News that never hit the media

[banglassie]

This is an incident that happened to my friend tonight. In his words:

"Don't come to Bangkok people. I've just had a gun put to my head and been handcuffed to a fence for an hour and had my iPhone and money stolen by 'the police' And if I didn't give it to them and not paid 1500£ they said I'd go to prison for 30 years. <deleted> corrupt government. Even the real police don't care they just want money".

This happened at burger king Kahosan, while I do understand it is the perfect place for bad guys to look for targets, it is one of the places newcomers head to. The authorities should take this serious, but without proof of any-kind I believe it will be ignored, I could be wrong though..
I am scared it will be an issue of "thai people don't do that to westerners", and I think some would have no problem to accept it if it was a thai doing it to a thai, but british people usually means media, especially after Koh tao.

I want to make it perfectly clear, I don't care if the people are thai, burmese, cambodian, colombian or bhutanese.... The fact is it happened near to KSR, that is bad already and worthy to be noticed by more people than the victim and his FB friends....

[nottocus]

A couple of my friends got busted for a joint by the KSR police a few months back.

Paid the cops 20,000 baht and the police gave them the weed back and said not to do it again!!

[puukao]

people robbed and die in my neighborhood i'm sure every year....and a big city near me has tons of crime (relative to no crime).....

i cannot let it scare me!!!!

murders in tons of cities in the world, maybe almost every single one...

if i were you, i would have used my black belt karate, ninja skills, and never been in that situation...

and what about all those drunk drivers....should i avoid going on the street??

all i'm saying is, life is dangerous. use common sense, and that might not be enough. But you can't avoid the Earth....

[sipi]

Tied to a fence at burger king on ksr at gunpoint? I don't think so.

[ezzra]

So what has your friend has allegedly done or possessed to incur the wrath and the attention of the police?

or you mean to say that all that happened for nothing and for no reasons? the story is lacking details, while

rouge police in Thailand have been known to happened, still, this is very serious allegations....

[lemonjelly]

I'm calling BS on this one

[jonw8uk]

it might be on CCTV.

1500 quid seems high - what was your friend caught with?

[Soutpeel]

Why has he put "police" in inverted commas...they where either RTP or they werent, and if they werent..your friend was robbed and what was he suppose to have done ? As bad as the RTP are, i dont think even they are that daft to stick a gun in someones face and extort money at a burger king in broad daylight....too many cameras

[brewsterbudgen]

£1,500? The whole story sounds very unlikely or very exaggerated.

[banglassie]

So what has your friend has allegedly done or possessed to incur the wrath and the attention of the police?

or you mean to say that all that happened for nothing and for no reasons? the story is lacking details, while

rouge police in Thailand have been known to happened, still, this is very serious allegations....

Well, I personally don't believe RTP had anything to do with this, but I don't know, I wasn't there. What I do know is that he left our place and never came back. I think it's all about some gangsters who simply targeted him, and while most people think this would never happen to them it is not too uncommon to get robbed in this world, and KSR is quite a magnet for thieves for many reasons. So I'm not too surprised, still I do feel it should be noticed since so many people are completely careless thinking nothing ever happens here for some reason (excluding some of the bitter TVF-elite who have seen just about everything here).

[banglassie]

Tied to a fence at burger king on ksr at gunpoint? I don't think so.

As far as I understood it didn't happen at burger king, he simply got into a tuktuk there who supposedly were gangsters. but I really have no idea, I am just saying what he wrote, all I know is he disappeared and now is waiting for a plane back to England even he wasn't supposed to go back for a month. It's not like we are close friends. For all I know he could have been going home with a ladyboy and got robbed, I just find that unlikely...

[banglassie]

£1,500? The whole story sounds very unlikely or very exaggerated.

Yea, I thought so myself. That's kind of why I shared it. I do know bad things happen here, but I never heard of similar before. Not completely surprised though. But I really don't believe the police were involved at all, I think they were simply thieves looking for an easy target at one of the busiest roads with foreigners in Thailand.

But then again, I wasn't there, so I have no idea really, but I have no reason to lie myself. Just wanted to share it with everyone.

[banglassie]

people robbed and die in my neighborhood i'm sure every year....and a big city near me has tons of crime (relative to no crime).....

i cannot let it scare me!!!!

murders in tons of cities in the world, maybe almost every single one...

if i were you, i would have used my black belt karate, ninja skills, and never been in that situation...

and what about all those drunk drivers....should i avoid going on the street??

all i'm saying is, life is dangerous. use common sense, and that might not be enough. But you can't avoid the Earth....

Absolutely true, I am well aware that here is quite safe regardless. And I don't think it would happen to most of us who live here, but he was simply a traveler with way too much trust in people, easy target for gangsters.

[i claudius]

Now i know the police are not the best in the world here and many are corrupt , but in 25 years in BKK and Pattaya , also time in Phitsanulock , i have only ever been treated politly and only once been asked for a bribe 500 baht ,even that was done with a smile , now why is that?

[faraday]

What kind of fool carries that much cash on his person?

Kind of doubt this story....

[banglassie]

Now i know the police are not the best in the world here and many are corrupt , but in 25 years in BKK and Pattaya , also time in Phitsanulock , i have only ever been treated politly and only once been asked for a bribe 500 baht ,even that was done with a smile , now why is that?

Yea, I have lived here since 2007, I have only twice been asked to show what I have in my pockets, both times at Sukhumvit, both times they were really polite and thanked me for my cooperation. As I said above, I personally don't think the police was involved at all, only their name used for someone who couldn't tell the difference.

[banglassie]

What kind of fool carries that much cash on his person?

Kind of doubt this story....

Were did it say he carried the money on him? I'd think it's his way of saying they asked him for 80k baht, but I really don't know.

[RidgeRunner]

Believable. The Thai Police are notorious.

Years ago, there was a guy sitting outside Starbucks, Thong Lor, kidnapped by the police, held in a house and his banks were drained. I recall it was around $200,000.

The detailed account is probably still online if interested.

[wow64]

What was your friend doing at Burger King. Sounds like he was asking for trouble hanging around establishments like that.

[banglassie]

Believable. The Thai Police are notorious.

Years ago, there was a guy sitting outside Starbucks, Thong Lor, kidnapped by the police, held in a house and his banks were drained. I recall it was around $200,000.

The detailed account is probably still online if interested.

Guess it's this story: http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/Reader2006/reader2820.htm

Here are people discussing it: http://t2.thai360.com/index.php?/topic/31625-kidnapped-robbed-by-the-thai-police/

Not sure if this is related? :http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/116068-police-implicated-in-kidnapping-foreigners/

I can't find any official documentation of it all though, and stickman is not the most valid source, at least not to truly confirm something. Still, terrible story.

But it's not uncommon that some people get the idea to rob other people, no matter their profession. After all we are all human. But the statement that Thailand as a whole has become incredibly dangerous is just not true, I'd feel way more alert in so many other places around the world, including many places in the US.

[h90]

Why has he put "police" in inverted commas...they where either RTP or they werent, and if they werent..your friend was robbed and what was he suppose to have done ? As bad as the RTP are, i dont think even they are that daft to stick a gun in someones face and extort money at a burger king in broad daylight....too many cameras

It could have been worse...instead of the gun they could have force feed him with a Burger King burger....

[RidgeRunner]

How about the case where a guy had his car stolen?

Later he was at the police station and there it was. A cop was using it as his daily driver.

He uncovered a police gang running a stolen car network. An estimated 1,000 cars went to Cambodia.

Remember the head of the DSI. Khun Pongpat, was caught running a nationwide crime network, only busted because of some political revenge.

[steelepulse]

Believable. The Thai Police are notorious.

Years ago, there was a guy sitting outside Starbucks, Thong Lor, kidnapped by the police, held in a house and his banks were drained. I recall it was around $200,000.

The detailed account is probably still online if interested.

Guess it's this story: http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/Reader2006/reader2820.htm

Here are people discussing it: http://t2.thai360.com/index.php?/topic/31625-kidnapped-robbed-by-the-thai-police/

Not sure if this is related? :http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/116068-police-implicated-in-kidnapping-foreigners/

I can't find any official documentation of it all though, and stickman is not the most valid source, at least not to truly confirm something. Still, terrible story.

But it's not uncommon that some people get the idea to rob other people, no matter their profession. After all we are all human. But the statement that Thailand as a whole has become incredibly dangerous is just not true, I'd feel way more alert in so many other places around the world, including many places in the US.

The first two links are dated 2006. The guy was kidnapped for a hell of a long time if we're getting the story now.

[banglassie]

Believable. The Thai Police are notorious.

Years ago, there was a guy sitting outside Starbucks, Thong Lor, kidnapped by the police, held in a house and his banks were drained. I recall it was around $200,000.

The detailed account is probably still online if interested.

Guess it's this story: http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/Reader2006/reader2820.htm

Here are people discussing it: http://t2.thai360.com/index.php?/topic/31625-kidnapped-robbed-by-the-thai-police/

Not sure if this is related? :http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/116068-police-implicated-in-kidnapping-foreigners/

I can't find any official documentation of it all though, and stickman is not the most valid source, at least not to truly confirm something. Still, terrible story.

But it's not uncommon that some people get the idea to rob other people, no matter their profession. After all we are all human. But the statement that Thailand as a whole has become incredibly dangerous is just not true, I'd feel way more alert in so many other places around the world, including many places in the US.

The first two links are dated 2006. The guy was kidnapped for a hell of a long time if we're getting the story now.

It states clearly in the post you quoted that it was years ago.

[Soutpeel]

Why has he put "police" in inverted commas...they where either RTP or they werent, and if they werent..your friend was robbed and what was he suppose to have done ? As bad as the RTP are, i dont think even they are that daft to stick a gun in someones face and extort money at a burger king in broad daylight....too many cameras

It could have been worse...instead of the gun they could have force feed him with a Burger King burger....

Is he sure the guys where Thai ? Might of been Aussies looking for cash to get home

[h90]

Why has he put "police" in inverted commas...they where either RTP or they werent, and if they werent..your friend was robbed and what was he suppose to have done ? As bad as the RTP are, i dont think even they are that daft to stick a gun in someones face and extort money at a burger king in broad daylight....too many cameras

It could have been worse...instead of the gun they could have force feed him with a Burger King burger....

Is he sure the guys where Thai ? Might of been Aussies looking for cash to get home

Last 2 Aussie guys I spoke with were so difficult to understand that they wouldn't be able to make me understand that they want money.

So I think we can exclude the friendly people of Australia.

[CharlieH]

As soon as I got to this "Well, I personally don't believe RTP had anything to do with this, but I don't know, I wasn't there" stated by the OP, this means its nothing more than rumour or gossip, and therefore not a credible source either.

In view of that I am closing this thread due to derogatory references/allegations.

11) You will not post slurs, degrading or overly negative comments directed towards Thailand, specific locations, Thai institutions such as the judicial or law enforcement system, Thai culture, Thai people or any other group on the basis of race, nationality, religion, gender or sexual orientation.