Escape from America: Thai Scam and Jail
" . . . The Thailand story is sad–and typical. I'll tell it here as a warning to anyone reading. This stuff happens and, in retrospect, you should not handle the situation in the way I did. Linh, you can chop this if you don't think it's relevant.
I was in one of those seedy beach resort towns filled with decaying, SPAM-tinted Anglo men and their 21-year-old Asian wives, talking to as many of the men as I could, as they figure fairly prominently in a book I am working on.
A few of the blokes had warned me of a scam going on in that particular town. The locals would wait until you rented a scooter and had a few beers at some local bar, then, when you scooted off home, they'the put three teenagers on a shittier scooter than yours and drive full speed into you. The cops would conveniently be nearby to handle the proceedings.
I ignored this warning as typical 'falang' fearmongering, but sure enough, a week into my stay this happened to me. I'd had a big Chang and puttered off home. Three kids on a crappy Vespa hit me out of nowhere. Cops come out. From behind a nearby building: 'You drunk Mister! You come to station and make right!' They sounded like some Hollywood-stereotype from the 80's. But they were real and extremely angry.
I was terrified. I had had a beer and driven my scooter (like everyone else in that town) but I had no idea what my 'rights' were. Ha! We went to the station and the officer demanded 40,000 baht to make it go away, plus some money for each of the three teenagers that were on the scooter. In the meantime, they had already gone to the hospital after the accident and returned, bandaged up, with hospital bills ready to go. They'the done this under an hour. All three presented the hospital bills to me meekly. I think they were another 60,000 baht.
Conveniently, 100,000 baht is the maximum you can withdraw from a Thai bank branch in one day. Around $3 k.
I told them this was absurd. I 'knew my rights'. Typical American arrogance. After two hours of yelling at each other via Google Translate in their sweaty little station, they made me go back to my apartment and give them my passport, told me they'd be in touch and that I was not to leave Thailand.
Americans that travel a lot can legally have two passports. Not a lot of people know this. It's the same passport number but you can usually bank on the fact that if you get into trouble somewhere, it will take time for the various government departments to communicate with each other, and you have a window to clear the country.
I'd talked with a nice local lawyer girl after this happened and her advice was to get the hell out of Thailand. So that's what I did. I was gone within 48 hours, this time via a land border, which I assumed was insecure. I crossed into Cambodia, made my way to Phnom Penh, and then flew to Bali for a few weeks.
Stupidly, I returned to Thailand a month later. I thought somehow the problem would have 'gone away', as it was all a scam. Ha!
Thai Prison survival hacks. . .
Full article: [URL]https://www.unz.com/ldinh/escape-from-america-90-countries-and-counting/[/URL].
Second Passport Religious Crap
When you apply for a second passport, officials are concerned you are not a straight shooter. A second passport is best if you have controversial stamps eg Israel, Iran, were deported from somewhere. As pointed out, you retain the same number and, if naughty, that will show up when you pass passport control on your new passport.
Place of birth can also be a reason to get pulled.
As regards religious ramblings, that is off topic and ill informed as you are not exactly role models to be emulated.
