gobbledonk Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 bust, its great to know that you've never done anything stupid in a bar (or elsewhere). I agree that we export some total dickheads from this country, but this woman wasn't brawling or even shouting abuse at people (to the best of my knowledge). Her crime was to mistake smiling staff for 'you can do whatever you like here'. Phuket cops wanted money, didnt get it, and she is paying the price. Nothing to see here. Personally, I'd be more than happy if the next plane I get on to go to Asia didn't have another (Caucasian) Australian on it, but I know that isnt going to happen. If Thailand wants to allow corrupt cops to generate heat for the tourist industry, then so be it - throw in some swine flu and I'll be on the next cut-price flight. I'm NOT a quality tourist, but I know better than to remove anything from a bar that I haven't paid a fine for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 bust, its great to know that you've never done anything stupid in a bar (or elsewhere). I agree that we export some total dickheads from this country, but this woman wasn't brawling or even shouting abuse at people (to the best of my knowledge). Her crime was to mistake smiling staff for 'you can do whatever you like here'. I have done some stupid things sure....but in a bar in a foreign country This is not about the triviality of what she did but more about the display of contempt she demonstrated to the Thai authorities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 bust' date=' its great to know that you've never done anything stupid in a bar (or elsewhere). I agree that we export some total dickheads from this country, but this woman wasn't brawling or even shouting abuse at people (to the best of my knowledge). Her crime was to mistake smiling staff for 'you can do whatever you like here'. [/quote'] I have done some stupid things sure....but in a bar in a foreign country This is not about the triviality of what she did but more about the display of contempt she demonstrated to the Thai authorities. You seem to have a serious problem with authorities. Just disrespecting them doesn't usually mean that someone is put into jail for several days without charge. Especially when we all know that Thai authorities are corrupt and unreliable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Agree which is all the more reason people should refrain from shooting their mouths off at the authorities. A lot of Australians look down upon Asians...maybe a hangover from the vietnamese boat people period of Australia. Unfortunately a great deal of white anglo aussies are very racist. Sad but true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAT_AUSSIE Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 All sorted now. http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/australian-woman-fined-and-released-in-thailand-20090520-bfmz.html Nobody apart from Heroin smugglers and paedophiles deserve the pathetic and corrupt Thai legal system. Let alone a mother of four taking a bar mat. Shame on you Mr Wood for allowing a mother of four young girls to be jailed for the sake of your trashy, cheap bar mat. Shame on you Thailand for allowing your police to fail to apprieciate the merits of the matter and consequently cause such grievence and embarassment to Annice Smoel. Like my wife said, if she was Thai she would have it all over and done with by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Vietnamese boat people ? Jesus, bust, that was the 1970s ! Those people are grandparents now ! Yes, we are all xenophobic racist bastards, but it goes deeper than that. Today's Australian doesn't treat his/her fellow Australians with the same civility that they did 30 years ago - why would they treat Thais/Balinese/Fijians etc any better when they are overseas on a cheap holiday ? As the t-shirt says : 'Instant arsehole - just add alcohol'. We should have work that into the national anthem. I can almost understand how the colonial powers must have been viewed in Asia when I see Aussies misbehaving : its a supreme arrogance that says 'Fuck you - I paid 3 grand to come and stay in your tinpot country, and I'm going to get my money's worth !'. This doesn't stop with 'bogan' tourists, it extends to the way Canberra is increasingly seen as a would-be 'Big Brother' by many Pacific nations. How the Kiwis have put up with us for this long is a complete mystery : we are the Americans of the Antipodes - too loud, inordinately proud and completely lacking in humility. Frightening. Like I said, empty the planes of these 'quality tourists' and let evil scumbags like myself stretch out on the next flight to BKK. International air travel really needs my kind of sophisticated banter : 'Gidday sweetheart - call me Gobble - I suppose a root's out of the question ?' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddy Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 She behaved like a goose and deserves to be dealt with accordingly. You just hate white women, end of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sakai Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Don't know which sources the nation used but their article is interesting. Seems she hired a lawyer in Australia, will certainly do wonders to defend her in Thailand. The article sounds rather objective especially about the reason she is in such a mess, looking for publicity and to get money seems a very good reason for things to have gone this far. I could believe this version, things have gone too far not due to the 'stupid Thai cops' but due to a westerner thinking she needs publicity so she can get money later (for a book or something like that) Anyway, after having had my flat 'visited' by a drug addict yesterday I may see robbers everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheekyboy Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Aussie woman confesses in Phuket, released on US$ 28.00 fine The 'bar mat' that started the whole controversy was 145cm by 45 cm and made of thick rubber. PHUKET CITY: Australian tourist Annice Smoel today pleaded guilty to theft charges at Phuket Provincial Court and was released after paying a 1,000-baht fine (approx US$ 28.00). Pol Maj Songserm Preecha of the Kathu Police told the Gazette today that the maximum sentence for the theft charge was one year imprisonment and a 2,000-baht fine, but Phuket Provincial Court halved both the prison sentence and fine based on her confession. The court then suspended the prison sentence because Ms Smoel has no previous criminal record in Thailand. Ms Smoelâ??s case has made major headlines in her native country, which is a prime source of tourists to Phuket at this time of year. She was arrested and detained for two nights in a cell at Kathu Police Station after police caught her with a stolen beer mat (aka 'bar mat') from the Aussie Bar on Soi Bangla in Patong. The bar mat, measuring 145cm by 45 cm, was made of thick rubber. The Australian mother or four initially denied the charges, saying friends had put the item in her handbag without her knowledge as a prank. Kathu Police forwarded the case to the Provincial Prosecutorâ??s Office and seized her passport, preventing her from leaving Thailand to go home to her children. The non-stop, worldwide publicity surrounding the case â?? and its possible impact on tourism â?? apparently made the court expedite the case. A Thai person facing the same charge would typically have to wait weeks or months for a court hearing. Maj Songserm also denied that Ms Smoel spent four nights in prison, as has been widely reported. She spent two nights in prison and was released after 48 hours, the maximum allowable under the law, he said. Ms Smoel was in an angry mood and quarreled with staff at the Aussie Bar. She was arrested by uniformed officers after staff at the bar reported the theft, not by â??undercover policeâ? inside the bar as previously reported in major media around the world, he said. â?? Kamol Pirat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheekyboy Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Freed Aussie Mum Says: 'I'm So Glad It's Over' By Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian, who talked to Annice Smoel exclusively today Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Updating Phuketwan Report TRAPPED Australian tourist Annice Smoel is free to fly back to Australia and her four children. Her court appearance, scheduled for Monday, was accelerated to this afternoon on Phuket. To expedite the case, she pleaded guilty to a theft charge over the incident that saw her passport confiscated and put her briefly in a cell. She was fined 1000 baht (A$38), which was paid by the Governor of Phuket, Wichai Praisa-nob. He intervened in the case after receiving telephone calls earlier today from Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and the Foreign Ministry. Annice and her husband embraced after the case. When we talked to her at the court and asked her what was happening, she said: ''I think I am going home. ''The Governor is waiting for my passport now. He has been very gracious.'' ''I don't know exactly how it all happened today. I think it was probably a combination of my lawyers here, my lawyers in Australia and my government and the Thai government. ''The Governor has apologised to me and been very kind. He seems like a lovely man. He has really looked after me.'' Her husband Darren, who flew to Phuket after his 36 year old wife was charged with stealing a beer mat from the Aussie Bar in Patong, said: ''It's turned out good . . .finally.'' Mr Smoel continued to take telephone calls as his wife wai-ed the Governor and the Tourist Police who had escorted the couple from their hotel to Phuket Provincial Court. Governor Wichai said he felt very sorry for her and considered she was not at fault. He wondered why the Australian owner of the Aussie Bar would allow a dispute to develop with a fellow Australian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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