Police raid Russian Go-Go Bars in South Pattaya

[kingdratsab]

as a relative newbie.....1st impressions are......there is a lot of BIAS directed towards our RUSSIAN brothers in arms on this site....lol

"there is a lot of BIAS directed towards our RUSSIAN brothers"

Not entirely accurate. Here at Thai Visa we bash virtually anyone who looks,speaks, acts slightly different from those we left behind in farangland ... especially the Thai people we chose to live among (and do other things to/with/at).

It's the one vestige of colonialism we feel free to practice ... behind the protective anonymity of a nom de plume on a message board.

Ahhh now i know the aims ot the forum, I'll do my best to comply....

[Rimmer]

Some off topic posts and quoted replies have been removed

[GOLDBUGGY]

From the Pattaya One article, they say a number of customers were arrested because they didn't have their 'original' passport with them and may be fined. The use of the word original seems to imply they had a copy which previous reports said was okay. Seems to continue the confusing and conflicting info disseminated.

As has been pointed out many times, it is the law here with regards to having your passport on you. Thais have to carry their ID at all times. We have to prove we are in the country legally. The only way to do this is to have your passport on you with a valid visa stamp. It's up to the official on the scene as to whether they will accept other forms of ID or copies, or give you time to go retrieve your documents. In this case, they demanded the original. Not the first time this has happened.

It may be the law but I don't carry my PP with me all the time and I especially wouldn't carry it when out on the town. I would rather pay the fine than lose the PP. But then, in twelve years I have never been asked to produce my passport by any authority except at Immigration and even when I forget it at home when on holiday the hotel accepts my DL as proper ID.

I don't Speed on the Highway very often, but there has been many times in my life time where I went over the Speed Limit. But I have never got a Speeding Ticket in my life so far. I think the same applies to you. The big difference being that I would rather slow down and stay within the Speed Limit then pay the Fine.

It is understandable that a person doesn't want to bring his passport when out on the town. That paying a 2,000 Baht Fine is better than losing your passport. But there is ways around this. Invest 100 Baht and get good zippers installed on your shorts, and keep you passport in one. You shouldn't have to pull it out anywhere. It is probably safer that way then sitting in a hotel room someplace, like on a table. I just had a friend have his stolen this way, in Australia of all places, so it is not as safe as you think it is.

So the next time you are out and about around town, and then get surprised by being asked in a bar to produce your passport, which you don't have and thus get your night ruined by being hauled down to the Cop Shop, Fined 2,000 Baht, and yet still having to retrieve your passport to prove you are here legally, maybe then you will consider getting zippers.

[terminatorchiangmai]

And the mayor and head of police that allowed these bars to operate for a decade or more not get a slap on the wrist or being moved to an inactive post ??

Amazing !

[Dustdevil]

Good. Whatever. I mean, I'm a white guy, but...PAY to see Caucasian go-go girls? Yuck. If I ever paid for that, it would certainly have to be Asian girls. What other kind are there?

[Thian]

From the Pattaya One article, they say a number of customers were arrested because they didn't have their 'original' passport with them and may be fined. The use of the word original seems to imply they had a copy which previous reports said was okay. Seems to continue the confusing and conflicting info disseminated.

You need to carry your original passport on you at all times! It has always been this way! So there is nothing confusing about it!

There is just some people who don't like these rules and thus try to avoid them by playing around in the "Grey Area" and carrying Photo Copies or Mobile Phone Copies, instead of there Original Passport. Some get away with this on a Road Side Check, and some don't, as in this raid of this bar.

If you carry your Original Passport on you, and you are here legally, you will not experience any problems. I can't see anything less confusing that this.

Some months ago while the Thonglor police was giving problems to foreigners they said it was OK to have a laminated copy of the passport/visa with you.

If even the police tells contrary rules of law then who can we trust?

I hope the General comes on tv telling what the real rules/laws are for all foreigners staying in Thailand. How can wealthy beachtourists carry their passport while going to the beach? They have to leave it at their beachbed while they go swimming?

Also prostitution is illegal in Thailand, there are no ho's right? They even closed down many massage parlors around Sukhumvit when the new sheriff came to town. Are they still closed now or what?

Edited December 30, 2015 by Thian

[Chang_paarp]

Sigh. So apparently the info given last year by the Immigration official is already out-dated ?

"Earlier this afternoon, Thaivisa.com spoke to Deputy Commander and Police Colonel Voravat Amornvivat, a senior official at Immigration headquarters in Bangkok.

Deputy Commander Voravat wanted to reassure the expat community in Thailand about the current situation.

He told Thaivsia.com that information in an article published by The Nation on 31 July 2014, was incorrect.

Deputy Commander Voravat confirmed that foreign tourists and expats do not need to carry their passports with them at all times.

He said that tourists can of course leave their passports locked in their hotel safe and enjoy their holiday in Thailand without worrying about the need to carry their original passport.

Deputy Commander Voravat also said that for expats living here, a Thai driving license or photocopy of your passport can be used as a form of identification.

However, if Immigration Police suspect an individual to be overstaying in Thailand or being involved in illegal activity, then the individual would be required to produce their original passport promptly."

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/747736-no-need-to-worry-says-bangkok-immigration-commander/?p=8178268

Not that it makes any difference. If someone in one department makes a statement and then it isn't passed on to everyone else in every department, every time they change staff, then within weeks the info will be forgotten and we'd be back to the beginning (again).

Kerry, you of all people, should after all these years understand that the only consistency when dealing with the Thai bureaucracy is their inconsistent interpretation of their own laws, rules and regulations.

[bkk6060]

Thailand and Russia are similar in that an extremely high percentage of their woman are prostitutes.

Me thinks you might be exaggerating, by a country mile. Extremely high percentage..... how about a very small percentage ???

Maybe your name is Cyclops.

[bkk6060]

Too many people think all the girls in Thailand are hookers.

Not at all maybe less then 1%

More want your money, but that does that classify them as a "hooker".

[Pib]

Just the govt's way of collecting some end of year bonuses under the flag of law enforcement.

[GOLDBUGGY]

As has been pointed out many times, it is the law here with regards to having your passport on you. Thais have to carry their ID at all times. We have to prove we are in the country legally. The only way to do this is to have your passport on you with a valid visa stamp. It's up to the official on the scene as to whether they will accept other forms of ID or copies, or give you time to go retrieve your documents. In this case, they demanded the original. Not the first time this has happened.

You are wrong. A statement was issued a couple or so months ago by a very senior member of the police that a photocopy is acceptable. He even said he did not expect foreigners to have to carry their passport.

Of course, him declaring something and his men acting on it are two very different things. As you know, each police station. immigration office etc make up their own rules and do whatever they want. Just like in any other Banana Republic.

How some people can read what is right in front of there nose, and come out with a totally different meaning is beyond me.

Nobody ever said it was acceptable for foreigners to walk around without there passport. Nobody! What was said that if you don't have your passport on you, it doesn't mean you will be hauled off to jail right away and be deported. You will be given a chance, usually within 24 hours, to produce your original passport and to prove you are here legally.

But understand that the 2,000 Baht Fine is for not having your Original Passport on you when asked by police or immigration officers. So regardless if you can prove later you are all legal, you can still be Fined. Up-to-them!

I know of one instance when a person decided to go for a morning swim by himself in the ocean, and with only a swim suit, towel, some small cash, and shoes, he left his hotel and passport and went to the beach. As luck would have it the police were doing a police patrol for passport at this beach and he was questioned. He of course couldn't produce his passport or any other documentation.

But instead of hauling this guy down to the police station they decided to go with him to his nearby hotel, where he produced his passport, and thus they decided to let him go. But it didn't have to end this way, and this is the point I am trying to make.

[brewsterbudgen]

Too many people think all the girls in Thailand are hookers.

Not at all maybe less then 1%

More want your money, but that does that classify them as a "hooker".

And most of those who think like this have never been anywhere near the "fun" areas of Bangkok and Pattaya!

[bkk6060]

From the Pattaya One article, they say a number of customers were arrested because they didn't have their 'original' passport with them and may be fined. The use of the word original seems to imply they had a copy which previous reports said was okay. Seems to continue the confusing and conflicting info disseminated.

You need to carry your original passport on you at all times! It has always been this way! So there is nothing confusing about it!

There is just some people who don't like these rules and thus try to avoid them by playing around in the "Grey Area" and carrying Photo Copies or Mobile Phone Copies, instead of there Original Passport. Some get away with this on a Road Side Check, and some don't, as in this raid of this bar.

If you carry your Original Passport on you, and you are here legally, you will not experience any problems. I can't see anything less confusing that this.

Here we go again... Tourists need to carry ID - but it doesn't have to be their original passport. Of course, the police/immigration may ask for the original passport to be brought to them if they are not satisfied with the ID produced. A photocopy of the ID page and stamp will be sufficient in 99% of cases. Carrying your original passport on a night out is a foolish idea.

Very few of these Russian/East European girls on Walking Street actually 'go' with customers - their job is to entice customers into their bars and then fleece them for drinks.

Well said. I would never carry my original passport. I would rather risk being harassed by the cops then not being able to leave the country. Foolish to go out to a place like WS with a passport in your pocket I think.

[Guest]

From the Pattaya One article, they say a number of customers were arrested because they didn't have their 'original' passport with them and may be fined. The use of the word original seems to imply they had a copy which previous reports said was okay. Seems to continue the confusing and conflicting info disseminated.

As has been pointed out many times, it is the law here with regards to having your passport on you. Thais have to carry their ID at all times. We have to prove we are in the country legally. The only way to do this is to have your passport on you with a valid visa stamp. It's up to the official on the scene as to whether they will accept other forms of ID or copies, or give you time to go retrieve your documents. In this case, they demanded the original. Not the first time this has happened.

Thai Visa folks seem to go round and round on this common sense issue, and perhaps that is why for some, it is so difficult to understand.

Every where in the world, police and those in authority have the power to ignore or enforce laws, and also decide to what degree.

Foe example, in the USA, when you are pulled over for a traffic violation, if you are quite, calm and basically kiss arse, you may get away with a warning. In fact, if you are a hot blonde with a nice rack, and let the officer flirt a bit ... DEFINITELY.

Very very few people carry their passport, and as I have posted 5 times in the past, I have lived here a long time, and done very nicely with the two sided laminated copy of the inside cover of my passport, and the image of my valid visa on the opposite side. OK, i have never been stopped by the cops, but government agencies, airports, banks, hotels etc ... accept it.

So, here is the point, if the Police need a reason to detain you, and the only law you are in breach of is not having your passport .. that is what they will hold you on (duh)

So yes, of course, when the police organize a shake down ... errr ... an investigation of illegal workers ... of course there are going to be others rounded up and shaken down ... errr ... interviewed to ensure they are here legally.

So please Thai Visa Chicken Little "They are out to get me" Whine Department ... Sorry to say, unless you really are a straight up Gansta' ... you have little to fear. Carry a copy of your passport front page, visa, and your address ... it will be a very, very, very , very very long time before any Thai authority walks up unprovoked, and demands "Your papers"

[MeHere]

If you carry your Original Passport on you, and you are here legally, you will not experience any problems. I can't see anything less confusing that this.

The US has a Passport Card that is able to be used for travelling to outside the continental US to places like Mexico, Canada, and the islands around her. I'm finding it an excellent ID to use for most occasions like this, even though it's not the passport (even a different number) I entered the Kingdom with.

I carry mine in my wallet as well as my Thai driving license and a photo of my visa/stamps, this has seemed to be fine for the few times I've been asked for it and it's eliminated the risk of losing my original.

[louse1953]

From the Pattaya One article, they say a number of customers were arrested because they didn't have their 'original' passport with them and may be fined. The use of the word original seems to imply they had a copy which previous reports said was okay. Seems to continue the confusing and conflicting info disseminated.

As has been pointed out many times, it is the law here with regards to having your passport on you. Thais have to carry their ID at all times. We have to prove we are in the country legally. The only way to do this is to have your passport on you with a valid visa stamp. It's up to the official on the scene as to whether they will accept other forms of ID or copies, or give you time to go retrieve your documents. In this case, they demanded the original. Not the first time this has happened.

It may be the law but I don't carry my PP with me all the time and I especially wouldn't carry it when out on the town. I would rather pay the fine than lose the PP. But then, in twelve years I have never been asked to produce my passport by any authority except at Immigration and even when I forget it at home when on holiday the hotel accepts my DL as proper ID.

I don't Speed on the Highway very often, but there has been many times in my life time where I went over the Speed Limit. But I have never got a Speeding Ticket in my life so far. I think the same applies to you. The big difference being that I would rather slow down and stay within the Speed Limit then pay the Fine.

It is understandable that a person doesn't want to bring his passport when out on the town. That paying a 2,000 Baht Fine is better than losing your passport. But there is ways around this. Invest 100 Baht and get good zippers installed on your shorts, and keep you passport in one. You shouldn't have to pull it out anywhere. It is probably safer that way then sitting in a hotel room someplace, like on a table. I just had a friend have his stolen this way, in Australia of all places, so it is not as safe as you think it is.

So the next time you are out and about around town, and then get surprised by being asked in a bar to produce your passport, which you don't have and thus get your night ruined by being hauled down to the Cop Shop, Fined 2,000 Baht, and yet still having to retrieve your passport to prove you are here legally, maybe then you will consider getting zippers.

Who said the fine was 2000b for this minor offence and if you could produce your original passport maybe the fine would not apply.I would rather have my night ruined than having to go to Bangkok and explain to my embassy that i was pissed and lost my passport.Then pay through the nose for a new one,entailing another trip to Bangkok,then going to my local Immi and sort the paperwork out there.They would all say i was a DH for taking my passport with me when i'm on the tear,and they would be right.Plus the guilt of my passport being used for bad deeds.

[Dan5]

From the Pattaya One article, they say a number of customers were arrested because they didn't have their 'original' passport with them and may be fined. The use of the word original seems to imply they had a copy which previous reports said was okay. Seems to continue the confusing and conflicting info disseminated.

I've had the same experience and most places prefer a driver's license over a passport

As has been pointed out many times, it is the law here with regards to having your passport on you. Thais have to carry their ID at all times. We have to prove we are in the country legally. The only way to do this is to have your passport on you with a valid visa stamp. It's up to the official on the scene as to whether they will accept other forms of ID or copies, or give you time to go retrieve your documents. In this case, they demanded the original. Not the first time this has happened.

It may be the law but I don't carry my PP with me all the time and I especially wouldn't carry it when out on the town. I would rather pay the fine than lose the PP. But then, in twelve years I have never been asked to produce my passport by any authority except at Immigration and even when I forget it at home when on holiday the hotel accepts my DL as proper ID.

[swampdonkey]

Thailand and Russia are similar in that an extremely high percentage of their woman are prostitutes.

Tell us what the percentage is.

You are the front runner for most stupid post of the year

[louse1953]

From the Pattaya One article, they say a number of customers were arrested because they didn't have their 'original' passport with them and may be fined. The use of the word original seems to imply they had a copy which previous reports said was okay. Seems to continue the confusing and conflicting info disseminated.

You need to carry your original passport on you at all times! It has always been this way! So there is nothing confusing about it!

There is just some people who don't like these rules and thus try to avoid them by playing around in the "Grey Area" and carrying Photo Copies or Mobile Phone Copies, instead of there Original Passport. Some get away with this on a Road Side Check, and some don't, as in this raid of this bar.

If you carry your Original Passport on you, and you are here legally, you will not experience any problems. I can't see anything less confusing that this.

Some months ago while the Thonglor police was giving problems to foreigners they said it was OK to have a laminated copy of the passport/visa with you.

If even the police tells contrary rules of law then who can we trust?

I hope the General comes on tv telling what the real rules/laws are for all foreigners staying in Thailand. How can wealthy beachtourists carry their passport while going to the beach? They have to leave it at their beachbed while they go swimming?

Also prostitution is illegal in Thailand, there are no ho's right? They even closed down many massage parlors around Sukhumvit when the new sheriff came to town. Are they still closed now or what?

Open for business.

[LennyW]

A rough looking bunch of heifers!!

[louse1953]

As has been pointed out many times, it is the law here with regards to having your passport on you. Thais have to carry their ID at all times. We have to prove we are in the country legally. The only way to do this is to have your passport on you with a valid visa stamp. It's up to the official on the scene as to whether they will accept other forms of ID or copies, or give you time to go retrieve your documents. In this case, they demanded the original. Not the first time this has happened.

You are wrong. A statement was issued a couple or so months ago by a very senior member of the police that a photocopy is acceptable. He even said he did not expect foreigners to have to carry their passport.

Of course, him declaring something and his men acting on it are two very different things. As you know, each police station. immigration office etc make up their own rules and do whatever they want. Just like in any other Banana Republic.

How some people can read what is right in front of there nose, and come out with a totally different meaning is beyond me.

Nobody ever said it was acceptable for foreigners to walk around without there passport. Nobody! What was said that if you don't have your passport on you, it doesn't mean you will be hauled off to jail right away and be deported. You will be given a chance, usually within 24 hours, to produce your original passport and to prove you are here legally.

But understand that the 2,000 Baht Fine is for not having your Original Passport on you when asked by police or immigration officers. So regardless if you can prove later you are all legal, you can still be Fined. Up-to-them!

I know of one instance when a person decided to go for a morning swim by himself in the ocean, and with only a swim suit, towel, some small cash, and shoes, he left his hotel and passport and went to the beach. As luck would have it the police were doing a police patrol for passport at this beach and he was questioned. He of course couldn't produce his passport or any other documentation.

But instead of hauling this guy down to the police station they decided to go with him to his nearby hotel, where he produced his passport, and thus they decided to let him go. But it didn't have to end this way, and this is the point I am trying to make.

Nobody ever said it was acceptable for foreigners to walk around without there passport. Nobody! What was said that if you don't have your passport on you, it doesn't mean you will be hauled off to jail right away and be deported. You will be given a chance, usually within 24 hours, to produce your original passport and to prove you are here legally.

The above seems to be acceptance that the law is an ass to me.

[Sydebolle]

Wait for AEC2015 to kick in and then Tagalog will be the lingua franca

[tezzainoz]

From the Pattaya One article, they say a number of customers were arrested because they didn't have their 'original' passport with them and may be fined. The use of the word original seems to imply they had a copy which previous reports said was okay. Seems to continue the confusing and conflicting info disseminated.

You need to carry your original passport on you at all times! It has always been this way! So there is nothing confusing about it!

There is just some people who don't like these rules and thus try to avoid them by playing around in the "Grey Area" and carrying Photo Copies or Mobile Phone Copies, instead of there Original Passport. Some get away with this on a Road Side Check, and some don't, as in this raid of this bar.

If you carry your Original Passport on you, and you are here legally, you will not experience any problems. I can't see anything less confusing that this.

I have been living in Thailand now for 5 years, and have a Thai driver Licence which has my passport number written on it, In 5 years you can imagine I have been asked to show my passport many times both in accommodation and police, they always except my driver licence of proof who I am

[Thailand101]

Another good indicator of how quiet things are this year. The Thai police must make their Xmas bonus somehow, just like the number of traffic stops, ( that are always in stupid spots to maximise the disruption to traffic), and the fines for anything they can think of or create.

[springheeled jack]

it really is about time the authorities did something about walking street I am not a killjoy but there are far too may people thriving off the street with incorrect visas incorrect work permits and in jobs that the thais should be doing I will go as far as to say there are many undesirables here in pattaya I would be a very happy man if they were sorted and either jailed or sent back to where they belong .

[Sawan Chan 7]

The Russians were cutting in on the Thai sex trade/

you don't say, what insight you have!

[dieseldave1951]

and if you lose your passport or get mugged have you ever experienced the grief of replacing it!!! , i did in china and it was hell and scary

so to carry a copy makes sense to me, pity about those in( ahem) AUTHORITY that see not carring your original is a way to make a fast buck, by fining tourists who are misguided by contradictory statements from (amem) official bullitens

From the Pattaya One article, they say a number of customers were arrested because they didn't have their 'original' passport with them and may be fined. The use of the word original seems to imply they had a copy which previous reports said was okay. Seems to continue the confusing and conflicting info disseminated.

As has been pointed out many times, it is the law here with regards to having your passport on you. Thais have to carry their ID at all times. We have to prove we are in the country legally. The only way to do this is to have your passport on you with a valid visa stamp. It's up to the official on the scene as to whether they will accept other forms of ID or copies, or give you time to go retrieve your documents. In this case, they demanded the original. Not the first time this has happened.

[Sawan Chan 7]

it really is about time the authorities did something about walking street I am not a killjoy but there are far too may people thriving off the street with incorrect visas incorrect work permits and in jobs that the thais should be doing I will go as far as to say there are many undesirables here in pattaya I would be a very happy man if they were sorted and either jailed or sent back to where they belong .

So you want Pattaya to be full of normal, law-abiding whore-mongers? lol

[darren84310]

Is the one on the left one of them or did they arrest the bouncer?

[alex8912]

From the Pattaya One article, they say a number of customers were arrested because they didn't have their 'original' passport with them and may be fined. The use of the word original seems to imply they had a copy which previous reports said was okay. Seems to continue the confusing and conflicting info disseminated.

As has been pointed out many times, it is the law here with regards to having your passport on you. Thais have to carry their ID at all times. We have to prove we are in the country legally. The only way to do this is to have your passport on you with a valid visa stamp. It's up to the official on the scene as to whether they will accept other forms of ID or copies, or give you time to go retrieve your documents. In this case, they demanded the original. Not the first time this has happened. [/quote

There is a big difference between a Russian prostitute in Pattaya and your average poster on TVF. I believe only a fool would carry an original passport on them at all times. Do you bring it to the beach with you? Do most posters on here scare mongering about always having an original passport with them even leave their dismal room and go out everyday? I think not. If you are minding your business from day to day and for some reason are asked to show your passport and you have a copy of it or can retrieve it if really necessary do you think you will be hauled away if you can't do this? Really I personally am sick and tired of you nellies crying about this all the time.

Edited December 30, 2015 by alex8912