This was reported on the thaivisa website, about a Danish citizen being held up by BTS skytrain security guards for throwing a cigarette butt on platform:
"A danish citizen was arrested at the SIAM SKY TRAIN STATION in Bangkok recently! The guards accused him of throwing a cigarette on the ground.
Only problem: the guy works in a hospital and is a non smoker and said he had nothing to do with the case. The dane was brought into a room and he was not allowed to go untill he paid Bth 10,000 to the security guards.
Here is the link. The story is from yesterday in a Danish newspaper.
http://politiken.dk/tjek/rejser/asien/article755129.ece
This is a newspaper that do NOT run gossip-stories."
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"I was allowed to leave, that was the most important".
Anesthesist Nils Georgsen from Copenhagen warns against being extorted money from Thai government employees.
This warning coinsides with more countries wanting to investigate whether tourists have illegally been accused of shoplifting in Bangkok International Airport - after which they were forced to pay large amounts to be allowed to leave the country.
For Georgesen it went all wrong while he was waiting for a train at Siam Skytrain station, during a visit to Thailand's capital.
"I didn't suspect anything. All was quiet. Then, suddently a skytrain security guard came and pointed at a cigarette butt on the platform", Nils Georgsen explains. Smoking is not allowed on the station. But despite the explanations from the Danish tourist that he is a non-smoker and that he he didn't throw anything, he was still escorted to a guard room and surrounded by security guards.
Had to pay on the spot
They wanted money. They demanded 10,000 Baht. "This was no joke. They were very threatening. I tried to explain that I am a non-smoker, but they wouldn't budge. They just wanted money" explains the Danish anesteciatist.
He tried to call the tourist police but the guards didn't allow him to. Instead he managed to negotiate the amount down to 2000 Baht. "I was then allowed to leave. That was the most important'
He has since tried to protect himself, when he visit Thailand, and is very careful about access to money, if it should go wrong again. And he do understand why these things happen.
"They are dead poor and must daily watch rich tourists. Obvisouly it makes something click in some people"
Georgesen was on the other hand very surprised to hear that similar events have taken place at the Bangkok International Airport where visitors from several countries have been extorted large amounts to avoid prison, after being accused of shoplifting. "It is food for thought. It's the main portal to Thailand" he says, and worries that it will affect the Thai tourist industry, which is already in decline."
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If you have to ask ......
