buffalo_bill Posted August 7, 2009 Report Share Posted August 7, 2009 Today an article about fraudulent practices at the airport appears on the starter page of t.online which is Germany's leading browser . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamui Posted August 8, 2009 Report Share Posted August 8, 2009 Today an article about fraudulent practices at the airport appears on the starter page of t.online which is Germany's leading browser . It's probably a translation of an AP report, which was just published: Warnings issued about alleged Bangkok airport scam By JOCELYN GECKER (AP) – 23 hours ago BANGKOK  Travelers to Thailand have braved a variety of hazards in recent years but foreign governments are now warning about a new and different one: duty-free shopping at the airport. Several European tourists say they were falsely accused of shoplifting at the Thai capital's main airport and some recount being taken to seedy motels where they were shaken down for thousands of dollars by a shady middleman. A British couple paid the equivalent of $11,000 to secure their release five days after being accused of stealing a Givenchy wallet that was never found, say police, who along with airport authorities deny any wrongdoing. The Thai government has vowed a crackdown at Bangkok's scandal-plagued Suvarnabhumi Airport, which has barely recovered from last year's public relations disaster when anti-government protesters shut it for a week and stranded 300,000 visitors. [color:red] The airport opened in 2006 and has been dogged by corruption allegations, taxi touts with "broken meters" and baggage thefts[/color]  prompting a recent order for luggage handlers to wear uniforms without pockets. But the allegations of extortion take things to another level. "We are quite concerned about this," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Vimon Kidchob said Thursday. "The government of Thailand is doing everything we can to ensure the safety of tourists." It's hardly the image the self-proclaimed "Land of Smiles" wants to project, particularly as Thailand's vital tourism industry faces its worst crisis in years after political instability, the global financial crisis and swine flu scares. [color:red]The scandal has spawned lengthy chatter on travel blogs about other scams [/color] to watch for in Thailand and a string of overseas travel advisories on the perils of duty-free shopping in Bangkok. Ireland is warning its nationals to "be extremely careful" when browsing at Suvarnabhumi (pronounced "sue-WANNA-poom"). "We have received reports that innocent shoppers have been the subject of allegations of suspected theft and threatened that their cases will not be heard for several months unless they plead guilty and pay substantial fines," says an Irish government travel advisory. It tells shoppers to keep receipts to avoid "great distress." The advice was posted after a 41-year-old Irish scientist, who was visiting for an international genetics symposium, was accused of stealing Bobbi Brown eyeliner June 25. The embassy declined to discuss details of her case. Britain and Denmark have updated their online travel advice to warn that Suvarnabhumi's sprawling duty-free zone has hard-to-detect demarcation lines between shops and patrons should not carry unpaid merchandise between them. British couple Stephen Ingram, 49, and Xi Lin, 45, technology experts from Cambridge, took the alleged scam public in late June. Their ordeal was pieced together based on accounts from police, airport and embassy officials and an interview the couple gave to British media. The couple was approached by airport security before boarding a flight to London on April 25 and told that security cameras showed they had taken a Givenchy wallet. King Power, the company that owns the duty-free store, has posted CCTV footage on its Web site that appears to show Lin putting her hand in her bag while browsing a wallet display. The security guards found nothing, but turned the couple over to police, said Sombat Dechapanichkul, managing director of King Power Duty Free Co. "We are not aware of what happened next. It was then the job of the police to proceed with the case," said Sombat. Ingram told The Sunday Times of London that they were questioned at an airport police office and then transferred to a nearby police station where their passports were confiscated and they spent the night in jail. The next morning they were introduced to a translator  a Sri Lankan named Tony  who said he could arrange bail and get their case dropped, warning it could otherwise drag on for months. Tony took them to a nearby motel, called the Valentine Resort, Ingram said. The couple managed a visit to the British Embassy on April 27 but then returned to the hotel fearing Tony, who had warned they would be watched, Ingram said. They didn't leave Bangkok until May 1. An investigation found that the couple transferred into Tony's bank account 400,000 baht ($11,800)  half for bail and the other half for Tony's "fees," said police Col. Teeradej Panurak, who oversaw the case. "Tony came in to translate for us. We can't control what the accused agree to with a translator," said Teeradej. He said the couple was released because there was not enough evidence to press charges. A visiting British government official recently raised the case with Thai authorities, and the British Embassy was consulting other embassies about the alleged scam, said embassy spokesman Daniel Painter. Tony resurfaced in June, when a Danish woman was arrested. Danish Embassy Consul Tove Wihlbrot-Andersen says the woman was accused of stealing an item worth about 1,500 baht ($45) after she unknowingly crossed from one shop to another. Her allegations mirror those made by the British couple: She was taken to a police station, contacted by Tony the translator, released on bail and then "taken to a bad hotel in the vicinity for almost a week," until she reportedly paid Tony 250,000 baht ($7,400)  for an offense that normally results in a 3,000 baht ($90) fine, the consul said. [color:red]Newspapers have published a steady stream of outraged letters-to-the-editor[/color] that note the Thai police force's reputation for taking bribes and to call for arrests in the airport scam. One recent letter in The Nation newspaper came from Mike Gilman in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, who lamented the scandal's potential damage: "More nails in the coffin of an already devastated Thai tourism industry." Associated Press writer Ambika Ahuja contributed to this report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weird Posted August 8, 2009 Report Share Posted August 8, 2009 Not sure if anybody posted this one either... http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1996&Itemid=32 Shopping Sting: Thailand’s Airport Scandal Reports of an extortion ring targeting foreign tourists shopping at the duty-free shops in Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi International Airport is yet another threat to the country’s already fragile tourism industry, which has been devastated by the global economic recession and last year’s occupation of the airport by protesters. Internet chat boards and discussion forums have been buzzing with the tale and some European governments have warned travellers about the danger. An investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation revealed that passengers were being detained on bogus charges of shoplifting duty-free products and then faced extortion and intimidation by airport security and the police. The reports have subsequently ricocheted across the world, with media organizations reporting a series of horror stories. King Power, which operates the duty-free shops, has denied any improprieties and posted videos online allegedly proving that customers actually were shoplifting. The company said in a statement that it had indeed been the victim of shoplifters on occasion and that reports on the Internet of extortion of tourists was a “false fact†that damaged the country and the company. The Associated Press, however, reported that a British couple paid $11,000 to a middleman to secure their release after being accused of stealing a Givenchy wallet that was never found. The police and airport authorities denied any wrongdoing. "We are quite concerned about this," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Vimon Kidchob said Thursday, according to the Associated Press. "The government of Thailand is doing everything we can to ensure the safety of tourists." Nonetheless, the British Embassy in Bangkok has warned passengers at the Thai airport to take care and not to move items around in the duty-free shopping area before paying for them, as it could result in arrest and imprisonment. Other European countries have followed suit. Thailand’s tourism industry in the past prospered because of its good reputation and Thai hospitality. This image has come crashing down because of an apparent criminal network inside Suvarnabhumi, which seems to have operated freely. The extortion story stands almost as a metaphor for the benighted airport itself, which from the time the land for its construction was purchased in the 1970s under a military dictatorship has been tainted by allegations of corruption, some of which were used as a partial excuse for the September 2006 military coup that drove former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from office. It hasn’t stopped; the US Department of State recently released a report detailing corruption in the procurement of CTX bomb scanners. Ironically, the airport, which was to have been a jewel in Thaksin’s crown of achievements, opened less than ten days after the September 19, 2006 coup tossed him out. Even before it opened the airport was criticised for bad design and poor-quality construction. When it opened it clearly wasn’t ready for prime time, with some of its toilets incomplete and the arrival area cramped. Taxi touts are an unseemly presence and the arrival area remains a nightmare to navigate. Missing tiles and taps in the toilets are evidence of poor maintenance and the facility pales in comparison to the efficiency of the airports in Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. Food and drink is overpriced and hard to find. There are not enough seating areas for passengers and the narrow departure area is lined with expensive shops but few amenities for travellers. It made some travellers long for the old cramped but navigable Don Muang airport. There have also reports of criminal cases. In 2006, a female cashier working at a duty free shop left for a break. A few minutes later, 11 construction workers hit her on the head, and dragged her through a fire exit door and raped her. Early this year, a 24 year-old Irish male committed suicide by jumping from the top floor of the airport. For superstitious Thais, these cases only added bad omens. Then there was the disastrous – from a tourism point of view – occupation of the airport by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) from November 25 to December 3, 2008. That protest, which successfully demanded that a pro-Thaksin elected government be removed, cost the airport, airlines and the country tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue and uncounted sums in lost prestige among tourists as 300,000 travellers were marooned for a week. Curiously, the police handled the protest with kid gloves, allowing the royalist PAD to turn Suvarnabhumi into a week-long Thai Woodstock. Undeniably, Suvarnabhumi Airport represents a mini-Thailand, sullied by corruption, dark influences, cheating and a struggle for power and money. But what makes it even more undignified, is that those behind the airport’s criminal network have targeted tourists, thus internationalizing their notoriety at the expense of the country’s tourism sector. The reality is that the law enforcement agencies seem reluctant to sort out the problem, and the longer it persists, the more damage will be done. If the detention of tourists continues, both foreign and Thai passengers would be wise to avoid the duty free shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faustian Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 Pretty damning articles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadfly Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 Its seems I am not the only one has connected the dots. And not just in the area of the airport scam, where the story has reached a sort of tipping point. I think there is some very interesting material for writers who want to connect an even larger number of dots about Thailand. We have already seen this (good and bad efforts) over the past few years, and I think we'll see more. There are some fascinating stories here that should be told but go untold. I think we are starting to see the end of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clubsiam Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 A lady at the TAT tells me the Tourist Police are running the gem scam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 Yes we know that as it's about the 10,000 time you have told us. While this is another article I still only see the original incident about the wallet being reported. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simie Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 I think your right a lot of bad press over recent years for Thailand concerning a variety of things. And as you say probably a lot more too come?! Don't worry ThaiHome will pop up again soon to tell us everything in Thailand is just wonderful What the Thai defenders usually say is that the moaners she either leave if they expats or not bother coming if they tourists. Of course thats exactly what is now starting to happen?! Soon the various corrupt dark influences will have to concentrate on shafting their own people as they do now of course but did more so before there where enough farang to bother with? Simie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTO Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 Maybe the travel agents on board will answer this - but many trips for 09 are booked nov/dec - hence while your watching the shit hit the fan you don't think "Hmmm - let's book that ticket for Easter in Thailand now" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted August 9, 2009 Report Share Posted August 9, 2009 Viet Nam is quickly overtaking LOS; in rice exports and tourism! My brother-in-law made several visits to LOS but or the past few years, goes to Viet Nam...better value, more tourist friendly, less scams. Wake up call for LOS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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