If you think our Malaysian boys in blue are bad enough as it
is with “kopi” money for traffic violations or heftier sums for the corresponding
breach of law. Have a read at the ingenuity of their Thai counterparts to
squeeze tourist at the Bangkok airport. Clever Extortion within the law?
This is a true account and is apparently still going on selectively.
This is a true account and is apparently still going on selectively.
So if you
are travelling to Bangkok and have read this, don’t say you have not been forewarned.
Just don’t be susceptible to petty greed when making purchases at the duty free
shops inside the airport.
We have heard accounts of jet ski scams in Phuket
to Pattaya ,the tuk tuk temple tour scams where you are lead to buy expensive
tailor made suits made from cheapo materials
or precious gems that are not so precious
afterall, red light district scams where you are taken to certain bars and
charged exorbitant sums for services and drinks and entertainment etc , but
these are mainly street scams.
Whereas this duty free shop scam is fresh to me and done in the confines of
the airport, with the complicity of the sales assistants to the security guards and the airport cops working
hand in hand. And demands for monetary settlements are amounts street scammers
can only fantasize about.
Especially more targeted at Malaysians,
Singaporeans or Indians who are perceived to be easier pickings because usually
of the less fuss they make and just tend to let things slide. And richer
perhaps than the western counterparts who will also probably raise a helluva
stink if they were victimized.
Dear friends,
To those who like travelling abroad, here is a
reminder.
I would like to relate an incident that happened
recently. After attending a wedding in Shanghai, my cousin decided to visit
Bangkok with his wife and brother in law.
To make a long story short, on the way back to KL with Air Asia, while waiting for the flight at the airport, the couple decided to wander off and do some duty free shopping.
At a duty free shop, they bought chocolates for
grandkids and cigarettes for himself. And they were told that making chocolate
purchases entitles them for a free gift in the form of chocolates as well.
All their purchases were placed at the cashier’s counter and as they were about to make payment,they noticed a box of cigarettes placed on top of the 1 carton they bought on the counter , of the same brand. My cousin had paid for the chocolates and for the 1 carton of cigarettes as well and proceeded to put the purchases in a shopping bag, at first ignoring the singular box of cigarettes that was on top of his carton.
Then his wife pointed it out because she was under the impression that it also was a buy one free one gift as well. So he just without a second thought grabbed the box and proceeded to the departure hall to catch their flight. While they were waiting to board their flight, a security guard appeared and asked them if they had bought any cigarettes. So they responded sincerely showing the guard the items they had purchased at the duty free shop earlier, including also the box they assumed was a free gift for the cigarette purchase.
That was when the security guard accused them of theft of the one box of cigarettes and wanted to take them to the police station to be charged for stealing. My cousin offered to pay for the cigarettes because he really thought it was a misunderstanding.
But the security guard refused and was adamant that they be brought to the airport police station. And the wife was advised to board the flight home. She refused and insisted to stay with her husband and go along to the police station. At the station, my cousin was requested to pay compensation of the sum of RM30, 000.00 if he wants to be released. Otherwise he will have to be held in custody till such time the amount is paid. Since they did not have the money and were unable to pay up, my cousin was locked up along with few other tourists that were in the same predicament.
And the wife had to go and stay at a friend’s place in Bangkok.
At the jailhouse, there was actually a tourist
of Indian nationality that had been locked up for over a month because his
family was unable to come up with a demanded sum of USD $70,000, as he was
accused of stealing a pen, when according to the guy, he was on his way to the
counter to pay for it but as he was searching for the cashier counter, he
mistakenly stepped out of the shop’s boundary and was immediately detained and
accused of theft.
When my cousin was detained , his brother in law who was taking another flight with MAS wasn’t aware of his plight, he only found out after a text message was sent to him by the wife but by then he had already boarded the flight so was not allowed to go back to the airport. He immediately flew back to Bangkok soon as he arrived at KL on the same MAS flight. Meanwhile my cousin in KL got in touch with the Malaysian High Commision and few VIPs to inform them of the situation and see what can be done.The Bangkok police department ignored appeals made by the Malaysian embassy staff and even some ministers from Malaysia.
The following day, as the brother in law arrived at the Bangkok airport police station from KL, he immediately proceeded to make steps to free my cousin at the lock up. The Fee for release was negotiated from Rm30,000 to a discounted sum of Rm20,000 but the brother in law only had Rm11,000 with him . After more haggling over a frustrating period, the cops finally agreed to accept the Rm11,000. And would you know it , my cousin had not even being released from the lock up yet and they were already dividing the loot amongst themselves smugly. And to top it off, they were gleefully showing of all the foreign currency they had accumulated with this scam without any hint of shame or remorse from the ill gotten gains.
Next day, my cousin was brought to a magistrate court where he was dealt with through a window. He was asked to plead guilty and was fined 2,000 baht (RM200) for the trouble, what happened to the RM11,000? No mention at all.
Fortunately, my cousin remembered an account of another tourist that was charged together with him and had tried to leave the country without asking for documentation verifying absolution for arrest and hence was detained again at the airport. SO my cousin requested them to issue a letter stating that his case had been resolved and he was allowed to return to his country.
To further compound things, as he was about to purchase a flight ticket back, (apparently the flight tickets are managed by the Bangkok immigration department).he was told that Air Asia flight tickets were sold out.Only available were MAS tickets which were more expensive. But when he wanted to use his credit card to purchase the MAS ticket since he was low on cash, and he stated that he had only enough cash to buy Air Asia, mysteriously ,the ticketing officer said that there were seats available on Air Asia after all...... (As if every stage there is a loophole for advantage exploiting)
The immigration dept. stamped on my cousin’s pasport and his wife’s as 'Thief'! Not only that, he had to endure the humiliation of being handcuffed and brought to the plane. His passport was handed over to the crew of Air Asia and upon arrival at KL , KL immigration was asked to accompany him to their office at LCCT.
And it was there that my cousin was told that incidences like this happen all the time to our citizens but strangely , it has being kept under wraps.
Our embassy
officials also stated the same and
advised my cousin to inform his family and close friends not to go to Thailand
for the time being until the political situation there stabilizes a bit.
If these events had not happened
to my kin, I might not have believed it.. seems so much like a movie plot, but believe
it, it actually happened!
Translated from the Malay version here:
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