You must admit however that if it was you and you were not breaking any law that you new of and were being treated in an unreasonable way, it would'nt take much (your plane taking off) before you used the "F" word. The problem in every country in the world as far as I'm concerned gives far to much authority to mingey little public servants who should be made to show respect for visitors instead of demanding it. And lets face it, if a visitor is that abnoxious escort him to the plane and get rid of him

Anyone ever had a small minded petty official f..k up their life because he felt like it ?
Maybe the threat was this guy was well built and tall and the official did not like the way he looked at him we don't know. Maybe the official has SMS ?
Once this feeling has been established you are at the mercy of this official we have all felt this. It was the wrong time wrong place to kick off and especially wrong country.
I feel sorry for him as the crime does not justify the what has happened, but we are not in Kansas anymore

flippers get long visas , the only flips i see are conmen and conwomen working card game scams in BKK.

It's all part of "short fuse syndrome". Maybe the officials are treated brusquely some of the
time and then the chance presents itself for a little payback and they overreact. Bad press.
Even if you are treated unfairly if you lose your cool, it only then justifies their power-trip.

p.s. Yes bkkstan, I know you're right. That is the sad truth. I'm attempting to be diplomatic.

cali4995 wrote:It's all part of "short fuse syndrome". Maybe the officials are treated brusquely some of the
time and then the chance presents itself for a little payback and they overreact. Bad press.
Even if you are treated unfairly if you lose your cool, it only then justifies their power-trip.

You ever think that mabe the just don't like us generally?

I wonder if his "work permit" was up to date?

What would Heathrow Immigration have done if they contacted Thailand over a "suspicious" passport, and were told that it didn't exist?

Can't see that the Thai officials were wrong, they were only doing their job and checking for false documents. Perhaps if the UK/US officials were half as good there would not be a problem with so many "illegals" ruining our countries.

stattointhailand wrote:I wonder if his "work permit" was up to date?

What would Heathrow Immigration have done if they contacted Thailand over a "suspicious" passport, and were told that it didn't exist?

Can't see that the Thai officials were wrong, they were only doing their job and checking for false documents. Perhaps if the UK/US officials were half as good there would not be a problem with so many "illegals" ruining our countries.

Well said,Statto....

Burrowes free after paying 500 baht fine

PHUKET CITY: The Simon Burrowes saga appears to have finally come to a conclusion as the Englishman pled guilty to a charge of being impolite to a state official and was fined 500 baht.

Burrowes was due to fly back to the UK on January 31, but became involved in an altercation with Immigration Police officials at Phuket International Airport, who suspected his passport was fake.

Mr Burrowes lost his temper with the immigration officials, whom he had accused of laughing at him.

He was subsequently arrested and spent the next three weeks in Phuket Provincial Prison before his release on bail.

The incident, which caught the attention of the British media, was widely publicized internationally.

Mr Burrowes appeared before Phuket Provincial Court again yesterday and walked away a free man after paying a court-ordered fine of 500 baht (approx US$14.28).

He had originally intended to plead not guilty but, faced with the prospect of a prison sentence, was persuaded to change his plea.

“If I had pled not guilty, this could have gone on for awhile and I could have got anything up to three years, so I decided to stop fighting. I was forced to plead guilty,” he explained.

He has been stuck in Thailand since his release from prison, but now that the case is over he is hoping to return to his native England.

“They returned my passport, but the visa has expired so that is now being processed. I don’t know how much that is going to cost; hopefully, it won’t cost me anything,” he said.

Perhaps surprisingly, Mr Burrowes is not desperate to leave Thailand.

“I’d like to stay here for a bit longer, just to relax for a few days. I also need to raise funds for my flight home, which might take awhile. The flight I missed was non-refundable,” he said.

He has no plans to return to the Land of Smiles.

“I doubt I will ever come back. Thailand is not a bad place, but I have had an awful experience here,” he said.

– James Goyder


Gazette Editor
Phuket, Thailand
17:12 local time (GMT +7)

Ha...!!! So it cost him 500baht..., he won't do that again in a hurry when fines like that are awaiting.

and just think, he got 3 weeks free room and board in the Kook...

stattointhailand wrote:I wonder if his "work permit" was up to date?

What would Heathrow Immigration have done if they contacted Thailand over a "suspicious" passport, and were told that it didn't exist?

Can't see that the Thai officials were wrong, they were only doing their job and checking for false documents. Perhaps if the UK/US officials were half as good there would not be a problem with so many "illegals" ruining our countries.

I know it old post and I may be off topic but if the chamber of commerce stopped demanding the authorities to look the other way maybe our illegal problem would not be so bad