Hi Bob I have read a lot more since and the police are bang at it it seems as well.Setting up false charges for the motorists.Thai Visa is full of these type of reports it seems the new government is losing control of the situation.I miss read the cigarette amounts and wondered why they couldn't just use up the allowance through the husband.I have flights booked through to Bangkok,maybe I should stay at the Airport and fliy straight out the next day,bypassing Thailand altogether.It's a shame though,it's nearer two years since I was last there and I wouldn't have thought the situation could deteriate so quickly.I feel sorry for the ordinary people who will also suffer from a down turn in trade,partly helped by their officials.

Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin were falsely accused
of stealing from a shop at Bangkok airport. Photo: Michael Sheridan

A British couple who were falsely accused of shoplifting in Bangkok airport and were forced to pay £8,000 in bribes to secure their release are to take legal action for compensation.

They were the victims of an extortion racket that has ensnared other foreign travellers at the airport, which handles most of the 800,000 British visitors to Thailand every year.

Stephen Ingram, 49, and Xi Lin, 45, both technology professionals from Cambridge, were detained by security guards as they went to board Qantas flight QF1 to London on the night of Saturday, April 25.

They were accused of taking a Givenchy wallet worth £121 from a King Power duty-free shop and were handed over to the police. An official release order from the local Thai prosecutor’s office subsequently conceded there was no evidence against them.

They were freed five days later after a frightening ordeal in which they said they were threatened and held against their will at a cheap motel on the airport perimeter until they had handed over the money.

The bribes were paid to an intermediary named Sunil “Tony” Rathnayaka, a Sri Lankan national in his fifties who works as a “volunteer” interpreter for Thailand’s tourist police (motto: “To serve and to protect”).

“Our main motivation is to protect other innocent British tourists from being caught up in this nightmare,” said Ingram last week. “We intend to take every legal means to recover our money and obtain justice.”

Last week Rathnayaka admitted in a telephone interview that he had received cash and money transfers amounting to more than £7,000 from the Britons. He said the money was for police bail and for a payment to a figure he called “Little Big Man” who could withdraw the case against them.

“In Thailand everyone knows it’s like that,” he said. “They can go to jail or they can just pay a fine and go home. It is corruption, you know?”

Rathnayaka also agreed that the “bail” — about £4,000 — was never returned to Ingram and Xi. Thai law says bail should be refunded.

In a detailed statement the couple said they were first detained at an airport office of the tourist police and later taken to cells at a police station in an isolated modern building on the fringes of the airport.

Rathnayaka confirmed that he met them in the cells on the morning of Sunday, April 26, and arranged the “bail”. The police kept the couple’s passports. Rathnayaka then escorted Ingram and Xi to the Valentine Resort, a lurid pink motel a few hundred yards from the runways. They were to remain there for four days.

During that time, Rathnayaka warned them not to tell anyone about their plight, especially the British embassy, lawyers, friends, family or the press.

However, on April 27 they sneaked out of the hotel and found their way to the embassy, where they met Kate Dufall, the pro-consul.

According to the couple, she told them the embassy could not interfere with the Thai legal system and put them in contact with Prachaya Vijitpokin, a lawyer.

Vijitpokin and a colleague, Kittamert Engchountada, of the Lawyers Association of Thailand, urged them to stay in the country to fight the case and have since assembled a dossier for potential prosecutions.

However, Ingram said the couple were so terrified by this stage that they decided to meet the demands for money, which they raised by bank transfers from Britain direct to Rathnayaka’s account. The Sunday Times has copies of the transactions.

Ingram and Xi were put on a British Airways flight to London early on Friday, May 1, having received their passports with official documents from prosecutors and police stating that no charges were to be brought against them.

They have said they are willing to return to Thailand and testify to try to stop the extortion if the government will guarantee their safety.

That could become a priority for Thailand, which has suffered a series of blows to its tourist industry through economic and political upheaval.

Inquiries last week established that Rathnayaka and his accomplices have continued preying on tourists who end up in police custody after being accused of theft from the airport duty-free shop. “I am just helping people,” he explained. “I don’t get paid to do this. All the embassies know me.”

Officials at the Danish embassy confirmed that a Danish woman fell into Rathnayaka’s hands about two weeks ago and was allowed to leave Thailand only after handing over more than £4,500.

When a Sunday Times journalist posing as a businessman in trouble contacted Rathnayaka last week, the first thing he said was: “If it’s a case, for example, of shoplifting at the airport duty-free then I can help. Bail is 100,000 baht (£1,800).” He later declined an interview, saying the Sri Lanka embassy — which employs him as an interpreter — had told him not to speak.

The Foreign Office said consular officials had offered to raise the case with the Thai authorities at the time but had been asked by the couple not to intervene.

A spokesman for King Power duty-free said the company had strict rules for evidence to be submitted to the police in shoplifting cases, but added: “We cannot control what happens after that.”

joskydive
View Member Profile Yesterday, 2009-06-28 09:06:45 Post #9


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This scam has been going on for quite a long time now. Another victim was arrested last Thursday for nicking a lipstick from King Power but I don't think thats got in the papers yet. She got bail for 100,000 baht and a Lawyer, recommended by the British Embassy, has charged her 50,000baht for his services, no receipt! I wonder if he will turn up when she does require his services now he has the money.

I know whenever I'm leaving a country I just don't go into any of these shops even just to look.


jonclark
View Member Profile Yesterday, 2009-06-28 09:08:27 Post #10


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I'm so proud my tax money goes to support such a moral and upstanding police force. Truly, Thailand should be rightly proud of such a clean and just judicial system

And good on the Brits for having a go. Irrespective of whether they stole or not, the punishment does not fit the crime.

Surely of you've been arrested you should be taken to a police station - not a resort???

This post has been edited by jonclark: Yesterday, 2009-06-28 09:10:13


chiang mai
View Member Profile Yesterday, 2009-06-28 09:10:10 Post #11


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A TV poster reported in this forum recently that he was the target of a similar scam at the airport but as I recall the incident involved cigarettes. As I further recall not a single viewer believed his story and he took a lot of stick as a result. So, in light of the expose above, perhaps it's time to consign to urban myth the notion that such things don't happen here in Thailand and perhaps cut such posters a little more slack.


grantbkk
View Member Profile Yesterday, 2009-06-28 09:13:40 Post #12


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This is not the first time people have been jailed under strange circumstances after visiting King Power Duty Free. This is a company that ignores rules and laws and doubled their retail space simply by taking it over when Suvarnabhumi opened. They wanted to open another restaurant and quietly built a two story building next to the terminal without asking anyone's permission.

The couple may be guilty of theft but my gut says there is a different message here. Do not go near any of the King Power Duty Free shops. If you do you do so at your own risk. We all know the airport is full of criminals of all stripes yet because it is an airport with controlled space we feel a false sense of security. Saving a few Baht on cigarettes or alcohol is worth the risk?

I bet these people would not have the problems they had if they were shopping in Singapore's or Hong Kong's airports

I say again it's it's wrong. The buck stops there. Security police are not getting rid of touts and bogis taxis from the airport. Why do people always try and turn it on the customers or the tourists head be it if he make a mistake here there or whereever? The licienced taxis should be the only taxis at the airport. Then there is no confusion. Prices should be reasonable too. In Bangkok airport the prices quoted to tourist vary. The desks ask for 2500 baht to Pattaya which is a 1500 baht journey.
I say it again. We are not responsible.
This is not a problem in Malaysia. Why is it a problem for Bangkok. Get it sorted. Spend some of those tourist dollars on better security.

I think Thais are racist yes. Thailand is not a very international country in as far as most Thais dont really have an oportunity to travel and the school system in Thailand has not taught geography with a passion as most Thais seem to be ignorant to where things are on a map. Americans have the same problem. Another very inward country. The 2 teer system is a government condoned stance and general ignorance with government policy being racist is a breeding ground for racism everywhere. I think it's quite present in Thailand though mostly it's not bover booted shaven headed Thais running down Sukumvit bashing tourists it's a more government run policy. Visas and red tape and unfair pricing and so on.
Thailand and Thais are quite pleasant on the surface. Thais being Thais and the nature of the cuture and the people tend to vent their racism in a more subtle way.
Ever heard a Thai say Thai price. Subtitute the word "THAI" for "WHITE". Would you think it acceptable to say to a black man these days on holiday in the UK. Thats white price your getting there mate think yourself lucky. Anywhere in the world where 2 people are not treated the same in law and in business because of the colour of their skin or their background or religion is wrong. Thailand im sorry you need to clean up your act on this one. Talking about cleaning is Thailands beaches getting alot worse or what?

Well at the end of the Day we don't have to visit Thailand do we?Its a choice we make or not,and if our last experience was bad we won't go back.I can understand Thai's selling cheaper to Thai's ,generally Thai's earn far less and as a result have less disposable income.The Baht has been very low against most currency's since the Thais devalued in the late 90's,so there would be a big difference to a person getting paid in Baht as apposed to many other currency's.Maybe this is where the dual pricing originated from.It seems the Thai Police and other government workers are the ones ripping everyone off.Perhaps things will change eventually,there is a lot of financial instibility all over the world at present.Maybe things will settle down as time moves on.There are plenty of racist's in Britain,they run our corner shops ,talk in strange tongues and generally do all the things you accuse Thais of doing.They are also famous for driving rogue taxis,I won't go into all that though.

"I can understand Thai's selling cheaper to Thai's, generally Thai's earn far less and as a result have less disposable income."

Here we go again, making excuses for them that you would never tolerate if the situation was reversed. So according to your reasoning it's perfectly OK with you if white British, Australians & Americans sell cheaper to other caucasians than they sell to wealthier Arab & Asian tourists with more disposable income.

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They do it in Russia too. There are two prices to get into the Hermitage and other public attractions. Or at least there used to be. A long time since I have been, alas. As for selling for more to wealthier Arab and Asian customers whether that is acceptable or not; hmmm, let me think

yes of course it's alright by me, Arabs are over charged in Britain today..........as the owners of Manchester City.If you buy a watch in Spain off the chaps that frequent the bars the first they want to know is where are you from.And depending on your answer is what price you are going to be charged.One said you are English your economy is doing well the pound is strong against most currencies .......you can afford to pay more than a Spaniard.It's just economics,not a personal attack on you.

I'm sadly to hear such an anti travellers problems, Thailand need tourist , tourists is main income of country, I still don't understand what's goverment doing.

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