The friendly BIB decided to have a nice conversation with me

I had taken a friend of mine on a visa run over to Cambodia the other day. We took off in a bus, as opposed to taking one of my cars as he needed to get a visa, instead of just a 15 day stamp, so we let the company take care of it for him.

First, I have a 1 year non-imm visa, so I didn't even need to go to the border station, I just waited on the Thailand side. After our return, the bus dropped us off on Sukhumvit Soi 63, where we departed from. My friend headed right to a taxi to meet his brother and sister in Nana plaza, and I started looking for a 7-11 to buy smokes before I headed home. A police officer followed me into the store, and seen I had a bit of cash on me and started chatting me up on my way outside to the taxi. Where you come from, how long you stay Thailand, normal stuff you would think. After traffic subsided, he told me, you come with me now!

He kept on leading me further and further away from the main road. I eventually told the guy, look, if there is a problem, you need to tell me what it is right here, or get the tourist police, but no way am I following you any further. In the near distance, I noticed 2 other officers, and a police substation, so that made me feel a bit more at ease, but the officer refused to tell me anything, just telling me to follow him.

Once we get to where the other officers are, they take a plastic bag I have with my day planner in it, and food and soda from the day, along with my smokes. They start searching everything on me, and digging through my pockets, even sure to leave the wad of cash on the bike they were putting all my belongings on. Checked my passport seen everything was valid, took a pill container I keep for emergencies for medication I take, which happened to be empty. After they eventually realized there was nothing to get any tea money out of me for, they told me they had a report that someone was carrying a 1/2 kilo of heroine. I started laughing and asked them what the description was, a falang with a bag from 7-11 lol. I then made it a point to count my money out right in front of the 3, and said, "well at least you guys didn't steal anything this time."

I know my way around LOS, and even with an officer in uniform, I made the right decisions, and they knew I was not just a 2-week tourist. So remember guys, uniform or not, any officer here ever asks you to come with them and they speak English ask them why, and if they are trying to get you out of public view, it means they are trying to put some money in their pockets. I don't really like them much, nor do any of my inlaws or drivers, as the majority of them are looking to make a quick buck off us any way they can, Thais included. Don't do anything to make yourself a target, such as flashing cash in front of cops, my case was unavoidable, or go off into areas by yourself with police. My guess is since I was watching them so closely, they did not have a chance to plant anything on me, or were just not that smart.

Be safe, and if you do have a run in with the tea patrol, just be sure to play it safe!! :salute:

[krobbie]

They seem to be getting more brazen by the day.

How is it you let anyone see your money?

they told me they had a report that someone was carrying a 1/2 kilo of heroine.Perhaps they were after the latest Heroine magazine, it must weigh around a 1/2 kilo. http://www.heroinemag.com/

they told me they had a report that someone was carrying a 1/2 kilo of heroine.Perhaps they were after the latest Heroine magazine, it must weigh around a 1/2 kilo. http://www.heroinemag.com/


hahaha - one liner of the week award!

[Dboy]

You can have a great life in Thailand...unless something bad happens, in which case you're fucked.

dboy

[pong]

seem to recall-from anohter forum, most likely thaivisa (no, dont ask me for a link-thats too long ago and I dont go searching for hours) that BiB in a certain area around SukhvitTonglor has a very nasty rep for ''drugs searches'' mainly long after midnight. also for cars and motocys. seem to be specially targetting farang. And they pretty well know that most hits are longtimestayers and not some tourists. also for fining farang ignorant of the ''no litter'' sign for 2000 THB and no receipt. so they must have perfected their approach now-and pretty well know that nay day that big bus arrives from the Khmer border full of visarunners.

I just feel bad for all the newcomers that are just coming into Thailand for the first time, and have run-ins with these little tea money crews. Its bad enough everything else that has happened in the past year thats effected tourism, but since the Aussie bar mat incident, the police sure aren't doing themselves any favors.

The one officer had seen I had a few thousand baht on me, as I was paying for smokes at the 7. Usually I keep small money in one pocket, and the bigger money in another for this very reason, but since I was going to the border, didn't think to separate it.

I mean I have a few friends in the police here in Thailand, my main dispatch driver was former military and former police. As well, I'm on a first name basis with all of the police at the airport. Its just another one of those TIT things.

At the airport too Pong, they get people crossing the bridge from the parking lot to the airport. Its smoking allowed on either side, but right in the middle, they have a no smoking section, so I've watched a few people get hit up for the 1,500baht for that.

I know recently in Pattaya, they had some falang getting picked off for drug dealing, but don't see how that would translate over to the Central BKK cops. You can tell that these cops I ran into though are targeting tourists quite a bit, they spoke the best English of any Thais I have ever met. You have to wonder where they pick up these scams from, is there some sort of tv show or handbook on how to try to scare falang into paying off the coppers?

[Impulse]

Its hard to be so diligent all the time with your money. Instead of taking a taxi back to the airport from Patayya last time there,I used the guy that installed my aircon unit in my studio.He was complaining about how little profit he made on the deal,so I thought Id help him out by giving him 1200 baht for a ride to the airport. I had been to the bank that day and was bringing back 90,000 baht and a 20,000 baht gold neckless in my pocket. Needless to say we got lost and at first nervous of being late for my flight,I thought for a short time he was planing on robing me.We went down a quiet side street,dark and unlit.I was shitting bricks for a while as I realised the situation I was in. But just as quickly we were on the road to the airport and all was ok.He didnt know how much I had on me,but if he did the temptation might have been too great. I knew his name and Monty knew him as well,so I could have had him arrested if I was robbed,but it wasnt too smart on my part. I paid him at the airport and breathed a sigh of relief.lol

Thats one of the main reasons I think many people prefer private transfer companies over meter taxis and the sort. I know when I first was coming in on my trips, the one time I was a bit worried, was on my arrival, as I usually brought along 5k in cash, and another 5k in TC's. If there is any time someone is going to get rolled, that would be the time.

While my best driver was formerly a police officer, he still can't even stand the cops here. He thinks its a total disgrace from when he was in uniform back in the day.

After they eventually realized there was nothing to get any tea money out of me for, they told me they had a report that someone was carrying a 1/2 kilo of heroine. I started laughing and asked them what the description was, a falang with a bag from 7-11 lol ..... You can tell that these cops I ran into though are targeting tourists quite a bit, they spoke the best English of any Thais I have ever met. You have to wonder where they pick up these scams from .....

It's impossible to comment fairly without actually being there, but there is of course always the possibility that they were genuine - that they had had information on a farang with drugs, had seen you get off the visa-run bus and seen you looking round for something (someone?), seen the "wad" of money in the 7-11, then on checking your passport seen that you had (presumably) been to the border but not actually gone across.

While it may have been a scam there is always the possibility that it was not and they do, after all, have a job to do.

I have only been stopped and searched once by the Thai police, when they were stopping and checking all those on motorbikes (as I was at the time) and it would have been wrong for them to have discriminated in favour of a farang and not stopped me; as it turned out a Pattaya drug squad policeman I knew turned up while I was being searched and, correctly, let them finish before coming over for a laugh about it (although he soon stopped laughing when I pointed out that the police were not searching anyone's helmets!).

[Brad the Impala]

. As well, I'm on a first name basis with all of the police at the airport.


This seems a rather exaggerated claim! Just how many police at the airport is that?