Yes, Thaksin’s war on drugs gave a lot of yokel upcountry cops the excuse to settle a few personal scores. But meth is still a problem. My friend up in Roi Et has been there for more than 20 years, works in rural areas in several provinces up that way and says it has really torn apart the social fabric from what he’s seen. I’m not sure how much of that is made in Thailand. There used to be a bunch of meth labs in Burma, and it was that stuff that flooded the market here. Not sure if that’s still true.
Speed used to be called yaa maa or “horse drug,” because it made you as strong as a horse. The authorities thought maybe that was giving it too positive of an image and so launched a big campaign to have it called yaa baa or “crazy drug,” because it makes you insane. The name did stick, everyone does call it yaa baa now, but that’s not seemed to have dented its popularity.
When we lived in Muang Thong Thani outside of Bangkok, the condo unit two doors from us had meth pills stacked up on pallets. We found this out after they got raided by the cops. Now that’s an example of death-penalty possession, although if you confess early on, they often commute that to life.
To add: It’s not unusual for police to show up at a nightclub, seal the place off and start giving urine tests to everyone inside. The ones testing positive have a lot to answer for. They may have cut down on that some in recent years, as I’ve stopped hearing about it as much as I used to. Or maybe it’s just become so routine it doesn’t get reported much anymore, and I’m a little too old now to be hanging out in young folks’ venues.
Thank you very much for that valuable information.
I always want to check on those kinds of laws before taking a vacation to any country. I have heard terrible stories about Mexico and how easy it is to get arrested for little cause and then my relatives will get ransom demands or I will be thrown into a horrifying dungeion type prison.
The only country I have ever visited that seemed to have very lenient laws was Jamaica. Actually, the laws may have not been lenient. But the local police seemed to have the attitude that they wouldn’t bother people providing they didn’t behave outlandishly in public.
The one thing the Jamaican authorities seemed to take deadly serious was weapons - especially firearms. I suppose that is because they have had a lot of problems in the past.
It’s always great to get some reliable info about the laws in a country before visiting there. I had always thought Thailand was an extremely progrressive and enlightened place and they treated drug users reasonable leniently.
There have been a few books written by farang (Western) inmates jailed here on drug charges. One of the more popular, although I’ve not read it myself, was one entitled Forget You Had a Daughter, by a Brit named Sandra Gregory. After she was transferred to a jail in Britain to serve out her term, she actually said she preferred the Thai prison, because she could be outdoors more. I dunno how I would feel about that.
It’s midafternoon on Sunday, and at 12 noon some 100 red shirts deployed in front of Terminal 21 shopping center at the Asok intersection. Looks like they’re using social media to coordinate hit-and-run flash mobs. Police and soldiers responded, but I’ve not heard how that’s gone.
The number of red-shirt protesters at Terminal 21 shopping mall was small, only about 100, but several Skytrain stations and at least one subway station were closed for a while. Worse, the mall was shut down and everyone forced to leave. The eight-screen cinema was shut down mid-movie, while diners were forced to leave mid-meal. This is not the sort of thing that makes people want to come here.
And taxis are reportedly gouging people hailing them during curfew hours. Flag fall on taxis here is 35 baht (barely over a buck American), but drivers are refusing to turn on their meters and charging even Thais anywhere from 500-1000 baht ($15 to $30) for even short trips during curfew hours.
I started a thread in the MPSIMS forum about how taxi drivers gouge and cheat their customers right here in North America. Many people posted that I must have been talking about a different time and place than North America.
Well, I hope those peeps will see that cheating, gouging & short-changing people is a world-wide phenomenon. Honest!
Howver, it’s kind of difficult to write “Honest!” at the end of a thread about gouging, cheating and short-changing customers. See what I mean?
I’ve seen it twice. Once in Bangkok (back in the day), and more recently on a trip last year when I was out in a disco in Pattaya (first real trip to Pattaya). That came at the end of a long day. Weird part was they let the foreigners leave, but the Thais had to go do a test. It was a Russian nightclub, and I was tired and wanted to leave anyway, so not a big deal for me.
This new military junta is sure uncovering a lot of weapons caches. Here’s today’s haul alone. I wonder why the Yingluck government couldn’t find any of this stuff.
The red-shirt protesters have adopted a weird three-finger salute that often looks suspiciously like the Nazi salute when some do it.
After prior coups, life went on much as usual, at least outside Bangkok. But with Thaksin having financed and armed the red-shirt terrorists, the Army is proceeding with great caution this time. Finding weapons caches is a high-priority of course, but there’s also moves to increase Internet censorship. The more intelligent expat forums, while largely pro-Army, are trying to avoid political discussion.
Our area, dominated by crime lords allied with Thaksin, now has joint Army-police teams searching houses. Several nearby villages have been searched but not yet ours. While presumably the main target is major ammunition caches, other illegal items are a concern. One house had honeycombs confiscated! – evidence of trespassing in royal forests? (No arrest made in that case, maybe a Sergeant just thought his overworked soldiers needed glucose. :smack: )
Sunday would have been a big day for the semimonthly underground lottery, but local operators were refusing bets. Along with honey, lists of numbers are considered prima facie evidence of illegal activity. Illegal handguns are commonplace in rural Thailand so many villagers are suddenly digging holes in their backyards.
The septimus household is rather law-abiding but still not looking forward to a search. Is our toy gas gun illegal? Looking around just now, I wonder if our large collection of DVD’s is a problem. Most of them are full-price copyright-paid versions, but the police may not know that. One thing in our favor: I’m not one to keep opinions to myself (as some Dopers may know), so no one around here thinks we’re allied with Thaksin or the red-shirt terrorists!
The Thai stock market is up about 4% since martial law was declared. I guess that “smart money” likes the Army!
The curfew has been lifted completely in the tourist destinations of Pattaya, Koh Samui and Phuket. Bangkok and elsewhere may be coming soon, but for now it’s still midnight-4am. I shall be testing the waters this weekend and see how serious it’s being taken. Pray that I won’t be forced to take refuge all night in a bar filled with scantily clad lasses until daybreak rather than being subjected to extortion by some evil taxi driver.
They found a decomposing body in a canal next to Government House along with yet more weapons. That’s an area that was occupied by the anti-government protesters. They always seem to leave a body or two behind, as this is reminiscent of one they found in Don Mueang Airport after the yellow-shirt occupation of that facility in 2008.
The junta is attempting to win over some of the more recalcitrant hearts and minds with activities such as a “Return Happiness to the Public” entertainment event. Check out the camouflage-wearing babes in the photo in this story. Best coup ever!
Latest rumor from our local rural gossips: Some of the Army-police search teams are actually themselves allied with Thaksin! (Plenty of police support him and he surely has an ample stock of fake Army uniforms.) These counter-teams aren’t looking for red-shirt caches of course, but are trying to harrass pro-Army households and enhance red-shirt power. We think (hope?) our own Headman is relatively apolitical. Anyway, whatever might be thought about aging septimus, Mrs. septimus is far too friendly and generous to want to harass!
In what’s being billed as a “private news flash” (heh :D), a soldier who was part of the force occupying the Channel 9 TV studio masturbated in front of a female news anchor. (All together now … “This is my rifle, this is my gun …”).
There are some real gems in that story. “It was reported that the private, who was carrying an M16 rifle and wearing a bullet-proof vest, a tattoo on his arm and a friendly smile …” “Lt Col Theerapong Chutinant … arrived with a fruit basket to make an apology.”
I can only hope I do not encounter any wanking soldiers on the streets this weekend, as this one remains on the loose.