General Reports

[Thor93]

I ran across this article in the New York Times concerning the latest court cases going on about US customs checking laptops. Basically it sounds like if you do have any kind of pictures on there, keep them encrypted and don't offer up the password if asked. I have never been checked in all my many years and trips, but you never know when "big brother" will take an interest in you.
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January 7, 2008
Sidebar
If Your Hard Drive Could Testify ...
By ADAM LIPTAK
A couple of years ago, Michael T. Arnold landed at the Los Angeles International Airport after a 20-hour flight from the Philippines. He had his laptop with him, and a customs officer took a look at what was on his hard drive. Clicking on folders called “Kodak pictures” and “Kodak memories,” the officer found child pornography.

The search was not unusual: the government contends that it is perfectly free to inspect every laptop that enters the country, whether or not there is anything suspicious about the computer or its owner. Rummaging through a computer’s hard drive, the government says, is no different than looking through a suitcase.

One federal appeals court has agreed, and a second seems ready to follow suit.

There is one lonely voice on the other side. In 2006, Judge Dean D. Pregerson of Federal District Court in Los Angeles suppressed the evidence against Mr. Arnold.

“Electronic storage devices function as an extension of our own memory,” Judge Pregerson wrote, in explaining why the government should not be allowed to inspect them without cause. “They are capable of storing our thoughts, ranging from the most whimsical to the most profound.”

Computer hard drives can include, Judge Pregerson continued, diaries, letters, medical information, financial records, trade secrets, attorney-client materials and — the clincher, of course — information about reporters’ “confidential sources and story leads.”

But Judge Pregerson’s decision seems to be headed for reversal. The three judges who heard the arguments in October in the appeal of his decision seemed persuaded that a computer is just a container and deserves no special protection from searches at the border. The same information in hard-copy form, their questions suggested, would doubtless be subject to search.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., took that position in a 2005 decision. It upheld the conviction of John W. Ickes Jr., who crossed the Canadian border with a computer containing child pornography. A customs agent’s suspicions were raised, the court’s decision said, “after discovering a video camera containing a tape of a tennis match which focused excessively on a young ball boy.”

It is true that the government should have great leeway in searching physical objects at the border. But the law requires a little more — a “reasonable suspicion” — when the search is especially invasive, as when the human body is involved.

Searching a computer, said Jennifer M. Chacón, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, “is fairly intrusive.” Like searches of the body, she said, such “an invasive search should require reasonable suspicion.”

An interesting supporting brief filed in the Arnold case by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives and the Electronic Frontier Foundation said there have to be some limits on the government’s ability to acquire information.

“Under the government’s reasoning,” the brief said, “border authorities could systematically collect all of the information contained on every laptop computer, BlackBerry and other electronic device carried across our national borders by every traveler, American or foreign.” That is, the brief said, “simply electronic surveillance after the fact.”

The government went even further in the case of Sebastien Boucher, a Canadian who lives in New Hampshire. Mr. Boucher crossed the Canadian border by car about a year ago, and a customs agent noticed a laptop in the back seat.

Asked whether he had child pornography on his laptop, Mr. Boucher said he was not sure. He said he downloaded a lot of pornography but deleted child pornography when he found it.

Some of the files on Mr. Boucher’s computer were encrypted using a program called Pretty Good Privacy, and Mr. Boucher helped the agent look at them, apparently by entering an encryption code. The agent said he saw lots of revolting pornography involving children.

The government seized the laptop. But when it tried to open the encrypted files again, it could not. A grand jury instructed Mr. Boucher to provide the password.

But a federal magistrate judge quashed that subpoena in November, saying that requiring Mr. Boucher to provide it would violate his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Last week, the government appealed.

The magistrate judge, Jerome J. Niedermeier of Federal District Court in Burlington, Vt., used an analogy from Supreme Court precedent. It is one thing to require a defendant to surrender a key to a safe and another to make him reveal its combination.

The government can make you provide samples of your blood, handwriting and the sound of your voice. It can make you put on a shirt or stand in a lineup. But it cannot make you testify about facts or beliefs that may incriminate you, Judge Niedermeier said.

“The core value of the Fifth Amendment is that you can’t be made to speak in ways that indicate your guilt,” Michael Froomkin, a law professor at the University of Miami, wrote about the Boucher case on his Discourse.net blog.

But Orin S. Kerr, a law professor at the George Washington University, said Judge Niedermeier had probably gotten it wrong. “In a normal case,” Professor Kerr said in an interview, “there would be a privilege.” But given what Mr. Boucher had already done at the border, he said, making him provide the password again would probably not violate the Fifth Amendment.

There are all sorts of lessons in these cases. One is that the border seems be a privacy-free zone. A second is that encryption programs work. A third is that you should keep your password to yourself. And the most important, as my wife keeps telling me, is that you should leave your laptop at home.

[Traveler1234]

I am used to the beautiful (or so I feel) babes from Ipanema in OT (Singapore) and do not want to settle with any ugly ones on my first ever monger-trip to BKK next month.

-R.

I could not help but laugh at your post. If you think the Ipanema babes are 'beautiful', what makes you think LOS will be different? They all come from the same stock.

Relax, find a nice place in Sukhumvit area and have a good time.

[Mouse1]

You can find beautiful girls all over SE Asia. I have picked up a few stunners in OT Singapore, and quite a few in BKK. The big difference for me is cost/attitude, where BKK wins hands down IMHO. The other difference is make-up - and you are more likely to be 'seduced' by a girl wearing full war-paint in Ipanema than a secretay earning some extra cash by working at the Beergarden or Nana car-park. If you want the full glamour look try the discos and the go-go bars. But as many reports will tell you, the most beautiful girls will not always provide the best experience (in fact usually the opposite). But in any case, you will not have to settle with ugly ones if you don't want to.

[Dirty Tom]

Hello friends,

I have RTFF the thread here and also seen the much suggested 5 day report in the distinctions section by Phaquer (or something like that).

I also came across posts which said that the gals in BKK are pure prostitutes and very ugly. That kinda concerned me because I am used to the beautiful (or so I feel) babes from Ipanema in OT (Singapore) and do not want to settle with any ugly ones on my first ever monger-trip to BKK next month.

One thing that I still find unanswered is that how to get the better looking gals, and not the roadside cheap prostitutes (I often read about the Nana hotel parking lot) - not sure how those gals are but from the pics in the Photos section they do not look all that beautiful.

Please do not come back asking me to RTFF the thread, if you can help me - please suggest where to stay so that I am closer to the beautiful gals pick up joint and where to look for the beauties.

I ain't expecting JLos or Tata Young kinds... but if you have seen some of the very cute and good looking Viet babes from Ipanema in Sing, you would know...

One more thing that I intend to try out is the soapy massage... have dreamt about it for a long time now

Suggestions / comments welcome!
-R.

[Traveler1234]

I use Ambien to sleep on planes.

1) Maybe they sell it in Thailand and there is no point to bringing it in but then could somebody tell me what the fuck it is called over there?
2) What is the chance they will search my luggage?
3) If they do, what is the chance these pills will upset them?
4) If the pills upset them and I play dumb and say, "Well, just throw them away then; I did not know there was a problem," will I do years and years in a Thai penitentiary?
5) Would I be better off with the box in my pocket or in my luggage?

All non-issues in LOS to customs when entering the country

[Tiger 888]

Thank you for pointing out my mistake in grouping the two department together as one, since they work together seamlessly. But if you cannot make it through customs into a country, then they do have a say on what happens in immigrations with your passport.

Whether they work seaminglessly together or not, Immigration don't care what you smuggle and customs don't give a sh.. on how long you overstay. And in Thailand you go through immigration first, then get your luggage and then go through custroms. Completely separate procedures.

[PinkPearl]

A note on the P4P girls. Uneducated, yet street smart. Due to upbringing and social back ground, they only chance for a proper job would be the super market or being a maid. Screwing at THB 30-50K a month obviously beats cleaning floors.

JB

Has anyone found some P4P ladies to be showing signs of possible drug use? For example, eyes often pop up towards the top of the head, so that only the white of the eye is seen. Or eating lots of sugary junk food like heroin addicts do? Or tweaking?

[Owl_]

Thank you for pointing out my mistake in grouping the two department together as one, since they work together seamlessly. But if you cannot make it through customs into a country, then they do have a say on what happens in immigrations with your passport.

Customs officials should have fuck all to do with your passport, it's the immigration officials who do that in every country I have been to. There is a difference believe it or not.

[Petemcc]

You have never seen the customs official stamp your passport??? Do you mean that you do not watch the customs official as he stamps your passport with the date upon which you enter their country? When they stamp your passport upon entering Thailand, they use a stamp to mark your passport and it will have the date when you arrived and the date your stay is good until, which is usually 30 days from the time you arrive. When you enter Hong Kong, they stamp your passport with the date you arrive and another stamp which states that you are allowed to stay in Hong Kong for 90 days. You should be right there standing at the customs desk looking right at the official doing his job stamping your passport! I really don't understand what you mean that you have never seen customs stamp a passport! You should alway be watching what anyone is doing with your passport if it leaves your hand.

And the likelihood of customs stopping a person because he has a binder with information in it is highly unlikely as I stated. I didn't say that people did not get stopped by customs. I said that if his passport was in order and he filled out his entry/exit papers were in order that he would make it thought customs with his binder without any problem.

Read what LittleBigMan wrote about his experience and advice entering Thailand below. If you look like a tourist and have normal tourist looking stuff and baggage, then you are going to walk right on through with out customs ever giving you a second glance. If you have it in a backpack to put the binder in they will never even see it As i think that this person has never traveled out the the country before and he is worrying about nothing. As for having references information to places to go while in Thailand, be it massage parlors and go-gos and beer bars or night clubs, there is no law in Thailand against having it that I know of! Unless of course it child porn! But he only talked about...

"selected reports from this forum and various pics of girls from a couple escort agencies in Bangkok?"

Customs officials should have fuck all to do with your passport, it's the immigration officials who do that in every country I have been to. There is a difference believe it or not.

[Fast Eddie 48]

You have never seen the customs official stamp your passport??? Do you mean that you do not watch the customs official as he stamps your passport with the date upon which you enter their country? When they stamp your passport upon entering Thailand, they use a stamp to mark your passport and it will have the date when you arrived and the date it is good until which is usually 30 days from the time you arrive. When you enter Hong Kong, they stamp your passport with the date you arrive and another stamp which states that you are allowed to stay in Hong Kong for 90 days. You should be right there standing at the customs desk looking right at the official doing his job! I really don't understand what you mean that you have never seen customs stamp a passport!

to Tiger and OWL

Yes they do stamp your US passport and my are full of it some country in Europe are using computer scaning system ,I just receive my new passport it have a RFID micro chip in it it can hold info like eyes scan and finger print but country like thailand are a little behind in high tech.

Fast eddie 48

[Owl_]

You have never seen the customs official stamp your passport??? Do you mean that you do not watch the customs official as he stamps your passport with the date upon which you enter their country? When they stamp your passport upon entering Thailand, they use a stamp to mark your passport and it will have the date when you arrived and the date your stay is good until, which is usually 30 days from the time you arrive. When you enter Hong Kong, they stamp your passport with the date you arrive and another stamp which states that you are allowed to stay in Hong Kong for 90 days. You should be right there standing at the customs desk looking right at the official doing his job stamping your passport! I really don't understand what you mean that you have never seen customs stamp a passport! You should alway be watching what anyone is doing with your passport if it leaves your hand.

And the likelihood of customs stopping a person because he has a binder with information in it is highly unlikely as I stated. I didn't say that people did not get stopped by customs. I said that if his passport was in order and he filled out his entry/exit papers were in order that he would make it thought customs with his binder without any problem.

Read what LittleBigMan wrote about his experience and advice entering Thailand below. If you look like a tourist and have normal tourist looking stuff and baggage, then you are going to walk right on through with out customs ever giving you a second glance. If you have it in a backpack to put the binder in they will never even see it As i think that this person has never traveled out the the country before and he is worrying about nothing. As for having references information to places to go while in Thailand, be it massage parlors and go-gos and beer bars or night clubs, there is no law in Thailand against having it that I know of! Unless of course it child porn! But he only talked about...

"selected reports from this forum and various pics of girls from a couple escort agencies in Bangkok?"

I have never seen customs stamping a passport. And they don't check most of the crowds, but they do pick people at random. I might be wrong, but I think they are more after the second bottle of Spirits or the excess cigarettes.

[El Greco]

Gracias griego. Normally when I go through immigration I present my return ticket along with my passport. I have a ticket out of the country 15-16 days after I arrive.

If you like going to the beach try the very popular Jomtien to the south or the Wongamat to the north.

Have fun.

[Dickhead]

Gracias griego. Normally when I go through immigration I present my return ticket along with my passport. I have a ticket out of the country 15-16 days after I arrive.

[El Greco]

I use Ambien to sleep on planes. I would like to bring it into Thailand with me. It will be in a small cardboard box, not a pill bottle. The box is written in Spanish and it says in Spanish that this is a prescription drug. But, I don't have a prescription (because in reality many pharmacies here will sell it without a prescription). So:

1) Maybe they sell it in Thailand and there is no point to bringing it in but then could somebody tell me what the fuck it is called over there?
2) What is the chance they will search my luggage?
3) If they do, what is the chance these pills will upset them?
4) If the pills upset them and I play dumb and say, "Well, just throw them away then; I did not know there was a problem," will I do years and years in a Thai penitentiary?
5) Would I be better off with the box in my pocket or in my luggage?

Take whatever you wish with you. I have been many-many times to Thailand and they never stoped me for inspection.
Go through the green, nothing to declare, channel.
I use Stilnox and I always carry them with me on long flights.
They might stop Thais but not the tourists. Dont't worry.

The only thing that the immigration officer might ask you is how long do you intend to stay.

Suerte


El Greco

[Pure Power]

I use Ambien to sleep on planes. I would like to bring it into Thailand with me. It will be in a small cardboard box, not a pill bottle. The box is written in Spanish and it says in Spanish that this is a prescription drug. But, I don't have a prescription (because in reality many pharmacies here will sell it without a prescription). So:

1) Maybe they sell it in Thailand and there is no point to bringing it in but then could somebody tell me what the fuck it is called over there?
2) What is the chance they will search my luggage?
3) If they do, what is the chance these pills will upset them?
4) If the pills upset them and I play dumb and say, "Well, just throw them away then; I did not know there was a problem," will I do years and years in a Thai penitentiary?
5) Would I be better off with the box in my pocket or in my luggage?

Just get a small Advil or Tylenol bottle and put them in there with the other pills. Always works for me.

I bring a few Xannax and Percocets with me when ever I travel and have never had a problem with TSA.