Reports emerging of police drug testing scam in Bangkok

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I can see Ploen Chit becoming a popular spot....Thonglor and its wealthy expats must be delighted to be keeping out the riff raff.

Smokes, its got to the point now, if I am ever in that part of town, I get on the BTS to Prakhanong and get a taxi home from there.

Last time I was stopped, they pulled the taxi over, I had been stopped a few weeks previous and knew the drill, took off my shirt, opened the door and handed it to the policeman, sat in the taxi with my feet hanging out and started to take off my shoes and socks, even the taxi driver was pissing himself.

The whole area is a complete fecken joke, even the Thais tell me, dont go to the police station unless accompanied by a lawyer.

You go there by yourself as a witness, you are held as an accessory.

As has been mentioned by previous posters, Ekamai bus station is another favourite area.

It must piss them off that they cant make it down to Lumpini district and get in on the action on the lower Suk ghetto.

You have to take off your shirt/clothes?? What the hell?

As for Ekamai, I get off the bus well before there for this reason. You can usually get off the bus at Udom Suk for example, then take BTS.

Third world BS.

[kblaze]

Make sure you compare the situation in Thailand to the situation back home before you complain. I've been told that certain areas in the USA are not so secure either, and you better have some cash if you need to go there.

LoL. Have you also been told that there is a monster under your bed so you best keep your eyes closed and blanket pulled up tight?

[micmichd]

We, the people, worked hard with our hands to build up a land completely ruined by our government. After our work was done, and everything looked nice again, we got expropriated by real estate investors and the banks behind them.

Personally, I thought I had made it towards the top (upper middle class), but they demanded to change sides mentally. I refused to get corrupted because I'd already fallen in love with a young farmer lady in Thailand. They were pissed and throw me out of the country, never forgot to tell me that I was actually a bum.

They can come with their bullets, hopefully they know how to use a shovel when there's nobody left to do the work.

[brewsterbudgen]

i was going to go to bkk, after reading this im staying away

Unless you're a drug user, that's an over-reaction.

[micmichd]

Make sure you compare the situation in Thailand to the situation back home before you complain. I've been told that certain areas in the USA are not so secure either, and you better have some cash if you need to go there.

LoL. Have you also been told that there is a monster under your bed so you best keep your eyes closed and blanket pulled up tight?

Yes, but ...

[Dogmatix]

Thinking that you can avoid this type of harassment by being well dressed and respectful is as naive as it gets. The better dressed you are, the more likely you are to be able to pay and the more attractive a target you are. If they were really interested in druggies they stop some of the millions of Thais who walk around with ya ba permanently in their systems but they can't pay B50,000 or 60,000 to avoid the tests.

There is a report on Facebook of a couple in their 70s getting the treatment.

[soalbundy]

We, the people, worked hard with our hands to build up a land completely ruined by our government. After our work was done, and everything looked nice again, we got expropriated by real estate investors and the banks behind them.

Personally, I thought I had made it towards the top (upper middle class), but they demanded to change sides mentally. I refused to get corrupted because I'd already fallen in love with a young farmer lady in Thailand. They were pissed and throw me out of the country, never forgot to tell me that I was actually a bum.

They can come with their bullets, hopefully they know how to use a shovel when there's nobody left to do the work.

you have serious problems

[The manic]

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?

No But you are. And who said anything about junkies? The main concerns expressed here are about pot consumed when not even in Thailand

Meth or heroin, or pot, that was one of the first questions.

It has been answered but to reiterate. They are looking for anything they can to frighten you and the test kits the use will register pot, codeine etc etc.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Mr. Prime Minister. I am sure that by now you are well aware of these reports that have been occurring within the capital of Thailand. Don't you really think that as the prime minister of Thailand who continues to state that corruption must be eradicated that you actually step in and do something about this very dangerous situation.

Hm. Not sure how much mileage there is in that.

I think it's better to write to your embassy, and suggesting they include it in their travel warning / travel advisory list.

Something like 'don't travel to Thailand if you've smoked weed the last three months', and advice on what to do when shaken down by potentially corrupt police.

That usually gets attention in Thailand, when travel warnings actually go out.

[micmichd]

We, the people, worked hard with our hands to build up a land completely ruined by our government. After our work was done, and everything looked nice again, we got expropriated by real estate investors and the banks behind them.

Personally, I thought I had made it towards the top (upper middle class), but they demanded to change sides mentally. I refused to get corrupted because I'd already fallen in love with a young farmer lady in Thailand. They were pissed and throw me out of the country, never forgot to tell me that I was actually a bum.

They can come with their bullets, hopefully they know how to use a shovel when there's nobody left to do the work.

you have serious problems

Much more serious than you could ever imagine.

[DP25]

I can see Ploen Chit becoming a popular spot....Thonglor and its wealthy expats must be delighted to be keeping out the riff raff.

Smokes, its got to the point now, if I am ever in that part of town, I get on the BTS to Prakhanong and get a taxi home from there.

Last time I was stopped, they pulled the taxi over, I had been stopped a few weeks previous and knew the drill, took off my shirt, opened the door and handed it to the policeman, sat in the taxi with my feet hanging out and started to take off my shoes and socks, even the taxi driver was pissing himself.

The whole area is a complete fecken joke, even the Thais tell me, dont go to the police station unless accompanied by a lawyer.

You go there by yourself as a witness, you are held as an accessory.

As has been mentioned by previous posters, Ekamai bus station is another favourite area.

It must piss them off that they cant make it down to Lumpini district and get in on the action on the lower Suk ghetto.

You have to take off your shirt/clothes?? What the hell?

As for Ekamai, I get off the bus well before there for this reason. You can usually get off the bus at Udom Suk for example, then take BTS.

Third world BS.

In the past (a few years ago, haven't been near Thonglor in a long time), the police have stopped me and lifted my shirt up around my armpits while unbuckling my pants and lowering them around my ankles. Took off my shoes to look inside. All on a the sidewalk next to a busy street. Wasn't forced to do a piss test, but it wasn't fun standing there in public with my pants around my ankles while the police joked and laughed to each other and everyone is staring at me.

This just happened to me randomly walking down the street at around 7 or 8 pm. Am a very clean cut looking guy too. I think they enjoy doing this to random foreigners, even when they don't get a pay out.

[paddyjenkins]

I haven't been put off coming to Thailand through thick and thin.,.military coups, visa crackdowns, scams, abuse and price gouging attempt of all kinds, the shoot to kill policy employed by thaksin, the armed road blocks in the days of thaksin, the floods, periods of massive social instability and turmoil bordering on civil war, constant reports of violence against westerners...nothing has really put me off in over 25 years of visiting the country...until now.

The change is that whereas all other risks have been manageable and avoidable, this one is not. In this latest development all you need is to be in the country and be white...can't avoid either of those two once through immigration. And of all that I've seen, this is not just the least avoidable, it's also descended to a level of degradation that is new to me. So I'm seriously reconsidering my plans for future visits and I imagine I'm not alone.

Edited December 9, 2014 by paddyjenkins

[brewsterbudgen]

I haven't been put off coming to Thailand through thick and thin.,.military coups, visa crackdowns, scams, abuse and price gouging attempt of all kinds, the shoot to kill policy employed by thaksin, the armed road blocks in the days of thaksin, the floods, periods of massive social instability and turmoil bordering on civil war, constant reports of violence against westerners...nothing has really put me off in over 25 years of visiting the country...until now.

The change is that whereas all other risks have been manageable and avoidable, this one is not. In this latest development all you need is to be in the country and be white...can't avoid either of those two. And of all that I've seen, this is not just the least avoidable, it's also descended to a level of degradation that is new to me. So I'm seriously reconsidering my plans for future visits and I imagine I'm not alone.

Unless you're a drug user, it seems like a total over-reaction to me. The chances of being stopped are remote and even if you are, if you've got ID you'll be fine. It's been happening in this area for years and, while a pain in the arse and very annoying, is absolutely nothing new.

[The manic]

Can someone enlighten me and tell me what this word "scamming" (in the headline) 's got to do with this?

I think it means extorting money from people or bullying people for money in a way that purports to be legal but in fact does not support the rule of law. Random and arbitrary urine testing is both invasive and intimidating. To offer people the option of opting out of the procedure in exchange for a bribe to a policeman is a form of scam. The extortion in the case of a 'scam' involves a form of trickery not just direct theft. Here archaic drug laws combined with an inhuman prison system are harnessed to trick people onto compliance. There are many on line dictionaries available where you can check out idioms such as 'scam.' They are very useful for non native speakers of English.

[Sviss Geez]

I do think it is worthy of updating the travel alerts to indicate that people should not travel to Thailand if they have used any drug for up to 3 months before. (you could add tables and vary the amount of time -- but simple is always better when it comes to warnings).

I had already given my nephew the same warning last year (though I said 2 weeks would probably be sufficient at that time).

Maybe your nephew would be better advised to stop taking drugs period.

[laislica]

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.

I would like to visit a sports equipment centre at:

Sports Engineering and Recreation Asia Ltd

387/6-7 Thonglor 21,

Sukhumvit 55, North Klongton,

Wattana, Bangkok 10110,

but it is apparently still dangerous if you are in a Taxi travelling to or from the area!

Trip cancelled and the store has been emailed to say why!

[Sviss Geez]

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

Nonsense for most people, but I suppose it does depend on how pikey you are.

[micmichd]

Can someone enlighten me and tell me what this word "scamming" (in the headline) 's got to do with this?

I think it means extorting money from people or bullying people for money in a way that purports to be legal but in fact does not support the rule of law. Random and arbitrary urine testing is both invasive and intimidating. To offer people the option of opting out of the procedure in exchange for a bribe to a policeman is a form of scam. The extortion in the case of a 'scam' involves a form of trickery not just direct theft. Here archaic drug laws combined with an inhuman prison system are harnessed to trick people onto compliance. There are many on line dictionaries available where you can check out idioms such as 'scam.' They are very useful for non native speakers of English.

Thank you.

What about archaic witch-hunt combined with a Guantanamo-like jail and money-laundering rregulations?

Also scam?

[brewsterbudgen]

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.

I would like to visit a sports equipment centre at:

Sports Engineering and Recreation Asia Ltd

387/6-7 Thonglor 21,

Sukhumvit 55, North Klongton,

Wattana, Bangkok 10110,

but it is apparently still dangerous if you are in a Taxi travelling to or from the area!

Trip cancelled and the store has been emailed to say why!

Dangerous?! Travelling in a taxi in Thailand anywhere is dangerous! I'm surprised you ever leave your home if this scares you!

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

Nonsense for most people, but I suppose it does depend on how pikey you are.

Indeed. I've used Ekkamai bus station every month for around 7 years and have never been stopped.

[paddyjenkins]

I haven't been put off coming to Thailand through thick and thin.,.military coups, visa crackdowns, scams, abuse and price gouging attempt of all kinds, the shoot to kill policy employed by thaksin, the armed road blocks in the days of thaksin, the floods, periods of massive social instability and turmoil bordering on civil war, constant reports of violence against westerners...nothing has really put me off in over 25 years of visiting the country...until now.

The change is that whereas all other risks have been manageable and avoidable, this one is not. In this latest development all you need is to be in the country and be white...can't avoid either of those two. And of all that I've seen, this is not just the least avoidable, it's also descended to a level of degradation that is new to me. So I'm seriously reconsidering my plans for future visits and I imagine I'm not alone.

Unless you're a drug user, it seems like a total over-reaction to me. The chances of being stopped are remote and even if you are, if you've got ID you'll be fine. It's been happening in this area for years and, while a pain in the arse and very annoying, is absolutely nothing new.

I don't think it's an over reaction, and no I'm not a drugs user, nor do I do anything else illegal at all. But the risk of being picked out, dragged out of a taxi, made to pee in a cup, have filthy, sweaty, aggressive police touch my private parts, being forced to take off my shirt and shoes and stand with my trousers down at my ankles, in public, under threat of imprisonment, all to try to extract a false bribe from me, is a risk of degrading and disgusting treatment I can't accept. And knowing my personality, I'm not sure I wouldn't go berserk in such a situation, I'm not sure I wouldn't clobber one of these vile specimens, and then I may well end up in prison. And if Thailand has indeed sunk to this level, then it's not the country it was and not one I want to be in. I will watch developments, I would like to see a story of Thong Lor cops arrested, but if we don't see that then it will mean far fewer or no more visits to Thailand, and certainly not Bangkok. There are other places to go and in fact I already do go to other places. Thailand has been the main one, but the country is getting sicker and sicker and there has to be a point where it just gets too sick to continue coming. Edited December 9, 2014 by paddyjenkins

[laislica]

Dangerous?! Travelling in a taxi in Thailand anywhere is dangerous! I'm surprised you ever leave your home if this scares you!

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

Nonsense for most people, but I suppose it does depend on how pikey you are.

Indeed. I've used Ekkamai bus station every month for around 7 years and have never been stopped.

It's the many posts that suggest that "planting evidence, contaminated cup, out of date test kits" etc that are the worry.

TiT and as a foreigner, if the BiB decide that "you are it today" there's not a lot you can do about it!

The reason to contact the shop is to be sure that they are awareof the potential threat the current police action is to their business.

But thank you for your rather snide comment.

Have a nice day, and do try to post something useful to add to the thread rather than bash the Falang!

[micmichd]

Go beserk in a Farang country, and you have a good chance to end up in an asylum for the mentally sick.

[bkkcanuck8]

I do think it is worthy of updating the travel alerts to indicate that people should not travel to Thailand if they have used any drug for up to 3 months before. (you could add tables and vary the amount of time -- but simple is always better when it comes to warnings).

I had already given my nephew the same warning last year (though I said 2 weeks would probably be sufficient at that time).

Maybe your nephew would be better advised to stop taking drugs period.

I know that many people like stating the obvious.... But in answer to your facetiously obvious question.... He has on many occasions been "advised" to not partake in recreational or illegal drug use. Like any adult though he is still free to make mistakes (along with half the population of North America -- at least). As a concerned uncle though, I don't want him to spend his adult life in a Thai prison for smoking pot.

People are aware of the risks of using drugs in Thailand and Asia -- but all but a very few travellers would have it cross their minds that they should go dry before travelling - or risk imprisonment or massive "instant fines". As such, if random drug testing is done on tourists visiting Thailand and it is up to them to prove they are innocent (while that goes on they would sit in detention for a considerable amount of time)..... people should be made aware of the risks associated with visiting if they have partaken in such activities in the months preceding.

Personally, I have never and will never take any "recreational" drugs.....

I know that maybe all but 2 out of 27 (one other person -- for religious reasons) people in my "advanced" math classes back in high school had experimented with drugs during school --- and it has become acceptable to use pot in the general society in most of North America.

[Arkady]

I can see Ploen Chit becoming a popular spot....Thonglor and its wealthy expats must be delighted to be keeping out the riff raff.

Smokes, its got to the point now, if I am ever in that part of town, I get on the BTS to Prakhanong and get a taxi home from there.

Last time I was stopped, they pulled the taxi over, I had been stopped a few weeks previous and knew the drill, took off my shirt, opened the door and handed it to the policeman, sat in the taxi with my feet hanging out and started to take off my shoes and socks, even the taxi driver was pissing himself.

The whole area is a complete fecken joke, even the Thais tell me, dont go to the police station unless accompanied by a lawyer.

You go there by yourself as a witness, you are held as an accessory.

As has been mentioned by previous posters, Ekamai bus station is another favourite area.

It must piss them off that they cant make it down to Lumpini district and get in on the action on the lower Suk ghetto.

You have to take off your shirt/clothes?? What the hell?

As for Ekamai, I get off the bus well before there for this reason. You can usually get off the bus at Udom Suk for example, then take BTS.

Third world BS.

In the past (a few years ago, haven't been near Thonglor in a long time), the police have stopped me and lifted my shirt up around my armpits while unbuckling my pants and lowering them around my ankles. Took off my shoes to look inside. All on a the sidewalk next to a busy street. Wasn't forced to do a piss test, but it wasn't fun standing there in public with my pants around my ankles while the police joked and laughed to each other and everyone is staring at me.

This just happened to me randomly walking down the street at around 7 or 8 pm. Am a very clean cut looking guy too. I think they enjoy doing this to random foreigners, even when they don't get a pay out.

Lucky you were wearing undies.

[micmichd]

Any smelly socks?

[micmichd]

Plan your trip.

Go Bangkok first, Amsterdam after. And take the smile with you

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I can't speak to what's going on in the Thong Lor area, because I'm not there often.

But I am in the lower Sukhumvit-Nana area pretty often, and I haven't seen any particular Thai police random drug stops on the street occurring there lately.

What quite a few posters seem to be getting confused about are the BMA inspectors (who wear police-looking uniforms) that hang out on both the even and odd sides of Sukhumvit Road at various places between Nana and Asoke.

They are NOT Royal Thai Police. As a few explained in earlier posts, they are BMA city officers/inspectors running a different scam, aimed at extorting 2000 baht fines from unsuspecting farangs who litter or drop a cigarette butt on the street/sidewalk. When you see those guys pulling over tourists/farangs, it's NOT about drug testing. It's about money for "littering".

A lot of tourists probably think they are real police, which they are not. And they don't have any authority to conduct drug testing, and I've never heard of them trying to do so. But they do hang out along the main road near Suk Soi 5, Suk Soi 15, Suk Soi 2, Suk Soi 10, and have little sidewalk kiosks there where they take offenders to try to settle up their fines. And yes, as described earlier, they do use walk-talkies with some officers serving as spotters and then others subsequently collaring the "offender."

Richard Barrow in his Thailand travel blog just yesterday posted photos of these BMA guys, and a link to that blog was posted earlier in this thread and I'm reposting it here below. Notice the green and red-colored shoulder patches the BMA guys have on their uniforms. Those are NOT Royal Thai Police insignias. And their activities around lower Sukhumvit have nothing to do with any kind of drug enforcement campaign, though it certainly is a tourist harassment campaign.

http://www.thaitravelblogs.com/2014/12/no-smoking-warning-for-tourists-in-bangkok/

Edited December 9, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[soalbundy]

Any smelly socks?

No he was only wearing a condom for protection, he only takes it off to pee or have sex

[Expat1]

Yes, on this one there is a good mix of old hands and FNGs. Good to see. Yep, this has been going on for a while with the exception of the actual urine test in hand. Typically, BiB would pull one out of a taxi, off a bike or stop one walking and search, etc. then seek to extort. However, in the Thonglor area usually late at night though seldom daytime. Been happening a good number of years. Doubt much will be done about it other than they will stop giving cops the actual urine tests as they are expensive if enough are used and limited income results.

I did get charge out of the girls response though, "...that we believe to be racial profiling", racial profiling, are you serious? Ladies, the only color those guys see or care about is mean green. Western programming, jeeesh.

[soalbundy]

It's a new police motto, ''put your urine in our hands''