[ZD] Tourists warned of Thailand airport scam
<blockquote style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid;"><div><div><div><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 24pt;">Tourists warned of Thailand airport scam </span></b></div></div></div><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="466" border="0" style="WIDTH: 279.6pt;"><tbody><tr><td valign="bottom" style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in;"><div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">By Jonathan Head <br/>BBC News, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_1" style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed;">Bangkok</span></span></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;"><img height="1" alt="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/999999.gif" src="http://f1805.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f1446258%5fAGQPw0MAAP%2bPSmlSOgGJ1S0kXXM&pid=2.2&fid=Inbox&inline=1&stationery=1" width="66"/></span>
<div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;"><img height="200" alt="Bangkok airport duty free" src="http://f1805.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f1446258%5fAGQPw0MAAP%2bPSmlSOgGJ1S0kXXM&pid=2.3&fid=Inbox&inline=1&stationery=1" width="466"/></span>
<div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;"><br clear="all"/></span><div></div><div><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Bangkok's showcase new international airport is no stranger to controversy.</span></b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;"></span>
<div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Built between 2002 and 2006, under the governments of then-Prime <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_2" style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed;">Minister Thaksin Shinawatra</span>, the opening date was repeatedly delayed. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">It has been dogged by allegations of corruption, as well as criticism of the design and poor quality of construction. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Then, at the end of last year, the airport was shut down for a week after being occupied by anti-government protesters. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Now new allegations have been made that a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until they pay large sums of money to buy their freedom. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">That is what happened to Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin, two IT experts from Cambridge, as they were about to board their flight to <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_3">London</span> on the night of 25 April this year. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">They had been browsing in the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_4">duty free shop</span> at the airport, and were later approached by <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_5">security guards</span>, who twice asked to search their bags. </span><div></div><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="226" align="right" border="0" style="WIDTH: 135.6pt;"><tbody><tr><td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in;"><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;"><img height="170" alt="Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin" src="http://f1805.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f1446258%5fAGQPw0MAAP%2bPSmlSOgGJ1S0kXXM&pid=2.4&fid=Inbox&inline=1&stationery=1" width="226"/></span>
<div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Mr Ingram and Ms Xi were told they had to pay £7,500</span>
<div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">They were told a wallet had gone missing, and that Ms Lin had been seen on a security camera taking it out of the shop. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">The company that owns the duty free shop, King Power, has since put the CCTV video on its website, which does appear to show her putting something in her bag. However the security guards found no wallet on either of them. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Despite that, they were both taken from the departure gate, back through immigration, and held in an <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_6">airport police office</span>. That is when their ordeal started to become frightening. </span><div></div><div><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Interpreter</span></b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;"></span>
<div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">"We were questioned in separate rooms," Mr Ingram said. "We felt really intimidated. They went through our bags and demanded that we tell them where the wallet was." </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">The two were then put in what Mr Ingram describes as a "hot, humid, smelly cell with graffiti and blood on the walls". </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Mr Ingram managed to phone a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_7">Foreign Office</span> helpline he found in a travel guide, and was told someone in the Bangkok embassy would try to help them. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">The next morning the two were given an interpreter, a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_8" style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none;">Sri Lankan</span> national called Tony, who works part-time for the police. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">They were taken by Tony to meet the local police commander - but, says Mr Ingram, for three hours all they discussed was how much money they would have to pay to get out. </span><div></div><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="226" align="right" border="0" style="WIDTH: 135.6pt;"><tbody><tr><td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-TOP: 0in;"><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;"><img height="170" alt="police station" src="http://f1805.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f1446258%5fAGQPw0MAAP%2bPSmlSOgGJ1S0kXXM&pid=2.5&fid=Inbox&inline=1&stationery=1" width="226"/></span>
<div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Mr Ingram and Ms Xi were taken to meet the local police commander</span>
<div></div><div></div><div></div></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">They were told the charge was very serious. If they did not pay, they would be transferred to the infamous <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_9" style="CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: #0066cc 1px dashed;">Bangkok Hilton</span> prison, and would have to wait two months for their case to be processed. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Mr Ingram says they wanted £7,500 ($12,250) - for that the police would try to get him back to the UK in time for his mother's funeral on 28 April. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">But he could not arrange to get that much money transferred in time. </span><div></div><div><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">'Zig-zag' scheme</span></b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;"></span>
<div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Tony then took them to an ATM machine at the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_10" style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none;">police station</span>, and told Ms Lin to withdraw as much as she could from her own account - £600 - and Mr Ingram then withdrew the equivalent of £3,400 from his account. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">This was apparently handed over to the police as "bail", and they were both made to sign a number of papers. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Later they were allowed to move to a squalid hotel within the airport perimeter, but their passports were held and they were warned not to leave or try to contact a lawyer or their embassy. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">"I will be watching you," Tony told them, adding that they would have to stay there until the £7,500 was transferred into Tony's account. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">On the Monday they managed to sneak out and get a taxi to Bangkok, and met an official at the British Embassy. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">She gave the name of a Thai lawyer, and, says Mr Ingram, told them they were being subjected to a classic Thai scam called the "zig-zag". </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Their lawyer urged them to expose Tony - but also warned them that if they fought the case it could take months, and they risked a long prison sentence. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">After five days the money was transferred to Tony's account, and they were allowed to leave. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Mr Ingram had missed his mother's funeral, but at least they were given a court document stating that there was insufficient evidence against them, and no charge. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">"It was a harrowing, stressful experience," he said. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">The couple say they now want to take legal action to recover their money. </span><div></div><div><b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">'Typical' scam</span></b><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;"></span>
<div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">The BBC has spoken to Tony and the regional police commander, Colonel Teeradej Phanuphan. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">They both say Tony was merely helping the couple with translation, and raising bail to keep them out of prison. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Tony says about half the £7,500 was for bail, while the rest were "fees" for the bail, for his work, and for a lawyer he says he consulted on their behalf. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">In theory, he says, they could try to get the bail portion refunded. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Colonel Teeradej says he will investigate any possible irregularities in their treatment. But he said any arrangement between the couple and Tony was a private affair, which did not involve the police. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Letters of complaint to the papers here in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_11">Thailand</span> make it clear that passengers are regularly detained at the airport for alleged shoplifting, and then made to pay middlemen to win their freedom. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">The Danish Embassy says one of its nationals was recently subjected to a very similar scam, and earlier this month an Irish scientist managed to flee Thailand with her husband and one year-old son after being arrested at the airport and accused of stealing an eyeliner worth around £17. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">Tony told the BBC that so far this year he has "helped" about 150 foreigners in trouble with the police. He says sometimes he does it for no charge. </span><div></div><div><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt;">The British Embassy has also warned passengers at <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_12" style="BACKGROUND: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; CURSOR: hand; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none;">Bangkok Airport</span> to take care not to move items around in the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1248457197_13">duty free shopping area</span> before paying for them, as this could result in arrest and imprisonment. </span><br/></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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