It’s so ridiculous. Last month, when my friend Wee Cheng was so going to Bangkok until he saw a report that stunned him. It has been reported in the BBC that British couple Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin were arrested for theft at a duty free shop at Suvarnabhumi Airport. They had their passports consficated, were detained at a police station and then offered “bail” through a Sri Lankan translator by the name of Tony. The couple claimed that they paid 400,000 baht to Tony, half for the “bail” and half for Tony’s “services”. They further claimed that they were released without charge because there was insufficient evidence against them.
That was reported by the BBC on 20th July 2009. Our local PAPer Today reported it only today. That’s not very “today”, isn’t it. Furthermore, the matter has already bee clarified by King Power, the duty free shop at at Suvarnabhumi Airport allegedly involved in this scam. Immediately after ready that BBC article, I wrote about the whole truth behind the incident on Wee Cheng’s Facebook wall.
This report is outdated. King Power has already produced the CCTV footage showing conclusively that the woman had indeed taken the wallet. They have lost all their sympathisers.
The police gave them a chance to get away by paying a “fine”. Yes, it’s extortion, but it only shows that Thailand is far too lenient towards criminals. It’s not their habit to prey on innocent folks.
If the BBC report dated 20th July was outdated, then what can we say about Today’s report that was only published today?
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