Reports emerging of police drug testing scam in Bangkok

[bizman]

My first trip to bkk was in the 60's as a U.S. Marine. Now I have been coming every year for the past 15 years and staying for 6 months each time. I almost never post on this site, in fact I can't remember for sure if I ever did. However, I can say from first-hand experience that Thailand is indeed changing and not always for the best. These senseless harrassments of foreignors is getting totally out of control and somehow/someway it needs to be stopped. Since the Thais are big on protest demonstrations, what do you think would result if hundreds of us organized and started demonstrating? I think many Thais would also join in. It may not bring about any sweeping change, but on the other hand, maybe it could. If nothing else, I think it would make headlines around the world and perhaps make those in power think about the negative image their country is getting.

What do you think? Maybe you have an even better idea. Instead of us just bitching, let's see if we can come up with some constructive ideas!

[toooa]

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Yeah, fly in from Washington State and Colorado where smoking pot is perfectly legal. Next thing you know you're sitting in a Thai jail for popping on THC. That would thoroughly suck, especially for tourists who are doing nothing illegal in their own counties. Yeah, this issue definitely needs world-wide exposure.

I think its mainly for Meth/Yeh Ba. If they are testing for weed then that hangs around in you for weeks. I dont think the instant ones on the street can pick it up, might be wrong but I thought that had to be lab test

So, pray tell us all connda, why do they want to come over here when smoking pot is perfectly illegal.

Please, tell them to stay in the country where it is legal, as it is not over here in Thailand.

Save your mates, please. alt=thumbsup.gif>

Win alt=coffee1.gif width=32 height=24>

So pray tell me Win, if you happened to be on a business trip to Saudi....and you're feelin' a bit toey, would you not look at porn back at the hotel? Porn is perfectly illegal in Saudi.

[climbertrev1]

Isn't this old news? http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/781621-surge-of-reported-police-harassment-suggests-campaign-targeting-tourists-expats/

I was planted with ganja by the police at Ekamai bus station about 5 years ago. I decided to pay my way out. The bidding started at 20,000 I paid 2,000. I was new to Thailand then not sure if I would pay up now. I made the mistake of not watching the guy going through my bag as I was distracted by the nice cop.

[Nakajima]

Keep a modicum of personal grooming about you, don't act like you own the place, be respectful, and the likelihood of this happening to you is greatly diminished, no doubt. Sure someone will counter me but I won't say any more. No need to. Rating @ 5 stars.

Tourists can walk the streets of Paris, Amsterdam, Athens, Madrid, Rio, etc... without having to care how they groom or act and the only requierement is to respect the law. Why would any tourist sane of mind come to a place where you have to respect so many rules? Also they get better night entertainment, food that doesn't kill them and taste like quick badly fried in re-used low quality palm oil.

All Thailand can get is cheap Charlies that are so in need to reside in this decadent nation that they would submit and subjugate to any rule feudal regime or corrupted authorities will impose.

BTW: what does your rating have to do with this topic besides prooving that you have nothing else to do in this country but wasting your time raising it? Are you really feeling proud for that???? Will you mention it to your grandchildren too before they go to sleep?

[Shaunduhpostman]

If you have to go to Asoke, Soi 22, or Thong Lor, and you are on foot, just keep your eyes peeled and you stand a good chance of seeing any police before they see you. They are not the most quick or quick witted you'll meet and I would not think it would be too difficult to stay away from them. Cross the street, turnaround and walk quickly in the other direction, whatever it takes to avoid them just as you would avoid crossing paths with someone who looks like they might mug you.

If you get into a position where they can stop you, feign confusion, or pretend you can't see, hear and/or understand them or whatever it is just short of running away and just keep walking, don't stop. They probably will not physically grab you and make you stop. Look at your watch as though you are in a hurry and maybe even break into a jog. The minute you stop and open the interaction then you are totally vulnerable to being cooked in the tom yam tourist pot.

[JoeCard]

The bottom line is that is a daily occurrence, at Soi 22 they hide in the dark to jump on "suspected" falangs, the going rate is 20 to 30Kthb for thais and 50k thb for falangs to skip the test. Amazing Thailand, land where the police are notorious scammers.

[toooa]

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These vocal anti-drug clowns are willing to tolerate any and all trampling of their personal privacy as long as they can get a leg over with a young local.

Word. Their bend over and take it attitude is quite sad...can you imagine rocking up to a Victorian gentleman on the street in 1899, and asking him to piss in a cup so you could save him from himself? He'd give his moustache a twirl, adjust his monicle and give the asker a clout with his cane. Not like the faggots (not homos) these days.... bend over....take it....arrrgggh.... gurgle..more, more!

[chiang mai]

The bottom line is that is a daily occurrence, at Soi 22 they hide in the dark to jump on "suspected" falangs, the going rate is 20 to 30Kthb for thais and 50k thb for falangs to skip the test. Amazing Thailand, land where the police are notorious scammers.

Absolute crap and nonsense, you have no proof or evidence of those statements and you can't provide reliable proof to confirm what you have written. F.m., has TVF turned into the online version of the Sun!

[toooa]

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You started well but finished like a knob...

"Tourists can walk the streets of Paris, Amsterdam, Athens, Madrid, Rio, etc... without having to care how they groom or act and the only requierement is to respect the law. Why would any tourist sane of mind come to a place where you have to respect so many rules? Also they get better night entertainment, food that doesn't kill them and taste like quick badly fried in re-used low quality palm oil.

All Thailand can get is cheap Charlies that are so in need to reside in this decadent nation that they would submit and subjugate to any rule feudal regime or corrupted authorities will impose. Knobbery

BTW: what does your rating have to do with this topic besides prooving that you have nothing else to do in this country but wasting your time raising it? Are you really feeling proud for that???? Will you mention it to your grandchildren too before they go to sleep?" Knobbery

Edited December 8, 2014 by toooa

[EvilDrSomkid]

It is because of this nonsense I decided to skip on heading down to the Golden Bar for a beer and a chat with a mate I have not seen in 2 years. Just cannot be bothered to deal with this crap.

Any time I need to go downtown, I make sure I stay on the BTS and go straight down the stairs to the MRT.

Contaminated cups. Jumping Jesus.

[Squeegee]

Even though your reply makes you sound like a jerk, I hope you're not one of the 10% of the people randomly tested whose test returns a false positive, I'm sure the tone of your post after that would be quite different, and a lot more whiny.

Not that I'm worried about testing positive, but this is enough to make me want to cancel my upcoming trip to Bangkok. Just not worth the hassle.

Good... Don't come. Stay where you are!!!!

Why do you hope some "jerk" doesn't get scammed in this way? It is precisely people like him who need a decent kick up the a** to wake them up to reality (and a bit of decency). I hope he gets pulled over as soon as possible, and if he gets the 10% chance of a positive result despite having no drugs in his system let him see how easy it is for him to get a second, legitimated hospital test without first being extorted by criminals.

[sweatalot]

make this known all over the world - together with tghe Koh Tao case

potential tourists need information to chose their destination well

this could also help Thailand to become the holiday destination they pretend to be

[sydneyjed]

Precisely Evil...where's Lance Armstrong when you need him..LoL!!!

[brubakertx]

I'm got so tired of all the crap with the visa's that I came to Vietnam. Just one more reason, I won't go back to Thailand anytime soon, until they stop this type of harassment! Thailand....wake up! You're losing more of you tourist to Vietnam, and other Asian countries!

[Squeegee]

Seasoned greetings from a newbie with first post. To the matter at hand: I arrived here having left Australia in 2013. It oft occurs to me that some contributors have not been to the 'Western world' for a while. In Australia - the police, dressed in black, operating in section size squads, accompanied by dogs and backed up by vehicles coming behind them 500 metres down the road, conduct raids on quiet (albeit 'hippy' type) hotels. I witnessed such an operation & frankly, I found it disgusting. One patron was taken away after the remains of an illegal cigarette was found in his pocket. Calculating the cost of the operation, it seemed ridiculous. The chap was given a fine and released (he was only arrested because he loudly voiced his objection). This is but one thing that springs to mind... am I missing something in my thinking? What Australians and Americans put up with beggars belief. I know Asia is not perfect but compared to where we have come from...

Irrelevant.

The "sort your own backyard out first" argument is morally redundant, and often just a way of justifying an "I'm alright Jack" mentality of selfishness and head-in-the-sand behaviour.

Basically, what it is saying is: "Because another place is not perfect, we shouldn't care about any problems anywhere else."

It's a form of conservatism that attempts to prevent moral progress, whether knowingly (like corporations impinging on consumer rights, developers encroaching on land) or unknowlingly, like people who are naive, ignorant and/or selfish or who just can't think beyond the length of their own nose.

[petedk]

its about time the big guy of Thong Lor police who takes all the tea money from business's in this area spoke up and explained whats going on and why

Too busy enjoying himself in a certain pub on Thong Lor.

Walked past today and about 6 cops sat in there. I have seen them there the last few days.

I thought about taking a photo but decided against it.

[canarysun]

I will almost guarantee you will get stopped & searched at Ekamai Bus Station.Avoid it at all costs!

[micmichd]

You may take a walk down Sukhumvit if you're heading for Pattaya

[ChiangraiTony]

Foreigner comes to Thailand. Takes a walk down Sukumvit Rd. And stops at a street stall. He sees something that he likes and buys it. It's a Hard Rock Cafe shirt. Later that late afternoon he walks past a Beer Bar and is invited into the bar from a few girls standing outside. He goes inside has a couple of drinks and also buys some drinks for the girls. A local comes up to one of the girls and says something in Thai. The girl then turns to the foreigner letting him know that for a couple hundred baht he can buy some pills to have more fun and continue partying. He is excited and having a gret time on his holiday in Thailand.

Upon exiting the Beer Bar he is approached by the police which request a urine sample. They check his pockets and find the pills. He requests to go to the police station. While there he is arrested for drugs and fake brand name clothes. After his fine of 30,000 baht his vacation is ruined. He was lucky because the wasn't thrown in jail but without any money he just sat at the lobby of his hotel until his daparture date. When asked about his experience all he said was that he would never ever come back to Thailand again.

This is sad and I'm sure this is the situation of many visitors that come to Thailand. If one person tells their story to 10 people and they in-turn tell 10 people it doesn't take that long to see how this negative publicity can affect foreigners coming to Thailand.

Locals are the ones that supply the drugs and fake brand name items. So Thailand goes after the foreigners and charges a hefty fine. They do not care that it's the locals that are at the root of the problem. The police position is, if the foreigner didn't come to Thailand then this would not have happened. It's the foreigner's fault.

[richard_smith237]

Seasoned greetings from a newbie with first post. To the matter at hand: I arrived here having left Australia in 2013. It oft occurs to me that some contributors have not been to the 'Western world' for a while. In Australia - the police, dressed in black, operating in section size squads, accompanied by dogs and backed up by vehicles coming behind them 500 metres down the road, conduct raids on quiet (albeit 'hippy' type) hotels. I witnessed such an operation & frankly, I found it disgusting. One patron was taken away after the remains of an illegal cigarette was found in his pocket. Calculating the cost of the operation, it seemed ridiculous. The chap was given a fine and released (he was only arrested because he loudly voiced his objection). This is but one thing that springs to mind... am I missing something in my thinking? What Australians and Americans put up with beggars belief. I know Asia is not perfect but compared to where we have come from...

Irrelevant.

The "sort your own backyard out first" argument is morally redundant, and often just a way of justifying an "I'm alright Jack" mentality of selfishness and head-in-the-sand behaviour.

Basically, what it is saying is: "Because another place is not perfect, we shouldn't care about any problems anywhere else."

It's a form of conservatism that attempts to prevent moral progress, whether knowingly (like corporations impinging on consumer rights, developers encroaching on land) or unknowlingly, like people who are naive, ignorant and/or selfish or who just can't think beyond the length of their own nose.

Agreed Squeegee...

Partigo - are you suggesting that it has now become the norm for any tourist to be stopped and asked for ID and subject to a drugs test on the street in say... George St, The Rocks etc in Sydney, or in Auckland, New York, Leicester Sq. in London ?...

The reason I ask is because when in these countries I am more comfortable walking past the BiB, asking them for directions or for assistance if needed... Here in Thailand, specific to the Asoke to Thonglor area I get the impression that people are afraid to come into contact with the BiB.

[Guitar God]

Maybe with all their other illegal sources of income gone, no massage parlors, street bars, flexible closing times or whatever scam/corruption they're into... they're doing one last push to fill their bank accounts and GTFO of Dodge and go retire somewhere before Prayuth digs up their safes and has them carted off to jail. The cops, not the safes.

Sounds like desperate actions of desperate people to do something that would attract this much attention while the Junta is trying to restore happiness and has shown no love for corrupt officials.

its about time the big guy of Thong Lor police who takes all the tea money from business's in this area spoke up and explained whats going on and why

[Alwyn]

Tourists should be able to understandbthat junkies are not welcome in Thailand. They should be able to figure out before they cross the border. Given that, they should be able to get clean in their home countries. If they prefer a trip on meth to a trip to Thailand, then it's up to them. Is that so difficult to understand?

I think most normal people would understand that. What most normal people don't like is being stopped and made to piss into a jar whilst in the street and then extorted for no reason which is what this post is all about. Is that so difficult to understand?

[Jim walker]

The police have billions of baht to recover after all these corruption busts hard cash only needed now and the easiest for cash are the tourists and expats always loaded so a soft target, rich teachers on a night out spend spend party like there is no tomorrow.

[sambum]

Send it around the world. Till it goes viral! Then maybe T.A.T. will wake up.

At the top of this page is a place you can click on stars to rate the topic. The more stars the topic gets, the higher up this topic is in Google search results. A small thing, but along the lines of what you are talking about.

Thanks! I did not know, my vote is in!

Mine too!

[micmichd]

Tourists should be able to understandbthat junkies are not welcome in Thailand. They should be able to figure out before they cross the border. Given that, they should be able to get clean in their home countries. If they prefer a trip on meth to a trip to Thailand, then it's up to them. Is that so difficult to understand?

I think most normal people would understand that. What most normal people don't like is being stopped and made to piss into a jar whilst in the street and then extorted for no reason which is what this post is all about. Is that so difficult to understand?

[micmichd]

Tourists should be able to understandbthat junkies are not welcome in Thailand. They should be able to figure out before they cross the border. Given that, they should be able to get clean in their home countries. If they prefer a trip on meth to a trip to Thailand, then it's up to them. Is that so difficult to understand?

I think most normal people would understand that. What most normal people don't like is being stopped and made to piss into a jar whilst in the street and then extorted for no reason which is what this post is all about. Is that so difficult to understand?

Sure, no excuses for overreactions, whether by police or not.

I'm certainly not a friend of totalitarian regimes, but I understand fairly well that the western-style parliamentary democracy system is not the real big solution for all countries all over the world.

[In Search of Space]

The OP article talks about racial profiling, are those being stopped mainly young, back-packer types, or are they stopping any Westerner or tourist ?

[ScotBkk]

Tourists should be able to understandbthat junkies are not welcome in Thailand. They should be able to figure out before they cross the border. Given that, they should be able to get clean in their home countries. If they prefer a trip on meth to a trip to Thailand, then it's up to them. Is that so difficult to understand?

Personally, I think you must be on the meds yourself coming out with BS like that. Please go back to the beginning of the OP and start all over again and maybe you'll learn something second time around.

[micmichd]

Interesting topic, controversial discussion.

5 points from me, too.

[DoctorB]

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I think its mainly for Meth/Yeh Ba. If they are testing for weed then that hangs around in you for weeks. I dont think the instant ones on the street can pick it up, might be wrong but I thought that had to be lab test

Weed will show up in a urine test for about four days; in hair for months. THC binds to body fat so is slow to clear.

I once did an experiment using a test bought through Amazon. The subject smoked on Saturday night and it was the following Thursday before a urine sample showed clear.

So yes it could be a problem for incoming travellers who have smoked in a place where it's legal.

Thats an instant reading or withing minutes for weed ?

As I recall, it was 3 - 5 minutes to wait for the appearance (if positive) of a coloured stripe.