White South African man arrested for selling drug in Bangkok

[off road pat]

He said he got the drug from a Myanmar man for pushing in the bar. He said the drug sold very well during the long Songkran holidays.

Can't believe that anybody selling drugs and gettin' busted would make such a statement.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/1201/p2478.html

Might be worth to read through...

With a little knowledge of chemistry, GHB can be easily synthesized from readily obtainable materials. The manufacturing of GHB can be a lucrative business, with an initial investment of $800 having a comparative street value of approximately $92,000.2

Wow serious stuff,....."Braking Bad" in the coming.

[Blindside]

White South African... I guess that means he wasn't black. What is the purpose of this headline? To distinguish between colour? I simply don't get it.

Black Africans have a bad reputation here for being involved in criminal activities, so why not mention that the seller in this case is white?

His color has nothing to do with this crime and neither does his national origins.

But a headline that reads "bloke arrested for selling drugs" doesn't really work does it?

That is true. Anything a little "exotic" will get a mention.

They would probably go off their nut for;

Cross dressing Malagasy man caught selling ice

85 year old Yemeni woman caught with 5 kgs of Meth...

[Local Drunk]

His color has nothing to do with this crime and neither does his national origins.

But a headline that reads "bloke arrested for selling drugs" doesn't really work does it?

Should we go totally PC and say 'person'?

NO! That's the last thing in the world I want to see here. The headline could have read much differently though, and could have been even more eye catching is what I'm really saying.

[Local Drunk]

White South African... I guess that means he wasn't black. What is the purpose of this headline? To distinguish between colour? I simply don't get it.

Let me clarify this for you: In South Africa it is not derogatory to say "that black guy, white guy, coloured or Indian guy". That's how everyone talks because there is such a large mixed population all over the country. Nobody has a hang-up about it at all. It just makes it easier and convenient to identify to other people who you are refering to, no matter who you talking to. A black, coloured, white, Indian or any other person of race.

Ok ... Thanks for that. I have my head caved in everyday by the P.C. I was just questioning the journalism involved in the article. Race and origin just seem to be irrelevant. I wish we had more time to talk.

[Kaalle]

And some wonder why farangs are stopped and searched on the streets!

Because one dude sells drugs in a gaybar? Yeah it all makes sense now.

[Soutpeel]

And some wonder why farangs are stopped and searched on the streets!

Because one dude sells drugs in a gaybar? Yeah it all makes sense now.

Well all these white farangs are the same you know, desperate to stay in wonderful Thailand and will resort to selling drugs to achieve this end, so yes one can understand why farangs are stopped and searched

[minikev]

I think it is relevant to say White South African because of the stop and search job a couple of weeks ago of Black or coloured South Africans. It sort of backs up what you are saying Local drunk in that we are equal and they should have stopped and questioned ALL South Africans. This political correctness stuff is confusing. Just get all the heavy drug dealers Black/ White whatever.

Unfortunately judging by the very small amounts he is only a small middle man who stepped on someones toes.

[SOTIRIOS]

....if you appear too happy you will be stopped....

..percentagewise one would think that more Thais deal drugs or commit crimes than foreigners......

...so really...why stop a foreigner who comes to your country to enrich it.....makes no sense to treat visitors that way...

...but in this case....he brought it upon himself...and it was so obvious that he did not even bother to deny it.....

[Stan42]

Good riddance, I hope they throw away the key.

But a bit off topic: Alprazolam? That's generic Xanax. My Doctor prescribed them to me and I always carry a 5mg pill with me in case I get a panic attack, which fortunately doesn't happen very often, maybe twice a year. Am I in the clear if the police search me?

[Alex Sharp]

White oke would be appropriate !!!

[Soutpeel]

Good riddance, I hope they throw away the key.

But a bit off topic: Alprazolam? That's generic Xanax. My Doctor prescribed them to me and I always carry a 5mg pill with me in case I get a panic attack, which fortunately doesn't happen very often, maybe twice a year. Am I in the clear if the police search me?

Maybe , maybe not depends on the BIB agenda for the day

[Prbkk]

Good riddance, I hope they throw away the key.

But a bit off topic: Alprazolam? That's generic Xanax. My Doctor prescribed them to me and I always carry a 5mg pill with me in case I get a panic attack, which fortunately doesn't happen very often, maybe twice a year. Am I in the clear if the police search me?

That would be point 5, otherwise you would fall asleep on the spot, I suspect.

[Donutz]

A South African named Roland Van Del Brox? Sounds like he has Dutch ancestors. I bet that must be Mr. van der Brox. "van der" being Dutch for "from" or "of the" . Never heard of "Brox" either though, might be misspelled aswell (v/d Broek? v/d Brons?). I fail to see why the reporter would mentioning his colour...

[Jimdandy]

When does it become necessary to distinguish a 'white' citizen from a 'black' citizen of a country unless the issue at hand is race related in their home country? What point does it serve?

[Sealbash]

If the headline said "South African", there would be 100 posts about racial discrimination against blacks. If no nationality was mentioned, there would be multiple pages explaining how Thais are inferior to the rest of the world. If the country of citizenship was in the Middle East, we would be reading about Muslim against infidels.

So what is the problem with stating facts that it was a white South African? Does that statement detract from the news story in any way?

[Geekfreaklover]

Have never met a black South African in Bangkok. Plenty of black Western Africans but never met a black South African. As far as I can tell from the White South Africans, of which there are many in Bangkok, the blacks have a proportionate amount of jobs to their population break-down in SA, so most of the white South Africans are in Bangkok as economic migrants looking for work, including, until he got caught, probably this guy Roland. Africa is a big place and South Africa a traumatized country with many racial issues going on. Best not to dwell on that for this topic. Point is a foreigner got caught selling drugs. Did the crime and one would imagine he will do the time.

[FarangKino]

It wasn't me

Me neither....

I hope he gets the punishment he deserves, plus more. Skunk.

Well I'm still here posting on Thaivisa, so don't lay the blame at my door. Skunk eh?

[ratcatcher]

A South African named Roland Van Del Brox? Sounds like he has Dutch ancestors. I bet that must be Mr. van der Brox. "van der" being Dutch for "from" or "of the" . Never heard of "Brox" either though, might be misspelled aswell (v/d Broek? v/d Brons?). I fail to see why the reporter would mentioning his colour...

"A South African named Roland Van Del Brox?"

Would you prefer it had been Stukkie van der Merwe and he'd been referred to as a japie?

"Sounds like he has Dutch ancestors"

I guess history was not your strong suit eh? The Dutch were in South Africa before the British and are known as Boers.

Had the individual been a Zulu, I am sure they would not have mentioned his colour.

[Donutz]

"A South African named Roland Van Del Brox?"

Would you prefer it had been Stukkie van der Merwe and he'd been referred to as a japie?

I'd simply prefer the press spelling his name correctly and not butchering it by writing it as "van del" "vander" or "vanderbrox" or any other such silly variations. Can't be that hard to correctly copy the name as it appears in the passport.

"Sounds like he has Dutch ancestors"

I guess history was not your strong suit eh? The Dutch were in South Africa before the British and are known as Boers.

Had the individual been a Zulu, I am sure they would not have mentioned his colour.

History was my favourit and best subject. Being Dutch myself I know full well that the Dutch migrated to there. The boer-war may ring a bell to people who hardly know a thing about SA. Those people speak a funny version of Dutch though: Afrikaans Though there is no knowing if Roland speaks Afrikaans at all or just English. But his ancestors obviously are Dutch who migrated to SA. The surname was a give a way and also makes it extremely likely that he is white or is mostly white.

[englishoak]

White South African... I guess that means he wasn't black. What is the purpose of this headline? To distinguish between colour? I simply don't get it.

That exactly, but theres no racism in Thailand

[tropo]

White South African... I guess that means he wasn't black. What is the purpose of this headline? To distinguish between colour? I simply don't get it.

Let me clarify this for you: In South Africa it is not derogatory to say "that black guy, white guy, coloured or Indian guy". That's how everyone talks because there is such a large mixed population all over the country. Nobody has a hang-up about it at all. It just makes it easier and convenient to identify to other people who you are refering to, no matter who you talking to. A black, coloured, white, Indian or any other person of race.

Ok ... Thanks for that. I have my head caved in everyday by the P.C. I was just questioning the journalism involved in the article. Race and origin just seem to be irrelevant. I wish we had more time to talk.

I too can confirm this as I used to live there. Surely you know by now that the Thai press like to be very descriptive about anyone in the news. They even post photos of passports if they are at hand. Although I agree it doesn't matter what colour the drug seller is, it's no big deal to hear that he is white, which is a rarity for the African continent.

[tropo]

"The officials seized.........2,550 grams of gamma-hydroxybutyrate or GHB date rape drug from his room."

So that's over 2kg of this?

That can't be right, 2 kilos!

in number of countries (e.g. all over continental Europe) a comma is used as "decimal point" i.e. 2,550 grams = 2.55 grams.

True, and guess what? They use the decimal comma instead of a decimal point in South Africa too. LOL

[starky]

"The officials seized.........2,550 grams of gamma-hydroxybutyrate or GHB date rape drug from his room."

So that's over 2kg of this?

That can't be right, 2 kilos!

[starky]

the drug in question generally comes in liquid form so it would be 2 1/2 litres. So yes a significant quantity

[Alwym]

White South African... I guess that means he wasn't black. What is the purpose of this headline? To distinguish between colour? I simply don't get it.

Let me clarify this for you: In South Africa it is not derogatory to say "that black guy, white guy, coloured or Indian guy". That's how everyone talks because there is such a large mixed population all over the country. Nobody has a hang-up about it at all. It just makes it easier and convenient to identify to other people who you are refering to, no matter who you talking to. A black, coloured, white, Indian or any other person of race.

Ok ... Thanks for that. I have my head caved in everyday by the P.C. I was just questioning the journalism involved in the article. Race and origin just seem to be irrelevant. I wish we had more time to talk.

I too can confirm this as I used to live there. Surely you know by now that the Thai press like to be very descriptive about anyone in the news. They even post photos of passports if they are at hand. Although I agree it doesn't matter what colour the drug seller is, it's no big deal to hear that he is white, which is a rarity for the African continent.

Which "Thai press" is the source of this news?

[tropo]

Which "Thai press" is the source of this news?

Thaivisa news editor. You'll have to ask him where they got the story.

[Soutpeel]

A South African named Roland Van Del Brox? Sounds like he has Dutch ancestors. I bet that must be Mr. van der Brox. "van der" being Dutch for "from" or "of the" . Never heard of "Brox" either though, might be misspelled aswell (v/d Broek? v/d Brons?). I fail to see why the reporter would mentioning his colour...

Duh and the Afrikaners are of which ancestry for the most part ? I doubt it's " Brox " either

[Soutpeel]

the drug in question generally comes in liquid form so it would be 2 1/2 litres. So yes a significant quantity

And you know this due to your vast experience in drug dealing ?

[NanLaew]

White South African... I guess that means he wasn't black. What is the purpose of this headline? To distinguish between colour? I simply don't get it.

Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?

His color has nothing to do with this crime and neither does his national origins.

Oh, I think I know what's coming.

I have lived here a long time, and what I can tell you is that the Thai reputation is even worse. None of it can even begin happen without a cop taking a payoff.

And there we finally have it. Glad you spat that out eh? The ever so predictable and ubiquitous Thai bash.

[chooka]

Glad they didn't say black south African, that would be extremely racist.