Randomly interrogated by foreigner & Thai officer, is this normal?

[toelli]

Hey! 

Something really odd happened few minutes ago while i was waiting for Thai food at a local street food restaurant here in the business district of Asok Montri Rd.

As i was sitting there i was approached by a foreigner accompanied by a Thai officer & another Thai. The foreigner came over to my table and started the conversation by asking if i eat there before.

First i thought he wanted help like directions but after he asked the first question he directly asked politely to see my ID. At this point i was very confused, and asked the guy why? this seems weird i told him.

All of them could tell i was confused in the moment and the foreigner just said that this kind of checkups was common in this area (i assume for checking visas and find overstay foreigners).
Still confused i handed the civilian dressed Thai my European drivers license (all i had on me).

I told them i live here and have valid a workpermit (not with me at the restaurant however) and answered questions like: where do i live, where do i work, how long have i lived here and they took some photos of my drivers license and then left.

What was extra confusing to me was that the questioning was done by a civilian dressed foreigner and not the Thai / Thai Officer in the background.

 

The foreigner spoke good English and if i had to guess i would say he looked middle eastern.

 

Is this common practice? Thanks :)

 

// EDIT: 
To be clear: the officer was dressed like an officer.
And after they left one of the staff from the restaurant told me they come by sometimes and do random checks like that.

 

 

Edited December 7, 2016 by toelli

[Lamkyong]

were they all dressed in civies   and did they show id  ??

[HooHaa]

correct response is yes, i have id, can i see yours.

[ukrules]

This is far from normal, you should have told them to 'go away'.

[toelli]

Just now, Lamkyong said:

were they all dressed in civies   and did they show id  ??

 

Sorry if i was not clear, the Thai officer was dressed like any other officer, but he did no talking.

Sadly i did not ask for ID, was to caught up in the moment of massive confusion hehe.

[Rob13]

They need to start by properly  introducing themselves and showing you their ID. otherwise GTFO

[NancyL]

3 minutes ago, HooHaa said:

correct response is yes, i have id, can i see yours.

That's really all that needs to be said, unless someone can report a similar (troubling) experience.

 

In my neck of the woods (Chiang Mai), the foreign Tourist Police volunteers are usually decked out in full police garb.

[thaibeachlovers]

Never heard of anything like that before.

Perhaps it would pay to call the tourist police to inquire about it if it happens again.

[ubonjoe]

The Thai police/immigration do have have some foreign consultants and volunteers working for or with them.

I am have an acquaintance that works as a consultant for the police.

[ukrules]

Just now, ubonjoe said:

The Thai police/immigration do have have some foreign consultants and volunteers working for or with them.

I am have an acquaintance that works as a consultant for the police.

 

Does he go out on street patrol though ? This is the part that sounds strange to me.

[toelli]

1 minute ago, ubonjoe said:

The Thai police/immigration do have have some foreign consultants and volunteers working for or with them.

I am have an acquaintance that works as a consultant for the police.

Good to know, thanks.

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, ukrules said:

 

Does he go out on street patrol though ? This is the part that sounds strange to me.

As far as I know he dose not. But he might be along with them if they were looking for somebody.

[elviajero]

As UJ said the foreigner could simply have been working with the Thai police looking for somebody. You may have resembled the person they are after. Foreign police working in Thailand is not unusual.

[lemonjelly]

An Arab in civvies and a Thai in "a uniform" randomly approaching westerners and demanding personal information.... you couldn't make this stuff up.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[toelli]

Just now, elviajero said:

As UJ said the foreigner could simply have been working with the Thai police looking for somebody. You may have resembled the person they are after. Foreign police working in Thailand is not unusual.

Yeah probably so.

They can work a bit on how to approach random people in that case

[LivinginKata]

45 minutes ago, ukrules said:

This is far from normal, you should have told them to 'go away'.

 

First ask for official ID, if not show then tell them to go away.

 

Over the years I have been 'interviewed' by people in civilian dress. First I ask for official ID, usually it turns out to be a police ID, then I fully cooperate in a helpful way. Officers like that and I've never had a problem with them.

 

 

[Asiantravel]

" they took some photos of my drivers license and then left "

 

in this day and age when identity theft is such a huge problem I probably would have been considerably more guarded towards this trio (without knowing who they where exactly and because of the foreigners dubious appearance)and I certainly wouldn't have volunteered to hand over my ID there and then.

I think I would have insisted that if they wanted to question me they would have to make an appointment for me to attend their office and I should have the right to have my lawyer present.

Edited December 7, 2016 by Asiantravel

[impulse]

So I guess very few of you guys would feel any remorse at all if they were looking for a bomber or a rapist and you wasted their time by not cooperating?

 

Is it that onerous to pull out some ID so they can do their job? 

 

[Asiantravel]

5 minutes ago, impulse said:

So I guess very few of you guys would feel any remorse at all if they were looking for a bomber or a rapist and you wasted their time by not cooperating?

 

Is it that onerous to pull out some ID so they can do their job? 

 

 

 

but how do you know they were bone fide? how many stories of the been on this forum about impersonation of police officers?

and if they were genuine are we suddenly living in East Berlin?

Edited December 7, 2016 by Asiantravel

[toelli]

5 minutes ago, Asiantravel said:

" they took some photos of my drivers license and then left "

 

in this day and age when identity theft is such a huge problem I probably would have been considerably more guarded towards this trio (without knowing who they where exactly and because of the foreigners dubious appearance)and I certainly wouldn't have volunteered to hand over my ID there and then.

I think I would have insisted that if they wanted to question me they would have to make an appointment for me to attend their office and I should have the right to have my lawyer present.

 

In hindsight i agree, i should have questioned it more. Hopefully i don't have to learn by my mistakes this time

[tropo]

If the Thai was dressed in official police uniform, then it's obvious the foreigner was there as a police volunteer just to facilitate communication. IMO asking for ID was not necessary in this case.

Edited December 7, 2016 by tropo

[impulse]

9 minutes ago, Asiantravel said:

but how do you know they were bone fide? how many stories of the been on this forum about impersonation of police officers?

and if they were genuine are we suddenly living in East Berlin?

 

So, you don't figure there were teams of cops interviewing people randomly all over town after the temple bombing?  And establishing their authenticity or insisting on going down to the station may have given the bad guys more time to get away?  

 

Takes 30 seconds to show them your ID and speed them on their way.

 

They ask you to pee in a cup?  That's different.  That doesn't seem to be the case here.

Edited December 7, 2016 by impulse

[toelli]

3 minutes ago, tropo said:

If the Thai was dressed in official police uniform, then it's obvious the foreigner was there as a police volunteer just to facilitate communication. IMO asking for ID was not necessary in this case.

This was the main reason why i was OK with giving them my drivers license, he was clearly in a official uniform.

[Asiantravel]

3 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

So, you don't figure there were teams of cops interviewing people randomly all over town after the temple bombing?  And establishing their authenticity or insisting on going down to the station may have given the bad guys more time to get away?  

 

Takes 30 seconds to show them you ID and speed them on their way.

 

They ask you to pee in a cup?  That's different.  That doesn't seem to be the case here.

 

not without introducing themselves first and as other people have said showing their ID and giving at least a hint about the purpose of their questioning.

This so-called interview was far too one-sided and the interviewee is completely in the dark as to what happened.

No one is under any obligation to succumb to this Stasi like behaviour in Thailand.

[holy cow cm]

Would have been funny if said just a minute and ordered a beer to lighten the situation. all the such, this is intrusive but sounds like another Asoke ordeal. Nothing to hide, nothing to worry.

[Briggsy]

I know Asoke. Where is "Asok Montri Rd"?

[Moonmoon]

When the immigration officers came to my house to do a house visit n took photos they showed their ID along with the documents I had submitted to the immigration office as proof without me asking for it before they attempt to enter my house.

 

I think they need to show id 1st

Hope that helps.

[impulse]

15 minutes ago, tropo said:

If the Thai was dressed in official police uniform, then it's obvious the foreigner was there as a police volunteer just to facilitate communication. IMO asking for ID was not necessary in this case.

 

Agreed.

 

I would wager that a guy who can scrounge up a police uniform and the balls to wear it in public would have no problem getting a fake ID.

 

Not only not necessary, but pretty silly to think it would be meaningful in determining whether the guy was an impostor.

.

[A1Str8]

It happened to me in bkk in different areas. I told them to show some id, which they couldn't on one occasion so I told them to get lost. On other occasions, they politely showed the id, one even without asking for it and then I showed mine too. 

Why would you show anything to anyone, unless they prove who they are first. 

On another occasion, I was asked to pee, one of those random on the spot tests, to squeeze some money out of the foreigner. 

I took my d*@$ out and was about to pee, but they told me to put it away and they left. 

[toelli]

31 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

I know Asoke. Where is "Asok Montri Rd"?

 

The main road that goes between Terminal 21 and Petchaburi. Business district with a lot of office skyscrapers.