'HELL ON EARTH': Brit traveller spent nightmare week in cockroach-infested Thai prison because handwash leaked on his passport

[Bangkokazy]

Not much of a story. 

[SiSePuede419]

"Hand wash"?

 

Why, I do declare!  Is that what the young kids are calling it nowadays?

 

555

[balo]

So he gets some money to tell a story to The Sun , good for him . 

[soalbundy]

7 hours ago, sambum said:

Clever! And pray tell - which particular intellectually mind blowing country do you hail from, and how does it fare in your statistics?

The UK although i spent most of my working life in Germany. Most of my family have emigrated to Australia, one has settled in the USA and i have retired in Thailand, if you want to know more you will have to buy the book.

[jhonnie]

its reported in the Sun newspaper, someone should have sent him a copy , then at least he would of had some toilet paper

[anotheruser]

Do the crime do the time. I only regret that he can't rot in hell longer.

[JAG]

Ironically those poor so and so's who are with him in his "selfies" are probably still sitting in the IDC!

Edited September 13, 2016 by JAG

[JAG]

Whatever else has been said ( and some strong opinions - including mine- have been expressed about this fellow and the fix he got himself  into); he does seem to do a really good Freddie  Mercury impression. Maybe that is the way ahead.

 

I had a look on Facebook. He has a degree and a TEFL course so is technically qualified to teach English as a TEFL teacher, which is not the same as being a fully qualified teacher. If he was to command a salary anywhere near half that quoted he would need to be employed by one of the top international schools, and they would only consider fully qualified experienced teachers. He appears to have been  looking for a teaching job for some time in Chiang Mai, where there are plenty of openings for those qualifications but with no success. 

 

Oh, and his military service, according to his Facebook entry was with the Territorial  Army, part time voluntary reserves.

 

Lots of holes in the story all round aren't there?

 

 

 

[evadgib]

6 hours ago, anotheruser said:

Do the crime do the time. I only regret that he can't rot in hell longer.

Crime? If passports were made as per the new fiver circulating in UK since yesterday he'd simply wipe it and be on his way!

[djlest]

this is the problem with Britain - Political correctness has destroyed the young minds giving them something that we now associate with - Privileges! If they break the law they seem to believe that they should be privelaged just because. they have certain things that should be owed to them.
personally the story is full of holes and its written to garner attention and slag Thailand off like most British media does. He would not have been tossed in jail due to a stained passport - No way! he got thrown in probably due to not paying his overstay or not buying a new Visa...

[bkkcanuck8]

3 minutes ago, djlest said:

this is the problem with Britain - Political correctness has destroyed the young minds giving them something that we now associate with - Privileges! If they break the law they seem to believe that they should be privelaged just because. they have certain things that should be owed to them.
personally the story is full of holes and its written to garner attention and slag Thailand off like most British media does. He would not have been tossed in jail due to a stained passport - No way! he got thrown in probably due to not paying his overstay or not buying a new Visa...

 

It is probably a combination of things.... but since the majority of passports damaged in transit are damaged or destroyed on purpose.... it in itself would be considered suspicious behavior (though I have not heard of it being done on purpose with regards to Asia - more in regards to western countries).

[sambum]

11 hours ago, jhonnie said:

its reported in the Sun newspaper, someone should have sent him a copy , then at least he would of had some toilet paper

 

He would have needed 4 rolls?

[metisdead]

Personal bickering posts and replies have been removed.

 

Offensive posts and inflammatory posts and replies have been removed. 

[gregk0543]

More relevant information here:

http://www.chad.co.uk/news/stained-passport-lands-former-meden-student-in-thai-prison-cell-1-8122384

 

The 30-year-old was detained after he spilled hand gel on his passport and the watermark had run, prompting suspicions by immigration. He had been travelling to Vietnam to take up a job teaching English but was turned back at the border and returned to Bangkok airport.

 

This was despite nobody questioning the stained passport while travelling between Britain, Thailand and Cambodia before his ill-feted attempt to enter Vietnam. By the time he was returned to Bangkok, the former Meden School pupil’s 30-day Visa had expired and he was put into the detainee cell until the British consulate intervened. .......His baggage was also lost after he was escorted from the plane after being sent back to Bangkok.....It was on his third day that the British consul visited him and his return to the UK was arranged, using the same passport that had landed him in trouble.

[gregk0543]

And one more with some more detail.  http://www.chiangraitimes.com/british-english-teacher-spends-a-week-in-thai-jail-after-hand-gel-leaked-onto-his-passport.html

 

Mr Topley, 30, said his hand gel spilled in his bag on his way to Heathrow Airport earlier this summer, causing the watermark on his passport to run.

The smudge didn’t stop him from flying to or entering Thailand, where he travelled for a number weeks, before heading to Vietnam, where he was planning to teach.

But after a Vietnamese border guard spotted the damage, he sent him back to Thailand, where Mr Topley’s visa had expired.

 

Edited September 14, 2016 by metisdead
Edited as per fair use policy.

[gregk0543]

I love the way his bag disappeared too. Amazing Thailand. 

[perdido]

...glad you're not in Immigration ; would have been the electric chair.......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Deepinthailand]

On 14/09/2016 at 8:56 AM, JAG said:

Whatever else has been said ( and some strong opinions - including mine- have been expressed about this fellow and the fix he got himself  into); he does seem to do a really good Freddie  Mercury impression. Maybe that is the way ahead.

 

I had a look on Facebook. He has a degree and a TEFL course so is technically qualified to teach English as a TEFL teacher, which is not the same as being a fully qualified teacher. If he was to command a salary anywhere near half that quoted he would need to be employed by one of the top international schools, and they would only consider fully qualified experienced teachers. He appears to have been  looking for a teaching job for some time in Chiang Mai, where there are plenty of openings for those qualifications but with no success. 

 

Oh, and his military service, according to his Facebook entry was with the Territorial  Army, part time voluntary reserves.

 

Lots of holes in the 

Territorial Army is part time so no problem there in his story.

He has teaching qualification  so no problem there.

The rest I presume is what you are assuming re looking for jobs for a while.

He probably did hype up the pay rate but that's no crime.

But I still wonder about the smudge on the pasport exactly over the validate dates but it seems that was in order too.

So I reverse my previous post not a con merchant just an unfortunate set of circumstances. Can't blame the two sets of Immigration in both countries they were doing there job. 

He will live and learn.

 

[Hawk]

On 9/13/2016 at 9:16 PM, anotheruser said:

Do the crime do the time. I only regret that he can't rot in hell longer.

 

What crime did he commit?    None!

 

Passports are easily damaged because they are designed that way, to show any attempted alterations. But in this case it was accidentally damaged.

 

He should have been allowed to fly on to another country, such as Malaysia but Thais love locking everyone up, so he ends up in that windowless, *hithole  under the airport simply because of an accident. Therefore he has every right to complain.

 

But as for your puritanical remark, hopefully you will get yours oneday.

[Deepinthailand]

5 minutes ago, Hawk said:

 

What crime did he commit?    None!

 

Passports are easily damaged because they are designed that way, to show any attempted alterations. But in this case it was accidentally damaged.

 

He should have been allowed to fly on to another country, such as Malaysia but Thais love locking everyone up, so he ends up in that windowless, *hithole  under the airport simply because of an accident. Therefore he has every right to complain.

 

But as for your puritanical remark, hopefully you will get yours oneday.

Not quite so I agree mostly but to allow him to fly to another country with a very real possibility of being refused entry again, plus they were doing there job as the passport could easily have been a con job. If anyone is at fault it's him and the british embassy. Him for not taking more care with passport and embassy sitting on there fat backsides for to long.

[Hawk]

On 9/14/2016 at 7:09 AM, djlest said:

this is the problem with Britain - Political correctness has destroyed the young minds giving them something that we now associate with - Privileges! If they break the law they seem to believe that they should be privelaged just because. they have certain things that should be owed to them.
personally the story is full of holes and its written to garner attention and slag Thailand off like most British media does. He would not have been tossed in jail due to a stained passport - No way! he got thrown in probably due to not paying his overstay or not buying a new Visa...

 

You say a lot but know little.  He was not on overstay and neither could he get a new visa due to the none thinking rigidity of the airport immigration.

 

And I ask again, what law did he break? He was falsely imprisoned.

[Deepinthailand]

He was not falsely imprisoned he was held untill the problem of the passport was sorted out by the Embassy. If and I know it wasn't but if he was pulling a con who knows what might have been and then the immigration would be getting a slapping because they let him in on a doggy passport I belive after being refused entry into Vietnam they did the correct thing. He was unfortunate but that's life. I expect the same would have happened in the same circumstances to a non British national flying into Heathrow after being refused entry into Ireland.

[Hawk]

10 minutes ago, Deepinthailand said:

Not quite so I agree mostly but to allow him to fly to another country with a very real possibility of being refused entry again, plus they were doing there job as the passport could easily have been a con job. If anyone is at fault it's him and the british embassy. Him for not taking more care with passport and embassy sitting on there fat backsides for to long.

 

How could the passport be a con job when he had left Bangkok airport just a few hours before? 

 

Do you realize what a song and dance routine it is to get a new passport these days? Staying in Thailand and renewing his passport could have taken a few months because the passport office in the UK is overwhelmed with passport requests, etc. Would the immigration have let him stay, No.  Flying back to the UK to simply renew a passport is also time consuming and financially wasteful. So can you now see why he decided to keep travelling.

 

Anyone can damage their passport its just paper and a bit of plastic afterall.

Edited September 17, 2016 by Hawk

[soalbundy]

6 minutes ago, Deepinthailand said:

Not quite so I agree mostly but to allow him to fly to another country with a very real possibility of being refused entry again, plus they were doing there job as the passport could easily have been a con job. If anyone is at fault it's him and the british embassy. Him for not taking more care with passport and embassy sitting on there fat backsides for to long.

Aaaah but they are giving him 'support at  this difficult time' probably rang his parents and said ''your son's banged up abroad,sorry about that''

[sambum]

13 minutes ago, Hawk said:

 

What crime did he commit?    None!

 

Passports are easily damaged because they are designed that way, to show any attempted alterations. But in this case it was accidentally damaged.

 

He should have been allowed to fly on to another country, such as Malaysia but Thais love locking everyone up, so he ends up in that windowless, *hithole  under the airport simply because of an accident. Therefore he has every right to complain.

 

But as for your puritanical remark, hopefully you will get yours oneday.

 

13 minutes ago, Hawk said:

.Duplicated

 

Perhaps another reason for questioning the law for having to carry your passport with you at all times, if they are so easily damaged? Getting caught in a good thunderstorm could easily cause the ink on the stamp to run. A swim in the sea and you've forgotten that your passport is in your shorts - same effect. Or you leave it with your towel and personal belongings while you have a quick dip and trust that no one is going to nick it!

Personally, I go for the laminated copy option, and leave my passport locked up at home.

[Hawk]

3 minutes ago, Deepinthailand said:

He was not falsely imprisoned he was held untill the problem of the passport was sorted out by the Embassy. If and I know it wasn't but if he was pulling a con who knows what might have been and then the immigration would be getting a slapping because they let him in on a doggy passport I belive after being refused entry into Vietnam they did the correct thing. He was unfortunate but that's life. I expect the same would have happened in the same circumstances to a non British national flying into Heathrow after being refused entry into Ireland.

 

As I said before he left Bangkok airport only a few hours earlier in the day so obviously not a con. I once travelled on a damaged passport, the scanner could not read the type under the photo, I was simply asked for backup I.D. and went on my way.

[sambum]

25 minutes ago, Hawk said:

 

What crime did he commit?    None!

 

Passports are easily damaged because they are designed that way, to show any attempted alterations. But in this case it was accidentally damaged.

 

He should have been allowed to fly on to another country, such as Malaysia but Thais love locking everyone up, so he ends up in that windowless, *hithole  under the airport simply because of an accident. Therefore he has every right to complain.

 

But as for your puritanical remark, hopefully you will get yours oneday.

 

25 minutes ago, Hawk said:

DELETED _ DUPLICATED

 

 

 

[Hawk]

2 minutes ago, sambum said:

 

 

Perhaps another reason for questioning the law for having to carry your passport with you at all times, if they are so easily damaged? Getting caught in a good thunderstorm could easily cause the ink on the stamp to run. A swim in the sea and you've forgotten that your passport is in your shorts - same effect. Or you leave it with your towel and personal belongings while you have a quick dip and trust that no one is going to nick it!

Personally, I go for the laminated copy option, and leave my passport locked up at home.

 

The passport is printed with a water based ink, so when the pages get wet the colour runs, blurs and can disappear. That's why I like the new or semi new passport plastic cards.

[sambum]

12 minutes ago, Deepinthailand said:

He was not falsely imprisoned he was held untill the problem of the passport was sorted out by the Embassy. If and I know it wasn't but if he was pulling a con who knows what might have been and then the immigration would be getting a slapping because they let him in on a doggy passport I belive after being refused entry into Vietnam they did the correct thing. He was unfortunate but that's life. I expect the same would have happened in the same circumstances to a non British national flying into Heathrow after being refused entry into Ireland.

 

"because they let him in on a doggy passport"

 

If they let him in on a "doggy" passport they deserve to be getting a slapping! 

[soalbundy]

you do have to be careful, many years ago i left BKK for Munich, at BKK an immigration officer said to me,''That doesn't look like a real passport'' when i asked why he said that the gold decoration on the red cover had worn off and he didn't like the look of it, he let me through with no problems but forewarned is forearmed, back in Munich i applied for a new passport even though it still had 5 years to run.