Bringng porn/adult toys for personal use

[donald1]

Can anyone tell me what the law says about it? I will possibly be moving from Australia to Thailand next year for
an extended time. Along with my personal items, of course my laptop will come with me. I have a small collection of porn movies
and clips that I keep on my laptop. Can I bring them with me? Should I pull them off the laptop and put them on a memory stick?
Mail the memory stick? Put the memory stick in with other packages I will be sending? Don't bother and start
a new collection? Also what about dildos and toys?
I have read about customs going through peoples' laptops looking for porn but if anyone has real answers or experience
with this, please advise me. PM me if you don't want to post publicly. I can't find the answer on any websites.
Thank You.

[Manforallseasons]

With a bit of imagination I sure you have palace to hide the dildos and toys, as for your laptop not knowing you it would be hard to make any assumptions!

[paperboy]

Hi

Now being comming 4 years in a row and never had a problem, bringing my leather harness and toys and popers with me
and either have the boys hahaahha

dont worry

[francois]

Bringing porn to Thailand? Isn't there an expression "carry coals to Newcastle" which answers that question?

Last time i was in Pattaya ..i bought 2 porn dvd's on the beach ....before i left .i gave one to my bf and brought the other back in my hand luggage...and when i got back to the UK ..i got stopped by customs for the first time in my life
They asked me did i have anything in my bags ..i just told them i had one porn dvd ...they read the box and took it in the back to watch some of it to make sure their was no one under age on it...its was ok so they just let me go...it was a bit embarasing
though..ha ha

[Manforallseasons]

Hi

Now being comming 4 years in a row and never had a problem, bringing my leather harness and toys and popers with me
and either have the boys hahaahha

dont worry



Those leather harnesses can be a real pain in the ass.

...i bought 2 porn dvd's on the beach .... when i got back to the UK ..They asked me did i have anything in my bags ..i just told them i had one porn dvd ...they read the box and took it in the back to watch some of it to make sure their was no one under age on it...its was ok so they just let me go....ha ha

I'm not calling you a liar but I find this astonishing - unless you have left out the bit about them confiscating the DVDs?.

no ..its true...they did'nt confiscate it ..they let me have it back....but just jumbled all my things up ...when they put my things back ..the customs officer asked me why i had been to Thailand so many times..i just said i had a bf there.
they did that drug swab thing too..but i'm not that stupid to try and take drugs through customs....i had my man city shirt on so maybe that caught thier attention

[Liamog]

i had my man city shirt on so maybe that caught thier attention

Lucky they were'nt Utd fans...... :pottytrain1:

The one that talked to me was a Scouser

The one that talked to me was a Scouser

Lucky he didn't steal your suitcase :evil4:

[Dodger]

donald1 wrote:

Don't bother and start a new collection?

"Bingo"...zero risk is always the best option.

[bruce_nyc]

Isn't it a bit like bringing your own spaghetti to Italy...? :nunu:

Just bring a video camera, and make your own new porn.

I've heard that poppers and dildos and porn are all illegal in Thailand.

Then again, I've also heard that prostitution is illegal in Thailand.

Pad Thai might as well be illegal there too. :tongue3:

[TravellerDave]

I've never been stopped by the Thai Customs, perhaps I,ve been lucky as I,ve usually had poppers in my bag and also last time I had downloaded porn movies on my iPad from privateboymovie. My leather thong is presumably OK !!.
I notice you can now buy poppers from members on GR and I have seen them sold on Dongtan Beach. The downloaded porn movies are very superior to the rubbish being hawked on the beach.

[egel]

I thought porn was legal in the UK now. Lots of shops openly selling it.
Therefore, why cant you import your own?

[Neal]

I only heard from another business owner that a friend of his was stopped bringing in a dildo and it was confiscated and he was fined 4,000 baht I have no personal knowledge but I will also add, if it were legal, why would they do write ups about different sex toy manufacturers here in Thailand being raided and shut down? I remember hearing about one on the radio just recently.

[Patexpat]

The one thing I can't find anyone stating on this thread is that unequivocally PORN AND SEX TOYS ARE ILLEGAL IN THAILAND.

AYOR.

[bruce_nyc]

With all the sex that's readily available in Thailand.... it is quite odd that there are no 24 hour sex shops selling porn and toys. We have no open prostitution here, but there is at least one or two sex stores selling toys and poppers and porn every 10 blocks. There are plenty of them in London and pretty much every big western city. So, the fact that there aren't any in Thailand.... would seem to fit the theory that it's illegal in Thailand.

[Sooty]

I'm black so I do get stopped sometimes. Some people don't realize how much the white face can get away with.

I'm a Poor, Black, Jewish, Transgendered, Homosexual, Leper.

You get away with more than I do.

Unfortunately bringing porn and poppers into Thailand is illegal. The chances of getting stopped at customs are slim, but if you do get caught, don't expect a good result.

[bruce_nyc]

So I guess you'd better use up all of your porn and poppers on the plane....? :crazy: ( What a visual.... Can you imagine someone opening and doing poppers on a plane!? ha ha )

[Neal]

There are plenty of people here selling porn on the beach out in the open and sometimes they get popped and sometimes not. doesn't make it legal. almost the same for poppers although much slimmer. There is one or two people that do sell poppers and they aren't cheap but they can be found ifsomeone really wants them. Unfortunately the European brands are the ones mostly and readily available here. I know someone who gets the big bottles and from USA. Awesome. Not worth the risk of openly taking it either way on the plane.

[stkyricesf]

From the Thailand Customs Website:

1. Prohibited Goods are goods for which either the import into or export out of Thailand are prohibited. Any person imports or exports prohibited goods is considered as committing offences and subject to penalties indicated in the relevant national legislation. In addition, such activity is also considered as an offence under Articles 27 and 27 bis of the Customs Act B.E. 2469. It is prohibited by law to bring the following items into Thailand.

Obscene objects/literature/pictures
Pornographic materials
Goods with Thai national flag
Narcotics e.g., marijuana, hemp, opium, cocaine, morphine, heroin
Fake currency, bonds, or coins
Fake Royal Seals/official seals
IPR infringing goods e.g. musical tape, CD, VDO, computer software, etc.
Counterfeit trademark goods

I guess it would be up to the Customs Agent to decide what is Obscene and what is not.

[paperboy]

so, how come they sell popers in all the sex shops in europe, and all over the internet
not mentioned on the list of banned goods, can it be ilegal in thailand??
how would somebody know if it was or not

I've no proof one way or the other but I always understood poppers to be a prohibited drug in Thailand, or at least a prescription drug. I guess it depends on what is in it as there are some variations. Perhaps some brave soul will bring some in and declare it to customs!

[Patexpat]

so, how can it be ilegal in thailand??
how would somebody know if it was or not

Ignorance of the law is not a legal defence!

[Neal]

It is sold in most parts of the world but that does not make it legal. take for example USA. It is a 3rd degree misdemeanor under a seldom looked at Federal Law. Most policemen know that it is illegal but they have no idea where to go looking for the statute that it violates. Can't find the statute can't arrest someone. Oh they look for it but most municipalities can't figure out where to look.

The when you look at the law, it states that it is illegal to sell, distribute poppers but it is NOT illegal to buy them or have them in your possession. Well now try to fight that one in court. Confusing, eh?

Last but not least the penalty for a 3rd degree misdemeanor is usually a very small (under $100.00) fine and well worth the profit that is made and police departments are already strained looking for major crime let alone a petty drug that is used by queers to fuck each other in the ass.
(they would say not me)

[Hmmm]

http://www.truecrypt.org/ to create encrypted disk volume for the movies
http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER to erase file history, recycle bin etc
Both free

[Patexpat]

http://www.truecrypt.org/ to create encrypted disk volume for the movies
http://www.piriform.com/CCLEANER to erase file history, recycle bin etc
Both free

And all that info can still be read with the right forensic tools .... takes time but eminently possible so don't be lulled in to a false sense of security!

[bruce_nyc]

And all that info can still be read with the right forensic tools

Not true, if it's done right. However, since I bet very few readers here are experts... It's always better to be safe than sorry. Leave anything sensitive at home.

[Patexpat]

Sorry, it IS true ... part of which I do for a living!

It takes time, tools and resources way beyond my little company but to say encrypted data can't be read simply isn't true. And as for CC Cleaner we get asked to recover data erased by that tool quite frequently (typically user error).

[bruce_nyc]

I don't wanna debate this here....

The bottom line is still: If in doubt, leave it at home.

Leave anything sensitive at home.
In that case I'll leave my wallet at home!

[bkkguy]

I don't care what you do for a living or who you work for, even if it is the NSA, statements like this are misleading, confusing, and not help people make an informed decision about how to protect their data!

a truecrypt volume created using the latest version of truecrypt cannot be read without the password or passphrase used to create it. if you have evidence from a reliable source that this is not true then post it here - "it is what I do for a job" and "I know things you don't know" doesn't count!

the weakest point is the password or passphrase - if someone uses a simple password that is vulnerable to a brute force attack then any black hat hacker or government department anywhere in the world has tools to crack the password, but if a decent length and complexity passphrase is used then even the NSA is not going to brute force the passphrase in a reasonable timeframe - that is weeks or months rather than years or centuries

so go to the truecrypt website and read up on (and understand) hidden volumes and plausible deniability and secure passphrases and protect your data and don't be put off by FUD like Patexpat is spreading here

but also remember that in this context in Thailand (and elsewhere) a "brute force attack" on a password may have more than one meaning - this is known as "rubber hose crypto cracking tools" or in the USA it seems you just use a wrench rather than a rubber hose!

Security (https://xkcd.com/538/)

bkkguy

Surely it's a mute point as if the whole question was would you get into / out of the COuntry with your visa intect if they wanted to look at what's on your laptop etc I'm guessing that if you booted it up and then said "sorry I'm not giving you the password for that folder etc" they would just instantly hit "rejected" on your visa and boot you out ( or worse if yuor rubber hoses came into play) - I should also add that obviously if you'd nothing to fear on your laptop you wouldn't have to worry about such high level security in the first place perhaps ?? ( I'm not addressing that comment to anyone in particualr by the way just "in general")

[Sooty]

Surely it's a mute point ...I can't remain silent on this one, the phrase is "moot point" - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/moot_point .

Surely it's a mute point ...I can't remain silent on this one, the phrase is "moot point" - http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/moot_point .

At 2am in the morning when I was typing that I could care less - so re your can't remain silent maybe just try a bit harder perhaps I'm sure you'll not die or anything because of it.

[Sooty]

I ALWAYS care for my readers so posting something while not caring seems the height of contempt for those you hope to be reading your breathless prose. If you can't be accurate then you're failing to communicate.

I ALWAYS care for my readers so posting something while not caring seems the height of contempt for those you hope to be reading your breathless prose. If you can't be accurate then you're failing to communicate.

You got it one in there - generally I couldn't care less what others think and have made this clear several times, if you read what I posted and understood it, great, if not, to bad. I'll not be losing to much sleep over that either way, it's the internet, relax.

And after reading a load of your shitty negative nick picking posts to various people on the board contempt whilst being perhaps slightly to strong a word probably is somewhere about right, so if you really feel a burning need to be a grammar nazi go ahead knock yourself out, but honestly I couldn't give a flying fuck - there now, I hope I communicated that correctly for you.

[bkkguy]

I should also add that obviously if you'd nothing to fear on your laptop you wouldn't have to worry about such high level security in the first place perhaps ??

there are a number of possible issues involved here

for the OP there is a legal issue - the porn files are legal to possess in his home country, and as I understand it would be legal to possess in Thailand but not legal to import, produce or distribute so a legal issues exists while crossing the border.

more importantly for most people there is a security issue - on my notebook and mobile phone I have details of bank accounts, credit cards, passwords for various systems, business and other confidential information. I keep this data encrypted because I think it needs to protected and I think I have a right to protect it from casual prying eyes when I am crossing a border or if the device is lost or stolen!

but even more importantly for most people there is also a privacy issue - most of the letters, emails, photos, etc on my notebook and mobile phone would bore most people to sleep but I keep this data encrypted because I think I have a right to privacy and I don't want every man and his dog, or every government official who may or may not have a legal right, to access this data! you may have guessed by now that I don't put much up on my facebook page!

and if you want the classic rebuttal to "if you are doing nothing wrong you what do you have to hide?" try reading

Schneier on Security: The Value of Privacy (https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/05/the_value_of_pr.html)

bkkguy

[Hmmm]

Surely it's a mute point as if the whole question was would you get into / out of the COuntry with your visa intect if they wanted to look at what's on your laptop etc I'm guessing that if you booted it up and then said "sorry I'm not giving you the password for that folder etc" they would just instantly hit "rejected" on your visa and boot you out

So you don't actually know what Truecrypt does do you ?

[Sooty]

So you don't actually know what Truecrypt does do you ?No but he does know how to murder the English language. I gave up counting the cliches in his response to me after the first half-a-dozen.

[Patexpat]

well it seems I must bow to BKKGUY's superior knowledge in these matters as obviously I have no valid experience ... so can you confirm BKKGUY that the free tools suggested here for use to encrypt and hide data are 100% safe to use in terms of protecting your data, as that was the only point I was making?

I just ask you to confirm in writing - thank you.

Hi, No, I readily admit I have no idea and certainly never suggested I did, I was simply suggesting that if you turned up at a border crossing and refused to give the officer access to your files if he so requested they would I'm sure simply refuse you, I'm assuming perhaps that the Truecrypt software you mention perhaps "hides" or locks down and password protects files or folders ? As I say I don't know and I certainly never suggested I did.

The point made about personal info needing to be protected is of course a totally valid one and no one would deny it's important to do that, but again if a folder was locked containing that info and the officer asked to see it I'm sure we would all happily open it for them or expect to be refused entry at best or arrested at worst - but again if that's not the purpose of the software you mentioned, no worries as again to clarify I was speaking generally as opposed to anything in particular relating to that particular piece of software.

[bkkguy]

well it seems I must bow to BKKGUY's superior knowledge in these matters as obviously I have no valid experience ... so can you confirm BKKGUY that the free tools suggested here for use to encrypt and hide data are 100% safe to use in terms of protecting your data, as that was the only point I was making?

I am only refering to truecrypt - the other product mentioned in the post you responded to is not an encryption product

your statement I replied to was "to say encrypted data can't be read simply isn't true." which I said was "misleading, confusing, and [did] not help people make an informed decision about how to protect their data!"

I don't make rash claims - I did not say truecrypt was "100% safe to use in terms of protecting your data", my response was "a truecrypt volume created using the latest version of truecrypt cannot be read without the password or passphrase used to create it. "

I stand by that statement - truecrypt is a popular well-known tool and I am not aware of any exploits in the current version that allow data to be read without the password or passphrase. if you know of such exploits then educate us all and publish a link to them, if you don't then making sarcastic comments about "bowing to superior knowledge" does not really help people very much

as I said in my post "the weakest point is the password or passphrase" - there are any number of tools out there to try and crack weak truecrypt passwords, but again I stand by my statement that "if a decent length and complexity passphrase is used then even the NSA is not going to brute force the passphrase in a reasonable timeframe" and again if you know of new password cracking tools that challenge this statement then publish a link to them.

I have not claimed "it is my job", I have not claimed I have "superior knowledge", I have just tried to offer information for people what want to make an informed decision about protecting their data and I would strongly recommend truecrypt as a tool for that - but it is a complex area and there are issues you need to understand hence my recommendation to "read up on (and understand) hidden volumes and plausible deniability and secure passphrases"

you claim it is your job and imply it is your field of expertise but the best you have offered so far is vague misleading statements and putting words in other people's mouth - what constructive advice do you as an expert in the field have for people who want to protect their data? would you recommend truecrypt? if not what other product would you recommend and why?

bkkguy

[billyhouston]

About ten years ago, running Truecrypt under Windows XP, I had problems and lost a significant quantity of data. Doubtless the present version of Truecrypt is much improved but it's a case of once bitten, twice shy.

These days I use PGP desktop with a strong password and am satisfied that my data is as secure as it can be. I'm also satisfied that if I decide to delete something using PGP Shredder, it will be unreadable using the most sophisticated recovery techniques.

Here is an interesting take on the problem:

http://new.wellesley.edu/lts/techsupport/windows/pgpshred