Bangkok Police officers suspended over alleged extortion of Italian tourists

[Pawpcorn]

I also think we foreigners should make as much noise about this as possible, each and every time it happens to us. Travel in pairs and video anything that happens, post on YouTube, post on FB anything... at least while we are living in country.

Then be accused of defamation, imprisoned, excommunicated from Thailand, or worse... taken out"... ???

Which goes a long way toward explaining why Thais put up with this stuff, and why newspaper reporters fear for their lives, should they write an honest detailed accounting of any of the shenanigans that occur here.

They are not immune from severe repercussions for any actions they take, either.

And... do you really think a BIB would just stand by, idly, while you took a video of what he was doing? I can only imagine the most hideous outcomes, in this scenario...

Sorry to say... this is reality, TIT.

[hawker9000]

I also think we foreigners should make as much noise about this as possible, each and every time it happens to us. Travel in pairs and video anything that happens, post on YouTube, post on FB anything... at least while we are living in country.

Then be accused of defamation, imprisoned, excommunicated from Thailand, or worse... taken out"... ???

Which goes a long way toward explaining why Thais put up with this stuff, and why newspaper reporters fear for their lives, should they write an honest detailed accounting of any of the shenanigans that occur here.

They are not immune from severe repercussions for any actions they take, either.

And... do you really think a BIB would just stand by, idly, while you took a video of what he was doing? I can only imagine the most hideous outcomes, in this scenario...

Sorry to say... this is reality, TIT.

There's some sad truth there, but it's getting harder & harder for any country to conceal such things from the world, particularly a country where foreigners are allowed to roam around freely from one end of the country to the other. However, an expat esp. would possibly need to be very careful about where & how he posts his stuff. Thailand seems to be actively pursuing traceability, and I'm sure they'll get better at it as time passes. 'Would sure be inconvenient to be refused entry at immigration, or even deported or arrested & jailed, because of something you knew was questionable (i.e., "defamatory") but assumed was untraceable to you..

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

This is a old thread they are now on the run from police as reported earlier today!

The police are "on the run" from the police????

Pretty much only in Thailand!

[mooris7]

This is a old thread they are now on the run from police as reported earlier today!

The police are "on the run" from the police????

Pretty much only in Thailand!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?/topic/663391-Manhunt-underway-for-Thonglor-cops-accused-of-extortion

[cloghead]

I wonder how the TAT is going to spin this.....I suspect this story is not playing well in Italy .

But the most amazing part of this story to me, is that any long term expat here knows NOTHING

will happen, and this story will fade away. In pretty much exactly the same fashion as that

woman who was held for ransom on the trumped up shoplifting charge at the airport....

Good thing Thailand has a lot of beautiful girls to keep the tourists coming. Other wise

with endless stories like this one, Thailand would be on the black list of every travel agent

in the world as being too dangerous...

I was thinking the same this morning and decided there's no way in hell the TAT can spin it. My opinion is they won't (can't) say a word and hope for a cover-up.

A friend told me that the whole mess is on Trip Advisor now. If that is true--and I haven't checked but am taking his word--then arrivadercci adios to the Italian tourists...

[nontabury]

I wonder how the TAT is going to spin this.....I suspect this story is not playing well in Italy .

But the most amazing part of this story to me, is that any long term expat here knows NOTHING

will happen, and this story will fade away. In pretty much exactly the same fashion as that

woman who was held for ransom on the trumped up shoplifting charge at the airport....

Good thing Thailand has a lot of beautiful girls to keep the tourists coming. Other wise

with endless stories like this one, Thailand would be on the black list of every travel agent

in the world as being too dangerous...

I was thinking the same this morning and decided there's no way in hell the TAT can spin it. My opinion is they won't (can't) say a word and hope for a cover-up.

A friend told me that the whole mess is on Trip Advisor now. If that is true--and I haven't checked but am taking his word--then arrivadercci adios to the Italian tourists...

Farangs from Europe/aus/usa may think we are important to the Thai economy, but the simple fact is we are not,and we are becoming less so every day. For everyone of us that decides not to live in this country or even just visit, The Thais elite think there are potentially another 10 willing to come here from china/India/Russia.

[oldthaihand99]

I wonder how the TAT is going to spin this.....I suspect this story is not playing well in Italy .

But the most amazing part of this story to me, is that any long term expat here knows NOTHING

will happen, and this story will fade away. In pretty much exactly the same fashion as that

woman who was held for ransom on the trumped up shoplifting charge at the airport....

Good thing Thailand has a lot of beautiful girls to keep the tourists coming. Other wise

with endless stories like this one, Thailand would be on the black list of every travel agent

in the world as being too dangerous...

I was thinking the same this morning and decided there's no way in hell the TAT can spin it. My opinion is they won't (can't) say a word and hope for a cover-up.

A friend told me that the whole mess is on Trip Advisor now. If that is true--and I haven't checked but am taking his word--then arrivadercci adios to the Italian tourists...

Farangs from Europe/aus/usa may think we are important to the Thai economy, but the simple fact is we are not,and we are becoming less so every day. For everyone of us that decides not to live in this country or even just visit, The Thais elite think there are potentially another 10 willing to come here from china/India/Russia.

Numbers of tourists are rising for all those regions:

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

In spite of SARS, recessions, riots, flooding, political instability, psunami, scams galore & coups, tourism to LOS has generally not had any down years for a long time & in recent years it's going off the charts:

http://www.thaiwebsites.com/tourism.asp