Nirish guy
August 20th, 2013, 04:28
On BBC 3 tonight there's a fly on the wall type documentary programme investigating "Thailand's new drug craze - Ya ba" It's presented by Stacey Dooley who on previous shows she has narrated comes across as a bit simplistic in her style and whilst a lot of the show was like that tonight she did manage to spot and hit a few home truths - much to the Thai authorities annoyance I'm guessing and it will be interesting if she gets a licence to make more shows in Thailand again perhaps.
The programme started with her doing the usual spiel around the Golden Triangle etc, but rather than talking about the historical opium routes etc did fairly much keep things totally directed towards the ya ba trade, she was obviously working with the permission and assistance of the Thai authorities and so was allowed to accompany the police on several "operations" both in the North if Thailand around the Chang Rai region where they were carrying out the usual roadblocks ( but because of the cameras with much increased police numbers and lots of senior officers floating about to be "seen".
She also then went with them when they called her late at night telling her they were going to do an unexpected raid on several clubs and lock the doors and pee test everyone there, however they ended up going to an open air beer bar area in Bangkok, where when she arrived she was surprised to find two local news crews also covering the "unexpected" raid, so after a mountain of police turning up and setting up their tables etc they proceeded to pee test only about 7 of the most sober people they could possibly have found ( whilst totally ignoring several other people standing about who looked like they could all do with testing) and even she picked up on this and commented on it and the fact that after all the organisation involved after about an hour they simply stopped for a break and never resumed testing anyone, but she also noted that the entire bar area was now desolate as every bar had closed because of their presence. She interviewed the senior officer present and he was quite happy and proud of their nights work and said he seen it as a great preventative measure in protecting tourists. One can only assume that her actual purpose of being there wasn't conveyed properly to the police and they believed she wanted to show just how great the police were in looking after British tourists - WRONG !
She also then went to the Bangkok Hilton jail ( with full written permission from the Thai authorities in letter form in her hand) to speak to British people who had been convicted of smuggling Ya Ba to ask them how they'd found themselves involved in the trade and what was the TRUTH behind what was going on but on arrival at the gate she was refused entry, she spoke to several people, showed them the signed letter and was given every and any and several different excuses under the sun as to why she couldn't / wouldn't be allowed in to film and was sent on her way. It appears her "fixer" must have got on the ball as the next day she was contacted and told they would be picking up to take her back to prison to gain access and have her interview, however on arrival she realised that they'd taken her to a totally different REMAND jail where no convicted prisioners were held and after setting up to interview her British convict a bemused looking Thai man was wheeled to be made speak to her ( which she declined to do) and on the way out the senior officer there actually told her she should go back to the other prison as that's where the British prisoners were being held ( I'm sure he'll be getting a phone call from someone high up shortly to kick him in the ass !!) She also went to two rehab institutions and also interviewed a bar man about how he serves all the farang with their ya ba as they order their drinks in his what looked like Sumhumvit bar each night.
So, whilst she's a bit grating to watch ( and listen too accent wise I found) and the programme looked a things in the was the usual slightly overly simplistic way she didn't shy away from more of less actually saying on camera that the police where being totally ineffective in their actions and whilst she didn't mention money or anything like that anyone living in Thailand watching the show would no doubt be sitting nodding their heads thinking "oh if only you knew the half of it love" - which is of course the very reason she was kept well away from the British convicted inmates in the first place I'm sure.
So, it's on tonight at 12.05 am on BBC 3 and will no doubt be repeated on BBCi player I'm sure.
The programme started with her doing the usual spiel around the Golden Triangle etc, but rather than talking about the historical opium routes etc did fairly much keep things totally directed towards the ya ba trade, she was obviously working with the permission and assistance of the Thai authorities and so was allowed to accompany the police on several "operations" both in the North if Thailand around the Chang Rai region where they were carrying out the usual roadblocks ( but because of the cameras with much increased police numbers and lots of senior officers floating about to be "seen".
She also then went with them when they called her late at night telling her they were going to do an unexpected raid on several clubs and lock the doors and pee test everyone there, however they ended up going to an open air beer bar area in Bangkok, where when she arrived she was surprised to find two local news crews also covering the "unexpected" raid, so after a mountain of police turning up and setting up their tables etc they proceeded to pee test only about 7 of the most sober people they could possibly have found ( whilst totally ignoring several other people standing about who looked like they could all do with testing) and even she picked up on this and commented on it and the fact that after all the organisation involved after about an hour they simply stopped for a break and never resumed testing anyone, but she also noted that the entire bar area was now desolate as every bar had closed because of their presence. She interviewed the senior officer present and he was quite happy and proud of their nights work and said he seen it as a great preventative measure in protecting tourists. One can only assume that her actual purpose of being there wasn't conveyed properly to the police and they believed she wanted to show just how great the police were in looking after British tourists - WRONG !
She also then went to the Bangkok Hilton jail ( with full written permission from the Thai authorities in letter form in her hand) to speak to British people who had been convicted of smuggling Ya Ba to ask them how they'd found themselves involved in the trade and what was the TRUTH behind what was going on but on arrival at the gate she was refused entry, she spoke to several people, showed them the signed letter and was given every and any and several different excuses under the sun as to why she couldn't / wouldn't be allowed in to film and was sent on her way. It appears her "fixer" must have got on the ball as the next day she was contacted and told they would be picking up to take her back to prison to gain access and have her interview, however on arrival she realised that they'd taken her to a totally different REMAND jail where no convicted prisioners were held and after setting up to interview her British convict a bemused looking Thai man was wheeled to be made speak to her ( which she declined to do) and on the way out the senior officer there actually told her she should go back to the other prison as that's where the British prisoners were being held ( I'm sure he'll be getting a phone call from someone high up shortly to kick him in the ass !!) She also went to two rehab institutions and also interviewed a bar man about how he serves all the farang with their ya ba as they order their drinks in his what looked like Sumhumvit bar each night.
So, whilst she's a bit grating to watch ( and listen too accent wise I found) and the programme looked a things in the was the usual slightly overly simplistic way she didn't shy away from more of less actually saying on camera that the police where being totally ineffective in their actions and whilst she didn't mention money or anything like that anyone living in Thailand watching the show would no doubt be sitting nodding their heads thinking "oh if only you knew the half of it love" - which is of course the very reason she was kept well away from the British convicted inmates in the first place I'm sure.
So, it's on tonight at 12.05 am on BBC 3 and will no doubt be repeated on BBCi player I'm sure.