Thai Police fines Dutch couple for carrying Swiss army knife in car (VIDEO)

[bikerider21]

it was a flick knife. illegal in the uk too

[bikerider21]

This is beyond ridiculous; it really is time to look for a new destination.

back to the us where you can carry guns?

flick knives are illegal in the uk as are guns.

[connda]

Well she was pretty dumb saying it was for self defense...

Should have said it was for minor repairs...

People carry machetes all over this country, including my wife. This is stupid, xenophobic, bull-pucky targeted directly at foreigners and nothing else. And a Swiss army knife as a weapon? What are you going to do, poke someone's eye out with the screw driver. Sweet Mother Mary. Utter lunacy. I'm I allowed to carry tools in the boot of my car or bike. A six inch screw driver, carried by a foreigner, is probably a weapon.

[bikerider21]

PLEASE ALL who don't know what a Swiss army knife is, google it and you WILL KNOW that the knife in the video WASN'T A SWISS ARMY KNIFE.

Please look at the video again

the knife ISN'T A SWISS ARMY KNIFE.

Sorry for the uppercase, but I can see from what most people respond to the OP and believe it's a tool knife, I said it before but people still post comments on the wrong type of knife.

Don't be critical of the RTP, they have their full rights to confiscate and fine the person having the SWITCH BLADE knife, at least 4 inches long.

IT IS NOT a Swiss army knife.

And YOU evidently don't know what a switchblade is either. Sorry, but your childish oversize typeface doesn't make it a switchblade. Have you ever even SEEN a switchblade knife??

The article in full says it's a switch blade and that "swiss army knife" was a translation error in the original article.

[bikerider21]

PLEASE ALL who don't know what a Swiss army knife is, google it and you WILL KNOW that the knife in the video WASN'T A SWISS ARMY KNIFE.

Please look at the video again

the knife ISN'T A SWISS ARMY KNIFE.

Sorry for the uppercase, but I can see from what most people respond to the OP and believe it's a tool knife, I said it before but people still post comments on the wrong type of knife.

Don't be critical of the RTP, they have their full rights to confiscate and fine the person having the SWITCH BLADE knife, at least 4 inches long.

IT IS NOT a Swiss army knife.

And YOU evidently don't know what a switchblade is either. Sorry, but your childish oversize typeface doesn't make it a switchblade. Have you ever even SEEN a switchblade knife??

The article in full says it's a switch blade and that "swiss army knife" was a translation error in the original article.

or

Poppycock. Swiss Army Knife?

Sensationalism and most readers fell for it, wanting to leave the country or critising the police for doing their job

I didn't see guns pulled or citizens made to lie face down like in the us

The older the reader, the shorter the fuse

[FredNL]

It's already going viral on several Dutch facebook pages right now. At least 10 tourists less for Thailand this year, and next year, and the year later, and after that. The Dutch that got fined weren't tourist. I personally know 2 friends of them that aren't coming to Thailand any more. Also my parents won't come to Thailand now and if I want to see them I just have to go to Holland. So Thailand, you just lost at least 5 million THB. Keep on doing the "good" work !!!

Edited February 8, 2015 by FredNL

[jjablonsky]

But it's OK for Thais to drive around with a machete hanging from their belt right?

[gk10002000]

I used to travel and fly with my "leatherman" multipurpose tool. As an ex Boy scout, "be prepared" is still my motto and the tool is so useful when traveling. Of course 911 attack in the USA here pretty much eliminated being able to carry the tool when I travel. If I were backpacking around I would always carry it. I guess I could check in the leatherman, but I travel with just my carry on so I can't. I sure as heck have it in my car though as well as lots of tools and chisels and a few hacksaw blades, and here in the USA I even have my camping axe. Stunned that a small swiss army knife in the glove compartment is an issue. What a shakedown

[Adeeos]

I asked a couple of policemen in a resturant about my carrying a pocket knife,, wether it was legal or not,, He told me, It's up to the officer,, If you're doing nothing wrong, and it appears you're carrying it for a useful purpose, opening mail, a box, etc, etc,,, No problem,, if he "thinks" you're carrying it for a non-legal purpose, as in robbery, etc, Or you appear to be somewhat, "shady".. he can fine you, and take it,,, That's pretty common sense I'd say,,, This cop probably took it after 1, she said she carried it for self defense,, and 2,, her constant running off at the mouth at him,, I'm fairly sure had she been polite, kept quite, all would've been OK...

[tubby johnson]

I never stop when the cops wave me down. Make no eye contact and keep on driving. No cop has ever chased me ... it's not worth it for them as they would have to abandon their highway robbery checkpoint.

[ChiangraiTony]

Everyone that has commented on the knife. Firstly, the knife that was retrieved by the police is Not a Swiss Army knife. Secondly, it is not a switchblade knife either.

It is clear after viewing the video that this knife is a multi purpose knife. The knife on one end is designed to be used in the event of an emergency and one has to cut through a seat belt or simular type material. The other part of the folding knife has at least one blade.

I would still like to know the law in Thailand for having this size knife in a vehicle.

The laws can be confusing. No joke, several years ago my friend purchased an Italian looking switchblade knife from Central department store in BKK. Was it legal??? Not sure but he did buy it. That's what I mean when I say the laws are confusing.

[tommybhill]

Hmm, I bet they would have a field day with the Leatherman I carry with me where ever I go...

haha why just incase you get lost in the jungle one day..... come on man

[connda]

But it's OK for Thais to drive around with a machete hanging from their belt right?

We carry machetes all over the village and occasionally on the motorcycle and the car depending what we need them for. They are "TOOLS". At least hear in the LOS. I just had five trees in my backyard trimmed. Try doing that with a freaking 2 inch pen knife.

[metisdead]

Some off topic posts, inflammatory posts and replies have been removed.

[rubl]

But it's OK for Thais to drive around with a machete hanging from their belt right?

We carry machetes all over the village and occasionally on the motorcycle and the car depending what we need them for. They are "TOOLS". At least hear in the LOS. I just had five trees in my backyard trimmed. Try doing that with a freaking 2 inch pen knife.

If you had tried you might have entered a state of inner peace, what with months to get there

[HerbalEd]

I'm betting the police were hoping for a bride and the Dutch couple were either not smart enough to realize or to stubborn to give one.

[longstebe]

I'm betting the police were hoping for a bride and the Dutch couple were either not smart enough to realize or to stubborn to give one.

How many people carry extra brides around with them :-)

[hawker9000]

PLEASE ALL who don't know what a Swiss army knife is, google it and you WILL KNOW that the knife in the video WASN'T A SWISS ARMY KNIFE.

Please look at the video again

the knife ISN'T A SWISS ARMY KNIFE.

Sorry for the uppercase, but I can see from what most people respond to the OP and believe it's a tool knife, I said it before but people still post comments on the wrong type of knife.

Don't be critical of the RTP, they have their full rights to confiscate and fine the person having the SWITCH BLADE knife, at least 4 inches long.

IT IS NOT a Swiss army knife.

And YOU evidently don't know what a switchblade is either. Sorry, but your childish oversize typeface doesn't make it a switchblade. Have you ever even SEEN a switchblade knife??

The article in full says it's a switch blade and that "swiss army knife" was a translation error in the original article.

...then the article's wrong. It's not a switchblade.

[AlQaholic]

I have an umbrella in my car, the tip is sharp. Should I turn myself in to the Police???

[mike324]

But we can carry box cutters and say its for school project? or work? lol

Perhaps police should banned the sale of these "weapons" in public areas such as Paragaon, Central, etc. Many of these malls even sell tactical knives...

Not to mention tasers, pepper spray, and batons found on sukhumvit roads

[jmccarty]

There is a translation error. It was a switchblade apparently. Not legal in many countries. Not really sure here. They can probably say a paper clip is a dangerous weapon if they want to. He/she choked his/her husband/wife with it shoving it down their throat with a tyre iron!

[outsider]

Parasites-in-Brown hit another low.

[PHP87]

In defense of those Police Officers;

1) It clearly shows in that VDO that the knife in question is NOT a "Swiss Army Knife" !

2) The knife that IS clearly visible is about 3 X the size of a "Swiss Army Knife" !

3) The cops on site, behaved very professionally and calmly, but

4) The Thai female Passenger was NOT very polite, but rather VERY arrogant & condescending towards the courteous cops and even exclaimed at some point during her tirade, that she was "a Citizen of The Netherlands" . . . . . - She also intimated that she carried that knife for "Self-Protection".

5) Under Thai (most any nations's Laws) there IS a max. allowable "Blade-Length" making the distinction between a (Peel My Apple Knife" versus "Potentially Dangerous Weapon" knife.

5) For clarity's sake, I attach a comparison picture of what people perceive to be a Swiss Army Knife and then, the knife in question:

Swiss Army Knife's blade is approx. 5 cm in length.

VDO shown knife appears to be approx. 15 cm in length.

The ONLY problem with this Post, therefore, is the Heading; it should have NOT have included the words "SWISS ARMY KNIFE", because it wasn't ! ! !

As Churchill put it so brilliantly:

. . . For everything that happens in this world, there's a logical explanation . . . . . . .

. . . and THEN; there's the truth . . . . . . .

The "Cold Steel" knife in that pic looks like a counterfeit as I don't believe CS ever made a knife like that AFAIK.

I wonder what they would do if they found my Spyderco Civilian on me or my vehicle?

Edited February 9, 2015 by PHP87

[PaPiPuPePo]

Looks more like a switchblade than a leatherman, definately not swiss army knife-toolset.

I have enough faith in my fellow human beings to trust that in 15 or so pages someone else has pointed out that

a) this isn't a picture of a switchblade

nor is what is in the car, a switchblade

and come to the same conclusion as I, that you have no idea what you're talking about!

A switchblade is by definition a knife with a blade hidden in the handle with a set spring so that it "switches", spring-loaded, open when (usually) a button is pushed. A stiletto is a type of switchblade where the spring-loaded blade comes straight out of the end of the handle.

What you've pictured is a one-handed folding knife, which is manually opened. Some knife makers, Kershaw being a popular one, add a spring to assist the opening, which is getting closer to a full-on switchblade, most don't however and I'll wager the pictured one doesn't so is , but is still a far cry from one.

[hawker9000]

Looks more like a switchblade than a leatherman, definately not swiss army knife-toolset.

I have enough faith in my fellow human beings to trust that in 15 or so pages someone else has pointed out that

a) this isn't a picture of a switchblade

nor is what is in the car, a switchblade

and come to the same conclusion as I, that you have no idea what you're talking about!

A switchblade is by definition a knife with a blade hidden in the handle with a set spring so that it "switches", spring-loaded, open when (usually) a button is pushed. A stiletto is a type of switchblade where the spring-loaded blade comes straight out of the end of the handle.

What you've pictured is a one-handed folding knife, which is manually opened. Some knife makers, Kershaw being a popular one, add a spring to assist the opening, which is getting closer to a full-on switchblade, most don't however and I'll wager the pictured one doesn't so is , but is still a far cry from one.

Some need to keep calling it a switchblade in order to defend the actions of the police. Look at the video. You're quite right. It's not a switchblade. I believe it was actually something more along the lines of this:

http://www.everythingdecorated.com/product/grey-spring-assisted-knife/

Edited February 9, 2015 by hawker9000

[AlQaholic]

I think maybe the point of everybody's outrage is not whether the knife in question is legal or not. The outrage I think is why the police had to search the vehicle in the first place. It must have become obvious to the police officers that the people in the car was on the way to the airport and had no intention of doing anything illegal, yet they had to search the vehicle, why??

Only reason I can think of is the woman in the car must have said something (before the video starts) annoying to the officers.

[iamariva1957]

illegal to carry a knife without legitimate reason in Australia too and self defence is not legitimate reason

Yea same in the US... to carry a blade longer than a certain number of inches. But a Swiss Army Knife would be fine. But again, this was no Swiss Army anything.

it is any knife in Australia, you can get arrested for carrying a butter knife, not only that you have to 18 years old to buy one, the stupidity of seeing a sign at the supermarket on plastic cutlery that you have ID to buy it

We in the US have those signs on the locked cases of spray paints! It might seem stupid... but it really isn't. For at least you can be charged as an adult without question as of 18 years old.

[jabis]

Looks more like a switchblade than a leatherman, definately not swiss army knife-toolset.

I have enough faith in my fellow human beings to trust that in 15 or so pages someone else has pointed out that

a) this isn't a picture of a switchblade

nor is what is in the car, a switchblade

and come to the same conclusion as I, that you have no idea what you're talking about!

A switchblade is by definition a knife with a blade hidden in the handle with a set spring so that it "switches", spring-loaded, open when (usually) a button is pushed. A stiletto is a type of switchblade where the spring-loaded blade comes straight out of the end of the handle.

What you've pictured is a one-handed folding knife, which is manually opened. Some knife makers, Kershaw being a popular one, add a spring to assist the opening, which is getting closer to a full-on switchblade, most don't however and I'll wager the pictured one doesn't so is , but is still a far cry from one.

Some need to keep calling it a switchblade in order to defend the actions of the police. Look at the video. You're quite right. It's not a switchblade. I believe it was actually something more along the lines of this:

http://www.everythingdecorated.com/product/grey-spring-assisted-knife/

Well boys, that's why the item I posted is named as Fox Citadel Deimos Butch Vallotton Black Micarta Dual Action Scale Release Switchblade Knife.( http://autoknife.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1133 )

However that was not the point for posting it at all - it just bared some resemblance in my mind to the item seen on video - much more than the swiss army knife - and I happened to do a fast google for what a switchblade could look like, but apparently you think you know your knives better, so I'll just leave commenting about it all together.

[iamariva1957]

the law says "only Swiss citizen can carry publicly a Swiss knife legally in Thailand" art. 6.23

Ah so this means that anyone else can carry one of the knock offs that are on sale in every market and at every Night Market stall? What I love about all of this is the fact that in front of my local Post Office (a Government agency/office) there are always two or tree guys selling machetes and other Rambo style knives on the bottom step by the front door to the place. I have seen cops buying them and even Farangs with nothing being said. I guess these cops in the article missed their local market that day!

[KamalaRider]

PLEASE ALL who don't know what a Swiss army knife is, google it and you WILL KNOW that the knife in the video WASN'T A SWISS ARMY KNIFE.

Please look at the video again

the knife ISN'T A SWISS ARMY KNIFE.

Sorry for the uppercase, but I can see from what most people respond to the OP and believe it's a tool knife, I said it before but people still post comments on the wrong type of knife.

Don't be critical of the RTP, they have their full rights to confiscate and fine the person having the SWITCH BLADE knife, at least 4 inches long.

IT IS NOT a Swiss army knife.

And YOU evidently don't know what a switchblade is either. Sorry, but your childish oversize typeface doesn't make it a switchblade. Have you ever even SEEN a switchblade knife??

And some people don't stop call it a swiss army knife before some childish person comments on it with uppercase and upsized bolded letters.

If you believe that the distinction between a switchblade and a folded knife, has crept in to the swedish language, you are arrogant and quite ignorant.

Evidently the point wasn't if it was a folded knife or a switchblade, which still now, the distinction eludes me, it wasn't a swiss army knife, got it ?

The difference is like between a bee bee gun and a .45.

English isn't my native language and I bet a lot more people than me here aren't experts in the English language so you point comes out as arrogant and completely and utterly irrelevant.

My first post that it wasn't a swiss army knife (which the whole god damn world knows what it looks like and what functions it could have) was completely ignored, but my second with bold and uppercase letters apparently wasn't, so do you think some Thai bashers feel a little bit awkward now?