whackyjacky

It seemed like they were just stopping every taxi in the lane. They asked for our PPs, we gave them the Xerox & were on our way. No search, no pee. Didn't notice at the time, but the driver complained that he had to give them 500B. When I got stopped by Emporium, they went through my wallet & bag. My expat friends later said they were looking for prescription drugs w/no prescription like Valium, Codeine, & Viagra which were readily available w/out one. Fine was reportedly 1000B or you went back to the police station. 2 guys I know got searched and paid the fine at Ekkamai Bus Station. None of this is recent.

Tchiowa

Thanks.

Now this incident I believe completely. But it is also completely different than the OP. This is a standard process of the police in Thailand. They set up random checkpoints. Stop everyone. Typically looking for expired DL, red tag plates at night, no seat belt, taxi driver not the one in the license, etc. Typically happens around the first of the month when the cops need rent money. You will see this every month at Wittayu and Rama IV.

But, again, this isn't what the OP was about. The OP said that they police were pulling over taxis specifically because they had foreigners as passengers. That isn't what happened to you. And it is the major reason I objected to the post. That simply doesn't happen.

You have apparently spent a lot of time in BKK. You have been stopped once in your entire life. I have never been stopped. None of this supports the claim that it is "common" or "routine", which is the other part of the OP post I objected to.

In my experience, when these types of "anecdotes" start flying around they turn out to be beer talk. You're sitting down with buddies for a brew on a Friday night, you mention what happened to year near the Emporium a long time ago. The "Topper" next to you says "It happened to me twice". Next guy "Yeah, well it happened to me 3 times plus they made me pee in a cup". By the end of the evening someone got pulled over 7 times in one hour and the cops amputated his leg and barbecued it.

Then one of those guys posts what he heard on a blog somewhere, it goes viral, and we have a thread like this claiming (as per the OP) that the police are regularly stopping taxis solely because they have foreigners as passengers and piss testing them.

I've seen this happen any number of times. It is what happened this time, IMO. It will happen again. And unless someone comes up with strong, verifiable evidence, I won't believe it.

Again.

phatrabbitzz

We just came from Bangkok and weren't stopped at all during our entire stay.

whackyjacky

That's all reasonable. Like I said before, instances are probably exaggerated, but I have no doubt it WAS happening. Actually, I've had my taxi pulled over quite a few times, but they did it just to jack the drivers, and paid me (or us) no attention .

Diplomatico

For those who were in denial about searches:

"Following a month of bad publicity regarding police stop and searches around the Asoke / Sukhumvit area of Bangkok, Thonglor Police District have printed a leaflet outlining your rights as a foreigner if stopped by the police.

Officers were seen passing them out in Soi Cowboy on Friday and Saturday night.

The contents of the leaflet covers most of the answers Thonglor chief Pol. Col. Chutrakul Yodmadee outlined in the Police Stop & Search: What You Need To Know list shared on Stickboy 10 days ago with some additional information and useful telephone numbers."

Photos of the leaflets can be seen here:

http://www.stickboybangkok.com/news/...search-policy/

ft101

Impossible, there's only been one tweet or post that spread everywhere.

It does leave a gaping loophole however, in that anyone can carry a copy of their own passsport's front page and anyone else's entry stamp.

Yappofloyd

There has been a marked increase in the last 2 months of this type of harassment which has been ongoing for years in the Thonglor police district, primarily between Suk soi 22 and Asoke. An increase mainly due to other avenues of income being impacted.

Officially, it is to intercept drug movements between Klong Toey and Sukhumvit who use soi 22. However, those doing it have caused much publicity to such an extent that the TAT had to pressure the Thong Lor police into putting out a leaflet (almost unheard of in Bangkok).

See leaflet here:
http://www.stickboybangkok.com/image...earch-Policy-2

whackyjacky

If they want to interdict drug movement they should look within. IMO, Farang don't move a lot of drugs, especially those around 22 & especially Yaba. They should take a look down Sois 1 & 3, but can't - these guys pay protection. This is all about the shakedown.

transpac

Follow-up/summary article in one of the local English language daily rags...


Sukhumvit shakedown

Random searches and on-the-spot drug tests on foreigners have left many questioning police integrity


http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/spec...mvit-shakedown


Interesting points in the article...

Former Thong Lor Police Superintendent blames issues on "fake", "rogue" or police from other precincts.

And, said police superintendent has been re-assigned to that provincial hot-bed of Ang Thong ("golden bowl", good luck sir in that backwater), presumably because he did such a bang-up job in Thong Lor, not.

Diplomatico

One wonders what took the Post so long to acknowledge the obvious. (:you know why emoticon

Ang Thong, lol. No connection whatsoever.

[content removed by moderator]

Tchiowa

[QUOTE=Diplomatico;24188147]One wonders what took the Post so long to acknowledge the obvious. (:you know why emoticon

Ang Thong, lol. No connection whatsoever.

[content removed by moderator]

Well, let's read the article.

This thread started off with and article that claimed that police were stopping taxis purely because the passenger was a foreigner, taking the passenger out of the taxi and making them do piss tests. And that scenario is what I objected to.

So, this article starts off with "was trying to hail a taxi on Sukhumvit Soi 36" No taxi stop. So this instance doesn't even resemble the original premise.

I also commented that the way people act or dress can draw attention. Back to the article "dressed like a typical foreigner, in a T-shirt, cargo shorts and flip flops"

Sorry, that is not how a typical foreigner dresses. He drew attention to himself.

Then the picture in the article "Two foreigners receive a ticket from police for their riding at Asoke"

Wow! Really??? A traffic ticket??? Foreigners never get traffic tickets in other countries.

And when asked why some foreigners were being stopped, the police chief said "his men are instructed to be on the lookout for drugs at all times, and determining whether or not to stop someone would depend on that person’s behaviour and whether they appeared intoxicated". Which, again, has always been my contention.

I could go on, but you get the gist. The article has *nothing* to do with the claim that started this thread that I disputed. No indication that police were just stopping people "at random". No pulling people out of taxis. No stopping taxis just because there is a foreigner in the taxi. Nothing I can see all that much different than "stop and frisk" which is conducted by most police departments in most cities. As other posters have said, it happens. Foreigners get stopped. But the claims in the original post are still not validated.

braslvr

IME that is exactly how most Western men dress when in Thailand as tourists, myself included. Well, swap flip flops for sandals. I would certainly call it typical.

Tchiowa

An adult male wearing shorts in Bangkok is not typical. You will virtually never see a Thai dressed like in Bangkok that unless he needs to for work. Outside of KSR and Nana I rarely see a foreigner dressed like that. It's not rude or anything, but is viewed by Thai as a "low class" way of dressing. Beaches and at home, fine. Bangkok? Not so much.

braslvr

Agree completely about Thai men not wearing shorts, and have heard several times that it is viewed by Thai as a "low class" way of dressing. But, from Lumpini park/Lang Suan, to MBK, all the way down Sukhumvit to Asok including Sois 8 & 11 and Terminal 21, and everywhere in between, shorts are the norm for the vast majority of westerners, right or wrong. I just returned from 7 weeks in that area. Also at Chatuchak, the cooking school we attended on Silom, the BTS everywhere, and the river express boats. You really don't see this?

dsquared37

It's viewed by the self proclaimed 'proper' Thais that shorts are low class. Plenty of Thais wear shorts and probably larger numbers walk around with their shirt pulled up and gut hanging out. Spare me the pejorative view of foreigners.

Please.