Unbelievable Insult in LOS

[dragonfly94]

Op has been here 20 years and only just got insulted, he's done well for himself I think, many Thais just don't like us, so what?

[CharlieH]

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[Baa_Mango]

As a fluent Thai speaker, you should translated the relevant documents for your friend. And don't be so hard on the colonel, he is on a paltry salary and they have to purchase those uniforms themselves!

Moral of the story, what the christ have you be doing for twenty years? You think you would have at least a beginners grasp of things. If you are serious about pursuing this issue - may consider getting some people to take care of it on your behalf.

[Xircal]

OP, you said you speak fluent Thai. That being the case, why couldn't you have translated the form the officer printed for your friend? Would've saved you a lot of hassle.

Also, what were you doing in the intervening two hours you mentioned? Did the officer mention why you had to wait so long?

As for the demand for fingerprints, the policeman might have been antagonised by your attitude. But since you provided them even though you hadn't committed a crime, it might portray you in a bad light.

Always best to diffuse the issue in a situation like this especially where the police are concerned. Just smile and wai in the appropriate places and don't adopt an aggressive tone regardless of how aggrieved you might feel because if you make a Thai 'lose face', it could blow back on you quite dramatically especially where law enforcement is concerned: http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2015/02/foreigners-quietly-having-visas.html

[Prapaexpert]

I dont know what has become of this country, but for sure this place is going to struggle for the next many years.

I have come here for the past 25 years and always loved it. But during the past years, it has started to show is real face and attitude towards especially long-term foreigners here.

Thailand has simply lost it soul and previous good karma to corruption and personal greed. The next many years will be a very hard struggle, before people wake up and face the real world.

I think the difference between now and 23 years ago is that there are more foreigners. Also, a different kind of foreigner, with the internet whoring and many retirees. Used to be that if you met a farang in Khon Kaen for example, he had an interesting story - was a bank robber, hippy who travelled here by land, Buddhist or whatever. Now it's more likely they'll be a retired doctor or civil servant. They prefer to hang out at expat bars and don't want to integrate with the locals. The OP thinks his friend is a well-respected retired doctor - well not here, where nearly all foreigners are "unplaceables" ie they can't be put on the Thai hierarchical system. Retired doctors, in my experience, generally have largely inflated egos which along with body language will put the junior policeman on edge.

Everyone here has their own little kingdom and maybe you and your buddy were disrespectful unconsciously.

I just can't imagine living here for "the best part of 20 years", however long that is, and not having any "poo yai" in the police force, government or army. This is essential to have for many reasons.

I find that speaking Thai gets a lot of respect with police. I went(reluctantly) with my wife to complain about a "possible" burglar. They didn't give a toss at first, just going through the formalities, when my wife dropped the name of a 'friend/colleague' of mine, who was a deputy commander in the force and ex head of Khon Kaen police. Suddenly, they changed their tune and we got regular police patrols at our house. We ended up paying them a small 'tip' but worth it.

This is the system here and most foreigners don't realize it and the junior policeman is used to farang marching in there demanding their civil rights, with an ex bargirl who's cousin is in the army. Well, we don't have any rights and under the Constitution being written now, will not have too as it is only for Thai citizens. Even some Thais have no rights if they are the equivalent of India's untouchables.

BTW, if you think they can put you in jail for not giving prints then you must have been living on cloud cuckoo land. I'd have told them to piss off.

Very well written!

Many Time i have ride my bike in Bangkok. And get stoppad by The Police for riding in The right film.

One policeman was point to a paper with thai text with some number. And told me that i have to pay 1000 bath. I Rice my Body to look down on him. And told him that the normal fine for this is 200. He reply with that i then have to go to the Police station. I replyed with ok jump on the bike backside and we go there.

After the policeman replyed with ok 200 bath.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Prapaexpert

[Yandel]

Doesnt matter what country or where your living there's going to be someone out there

that just doesnt like you ...

Im heavily covered in tattoos from all over my face and body .. im not hard to miss in UdonThani ..

and till this day theres people that love, hate it , talk bad bout me ..

i speak read and write fluent Lao and Esaan and it dont mean shiiit if people dont like you

and your attitude that you throw out then that be it ..

Just think back in your country how many of "YOUR PEOPLE" are racist to Asians

and talk bad to them all because of their looks and skin color .. its just human nature ...

[Beetlejuice]

My son is a police officer in Chiang Mai and I can categorically tell the OP the police do not operate in this way, this is not following the correct procedures and I am calling BS on this one, unless there is a lot more involved than that the OP is letting on.

What is the name of the police officer concerned and at which police station?

Lol.... Yeah.... Cause Thai police are known for following procedure. Like making foreigners piss in a cup in public on the side of the road, take/demand bribes, work in gambling dens..... I mean... I can't even continue the list.... I will be here all day.

There are two possibilities here. The story is a lie, or it is a rogue cop. I don't know which and don't care.

But for you to actually state "procedure" in regards to Thai law enforcement is honestly the funniest thing I have heard all day.

OP: excuse me officer, I have come to report the naughty youth who knocked me off my motorbike.

Nice policeman: that`s fine, I will make a report, but if you and your friend who is only accompanying you here do not give us your fingerprints, then I`m sending both of you straight to jail.

Get out of here pal, this is far fetched even for Thailand.

Anyhow, this is all irrelevant now, because it seems the OP has taken a schtum powder and conveniently disappeared. .

[JLCrab]

If you have lived there 20 years you should know they don't want you there. Why is this a surprise? They don't care how long you've lived there or how well you speak Thai. Don't understand why anyone would live there if you don't have to. I had to for 2 years of work, met my beautiful wife but otherwise couldn't wait to go home.

I guess it's what's in your head -- I go back to USA/Florida for 2-3 weeks each year. I have a great time but otherwise can't wait to go home which which is in rural NE Thailand.

[georgegeorgia]

"No..I will get what you have written translated into English and then I will sign."

There were 2 Thai people with you who could read the paper and tell you what was written down, so no need for translation in English.

You can't be fluent inThai if you can't read it. It seems to me you started to be difficult and the policeman was returning the favor.

Those two people were the 2 Policemam ??

Omg ...i would definetely trust them !

[Johnniey]

"No..I will get what you have written translated into English and then I will sign."

There were 2 Thai people with you who could read the paper and tell you what was written down, so no need for translation in English.

You can't be fluent inThai if you can't read it. It seems to me you started to be difficult and the policeman was returning the favor.

Those two people were the 2 Policemam ??

Omg ...i would definetely trust them !

To be fluent in Thai one doesn't have to be able to read.

Many Thais are fluent but can't read.

[kriswillems]

I think the policeman just made a report of what you've told him.

You were not being accused of anything.
You're supposed to sign the report, because it's a declaration of your side of the story.
It's kinda normal they get frustrated if you refuse to sign your own complaint.
Because you didn't want to sign he asked you for a fingerprint instead of a signature.

Being fluent in Thai or not, I still believe this incident was based on a communication problem.

Edited March 5, 2015 by kriswillems

[billd766]

In 2011, I applied for PR status in Thailand. As part of the application, you must submit a police clearnce report from your home country. I'm an American, so I had to get mine via an FBI Criminal Records Check. To do this, I had to download a fingerprint card off the Intenet, then get fingerprinted, and then send the card to an FBI center in West Virginia, USA.

So - I downloaded the card, and went to the Prakhanong Police Station, not far from the Onnut BTS Station. Although there is now a brand new station at that spot, in 2011 it was pretty decrepit. I went at about 11:20 am. I had never been there before, and it seeemed rather deserted. After walking down a hallway, and peeking into several rooms, I finally found a young lady officer in uniform. I speak Thai, but not well enough to discuss fingerprinting. But - when I showed her the card, she understood, took the card, and asked me to follow her - which I did - down a long hallway to a room at the end which turned out to be a dining area - with maybe six people leaning over bowls of noodle soup. She went over to one man in a green T-shirt, very dark complexion, muscular, short hair - looked like a Thai boxer, maybe late 30's - and held the fingerprint card to him, and gestured toward me.

This guy took the card, stood up, and made for the door, motioning for me to follow him - completely abandoning his lunch. I follwed him up two flights of stairs, and then way down to the far end of the building. He slowed down, and there was a chair next to a sort of countertop projecting from the wall - a fingerprinting station! The wall was shared with a washroom - and he pointed to me, and to the washeroom, and made handwashing gestures - so I went in - there was a squeeze bottle of soap - and I washed my hands, and dried them on paper towels that were there. He nodded for me to sit - he was sitting across from me, with a little cart - with a sort of equipment toolcase opened up on top of it. It was a top-quality fingerprinting kit, with all sorts of marble plattens, rollers, tubes of ink, and a big magnifying glass. I had already filled out the form at the top of the fingerprint card, in English, and he now folded the card twice, so that just one row of boxes was exposed. He used spring clips to clip this along one edge of the countertop. He next squirted some ink onto one marble plate, maybe 20 x 15 cm, and used a roller to squeeze the ink into a very thin layer. He then took one of my hands, isolated my thumb, and then rolled it from left to right - one time - and then directly to the correct box on the fingerprint card. He did all five fingers on that hand in about 75 seconds. He then had to adjust the fingerprint card to expose the second set of boxes - without smudging the ink from the first set.. I couldn't figure out his movements - but he knew exactly what he was doing. He then rerolled the ink, to make sure it was evenly distributed He then took the second "hand" of prints in about another 75 seconds. He then unclipped the fingerprint card, unfolded it, and took the magnifying glass, and examined each print. He was nodding to himself as he did this, and when finished, he motioned for me to go wash my hands again - which I did. It took some scrubbing - there was a small brush there - to get most of the ink off.

When I came back out, the fingerprint card was under a bright desk lamp, witt a fan blowing on it - to dry it. He was busy cleaning the marble plate and the roller - using some acetone, or similar. After a few minutes, he pulled out the fingerprint card, and sniffed at it (I guess the ink smells if it is still wet?). He put it back under the fan/light while he boxed everything back up in the carrying case, and put the case upon a wall shelf. He turned off the desk lamp, the fan, and the room light - grabbed the fingerprint card, and nodded for me to follow him. I followed back down two flights of stairs, and then down a hallway to a room with several uniformed officers in it. He had me stop at the open doorway - he went in and had one of them add the police station seal, and he then signed the card, and they used a blue ink stamp to stamp his signature block under his signature - all in Thai. The he came back to me and handed me the card, and then brushed past me - he was done.

At no point had he spoken a word to me. He never smiled. No one even asked me WHY I needed the fingerprints. He never wasted one motion. He was 100% efficient and professional. He was the Michaelangelo of fingerprining.

So - as he walked away, I said "khortoht khrap" - he turned around - and I had out a 500 baht note, and tried to hand it to him. He just crossed his hands "no, no" - and turned away and went off down the hallway - still in his green T-shirt. A lady in full unform was coming the other way as he passed her, and she saw that I was trying to do something, but the guy had not helped me - so she stopped to ask me what was wrong, and could she help me. I was a bit perplexed as to what to say or do - I told her that the guy had just helped me - very well - and had left his lunch to help me - and I wanted to buy him and his friends lunch - and I stuck the 500 baht note in her hand, and walked away, and out of the station. I think she stood there as I walked away, unsure what she was supposed to do.

The point being - if EVER there was an occasion for a policeman to take some money for helpful service rendred, above and beyond the call of duty - this was it - and yet I could not get him to take a "tip". He was solid professional - doing a superb job at what he was trained to do - he paid attention to detail and took pride in his work - and was totally disinterested in being paid money by a farang who walked into his station, and interrupted his lunch.

They aren't all bad.

MS

You silly old cow...she's bloody kept that 500 !

Were you there at the time? Did you see exactly what happened afterwards?

I assume that you weren't but had to pretend how smart and important you are and that the Thai police ALWAYS take and keep the money.

Idiot.

[FritsSikkink]

"No..I will get what you have written translated into English and then I will sign."

There were 2 Thai people with you who could read the paper and tell you what was written down, so no need for translation in English.

You can't be fluent inThai if you can't read it. It seems to me you started to be difficult and the policeman was returning the favor.

Those two people were the 2 Policemam ??

Omg ...i would definetely trust them !

I don't know what your god has to do with it but if you read the OP, you would have known that it were his wife and the wife of his friend.

Edited March 5, 2015 by FritsSikkink

[FritsSikkink]

"No..I will get what you have written translated into English and then I will sign."

There were 2 Thai people with you who could read the paper and tell you what was written down, so no need for translation in English.

You can't be fluent inThai if you can't read it. It seems to me you started to be difficult and the policeman was returning the favor.

Those two people were the 2 Policemam ??

Omg ...i would definetely trust them !

To be fluent in Thai one doesn't have to be able to read.

Many Thais are fluent but can't read.

If somebody can't read they have very limited language skills (and general knowledge). I wouldn't call that being fluent in a language.

[phoenixdoglover]

If you only get badly offended by a police officer or a government official once every 20 years, you're leading a pretty good life.

[Neeranam]

"No..I will get what you have written translated into English and then I will sign."

There were 2 Thai people with you who could read the paper and tell you what was written down, so no need for translation in English.

You can't be fluent inThai if you can't read it. It seems to me you started to be difficult and the policeman was returning the favor.

Those two people were the 2 Policemam ??

Omg ...i would definetely trust them !

To be fluent in Thai one doesn't have to be able to read.

Many Thais are fluent but can't read.

If somebody can't read they have very limited language skills (and general knowledge). I wouldn't call that being fluent in a language.

I know a few blind people who are fluent in Thai

[joesanunu]

Sounds like another day in the Land of Smiles.

They hate us. Now you know.

[jerojero]

Police trying to show their superiority, because they easily bully Thai people, trying do same with you. Why, who the H knows!

[kannot]

Now if somebody came up to me in a restaurant and shit on my plate I would say THAT was an "unbelievable" insult, this isnt!...............mind you they would then be wearing that plate in their face

[IMA_FARANG]

If you have really been here that long you should have noticed that the old Land of Smiles" has changed since then especially in the cities.

The pace of life and the pressure on the Thais has increased immensely since I first came to Thailand in 1979.

Even though I have not lived here all that time, I have returned to Thailand at least once a year since then and I have lived here as a retiree since 2010 In Bangkok.

One cause of this, at least in my opinion, is that the supposed "good life" shown on Thai television as the Norm, and the reality of the daily life of the average Thai worker is wide and growing wider every day.

What they are told they should expect to attain, and the economic reality of they can expect to obtain is increasing every day for a large and growing majority of "average " Thais, and they can see it happening.

It's causing a growing discontent in Thailand.... and the old "Sanook, Mai Pen Rai" attitude is vanishing fast.

If you have truly been here that long you should have seen it by now.

Edited March 6, 2015 by IMA_FARANG

[IMA_FARANG]

Doesnt matter what country or where your living there's going to be someone out there

that just doesnt like you ...

Im heavily covered in tattoos from all over my face and body .. im not hard to miss in UdonThani ..

and till this day theres people that love, hate it , talk bad bout me ..

i speak read and write fluent Lao and Esaan and it dont mean shiiit if people dont like you

and your attitude that you throw out then that be it ..

Just think back in your country how many of "YOUR PEOPLE" are racist to Asians

and talk bad to them all because of their looks and skin color .. its just human nature ...

======================

I agree with some of these comments.

I have complained before about the attitude of some of the "Farangs" on this forum who when speaking about the Thais automatically refer to the Thais and themselves as "Us' (the Farangs") and "Them" (the Thais")

AS I said before I am not a member of any "us" group, I am just a me, myself.

[hdkane]

I dont know what has become of this country, but for sure this place is going to struggle for the next many years.

I have come here for the past 25 years and always loved it. But during the past years, it has started to show its real face and attitude towards especially long-term foreigners here.

Thailand has simply lost it soul and previous good karma to corruption and personal greed. The next many years will be a very hard struggle, before people wake up and face the fact that they can not be arrogant, racists, narrowminded and independent of the outside world.

similar to your sentiments, an acquaintance here remarked that thailand has been playing "a game with no rivals" for quite some time...with all the cards and rules in their favour...just wait until other Asians come here...they speak English...are better educated...and have a stronger work ethic than the young generation here...there are hard times ahead for Thais...I just hope farangs don't become scapegoats....

[infinity11]

Sounds strange but your both not guilty of anything so not to worry.

YOU are always guilty, proven innocent or not, thai logic???

The horror stories grow but isn't life a bit hellish everywhere you go?

It's a trade off, just mention a better place and i might check it out, japan? vietnam? cambodia?