ONCB Raid Pub in Walking Street Pattaya

[Rimmer]

ONCB Raid Pub in Walking Street Pattaya

PATTAYA – June 28, 2014 [PDN];- at 05.00 am. Pol.Gen.Pongsapat Pongcharoen-secretary of office of ONCB (the narcotics control board)- was accompanied with Pol.Gen.Suraphon Thuanthong-commander of ONCB- led ONCB police officers, Chonburi immigration police and soldiers to raid Flexx Club pub in Walking Street, Pattaya.

In the pub they found a lot of expats and Thais therefore they asked the pub staff to turn the lights on and stop the music which caused the revellers to panic and they tried to flee the scene but the officers had already sealed the exit doors. The officers then inspected passports, visas, ID cards and searched for drugs. Upon inspecting the pub they found 32 foreigners without passports, 5 foreigners and 5 Thai girls failed drug tests. In addition the officers found cocaine on the ground near the DJ stage. Mr Pakornpoj Kraijamnean 40 year old was the pub manager.

Full story:http://www.pattayadailynews.com/pattaya-news/2014/06/28/oncb-raid-pub-in-walking-street-pattaya/

-- Pattaya Daily News 2014-06-28

[snottgoblin]

Foreigners without passports, well I certainly wouldn't carry mine around on a night out in Pattaya.

[Bernard Flint]

Foreigners without passports, well I certainly wouldn't carry mine around on a night out in Pattaya.

A copy or thai driving license is easy to carry, and its the law

Edited June 28, 2014 by Bernard Flint

[Pattaya46]

A copy or thai driving license is easy to carry, and its the law

A Thai driving license was not enough this night.

A guy who was there made a report on Pattaya Addicts and wrote:

" They wanted to see the visa stamp and the passport I'd page.

" If you had a copy of both you were ok. If not you went to the station.

" They did accept pictures on a phone of the current I'd and stamp.

[tagranados]

Good to know. Thanks for posting. Any suggestions about where to listen to music that is not at a DJ club? I don't know anyone here yet and it's getting lonely!

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[craigt3365]

Foreigners without passports, well I certainly wouldn't carry mine around on a night out in Pattaya.

A copy or thai driving license is easy to carry, and its the law

Please don't post incorrect information. The law states you need to show proof you are in the country legally. Which is a visa stamp in your passport. A copy isn't always good enough. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

[Pralaad]

Foreigners without passports, well I certainly wouldn't carry mine around on a night out in Pattaya.

A copy or thai driving license is easy to carry, and its the law

Law you say? A link to such law please?

[Pralaad]

Foreigners without passports, well I certainly wouldn't carry mine around on a night out in Pattaya.

A copy or thai driving license is easy to carry, and its the law

Please don't post incorrect information. The law states you need to show proof you are in the country legally. Which is a visa stamp in your passport. A copy isn't always good enough. Sometimes yes, in this case, no.

It's simply insane to expect tourists to have their passports in the club.

Flexx is usually pretty empty, I am guessing this raid was rather unsuccessful so they decided to pick on foreigners to at least appear something was achieved

[craigt3365]

Foreigners without passports, well I certainly wouldn't carry mine around on a night out in Pattaya.

A copy or thai driving license is easy to carry, and its the law

Please don't post incorrect information. The law states you need to show proof you are in the country legally. Which is a visa stamp in your passport. A copy isn't always good enough. Sometimes yes, in this case, no.

It's simply insane to expect tourists to have their passports in the club.

Flexx is usually pretty empty, I am guessing this raid was rather unsuccessful so they decided to pick on foreigners to at least appear something was achieved

But having your passport on your person is a requirement in many countries if you are a tourist. There are many places I'd never be caught out without it on my person. Just don't need the potential extra hassles by the police.

[Pralaad]

But having your passport on your person is a requirement in many countries if you are a tourist. There are many places I'd never be caught out without it on my person. Just don't need the potential extra hassles by the police.

I have to disagree, the requirement is to be able to produce it upon request. It does not say anywhere one has to have it on them.

If say police stop you on the beach, where will you keep it?

If asked to show passport, theoretically , if you do not have it with you, police would accompany you to your hotel room for you to produce it or give you so many hours to present it for inspection

Edited June 28, 2014 by Pralaad

[brewsterbudgen]

Presumably the foreigners without ID/passports were mostly Lao, Cambodian or from Myanmar? If they were tourists or expats and were taken to the police station, once their passport was produced they were on their way. Inconvenient but hardly the end of the world.

[swampdonkey]

But having your passport on your person is a requirement in many countries if you are a tourist. There are many places I'd never be caught out without it on my person. Just don't need the potential extra hassles by the police.

I have to disagree, the requirement is to be able to produce it upon request. It does not say anywhere one has to have it on them.

If say police stop you on the beach, where will you keep it?

If asked to show passport, theoretically , if you do not have it with you, police would accompany you to your hotel room for you to produce it or give you so many hours to present it for inspection

Thais must carry ID card

Everyone one else must carry passport.

It is the law and has been for a very long time.

[craigt3365]

But having your passport on your person is a requirement in many countries if you are a tourist. There are many places I'd never be caught out without it on my person. Just don't need the potential extra hassles by the police.

I have to disagree, the requirement is to be able to produce it upon request. It does not say anywhere one has to have it on them.

If say police stop you on the beach, where will you keep it?

If asked to show passport, theoretically , if you do not have it with you, police would accompany you to your hotel room for you to produce it or give you so many hours to present it for inspection

The law says it must be produced within a reasonable amount of time. Which to one policeman could mean 5 minutes. another could mean a photocopy. People have been fined and put in detention for not having it on their person. The police love vague laws.

[tagranados]

Two different Thai people told me that only immigration can demand to see your passport. I didn't argue as I don't really know what is what. More than 20+ Thai people have said to me to never, ever carrying my passport. Only carry a copy (I actually carry my passport card) and also carry a copy of the visa/stamp.

[Pralaad]

But having your passport on your person is a requirement in many countries if you are a tourist. There are many places I'd never be caught out without it on my person. Just don't need the potential extra hassles by the police.

I have to disagree, the requirement is to be able to produce it upon request. It does not say anywhere one has to have it on them.

If say police stop you on the beach, where will you keep it?

If asked to show passport, theoretically , if you do not have it with you, police would accompany you to your hotel room for you to produce it or give you so many hours to present it for inspection

Thais must carry ID card

Everyone one else must carry passport.

It is the law and has been for a very long time.

Please post link to such law in either English or Thai?

[Pralaad]

But having your passport on your person is a requirement in many countries if you are a tourist. There are many places I'd never be caught out without it on my person. Just don't need the potential extra hassles by the police.

I have to disagree, the requirement is to be able to produce it upon request. It does not say anywhere one has to have it on them.

If say police stop you on the beach, where will you keep it?

If asked to show passport, theoretically , if you do not have it with you, police would accompany you to your hotel room for you to produce it or give you so many hours to present it for inspection

The law says it must be produced within a reasonable amount of time. Which to one policeman could mean 5 minutes. another could mean a photocopy. People have been fined and put in detention for not having it on their person. The police love vague laws.

Reasonable is the keyword , but i do agree with you to Thai police is just an excuse to extort money, as it appears to be in this case. I am confident every single foreigner in the club did not have a passport so that makes club full with 35 foreigners, NOT exactly a successful raid when there were probably more police and police volunteers than the punters. So they decided to pick on that.

Do not think i heard of any raids where police wanted to see passports of foreigners. The usual procedure is to let out all the foreigners out and drug test all the Thai's, on occasion drug tests random foreigners.

[craigt3365]

When the new chief of police started, he did a raid on a club and arrested (fined?) a bunch of foreigners for not having passports. That was some 6-9 months ago or so???

A few years ago they were doing "raids" on Soi Buakow. No passport? Fork up the cash. I've heard if you can't produce it within a day, off to Bangkok remand prison.

Again, just depends on the police and what they are up to.

I've got a friend who was fined 2,000 Baht recently in Bangkok for not having his passport on him. That was on Thong Lor near Sukhumvit. He was on a scooter taxi and told me it wasn't the first time he'd been fined for this.

[WitawatWatawit]

Back on topic. Why was Pongsapat involved in this raid? Someone of his seniority surely wouldn't join in the shakedown of a common garden variety club, would they? I'm suspecting that some very serious sh't was about to go down, but the police didn't get what they wanted (an international drug fugitive, a drug haul?) so just turned the raid into an ordinary one to hide the fact of what they were really after. Well, if nothing else, my theory sounds good .

[Pralaad]

When the new chief of police started, he did a raid on a club and arrested (fined?) a bunch of foreigners for not having passports. That was some 6-9 months ago or so???

A few years ago they were doing "raids" on Soi Buakow. No passport? Fork up the cash. I've heard if you can't produce it within a day, off to Bangkok remand prison.

Again, just depends on the police and what they are up to.

I've got a friend who was fined 2,000 Baht recently in Bangkok for not having his passport on him. That was on Thong Lor near Sukhumvit. He was on a scooter taxi and told me it wasn't the first time he'd been fined for this.

Exactly, excuse to extort

Some years ago, i lived in BKK and after heavy night of drinking was coming home in a taxi.

2 cops stopped the taxi and demanded to see my passport, mind you it was 3am and i was in a moving taxi.

To my total shock and surprise, the taxi driver went off at the cops, i mean really abusing them, demanding to see their badges and names as they had no right to stop him and no right to demand my passport.

Even bigger shock was, police let us go

Personally i think 2-4 hours is reasonable time, its enough time to go back to hotel or house, get it and go to police station.

If you out of town, then you should have the passport with you anyway, is it is needed to check into a hotel.

[Farma]

The subject of carrying your passport crops up all the time. I've never seen a link to the Thai laws but always see this quoted from the UK gov travel advise website.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/local-laws-and-customs

By law, you must carry your passport with you at all times in Thailand. Tourists have been arrested because they were unable to produce their passport on request. Make sure you complete the next of kin details section in the back of your passport.

[brewsterbudgen]

Back on topic. Why was Pongsapat involved in this raid? Someone of his seniority surely wouldn't join in the shakedown of a common garden variety club, would they? I'm suspecting that some very serious sh't was about to go down, but the police didn't get what they wanted (an international drug fugitive, a drug haul?) so just turned the raid into an ordinary one to hide the fact of what they were really after. Well, if nothing else, my theory sounds good .

According to reports on the other Forum, the foreigners that were detained for not having acceptable ID, or for other offences, were all African.

[Pralaad]

The subject of carrying your passport crops up all the time. I've never seen a link to the Thai laws but always see this quoted from the UK gov travel advise website.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/local-laws-and-customs

By law, you must carry your passport with you at all times in Thailand. Tourists have been arrested because they were unable to produce their passport on request. Make sure you complete the next of kin details section in the back of your passport.

This is not Thai Law from Thai authorities, this is travel advice from UK government.

This topic has been discussed to death already and no one was able to find Thai law which supports the above.

The Thai law states as already posted earlier by Craig, passport must be produced within a reasonable time, Thai law does not say on the spot

[Farma]

The subject of carrying your passport crops up all the time. I've never seen a link to the Thai laws but always see this quoted from the UK gov travel advise website.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/local-laws-and-customs

By law, you must carry your passport with you at all times in Thailand. Tourists have been arrested because they were unable to produce their passport on request. Make sure you complete the next of kin details section in the back of your passport.

This is not Thai Law from Thai authorities, this is travel advice from UK government.

This topic has been discussed to death already and no one was able to find Thai law which supports the above.

The Thai law states as already posted earlier by Craig, passport must be produced within a reasonable time, Thai law does not say on the spot

As you appear to be an authority on the matter maybe you can provide a link to an official website stating the law.

I can see the arresting officer having a right old chuckle when I tell them "But officer, Pralaad told me i didn't have to carry it"

[Pralaad]

The subject of carrying your passport crops up all the time. I've never seen a link to the Thai laws but always see this quoted from the UK gov travel advise website.

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/thailand/local-laws-and-customs

By law, you must carry your passport with you at all times in Thailand. Tourists have been arrested because they were unable to produce their passport on request. Make sure you complete the next of kin details section in the back of your passport.

This is not Thai Law from Thai authorities, this is travel advice from UK government.

This topic has been discussed to death already and no one was able to find Thai law which supports the above.

The Thai law states as already posted earlier by Craig, passport must be produced within a reasonable time, Thai law does not say on the spot

As you appear to be an authority on the matter maybe you can provide a link to an official website stating the law.

I can see the arresting officer having a right old chuckle when I tell them "But officer, Pralaad told me i didn't have to carry it"

Ironic is it not? you posting and claiming its the law yet you asking me to post a link to the law.

[AdamRich]

Flexx is not usually pretty empty. It just doesn't get started until after 3am.

[AdamRich]

Presumably the foreigners without ID/passports were mostly Lao, Cambodian or from Myanmar? If they were tourists or expats and were taken to the police station, once their passport was produced they were on their way. Inconvenient but hardly the end of the world.

Never met any Cambodian or women from Myanmar there, but the women I know from Laos always have their passporta with them and ao do many of the Thai women who have passports.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Two different Thai people told me that only immigration can demand to see your passport. I didn't argue as I don't really know what is what. More than 20+ Thai people have said to me to never, ever carrying my passport. Only carry a copy (I actually carry my passport card) and also carry a copy of the visa/stamp.

The problem with this is if the police are being real hard-ass that nite, it may not be enough because there is no way to know if the copies of the passport face page and the visa/entry stamp page are from the same passport (and stapling them together doesn't prove anything...the BIB are wise to that trick). The purpose of the check is to verify identity and entry status.

Edited June 29, 2014 by OMGImInPattaya

[craigt3365]

Here are some references to the Thai laws. Very vague:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/566309-carrying-passport-with-you/page-5?p=6172947#entry6172947

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/566309-carrying-passport-with-you/page-5?p=6288390#entry6288390

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/566309-carrying-passport-with-you/page-3?p=5444921#entry5444921

[Baerboxer]

But having your passport on your person is a requirement in many countries if you are a tourist. There are many places I'd never be caught out without it on my person. Just don't need the potential extra hassles by the police.

I have to disagree, the requirement is to be able to produce it upon request. It does not say anywhere one has to have it on them.

If say police stop you on the beach, where will you keep it?

If asked to show passport, theoretically , if you do not have it with you, police would accompany you to your hotel room for you to produce it or give you so many hours to present it for inspection

Or the police could chose to detain you and ask that you make arrangements for someone to bring your passport to the station.

Depends how reasonable or not they want to be, not your choice.

[WitawatWatawit]

Anyone care to comment on the OP?

No? Oh well, guess I'll just have to talk to myself.

Why do you think Pongsapat was involved in a seemingly low level raid on an entertainment venue in Walking Street? Well Wit, it could be because he wants to impress the junta that he is on the ball. Or it was a raid with another purpose that fell flat - perhaps something big like a tip that a major drug kingpin was there.

No Wit, you got it wrong. He was there to check foreigners' passports ... oh!