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[MJo]

Yes i remember the previous story as well. And yes this has been going on for some time now and King Power employees are in it.

It is usual that you get freebies when buying stuff. In a style "buy two of these and receive free of that". So you when you are at the cashier you get presented these "free gifts" that actually includes something you should pay for and the second you set your foot outside the shop there is copper waiting for you.

I have refused to accept any freebies there for a year now unless it is something that is clearly advertised in the shop.

[animatic]

Of course was the susect wallet found on them... no.
When that happened in the airport security office a round
of apologies should have been issued and a new flight booked gratis
to recompense for the MISTAKE. But this is a was a SCAM and a CRIME,
perpetrated by the very people charged with stopping scams and crimes...

Pure scam, a basic search would have cleared this up in any normal country;
a man for him and woman for her. With their bags checked, how many places
can they stash a shoplifted wallet? Carry on and clothes. If not found there,
it's not stolen by them. Case closed.

Of course once the bogus charge is made, then face can't be lost retracting it by the
idiot security guard, and his boss can't besmirch the security service in front of the
real police and so it goes on and on with the farang as patsy. Then the helpful prat
facilitator from tourist police gets involved, and gotta love this little big man character;
pure invention.

I will now avoid the airport stores like plague ridden pestholes, King Power can stuff it.

Another nail...
there is no wood left, the coffin is solid metal now.
They can only weld on extra nails to help it sink the body faster,
in the hopes no one else will notice.

Living in the minute, make merit on the weekend, reincarnate when this cycle is up.
Seems to not work as well as theoretically, nay theologically planned.
Likely because people are involved... such messy creatures.

Edited by animatic, 2009-06-28 09:56:39.

[tartempion]

This really stinks and this 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”)"smells like a rat.

I will warn the dozen or so Thai related boards I am on to stay away from King Power duty free shops.

More bad news for Thailand

[Mario2008]

Although it happend at a King Power store, there is no involvement of King Power itself. Let's not suggest it is or call for boycots etc.

[judgedredd]

May we simply call this what it is? Being hauled off to a pink hotel, not a jail, is a kidnapping. The rest of it is theft, extortion, and false imprisonment.

Kidnapping of foreigners and extortion/theft by the police and their police-controlled gangs is not a new scam. If you do some Google searches, you will find many notorious Thailand kidnapping stories where foreigners were abducted by police and their gangs.

An example: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/04/14...es_30031870.php

The targets have previously been “big” targets who were cash-rich. The interesting twist about the recent airport arrest/kidnapping of Ingram and Xi Lin, and allegedly others, is that the targets are ‘soft” targets, who are not in a grey area business, and the amount stolen from the victims in each case is relatively small.

I see two dangers that may develop from the notoriety of the kidnapping stories:

1.)Thai tourism will continue to suffer as the word gets out back home that organized theft/kidnap/extortion rings are allowed to freely prey on foreigners in the airport;

2.)Foreigners, whether tourists or expats, will surely develop an increased level of distrust and disrespect for Thai cops and other Thai scum. This is more than just a rhetorical question: “What if”, when Ingram and Xi Lin were illegally snagged while boarding their plane, what if the couple had simply resisted? We can only speculate how ugly it would have gotten… Thai cops shooting foreigners is nothing new, of course, (Most notably Canadian Leo del Pinto in Pai, and Vanessa Arscott and Adam Lloyd in Kanchanaburi). Enough is enough, and I believe that it is entirely possible that we will see an increase in incidents where foreigners will (justifiably or unjustifiably) resist either the unlawful or lawful orders of armed Thai police.

So, those are the dangers. Thai tourism will suffer, and the next time that a foreigner is scammed by the scum, there is an increased likelihood, in my opinion, that the foreigner will resist.

Ah, the fun never stops. Amazing Thailand…

Judge Dredd

[kenk3z]

These stories crop up periodically with varying sorts of issues involved. It often seems the KP help will slip some small item in the bag as you are paying - something that could be interpreted as a complimentary gift. Then you get stopped, the bag inspected, the receipt inspected - and you appear to have stolen some small item. I believe the going rate for this scam is 30k - 50k baht.

This has been going on a long time but has gotten a lot worse at the new airport.

I discussed this with the wife on our last trip. As we left, we walked right down the center of the hall through the duty free area and never stopped or slowed down - just briskly and purposely walking looking straight ahead. It's a long walk, but you just don't want to be on video in the King Power shops.

Don't even stop to take the free samples of food tidbits.

kenk3z

[phupaman]

Hi All.
At the very least King Power should just sack the staff involved,person who served them ,person on the till, all the staff if they want to run a clean shop, how come they are held 5 days?, Lawful or not?,AlsoI would think that the tourist police should go to,with loss of pension.

[imjustagirl]

thats it for me, shall not be flying or reccomending flying to/from bangkok to my family and friends. Any travelling now will be done from samui/surrat thani/ phuket airport to KL and onwards to UK.
I really am beginning to be ashamed of this beautiful countries corruption and treatment of visitors....only yesterday i was told it was 400 baht for a TUK TUK to take me from chaweng to lamai at 1pm (about 9km and usually 50 baht) I laughed (though furious) and told him i didn't want to buy the tuk tuk.
It all makes me so sad for the honest traders and genuine nice locals i meet.....

[kmj]

Mario2008, on 2009-06-28 09:47:59, said:

Although it happend at a King Power store, there is no involvement of King Power itself. Let's not suggest it is or call for boycots etc.

well someone had to instigate the false theft claim... They won't get another Baht form me

[jonclark]

judgedredd, on 2009-06-28 09:54:22, said:

The targets have previously been "big" targets who were cash-rich.

So, now we know why the government wants to lure 'quality tourists' The mask has slipped - Its to give the trusty BiB a 'bonus' every now and then.

[MJo]

Mario2008, on 2009-06-28 10:47:59, said:

Although it happend at a King Power store, there is no involvement of King Power itself. Let's not suggest it is or call for boycots etc.

Didn't know they are thai visa sponsors....

I correct my statement, it has now been proven they did not have anything to do with it

[Mario2008]

Lets hope that the Thai government and King Power act swiftly to this. They have a huge image problem with this and storries like this will hurt the tourism sector even more. I hope it will be reported in the Thai media as well.

[fiddlehead]

Mario2008, on 2009-06-28 03:47:59, said:

Although it happend at a King Power store, there is no involvement of King Power itself. Let's not suggest it is or call for boycots etc.

Huh?

Sounds like it is the number one location for this scam.

do you have evidence otherwise?

[slapout]

sleepyjohn, on 2009-06-28 09:37:07, said:

Quote

Quote

This is not the first time people have been jailed under strange circumstances after visiting King Power

This is the sort of company king power are,

That's slanderous. I think unless you have something better than your cigarette anecdote and have evidence of company instigation of or acquiescence to any related activity you should take it back .

Seems to me the owner of Kingpower would be extremely upset about all this.

If I were the complainant I'd be straight on the blower to him.
Seems like he'd be the best person to get things done and get heads chopped if he were sent the relevant information.

John

John; As a TV member for several years, have you kept abreast of King Power and their slight of hand measurements, etc at Swampy? Your last sentence would seem naive at the least as Thailand seems to be a country that defies the law of gravity, 'sh t' (in this case money) does roll uphill. This can be readily verified by the division of fines, legal fees, bail monies, etc which some of the Thai authorities themselves have mentioned.

[Mario2008]

MJo, on 2009-06-28 10:03:43, said:

Mario2008, on 2009-06-28 10:47:59, said:

Although it happend at a King Power store, there is no involvement of King Power itself. Let's not suggest it is or call for boycots etc.

Didn't know they are thai visa sponsors....

I correct my statement, it has now been proven they did not have anything to do with it

My remark was not entirely clear. Let me put it this way: Under Thai libel laws we can not allow that a company is being named and shamed. So let the company out of the discussion and don't suggest they are in on it.

Also our forum rules don't allow to call for a boycot of a certain company.

[frodo]

Two tourists are kidnapped by extortionists. They manage to escape, go to the embassy, and the embassy refuses help? Where does a person turn to for help when neither the BIB nor the embassy will assist? Thaivisa?

[Absingjul]

Previously:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Beware-Duty-...am-t261481.html

http://www.thaivisa....is-t257982.html

Nothing short of a ransom kidnapping in my book.

[imaneggspurt]

frodo, on 2009-06-28 10:14:46, said:

Two tourists are kidnapped by extortionists. They manage to escape, go to the embassy, and the embassy refuses help? Where does a person turn to for help when neither the BIB nor the embassy will assist? Thaivisa?

Sounds like the "Embassy" staff are also fed up with trying to change the "Thai way ".... ..

[neverdie]

Nothing surprises me anymore & the first thing that springs to mind is "Amazing Thailand".

[Absingjul]

frodo, on 2009-06-27 23:14:46, said:

Two tourists are kidnapped by extortionists. They manage to escape, go to the embassy, and the embassy refuses help? Where does a person turn to for help when neither the BIB nor the embassy will assist? Thaivisa?

It appears that Andrew Drummond and talk radio rabble rousers are your best hope.

[bdenner]

Mario2008, on 2009-06-28 10:09:21, said:

MJo, on 2009-06-28 10:03:43, said:

Mario2008, on 2009-06-28 10:47:59, said:

Although it happend at a King Power store, there is no involvement of King Power itself. Let's not suggest it is or call for boycots etc.

Didn't know they are thai visa sponsors....

I correct my statement, it has now been proven they did not have anything to do with it

My remark was not entirely clear. Let me put it this way: Under Thai libel laws we can not allow that a company is being named and shamed. So let the company out of the discussion and don't suggest they are in on it.

Also our forum rules don't allow to call for a boycot of a certain company.

I have 3 couples coming to Thailand over the next 2 months to visit and I for one will certainly be warning them to give this business a very wide berth. DON'T EVEN WALK IN TO LOOK AROUND!

[jackdanielsesq]

Pa had one of those, but the wheels fell off!!
Why were their Embassy folks not all over this like a cheap suit?!
Something smells like 2 day old fish - everything is cheaper at Tesco!!
BR>Jack

[capco1]

Mario2008, on 2009-06-28 09:47:59, said:

Although it happend at a King Power store, there is no involvement of King Power itself. Let's not suggest it is or call for boycots etc.

I do hope you're kidding right?........If not shame on TV for not looking after it's members!

[MJo]

Mario2008, on 2009-06-28 10:09:21, said:

MJo, on 2009-06-28 10:03:43, said:

Mario2008, on 2009-06-28 10:47:59, said:

Although it happend at a King Power store, there is no involvement of King Power itself. Let's not suggest it is or call for boycots etc.

Didn't know they are thai visa sponsors....

I correct my statement, it has now been proven they did not have anything to do with it

My remark was not entirely clear. Let me put it this way: Under Thai libel laws we can not allow that a company is being named and shamed. So let the company out of the discussion and don't suggest they are in on it.

Also our forum rules don't allow to call for a boycot of a certain company.

If you read my first post you will find out that i was just referring the previous reports here on thaivisa. Others have posted the links here so take a look.

Yes i posted a company name, just like it was posted by OP and almost every post in this thread. If you take my post being naming and shaming then you propably should ban the OP as well together with the paper that printed the story.

I did not call boycot, however i did write that i have declined their freebies for some time now.

Just for the record...

[sunholidaysun1]

KEEP OUT OF THE DUTY FREE SHOPS. Then we wont be targets , unfortunately that will never happen, as there is always a tourist willing to pay higher than
street prices for what they buy. I would even go as far as saying some of the products are FAKE.
My own experiences of Buying from K-P eg, Marlborough Lights - NOTHING like what you can buy anywhere else and they remind me of the fakes you get at the borders such as Mae Sai . Smoking kills and a bad habit but those they sold to ME, surely would have helped me on my way to my coffin far sooner if I actually smoked more than 1 pkt. I actually put them in the bin. Thats how bad they were.

I would like to know who paid for the 5 days at the Hotel while the scam was running ? Who paid for the flight back to the UK after being forced from their original flight ? How did they come up with a large sum of money so quickly if detained at the hotel to pay them and possibly all the other expenses they incured ? Were they locked up in the hotel or have a security guard guarding them or were they really free to do what they wanted , including escape. The full story would be good.