !

Trouble is, Richard has no proof, unless he made an audio recording.

I smell a criminal case against Richard coming up, one in which he'll not have a leg to stand.

Whilst it is admirable, he's not very smart doing this.

Is audio recording allowed in Thai court without authorization? From the picture I smell a wittiness! Now that is allowed in This courts.

Never ever paid any bribe to any official here in Thailand since 24years. Every time I'm asked for I shout loudly into the hall, pardon me, I didn't understand what you've said? 2000 or 3000THB for what, please explain it to me! I don't understand Sir.! Silence after that, paying the regular fees and that's it.

This is the sensible way to do it. What Barrow has done is very stupid.

Great. I've got a car cam with sound in my car just waiting for the cops to ask for a bribe or another vehicle to cause a crash Everyone should do the same. This is something we can do to help stop corruption instead of whinging about it all the time.

Planning on getting myself one - what is it, where did you buy it, how much was it? Can you give a few details please?

(sorry, off-thread question, but then again, one could take the cam from the car to the tax office )