I just watched the first episode of the new British television series “Big Trouble in Thailand“. I have seen some posts on Thailand forums arguing that it will keep tourists away and others that say it will only encourage more people to visit.
We often hear of reports how the police are corrupt in Thailand, but in most cases the foreigners involved in the incidents were drunk and out of control and pretty much all of their own doing. The warnings for drug use in Thailand are pretty clear.
The exception is the jet ski incident where a British marine rents a jet ski on the beach at Phuket, and the operator claims he damaged it. He demands 40,000 baht for repairs. There’s a stand off when a senior marine tries to negotiate a lower fee. He ends up having to pay 35,000 baht to the jet ski operator.
It’s probably a good idea not to ever rent a jet ski, but the same trouble can happen with motorbikes or cars. A young girl is caught by police for drug possession and faces a couple of months in jail, because she cannot pay the fine.
The program also feature the foreign tourist police volunteers. There seems a lot negativity towards them by other foreigners, but watching the program they seemed to do a good enough job. In the case of the drunk Australian guy he probably would have ended up in a police cell, if they weren’t there to assist. They helped call his father, who came and picked him up.
If you saw the program, what did you think of it?
