Tourist scams at Bangkok airport

There is no question that Thailand has suffered losses in the tourist trade they are so reliant on. It is also certain that the global economic slowwdown and the advent and spread of H1N1 virus has curtailed tourist travel all over the world. However, Thailand has added to their difficulties in several ways that are unique to it. Last year's inexplicable shutdown of the airport as it was occupied by protestors is one example. That Thai authorities did not move decisively to clear the airport, and instead chose to take a major hit to their economy as a result, seems incredible to the average traveler from outside this arcane and internecine country. For those of us who find ourselves on a frequent basis we have a common lament that we share with one another when we encounter something that seems amazingly thick headed. We simply say TIT (this is Thailand) and shrug our shoulders. There are so many things that happen here that fall into the category of beyond comprehension that one would have to wonder if the acronym F.U.B.A.R. retired to Thailand after WWII and found fertile ground here. However, the story that is emerging about corrupt police scouring the airport for unwary tourists to shake-down just about takes the prize. Read on and wonder:

Jul 20, 2009 Bangkok's showcase new international airport is no stranger to controversy. Built between 2002 and 2006, under the governments of then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the opening date was repeatedly delayed. It has been dogged by allegations of corruption, as well as criticism of the design and poor quality of construction.

Then, at the end of last year, the airport was shut down for a week after being occupied by anti-government protesters. Now new allegations have been made that a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until they pay large sums of money to buy their freedom.

That is what happened to Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin, two IT experts from Cambridge, as they were about to board their flight to London on the night of 25 April this year. They had been browsing in the duty free shop at the airport, and were later approached by security guards, who twice asked to search their bags. They were told a wallet had gone missing, and that Ms Lin had been seen on a security camera taking it out of the shop.

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. However the security guards found no wallet on either of them.

Despite that, they were both taken from the departure gate, back through immigration, and held in an airport police office. That is when their ordeal started to become frightening.

The "Interpreter"
"We were questioned in separate rooms," Mr Ingram said. "We felt really intimidated. They went through our bags and demanded that we tell them where the wallet was." The two were then put in what Mr Ingram describes as a "hot, humid, smelly cell with graffiti and blood on the walls". Mr Ingram managed to phone a Foreign Office helpline he found in a travel guide, and was told someone in the Bangkok embassy would try to help them.

The next morning the two were given an interpreter, a Sri Lankan national called Tony, who works part-time for the police. They were taken by Tony to meet the local police commander - but, says Mr Ingram, for three hours all they discussed was how much money they would have to pay to get out. They were told the charge was very serious. If they did not pay, they would be transferred to the infamous Bangkok Hilton prison, and would have to wait two months for their case to be processed.

Mr Ingram says they wanted £7,500 ($12,250) - for that the police would try to get him back to the UK in time for his mother's funeral on 28 April. But he could not arrange to get that much money transferred in time.

'Zig-zag' scheme

Tony then took them to an ATM machine at the police station, and told Ms Lin to withdraw as much as she could from her own account - £600 - and Mr Ingram then withdrew the equivalent of £3,400 from his account.

This was apparently handed over to the police as "bail", and they were both made to sign a number of papers.

Later they were allowed to move to a squalid hotel within the airport perimeter, but their passports were held and they were warned not to leave or try to contact a lawyer or their embassy.

"I will be watching you," Tony told them, adding that they would have to stay there until the £7,500 was transferred into Tony's account.

On the Monday they managed to sneak out and get a taxi to Bangkok, and met an official at the British Embassy.

She gave the name of a Thai lawyer, and, says Mr Ingram, told them they were being subjected to a classic Thai scam called the "zig-zag".

Their lawyer urged them to expose Tony - but also warned them that if they fought the case it could take months, and they risked a long prison sentence.

After five days the money was transferred to Tony's account, and they were allowed to leave.

Mr Ingram had missed his mother's funeral, but at least they were given a court document stating that there was insufficient evidence against them, and no charge.

"It was a harrowing, stressful experience," he said.

The couple say they now want to take legal action to recover their money.

'Typical' scam

The BBC has spoken to Tony and the regional police commander, Colonel Teeradej Phanuphan.

They both say Tony was merely helping the couple with translation, and raising bail to keep them out of prison.

Tony says about half the £7,500 was for bail, while the rest were "fees" for the bail, for his work, and for a lawyer he says he consulted on their behalf.

In theory, he says, they could try to get the bail portion refunded.

Colonel Teeradej says he will investigate any possible irregularities in their treatment. But he said any arrangement between the couple and Tony was a private affair, which did not involve the police.

Letters of complaint to the papers here in Thailand make it clear that passengers are regularly detained at the airport for alleged shoplifting, and then made to pay middlemen to win their freedom.

The Danish Embassy says one of its nationals was recently subjected to a very similar scam, and earlier this month an Irish scientist managed to flee Thailand with her husband and one year-old son after being arrested at the airport and accused of stealing an eyeliner worth around £17.

Tony told the BBC that so far this year he has "helped" about 150 foreigners in trouble with the police. He says sometimes he does it for no charge.

The British Embassy has also warned passengers at Bangkok Airport to take care not to move items around in the duty free shopping area before paying for them, as this could result in arrest and imprisonment.

It would be easy to become cynical in a place in which corruption seems so ingrained into everyday life. However, I have considerable experience being in Thailand and doing business here. I would have to add to the above in an attempt at fair balance that the vast majority of people I have met and had any interchange with here have treated me fairly and honestly. Like all aberations, it is the few that abuse power or are simply criminal that spoil it for all. That is why I would suspect that a crackdown on the airport "zig zag" scam has probably already quietly begun.

Nick gets his first film role with a lead part

OK, I can't help it but who wouldn't be proud. Nicholas has captured his first film role in Malaysia and it is a major part. He is to play a local tough guy and the title of the film, Gadoh" is the Bhasa for "Fight". This is another effort to promote racial harmony in Malaysia where the lines of demarcation between the races have always been a challenge for the mostly peace loving citizens of this country. While the movie is mostly in Bhasa Malaysia you may want to check it out. Nick just celebrated his 21st Birthday.

Malaysian Film “GADOH” (FIGHT).
http://www.komas.org/gadoh/
Synopsis

"'Gadoh' tells the story of a group of teenagers who fought each other
along racial lines; a cycle of hatred and violence that was further escalated
by their environment and school system.

What was to be a quick resolution to improve the school’s bad image,
was taken as an opportunity by one teacher who believed that real
change was possible. She ropes in the help of an old friend and reluctant
maverick theater activist for this arduous task.

Is there hope amidst the cycle of discrimination that surrounds us?
Watch Gadoh for their story, and what it may very well tell us about
ourselves."

Film Info:
Duration: 70 mins
Director: Brenda Danker, Namron
Producer: Anna Har
Production Company: Big Pictures Productions
Supported by Pusat KOMAS
Starring: Namron, Nicholas Liew Davis, Zahiril Adzim, Amerul Affendi and Maya Tan Abdullah
Language: Bahasa Malaysia with English/BM subtitles
Poster design by: Alexdrina Chong, Lucid Design Collaborative Studio

Gadoh Launch and Preview

Launch Date: May 22nd 2009
Venue: Theaterette HELP University College
For more info: www.komas.org/gadoh
Email: gadohthemovie@gmail.com

Public Screening at 5 PM
(Please email gadohthemovie@gmail.com for your free tickets).
Official launch and screening at 8 PM (By special invites only).
Limited Gadoh DVDs and stickers will be also be given to viewers on that day only!

The beginning of the toothless period

If life can be described in periods (and life is described that way all the time) then the period I am entering, as of today, might be called the "toothless" period. Today's trip to the hospital for physical therapy included a visit to their dental clinic to have a tooth extracted, an upper secondary molar to be exact. It is only the second time I have had to give up a permanent tooth, and I cannot say that it was without regret that I did so today. The first one I lost was an accident, delivered in the form of a piston sized spring loaded tripod that I knew little about but felt compelled to play with all the thingamajigs attached thereto anyway. That is until I found the release of the spring just as I was bent over the device. The front tooth thus lost, to the effect of my sudden transformation into looking like a hockey player, was replaced by an artificial one that still stands proud and ready to rip meat. The offending tooth extracted today had previously been broken, and I have known for a long time that it would eventually lose it's bony grip. The tooth that appeared on the tray after a deft procedure by the dentist, was rather long. Perhaps I should amend my label for this period of life to "longtooth". That has a certain primitive ring to it and I rather like it. I thought about these things during the taxi ride back to the apartment all the while clamping down on a hunk of gauze provided to stop the bleeding.

Only after I resettled in the apartment, and began to contemplate which pain killer I would take, did I read the instructions provided by the dental office on the care and healing of the wound left in the now unoccupied space in my mouth. Several chunks of the tasteless gauze were provided along with the following instructions:

"Bite the gauze firmly for 1 to 1 1/2 hours for baby tooth to help stop bleeding. If bleeding persists, change to new gauze and continue biting for another 1/2 to 1 hour, or until breeding stops."

So, I guess I could interpret the instructions as a recommendation that no more breeding was desirable, which I further assume is advise designed to avoid birthing any new baby teeth. Surely I was given the wrong instructions I thought. Certainly that long hunk of ivory that lay on the stainless tray in the dental surgery when I last bid it a final goodbye could not be confused with a baby tooth. At least not from any baby I would care to see.

There were no clues in the ensuing sentence on the instruction sheet which only suggested that I avoid "toughing the wound". I can vouch for the fact that I will avoid anything like "toughing" this wound for at least several hours. I am not sure what "toughing" the writer had in mind but the word raises mental images of sintering or repeated striking with a cinder block the why that karate enthusiast are alleged to do. In fact, I was thinking that about the only thing this wound might be exposed to for at least this evening is the eight year old Cuban rum I favor and some nice salty (and soft) chicken porridge. Since the "Big Lebowski" is on HBO tonight I think I can make it through the evening, without thinking about the missing tooth or whether I should have saved it for the tooth fairy, but I'll bet it would have fetched more than a quarter.


P.S. Expatriates and Western visitors get no end of amusement from the kind of "English-as-a-second language mistakes that appear in this part of the world. While we can be rational, and understanding human beings, lets face it, when something strikes your funny bone it is very difficult to be gracious. We know that our hosts are far superior to us who refuse to learn a second language in any communicable form. We also know that we provide no end of hilarity to them through our frequent misguided faux paux here. However, the use of English, especially in Asia, is just too ripe to not find humor in thereof. In fact, we have a name for it apparently. It is called "Engrish" and there is a whole website dedicated to examples of it. Enjoy. By the way, when I have my libation tonight, I think my toast will be..."may the next loss of a tooth take so long".