Farangs Targeted by Immigration Police

[Nervous_Dog]

Funny you should say that, just after the flood of money that came here and to the region, a Tuk Tuk tried to blatently rip off a mate, while a cop watched without commentI felt like mentioning the same thing to him

[Guest]

Not the first time, same thing happened at Q Bar about 9 months ago. Everybody not having ID was detained until appropriate ID could be produced or appropriate fine could be negotiated. If I remember correctly, the police were not the local precinct either. I have been carrying passport since then, as I don't need the waste of time.

[Zorro]

It doesn't really worry me if they hassle me for a passport in Thailand.

 

We are talking small potatoes here.

At the most it is a minor inconvenience even if you are taken to the police station and have to get someone to fetch your passport.

 

There are far more important things to worry about in Thailand. eg where the best gash is to be found, P4P price hikes, STDs etc.

 

Besides which I have to deal with police and security officials everyday in Saudi and Bahrain so i am well used to petty officialdom.

[Ranger]

I never carry my passport and have only a very faded copy that I keep in my wallet. I was actually piss tested at Hollywood Disco on Ratchada a couple of years ago and they accepted my Utah drivers license for ID. Times may have changed though as that piss test was part of the big Thai anti-drug campaign and there were only a handful of Farangs in the place.

 

Ranger

[Prosal]

A passport hassle is relatively tolerable if it's a way for some low-paid cop to obtain a bakchich ; this is part of the game in most third world countries, like in Indonesia where it happens sometimes, and where the problem is fixed with two dollars. It' s also comprehensible in countries in war situations, or with some very tensed political problems, like Colombia or Venezuela. Yet for me this is hardly admissible in any country, Thailand included, where it's only a submission to some authoritarian "laws" erected by a bunch of politicians on crusade for some moral order.

 

 

 

 

[drogon]

@Prosal

 

does bakchich mean bribe in english too?

As a french speaker I know the term but is it the same in english?

 

please enlighten me

 

::

 

[Prosal]

::

 

THAT's a good question !!!

 

Honestly I can't answer ...

 

::

[elef]

Hi,

 

"bakchich" = backkick as a twist of kickback ::

 

elef

[Guest]

Funny this thread. I understand a question was asked about carrying passport or no, but for a board where going off-topic is a welcome and "national" sport, no one has commented on what seems to me the ominous way people who have contributed to the economy of a country, individually as tourists and collectively as western nations (both often at once, see tsunami), are treated, rudely and without respect.

Good point!

 

I think a big part of the problem is that after the first post the issue was presented as some sort of legitimate law enforcement activity. As anyone who lives here should know, it is not. It was simply an excuse to shake down the patrons of Club Mystique - Thai and Farang - for money.

 

And it is part of a larger problem that not only seriously pisses off tourists, but also seriously damages the Thai economy. That problem: rampant corruption.

[..]

Generally spelled "bakshish" and it is of Middle Eastern origin (the word, not the concept). I first ran acrioss the term in Dubai in the late 80s, but it is common in Hong Kong as well. I seem to remember it to be one of Trink's favourites too.

 

Cheers,

SD