Thailand Duty Free shop scam at Bangkok Airport: warning!

[Henry Tenby]

This is a warning sent to me by a friend who owns a travel agency. He is sending this out to all his clients & close friends. Please take heed!

Frequent travellers be forewarned about the following problem in Thailand.

My Dept secretary informed on this. Her cousin was detained in Bangkok for stealing a box of cigarettes in a duty-free shop in Bangkok International Airport

He had paid for chocolates and a carton of cigarettes. The cashier put a packet of smokes into his bag and he thought it was a free pack. He was arrested for shop-lifting and the Thai Police extortion price was RM30,000 for his release.

He spent two nights in jail and paid RM50 for an air-conditioned cell, 200-300 baht for each visitor, and RM11,000 for his final release. The Police shared the money in front of his eyes. On top of that, he was charged in court and fined RM2,000 by the magistrate and handcuffed and escorted to his plane. His passport was stamped "Thief".

While there, his relatives requested help from the Malaysian Embassy and was told that they are helpless, as Malaysians are victimized similarly on a daily basis and letters and phone calls to the Thai authorities are ignored.

He shared a cell with a Singaporean the 1st night who paid RM60,000 for his release. The 2nd night was an Indian national who paid USD 70,000.

Mind you this is not in a shaggy shop in downtown Bangkok but in a duty free shop in Bangkok's Int'l Airport.