jitagawn Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 THANKS FOR THE FIRST HAND REPORT!! Unbelievable!! I speak Thai fluently but what about some kid there for the weekend on their way to Singapore? What a waste of time -the police running around the city chasing down people's passports. This is no good. I believe this law does not even exist as I asked a Thai lawyer who said it was BS. What is the last word on this? So much for Mai pen rai mai mee phan ha. A disgrace. :( :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 Excellent report. This is worse than what occurred at NEP; that at least was an outdoor queue, although the police were clearly the most unfriendly Thai police I have dealt with. What is so frightening is that it is happening more and more. I think the word needs to get out more about what exactly is happening here in Thailand. Maybe we should all take this excellent report, excise the (justified IMHO) editorial comments, and send it on to travel magazines back in the US and the EU. I think this needs a little more publicity. And if the government thinks this is a good policy, they certainly shouldn't object to or deny it, should they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 That's an amusing idea but we are talking about Nana Plaza here. I can't see Western Governments and Travel Agents feeling very sympathetic about a line of punters waiting for a piss test. You might have a better case with Q Bar but they have hookers there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_numbers Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 Gad, true on the hookers.. :: However, its valid that people write about this stuff because it is hitting regular tourists. Q Bar has been raided before, and is just a normal bar. Seeing a hooker or two is not something that distinguishes it from 1,000's of other bars. I mean lets face it the Siam Hotel is alot more of a whorehouse. The point: these are not sex oriented bars but stylish watering holes that attract regular people going out including Thais. The bars are not just a red-light slum. Plenty of people who are not 'in the game' are about. Imagine if they did this at the Conrad Hotel's lobby bar?? Yeah, right. But that place also has hookers or 'friends' around the_numbers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 "Seeing a hooker or two is not something that distinguishes it from 1,000's of other bars" A hooker or two in Q bar... Man U got GTG cereals this morning!!! I'm a big Q bar fan,really, love misbehaving around holding a Carribean Iced Tea in one hand and an (Absinthe ) jello shot in the other, but i consider this place as beeing the most stylish freelancer spot in town ( all this very personnal, I wouldn't define BED as a freelancer spot although there are always a bunch of them around)I'd say most of the TGs around are on the game, but the fact U still find legit fashion people there, including many western girls, gives an edge to that place. to Bangkok to allow us to behave so brazenly in fancy clubs but still go back with a bird almost every night!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultras67 Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 But what are we saying in the last few posts guys, its ok to target one bar but not another? Only a certain type of tourist should be targeted for piss testing? Adding yet another layer of injustice and inequality into a country that doesnt need anymore surely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ultras67 Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 BKK_DJ said: They had 2 buses parked outside. If you did not have a passport on you (NO other usually acceptable form of ID allowed, no copies either) You were hearded onto the buses and given a police escort home on the bus where you had to go be escorted to your room by an officer and show an ID or be arrested. You mean they were taken to the police station then individually taken the their hotels etc to show the passport and fined only if they couldnt produce it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKK_DJ Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 to answer your question YES...as far as I know they were...Over 100 people were taken in for processing. If they were lucky enough to have cell phones they could call friends to produce passports and bring them to the station. Get this! I heard that 2 men that were held called in a friend to bring their passports to the station at 5 AM...when he arrived the police took the passports and said ok where is YOUR passport (to the man that brought his friends their passports) He said he didn't carry his...so they booked and fined him and held him till his just released friends went to get it and come back!!!! This is getting crazy! All I can say is carry your passport and do not lose it! you can either spend a few hours in jail or a few hours in your local embassy to replace it...either way it's gonna cost you money and piss you off. Thai law states that all foreign visitors must carry their passports on them at all times...period..no arguments or reasons why you think this is wrong...you either carry it or you face concequences from now on...no matter how crazy this sounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorro Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 The passport issue is really a red herring in a sense. The powers that be want to disrupt the nightlife scene. Now given that they didn't find any drug abusers they decided to use the passport issue to cause inconvenience. The police and authorities know full well that most people don't carry their passport all the time therefore it is an easy area to target to inconvenience people. If everyone carried their passports and passed the drug tests they would i bet find something else to cause the inconvenience that they desire. The agenda is clear. Make the nightlife so sanitised and boring that no one will be interested in coming for the nightlife. I hate to be pessimistic but i think it is a matter of time before Pattaya may go the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardy641 Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 Does anybody know how much they were fined? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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