Passengers fleecing duty free

I've just read a most worrying article on BBC-online about passengers being arrested for so called "shop lifting" then having money extorted from them for bail.

Apparently you shouldn't pick up any items in Duty free shops as this or any other handling of items can be used to incriminate you with video evidence.

If you definitely want something point at it and step back.

This is outrageous of course but safer than sorry, no one wants to miss their flight and spend a few sordid weeks dealing with corrupt policeman and middle men they bring in to extort your cash.

Has this happened to anyone here I would be interested to know. I've been through there three times this year but nothing, mind you I don't shop in duty free beyond maybe a drink or two from the cafe.

It is this scam for real or is it Euro-trash simply trying to get away with helping themselves? I find it hard to believe this scam is possible at the airport, elsewhere in Bangkok perhaps? If it was why not pin point the shops involved? After all they have to report the incident.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8154497.stm

We've already been through this, Ceddie...and there's more than one side or the story.

BB I didn't see the thread, have any forum members gone through the same?

gay-thailand/extortion-racket-at-the-airport-t17951.html (http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/gay-thailand/extortion-racket-at-the-airport-t17951.html)

[DCbob]

BB is correct see the url below
Airport Scandal (http://www.sawatdee-gay-thailand.com/forum/gay-thailand/extortion-racket-at-the-airport-t17951.html?hilit=airport)

Well given the evidence as pointed out by KenC Im disgusted that the BBC yesterday ran the story as though the couple were completely innocent then.

They quickly "changed their clothes in the toilet and went and sat at separate tables" waiting for their flight, then the wallet was found abandoned. How thick do they think security is, this is a plain attempt at theft even if bail and police procedure is not up to scratch.

I think they were relying on the fact that most people would assume whitey was innocent, and the Thai are all corrupt.

Yes, they should've been thrown into the Bangkok Hilton and the key thrown away.

Truly im disgusted with the BBC for running such scandalous lies. Think they should look just a LITTLE CLOSER TO HOME FOR CORRUPTION AND FRAUD.

[thrillbill]

Cedric, maybe you can send BBC more information on this so they can get their facts straight.

I thought they got their facts right before publishing such a story, this is quite the worst kind of sensationalism I think I've ever read on the BBC who usually get it spot on.

I hope the store in question and the airport authorities are made aware of the scandalous crap being written about them. This is a slur on the whole of Thailand as it will obviously put people off going there for a visit. I think they should contact the BBC not I, if you have any contact address I will gladly report this to them.

As far as I can see the "tourists" in question got off very lightly being allowed to stay in a motel while they pay their bail.

The face of scum.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3737330261_2f9b0cabe2_o.jpg

I thought they got their facts right before publishing such a story, this is quite the worst kind of sensationalism I think I've ever read on the BBC who usually get it spot on.

The BBC frequently dream up stories with hardly any facts to back up the allegations.

What I would say is it's rather abnormal to demand ┬г7500 even if the wallet was stolen.

I thought they got their facts right before publishing such a story, this is quite the worst kind of sensationalism I think I've ever read on the BBC who usually get it spot on.

The BBC frequently dream up stories with hardly any facts to back up the allegations.

What I would say is it's rather abnormal to demand ┬г7500 even if the wallet was stolen.

I'm surprised that the BBC has refreshed this story without reference to the King Power site.

I'm also surprised at z909's allegation about the BBC. Since he says it's a frequent occurence, I'll be fascinated if he'll post some other instances.

[Khor tose]

BBC may be right on after all. It seems that there is a lot more to this story. The Danes have a similar case and they have posted a warning to their travelers to Thailand.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Danish-Em ... try2883435 (http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Danish-Embassy-Warns-King-Power-Du-t281997.html#entry2883435)

[Brad the Impala]

I'm surprised that the BBC has refreshed this story without reference to the King Power site.

I'm also surprised at z909's allegation about the BBC. Since he says it's a frequent occurence, I'll be fascinated if he'll post some other instances.

The BBC did reference the King Power site. I too will be interested to see some of the other instances that z909 refers to. I would have thought that the BBC was one of the news broadcast organisations least likely to "dream up stories".

"The company that owns the duty free shop, King Power, has since put the CCTV video on its website, which does appear to show her putting something in her bag." Link as per opening post.

.........

It is this scam for real or is it Euro-trash simply trying to get away with helping themselves?

Cedric, dear boy,

There is trash from all over the world, not just from Europe.

Although some of those Johnny Foreigner types are a bit iffy I must admit.

Must go - time for tiffin.

Pip Pip

Cuthbert

:salute:

I'm also surprised at z909's allegation about the BBC. Since he says it's a frequent occurrence, I'll be fascinated if he'll post some other instances.
I too will be interested to see some of the other instances that z909 refers to. I would have thought that the BBC was one of the news broadcast organisations least likely to "dream up stories".[/quote]

The classic BBC case was the documentary on corruption in football a couple of years ago. As I recall, this documentary was hyped for weeks. When it came down to it, I believe there was a alleged conflict of interest involving Sam Allardyce & they tried very hard to imply Harry Redknapp was involved in malpractice, without actually presenting any evidence.

Also, I believe Gianfranco Zola won a libel case against them as recently as 2 months ago.

Here's another one:
Libel (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article6457796.ece)

Had better not post too many, or we will be way off topic.

Now also a warning from the Danish Embassy, normally they are quite laid back

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Danish-Em ... 81997.html (http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Danish-Embassy-Warns-King-Power-Du-t281997.html)

[Beachlover]

I wonder what the real issue is here. It's obviously a common occurrence. You can't doubt that. What's in question is whether the problem (all this bad publicity) is caused by the Thais Scamming tourists... or by the Thais not dealing with this crime in the right way.

There's two scenarios...

1. Droves of foreigners are REALLY stealing from King Power... if this is the case, then by offering to accept bribes etc. the Thai open themselves to be accused of scamming these tourists. This problem would be solved by putting the thieves in jail and through the court process etc.

2. Drives of foreigners are actually being scammed... then the solution is simply to stop scamming them!

Or... it could be a grey mixture of both scenarios...some tourists are really stealing... and others are being scammed.

[thrillbill]

...the video of Power King shows the Chinese-British woman dropping something in her bag (my observation of the video) but the wallet was never found on her and I cannot tell what was placed in her bag. The whole point here is how the couple was detained, placed in "jail" for a few days , and then had to cough up some big bahts in order to pay for the fine (bribe) to a slime ball called Tony. -------- Something foul must be in the air if the passive Danish embassy puts out a warning.

Power King is runned by a bunch of mofia thugs, so just boycott the duty free shops there, besides their goods are expensive.

...The whole point here is how the couple was detained, placed in "jail" for a few days , and then had to cough up some big bahts in order to pay for the fine (bribe) to a slime ball called Tony.

If that is "the whole point" then you have missed something (everything?). They were detained overnight at the nearest police station, and they were then released on bail. Subsequently they were not "detained" under any sort of escort and were free to come and go as they pleased, for example to the ATM, the Embassy and a lawyer. They did not have to "cough up some big bahts" - they could have remained on bail and gone to court and pleaded their case, instead they chose to bribe their way out.

Just what are your grounds for saying that "Power King is runned by a bunch of mofia thugs" - that King Power are expensive, like most international airport shops?


.....Droves of foreigners are REALLY stealing from King Power... if this is the case, then by offering to accept bribes etc. the Thai open themselves to be accused of scamming these tourists. This problem would be solved by putting the thieves in jail and through the court process etc.

I think you've hit the nail on the head, BL. Up until this recent publicity it was a "nice litle earner" for a few corrupt Police/Prosecutors. Now that it has hit the headlines a lot of the foreign thieves will have been scared off and those who haven't been will probably be tried and convicted, so we'll never know for sure which scenario was right.

[Brad the Impala]

Z909, granted Zola and Taranissi are good examples of the BBC making allegations, that the libel courts subsequently found to be unproven. However the Allardyce/Redknapp corruption case is, I believe, still with the Director of Public Prosecutions, and although when the BBC first showed the programme Allardyce announced that he would be suing the BBC, he subsequently failed to initiate this.

I still don't think that there is a case to say that the BBC "dream up stories" as policy, I think that sometimes the truth is hard to prove, unless like the Murdoch press you believe in bugging everyone's phone! I still think that Allardyce and Redknapp were taking bribes, it just hasn't been proved.

I still don't think that there is a case to say that the BBC "dream up stories" as policy, I think that sometimes the truth is hard to prove, unless like the Murdoch press you believe in bugging everyone's phone! I still think that Allardyce and Redknapp were taking bribes, it just hasn't been proved.

I'm not saying it's policy. However when they send their journalists out in search of some dirt for a documentary, they have a tendency to paint the picture as bad as they can just to fill the TV slot, even when evidence is minimal.
I've yet to see any evidence incriminating Mr Redknapp & he does not deserve that kind of treatment until they can find some evidence.

Thank you Sawatdee for again allowing me the excuse (and a pretty poor 'off-topic' kinda excuse - forgive me Ceedry) to express just one opinion that I have of "Duty Free". What is it that makes anyone think I should should be made to smell that STINKY SHIT (perfumes, etc.) whenever I am made to walk through (or check out at any retail store that sells that shit, as well) an airport on my way to an arrival or departure? We got rid of tobacco smoke. Urine stench is taken care of by toilet cleaning. Manure smells of horseshit are wiped off the streets of London. So why can't luxury products be properly packed, like fragrant cheese in a supermarket, and strong measures taken to ensure that samples are well under contol? It annoys me. I do not like the smell. It should be avoided. We should be SMELLING clean air, nothing, everywhere, if possible.

[giggsy]

One day President Bush was visiting Queen Elizabeth and she decided to take him for a tour of London in the Royal Carriage. The carriage was being pulled by six Royal Stallions and one of them suddenly passed gas. It sounded like a 21-gun salute it was so loud! The smell permeated the inside of the carriage and the Queen was totally devastated.

"I appoligize profusely for the terrible smell inside the carriage", she said.

"Oh, that's alright", said the George, "for a minute there I thought it was the horse!"

There are 2 issues here that may be looked at as scams:
1) the paying of "bail" which is not returned in a timely fashion (probably not a scam but a real annoyance)
2) the existence of "helpers" in Thai courthouses who convince helpless farangs to pay them instead of legitmate lawyers to help them out of a jam.
The second is the only real scam going on here. See this posting from the Drummond website:

"I can fully understand how frightened they can be in this situation with not knowing who to trust. At the end of the day, many of the lawyers (and people pretending to be lawyers) are just trying to get money out of you. One guy I was trying to тАЬhelpтАЭ had to keep giving the lawyer more and more money for various тАЬbribesтАЭ. He still went to court (months later) and was found guilty. They pounce on you like vultures. I saw it happening to a relative of a prisoner at Samut Prakan Prison. They come out of the woodwork and prey on your vulnerability. To their credit, the prison now have signs up in English warning people of this kind of scam. They warn people not to hand over money to people who give empty promises of helping their friend or relative.

Your only hope is to use the services of a lawyer on the list provided by your embassy...."

Thse comments were posted by someone on the blog.
http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2009/06/28/809/


BTW, Nice to see we got Ceddie back up to speed!

[TrongpaiExpat]

the prison now have signs up in English warning people of this kind of scam. They warn people not to hand over money to people who give empty promises of helping their friend or relative.


There's a vague Thai-Eglish sign up at Immigrations in Bangkok that says, " Don't believe anyone the payment for visa is a fee only" I am not sure what they really mean, are the immigrations officials taking bribes or are there some independent visa tout facilitators working the halls or some other nefarious criminal element afoot at Immigrations?

They are talking about lawyers and "facilitators" who will often tell people that a "bribe" is required for something, which they collect and of course never pay to anybody else because there is no need.

I suspect that is what has happened at the airport...with that slimy Sri Lankan "police volunteer".

One day President Bush was visiting Queen Elizabeth and she decided to take him for a tour of London in the Royal Carriage. The carriage was being pulled by six Royal Stallions and one of them suddenly passed gas. It sounded like a 21-gun salute it was so loud! The smell permeated the inside of the carriage and the Queen was totally devastated.

"I appoligize profusely for the terrible smell inside the carriage", she said.

"Oh, that's alright", said the George, "for a minute there I thought it was the horse!"

I have always wished there'd be a button to push to show how hard I an laughing.

hahahahahahahahahah

[Brad the Impala]

I still don't think that there is a case to say that the BBC "dream up stories" as policy, I think that sometimes the truth is hard to prove, unless like the Murdoch press you believe in bugging everyone's phone! I still think that Allardyce and Redknapp were taking bribes, it just hasn't been proved.

I'm not saying it's policy. However when they send their journalists out in search of some dirt for a documentary, they have a tendency to paint the picture as bad as they can just to fill the TV slot, even when evidence is minimal.
I've yet to see any evidence incriminating Mr Redknapp & he does not deserve that kind of treatment until they can find some evidence.



Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has been charged with two counts of tax evasion.

Mr Redknapp, 62, was charged with cheating the public revenue of about ┬г40,000, at Bishopsgate police station.

It relates to two payments totalling US $295,000 allegedly made by former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric to Mr Redknapp via a Monaco bank account.

Mr Mandaric was charged with tax evasion on Tuesday and both men are due before magistrates next month.

Mr Mandaric, 71, is currently the chairman of Leicester City.

A Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesman said: "The CPS Revenue and Customs Division decided there was sufficient evidence and it was in the public interest to charge Mr Redknapp.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8459969.stm