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Cops scamming tourists at Bangkok airport
Tourists face a lot of scams if they travel in Southeast Asia, but one especially nasty and hard-to-avoid one has been reported by the BBC. At Bangkok's main airport, cops are accusing international visitors of shoplifting from the airport stores and then extorting money from them to drop the charges. Sometimes a "friendly translator" will help the desperate travelers, and then charge exorbitant fees for his services. This is a variation of the old "zig-zag" scam that is found in Thailand and other countries.
This reminds me of a shake down a couple of guys tried on me in Karachi, Pakistan. I had just left my hotel and was walking along the street when a car pulled up. The driver produced a card saying "Sindh Police" and the other guy said, "Give me your backpack, I need to search for drugs!"
I immediately had my doubts--the card was in English, their vehicle was unmarked, and neither guy wore a uniform. So I replied to them in a very loud voice "Show me some real identification!" They insisted on seeing my bag but neither got out of the car. Since we were on a busy street I kept telling them in a loud voice that I didn't think they were police and wouldn't give them anything until I saw some ID. As a curious crowd began to gather they got angry and said, "You better not have any drugs!" and drove off.
I ran back to my hotel and told the manager all about it. He just shrugged his shoulders and said "Welcome to Pakistan." I had managed to write down the license plate number but he told me the real cops would probably do nothing, so I let it go and continued with my trip.
My tactic worked against this particular trick, but wouldn't work in the Thailand airport scam since the police really are police. While aware travelers can avoid many of the scams they face on the road, this is a tough one. If the cops are in on it, what can you do except cough up and complain to your embassy later? I guess avoiding the airport shops is the only way to reduce your chances of being robbed.
Have you been scammed while traveling? Tell us your story in the comments section.
Filed under: Asia, Pakistan, Thailand, Transportation, Airports, News
Reader Comments (Page 8 of 8)
Frank Calenda Jul 23rd 2009 9:10AM
Amusing for me, not for my friend. We were in the military traveling in Turkey. We were walking across a bridge to take a boat to our destination. We were each carrying our suitcases. The cutest children were dancing around us, laughing, smiling and shouting that they would carry our suitcases for a dollar. I told them "No thanks". My friend was charmed by them, gave them his suitcases and while he was reaching for the dollar, we both watched them run down the road with his luggage, never to be seen again. Suitcases - $75. Clothes and personal items - $150. Look on his face - priceless.
HeyBernieSHUP Jul 23rd 2009 9:10AM
RE: Bernie's comment about spelling:
What "should" drive you crazy is the horrid use of grammar that you have utilized while pointing the almighty finger and trying to be the "spelling police".
The world's populous has been using Acronyms in place of full words for several years.
You may recognize some of the oldest Acronyms being used.
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
AAA, American Automobile Association
AA as in Alcoholics Anonymous.
Spelling is no longer especially relevant in today's society especially with the paradigm shift in the way
intercommunication is conducted.
The usage of "text messaging" has also attributed to the increased use of acronyms, in place of spelling words.
In years prior, cell phone usage was more pricey.
I order to cut back on financial expenditures, people used Acronyms as a way to express more words with less letters....
and still manage to get the point across clearly to the recipient with verifiable high success rates.
Its time for you Bernie to go back to doing homework of your own.
Keep up with current knowledge and use of language, grammar & syntax.
There are too many grammatical errors in your post, to list.
For one who seems focused on the written word and spelling,
you sure don't exhibit knowledge about the proper use of grammar in your own writing.
Hopefully by the time you reach this line,
you may have come to realize that spelling isn't really important enough to be complaining about it.
If that wasn't enough, there's always the Cambridge Study to consider.
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy,
it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are,
the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.
Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
According to Matt Davis of Cambridge University
http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/people/matt.davis/
Take off the imaginary Spelling Police Badge and toss it in the imaginary trash.
Stick your nose into keeping up with the technology for yourself and biotching less.
You understood the point of the message whether the poster spelled "your" or "you're" incorrectly or not.
Correct? Yes!
So SHUP !
Bernie you need that finger you've been pointing with
to help pull the foot out of your mouth!
David Jul 23rd 2009 9:10AM
Really, you may really have to choke on your snicker, really-no kidding. The State Attorney General's office has already gotten a refund for the un-used time-the counselor I spoke with really took offense at the way expedia responded to their office. The FTC is looking into it as possible computer fraud since it was the internet, and I needed be filing an expense report.
FYI: And while the government makes arrangements for modes to travel, it is really up to the individual to find their own lodging.
It really does pay to complain, true lots of times the complaint gets caught up in the red tape, but sometimes they really come thru.
And if this helps one traveler avoid the pitfalls of using this, or similar online travel agency, it was really worth it
Michael Jul 23rd 2009 10:11AM
"If the cops are in on it, what can you do except cough up and complain to your embassy later? I guess avoiding the airport shops is the only way to reduce your chances of being robbed."
I have a better idea. Don't travel to places where Americans are hated, and/or where you know tourists are preyed upon.
Gee, what a concept!
Rarebit Jul 23rd 2009 10:51AM
When in Cancun for 2 weeks, my wife and I had a dress up evening going to a resteraunt and a fancy night club. I had rented a car. We had to park some distance away from the club and had to walk a mile or so. While we were walking this guy came up to us and in spanglish made some small talk. We were trying to be nice, but also ignore the guy, but he was sticking with us. Next thing we know he is asking if we want to buy some weed. I am looking at my wife and telling her (since she is a mexicana!) to tell the guy to take a hike. She says hey you don't sound like a real mexican, whereby he starts to talk fluent english and tell us he's from San Antonio. Again he's trying to ask us if we want any weed. By this time we are the main drag and I stop and turn around and tell him "A-hole, we don't want any weed"...and at the same time I see a patrol car about a half block behind with his lights off slowly crawling behind....this pisses me off since I realize it's a setup and so I shout even louder, that "I don't need no stinkin weed"....in a mexican accent like " We don't need no stinking badges!" from that movie I saw....welll the cops kept creepin along ...and when we got to the club you have to go through the velvet rope to be let in....the guy at the door isn't letting us through and I am wondering why when I see him looking to the street like he's waiting for a sign that it's ok to et us in from the patrol car...I kinda flip out a little and start walking up to the patrol car saying "hey WTF why don't you take a picture it'll last longer, whereby the bouncer runs up to me and says hey man just come on into the club and forget this crap....I was hot to say the least, realizing that they were trying to set us up, etc....but was probably stupid to push my luck by calling these guys out...the only reason we were targeted was because we dressed up for a formal nite out and they saw dollar signs.....
ixoye Jul 23rd 2009 12:15PM
ANOTHER good reason NOT to go out of the USA... if you need a passport you don't need to be there period.
enough said.
jonmark222 Jul 23rd 2009 3:24PM
Truth is Ila I CANT REMEMBER WHERE MY WALLET WAS.
I usually do keep it in my front trousers pocket, but I had just bought my train ticket - had bags, etc. and I can't remember where I put it...
Obviously though, it was not in the right place!
Thanks for your reply.
Jonathan
Cate Jul 23rd 2009 2:18PM
While walking in Manhattan's Upper East Side, where I live, a man walked a bit too close to me. His girlfriend and another couple - stylish Euros - carried on a lively conversation, while he bumped into me on the side where my pocketbook (worn bandolier style) was on my hip. We do not have a problem with pickpockets in this part of town -- so it took a few seconds for me to realize why this handsome man seemed to have an interest in me. He expected I would be flattered with his attention and not realize what he was doing. I moved away but he followed -- his friends carefully realigning themselves ahead and behind. Not able to get away without running, I held my forearm across the top of my bag -- and parried each bump. After a few tries, he said 'Hello.' and I realized that engaging me in conversation was the next tactic -- so I ignored him.
I am a soccer player so the bumps (we call them charges) were easy to withstand. The man began to get puzzled -- he was doing everything right but for some reason this dumb NY chick's handbag remained safe. When I got to my destination -- and had not seen any police -- I abruptly changed direction and they could not follow without making their efforts too obvious. "What happened?" asked one of the women in Spanish or Italian (is there a reagion where the language sounds like a meld?) I said, "Euro-trash." Their shock at realizing that I had been onto them from the beginning was worth the bad experience.
jonmark222 Jul 23rd 2009 4:10PM
Hey HeyBernieSHUP,
You could not have expressed it better. Well done.
With all due respect to Bernie, he can stay in the 19th century and act like he owns the English language is the self-appointed Commissioner of Spelling; but as you pointed out, we are living in a totally different culture now and wrods expshelly in emials and stuf are perfectlt rekonizable evn when new and kreativ spell forms are youzed.
Therefore Bernie can do what he likes but stop preaching at the more advanced members of the human race. It reminds me of Obama's fly. He tried to straighten out the President in a very bold and personal way and look what happened to him!
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The Death of a Fly
His name was Frank Bernstein. He was a courageous and cheerful chap with an English mother and a father who had spent most of his life in Montana.
He left a family: Leah, his second wife, who was crippled in both legs after a freak accident that burned her feet off, and four children - all disadvantaged with learning disabilities and health problems. They were born within a mile of a nuclear reactor and are still the subject of a long, on-going court-case, suing the Government for reckless mismanagement of the power plant, which, it was discovered had melted down several times. This fact had always denied by a cabal of bribed reporters, a corrupt editor running for office, and the CIA, NSA, FBI and Fox television, all cooperating in the cover-up.
On the day of Frank’s demise, the sky had never been bluer or the sun rosier. It was a summer day that existed only in the dreams of coal miners and the realities of sixteen year-olds in love for the first time.
Frank had warily circled several times before choosing a spot from where he could observe his childhood hero. Then, summoning up his courage, he had landed lightly on the left hand of President Barack Obama, the most powerful man in the western world.
The Commander in Chief of the mighty U.S. Armed Services, looked unimpressed as he regarded Frank, tickling his hand. His brilliant mind shifted to fancy: Should the fly be Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran or Kim Jong-Il of North Korea?
Lifting his right hand with cool, calculated concentration, President Obama thought: “Both.” Then like the flash of a nuke (which he happens to have 4,000 stockpiled warheads at his disposal) he annihilated Frank Bernstein.
Some commentators, speaking on condition of anonymity, have speculated that Frank was a miniaturized electronic bug Made in China and radio controlled by North Korean satellites. It was multi-purpose, so they say, being able to insert tiny drops of deadly poison into unsuspecting White House staffers not to mention the President himself, or to be used as a microphone/radio transmitter.
This rumor has not been able to be verified however, as an anonymous Secret Service agent wrapped the bug in a tissue shroud, set the paper on fire and threw it into a nearby river.
No trace of Frank Bernstein can be found. But he will live on, not only in the hearts of his poor family, but in the mind of the Nation, who realized by his innocent action that President Barack Obama (the lamb) has, as Jon Voight guessed, a fanatical side to him, and will certainly brook no nonsense from illegitimate dictatorships posturing against the United States anywhere in the world, nor from the GOP.
Frank Bernstein is also spiritually buzzing round inside the heads of the leaders of North Korea and Iran, as they wonder, in shock and awe, at the mild-mannered President giving a live demonstration of raw power on American TV. The violence is something that, finally, they are able to sympathetically relate to and understand about the ‘great Satan.’
Let Kim Jong-Il take note before he fires an ICBM at Hawaii!
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Link Jul 31st 2009 11:36PM
To me that's a bit like paying some guy to buy 6 pizzas from some restaurant, then only eating 3, and somehow expecting the pizza restaurant to give you a refund for the 3 unserved (but already cooked) pizzas .
Sure maybe if the restaurant was very busy they could pass the pizzas to someone else out of goodwill.
But if you ordered the 6 pizzas to get lower prices it's even less likely you would or should get a refund.
Maybe they would refund you if you're someone who orders 100 premium pizzas a year from them and normally doesn't give them any hassle.
aazippo5 Jul 24th 2009 9:06AM
I travel to Bangkok at least once a year and have never had any problems there. People in general are very nice there.
RT
www.online-privacy.tk
Oracha Feb 20th 2010 12:55PM
Drug Activity by Oracha Wiboonaut phone # +66875391353
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