Nigerians In Bangkok/thailand

[kkf123]

I am a bit curious why there are so many Nigerians in Bangkok/Thailand? What business are they involved in? It is interesting because I have never seen a Nigerian women in Thailand? I also seem to notice these guys in areas that are not common to tourists. They also seem to look a little bit rough around the edges?

Thoughts and Gossip?

[Thaiquila]

My understanding is that most of them are wholesale buyers in Bangkok to export clothing to Africa.

[markuk]

My understanding is that most of them are wholesale buyers in Bangkok to export clothing to Africa.

I would imagine that the honest ones are in the garments, gems or food trades however i am sure there are some dodgy dealings with some of them!!!

[Thaiquila]

Nigeria has the most corrupt governmnent in the world and is known internationally for email scams. However, it seems unfair to negatively stereotype individual Nigerians. But, yes, just by odds, of course some must be involved in criminal activities in Bangkok, just like some farangs are.

[English Noodles]

Nigeria has the most corrupt governmnent in the world and is known internationally for email scams. However, it seems unfair to negatively stereotype individual Nigerians. But, yes, just by odds, of course some must be involved in criminal activities in Bangkok, just like some farangs are.

Well believe it or not in 2002 it was estimated by the Nigerian embassy that 99 percent of ther fellow country men who travel to Thailand were here invoved in the drug trade in some way.

To give you an idea about the situation have a read of this link, it was writen by a nigerian in Bangkok in 2002.

http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/iarticle...nd_of_money.htm

[the gent]

However, it seems unfair to negatively stereotype individual Nigerians.

[Thaiquila]

You link you supplied appears to be part of a communist website. I still don't believe all Nigerians in Bangkok are criminals.

[English Noodles]

You link you supplied appears to be part of a communist website. I still don't believe all Nigerians in Bangkok are criminals.

No problem Thaiquila, you trust them with your money biz or whatever, personaly i wont trust one for a second. Good luck and i hope you dont lose to much.

Noodles.

[Thaiquila]

You link you supplied appears to be part of a communist website. I still don't believe all Nigerians in Bangkok are criminals.

No problem Thaiquila, you trust them with your money biz or whatever, personaly i wont trust one for a second. Good luck and i hope you dont lose to much.

Noodles.

Don't know where you are going with this.

Probably the biggest scammers against farangs in Thailand are fellow farangs. I don't count bar workers because being scammed by them is voluntary.

[Fast Eddie]

Most of them are up to no good. The drug trade or any one of an assortment of scams is my usual assumption, although i'm sure there is a minority that are here for legitimate reasons.

One evening i was standing outside Foodland on soi five, enjoying a Chang with a mate, when these two rum looking Nigerian characters approached us and started prattling on about there supposed business called 'trust'. No suprise it turned out they wanted us to invest a load of our money in it. What clowns. I mean, who gives a load of money to two dodgy Nigerian guys who've just accosted them on the street? Those two seriously need to work a lot harder on their scam, or there will be hungry times ahead for them.

[Thaiquila]

How did you know they were Nigerians? Could have been from another place in Africa.

OK, granted, there are alot of scammers who are Nigerians, I was approached myself by a pair of very dodgy Africans in KL but again I don't know from which country. But, I could tell these guys were crims because of their game. I am just not comfortable with jumping to conclusions about individual people just based on their skin color or nationality. If they start acting like crims, then you make your judgement.

As farangs in Thailand, we as farangs are victims of rascist stereotyping from Thais. We should know better.

[Fast Eddie]

How did you know they were Nigerians? Could have been from another place in Africa.

They told me they were Nigerian. It's not the sort of thing you lie about so i believe them. If you were going to lie about where you were from, while trying to gain someones trust, i think Nigeria is probably the last place on earth you would claim nationality of.

[Thaiquila]

How did you know they were Nigerians? Could have been from another place in Africa.

They told me they were Nigerian. It's not the sort of thing you lie about so i believe them. If you were going to lie about where you were from, while trying to gain someones trust, i think Nigeria is probably the last place on earth you would claim nationality of.

They weren't very good scammers, then! I believe you. You met some dodgy Nigerians. I meet dodgy Yanks everyday. What does that prove?

[Fast Eddie]

On it's own it doesn't prove very much. But i've seen the Thai police doing their periodical rounding up of them on the streets and i've read the reports in the newspapers about the fact that many of them are in the country illegally or are involved in illegal activities. As far as i'm aware the number of Nigerian inmates in Bang Kwang is more than any other foreign nation. I am sure that there are also Nigerians who are in Thailand for legitimate reasons, but the ones that you seem most likely to come into contact with are up to no good. I have no problem with Nigerians, but it does seem that the negative stereotype is not entirely undeserved with regards to their presence in Thailand. But your right that it probably is quite harsh to make those assumptions about all of them but all the same, i won't be trusting them too easily.

[the gent]

Talk of stereotyping is misplaced. Nigerians richly deserve their reputation for being the world's greatest fraudsters and so any dealings with them should be conducted with the utmost caution. This is called profiling.

Placing one's trust in a Nigerian is a foolhardy pursuit and should be avoided at all costs unless you happen to be a fully paid up member of the League of Dangerous Sports.

As far as I am aware there is only one reliable method of establishing if one is telling the truth.

[Thaiquila]

What would that method be?

To be clear, I am not the voice of political correctness, FAR FROM IT!, but I just can imagine being in the shoes of an honest Nigerian who is unfairly judged as a criminal without any specific evidence against me, and that is not a pretty thing, it is ugly.

It is fair to conclude if two strangers on the street of any race or nationality try some silly scam on you to extract money, then they are scamming criminals. There isn't any need at all to even think about their color or nationality, their nature is obvious.

[skylar]

Nigerians have an unfortunate rep with other Africans for being stubborn.

[naka]

However, it seems unfair to negatively stereotype individual Nigerians.

I understand that most foreigners in Bang Kwang are West Africans, in there for drugs.

Naka.

[karazyal]

My understanding is that most of them are wholesale buyers in Bangkok to export clothing to Africa.

I always heard that most of them overstayed their visa and were dodging the police.

[Thaiquila]

My understanding is that most of them are wholesale buyers in Bangkok to export clothing to Africa.

I always heard that most of them overstayed their visa and were dodging the police.

That certainly does appear to be the word on the street. That is established. But is it the truth? Anyone have a better source than some weird communist Nigerian website?

I am only saying, yes, many of us have encountered African scammers on the streets of Bangkok, but are they all or mostly Nigerian, and how representative are these visible ones of the Nigerian population in Thailand? Superficial impressions do not always represent truth.

[donna]

i agree with thaiquila. its not fair to lob ALL nigerians into the one basket. its an unfair generalisation.

i wouldnt like it if anyone generalised against my nationality (australian if you need to know ) so i would not do it to anyone else.

i have actually met a few of these guys and have befriended one. yes, he is a little odd, but he appears to me to be SO straight its not funny. this guy is in the rag trade.

i wouldnt like to see anyone say that he is a drug runner simply because he is nigerian.

perhaps we should change the topic heading to read "brits in bangkok/thailand. why?" or yanks in bangkok/thailand. why?"

i think that this posting is 'slightly' racist.

[slackula]

As far as I am aware there is only one reliable method of establishing if one is telling the truth.

Bring out the ducking stool!!!!!!!111eleventyone!

[English Noodles]

My understanding is that most of them are wholesale buyers in Bangkok to export clothing to Africa.

I always heard that most of them overstayed their visa and were dodging the police.

That certainly does appear to be the word on the street. That is established. But is it the truth? Anyone have a better source than some weird communist Nigerian website?

I am only saying, yes, many of us have encountered African scammers on the streets of Bangkok, but are they all or mostly Nigerian, and how representative are these visible ones of the Nigerian population in Thailand? Superficial impressions do not always represent truth.

Sure.

237 Nigerian Drug Convicts Arrive Today

March the 29, 2003

The 237 Nigerian drug convicts in Thailand will wake up this morning in Abuja, dressed like princes and princesses.

For the princesses - 55 of them, clad in Nigerian print buba and iro - there was an added touch of class. They flew business class. And as soon as they strapped their seat belts on the Kabo plane with registration number 5N-NNN

They were served drinks and a handshake from the embassy: a $50 pocket money.

The Kabo Airline Boeing 747 climbed into the hot and humid Bangkok air from the Royal Thailand Air Force wing at 4.48 yesterday. It also carried some 35 Nigerian immigration officers.

Many of the convicts had entered Thailand with false or fake passports. The embassy had to organise emergency travel certificates for them. The operation which involved Thailand's major security agencies looked like a rehearsal for modern warfare pulling in nearly the country's entire formidable security apparatus - the Air Force, Police, special squads, Immigration and Prisons.

After a brisk ceremony at Lkong Cren medium security prison from which 237 Nigerians were departing, the 10-bus contingent of convicted Nigerian drug peddlers wriggled through the sluggish Bangkok traffic to the Air Force runway.

The convoy of buses, two Hino trucks carrying prisoners' luggage alone, was escorted by four police squad cars with sirens and revolving dome lights. With the Nigerian ambassador's car fluttering the Nigerian flag, and a series of security vehicles, the convoy resembled a head of state's mororcade.

The press gathered like vultures outside the prison gate as relatives, Thai wives and children of the prisoners sobbed and waved as the deportees climbed into a white version of the Black Maria that was so guarded, it might have contained crates of crown jewels.

The prisoners filed out in Nigerian style clothes and sandals given to them by the embassy."Wonderful," said one, raising his hands in the air as he made his first step to temporary freedom. Others hailed the ambassador and asked God's blessing on him.

They filed out carrying novels, Korans, Bibles, an old copy of TIME magazine,letters from misssionaries, and other persosnal items. One carried a toilet tripod with a hole in the middle, like a child's training seat. The women sang: "This is the day the Lord has made", waving at the crowd.

At the airport, 15 automatic weapons were trained on the convicts boarding the plane. A bus at a time moved from the secluded area which was guarded by 60 armed security men to the tarmac. Each movement was escorted by special unit marksmen in a hi-tech combat truck. And seven officers guarded each truck.

Nearly 90 Nigerians are left behind, among them two who refused to make the trip.

At least one of the two is a woman who gave birth to a baby in prison 12 years ago. The mother told embassy officials she was not psychologically prepared to face the family in Nigeria. Others did not qualify either because they had less than two years to serve or had not spent up to eight years in prison.

Nigeria's ambassador, Ademola Aderele who had been working on this haul, was speechless as the plane started taxiing.

This is a great day for Nigeria",he told The Guardian correspondent who flew into Thailand on a tip off. Aderele said the return of Nigerians to serve the remainder of their sentences at home was something President Obasanjo was passionate about.

The president wants to restore the dignity of Nigerians," he said, "This is his initiative.". He discussed the matter with Obasanjo recently in Malaysia during the Non-Aligned summit.

"It is the biggest such operation in Thai history," enthused a senior Thai official. But he pointed to some problems that caused a two-hour delay. The convicts were left dripping in sweat in the rude Thai sun from 10a.m till about 2p.m when they started boarding. They were in the hands of the Thais.

The official said that the Kabo plane's operators failed to recognize that they needed fuel to fly the plane. They asked for fuellate and tried to pay US dollars no longer accepted by the Thais. They had to go out to change into the country's currency, Bahts. It took one million Thai Bahts or about $25,000 to fuel the aircraft.. The baggage was loaded manually.

The hushed operation - unknown to the police in Nigeria - was the result of two years of diplomatic manoeuvring by the Nigerian embassy in Thailand. It is feared at the presidency and in diplomatic circles that the police could hamper rather than help the full implementation of the operation which ends with the distribution of the prisoners to federal jails nearest to their home countries.

An elated Aderele called his wife and children to announce the good news as the plane pulled out of the VIP air wing.

Ambassador Tunde Shodipe who heads legal and consular affairs Department at the foreign ministry in Nigeria, and Steve Agbana a senior diplomat and consular officer at the embassy in Bangkok, accompanied the prisoners.

Security on the plane was provided by Nigerian agents, a number of them armed with rifles.

Archived from Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003

Also look at http://www.phaseloop.com/foreignprisoners/index.html to get a fair idea of who are getting sent to prison here (and other places) and what for, there are people from many countries for many different crimes (usualy drugs related) but the majority here apart from other Asian countries seem to be people from Nigeria and Ghana.

Cheers Noodles.

[The Dude]

A german friend of mine was approached on sukhumvit and asked by an african if he would like to purchase drugs

[HarryHerb]

A german friend of mine was approached on sukhumvit and asked by an african if he would like to purchase drugs

And? What's your point? My Italian friend was approached by "a European" yesterday and asked if he wanted to buy drugs. Big <deleted> deal.

This thread is completely pointless. Why should the presence of Nigerians, regardless of what they are 'up to', in Thailand bother anyone? Live and let live, and let the Thai police do the rest...

[kkf123]

alot of them look like they are into Voodoo Magic or something

[donna]

i will say exactly what i said before.....this thread is very racist and nasty.

[HarryHerb]

alot of them look like they are into Voodoo Magic or something

Are you sure your nickname isn't kkk123?

I second Donna.

PLEASE!!! can a mod close this thread before it degenerates even further?

[seonai]

Agree Donna and Hairy, this thread is going no where.

[Fast Eddie]

i will say exactly what i said before.....this thread is very racist and nasty.

No it's not, calm down.