Koh Phangan cop accused of assault, drug extortion against tourists

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Koh Phangan cop accused of assault, drug extortion against tourists

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SURAT THANI - A police officer and four accomplices have been accused of the assault and extortion of a Russian couple holidaying on Koh Phangan whom they had falsely accused of possessing drugs.

Ekaterina Lobanova, 35, and her husband Anthon Lobanov, 36, on Wednesday told police they went to a nightspot on Rin beach of this popular island on Tuesday night.

On the way back to their accommodation they were approached by two men who offered to sell them illicit drugs. They refused.

The men then offered them a taxi ride back to their room and they accepted the offer. But on the way to the taxi, three more men emerged and claimed to be police officers. The couple said they were handcuffed and told to get inside the taxi, which was on the Au Thong Nai Pan route.

The men then demanded money from them in exchange for dropping charges of illegal possession of drugs, the tourists said.

Ms Lobanova said she told them that she had no money. One of the men then punched her in the face, took her iPhone 6 and other valuables worth about 30,000 baht.

The gang abandoned the Russian couple on Ban Thong Nang Road in tambon Ban Tai, where they sought help from local people, who took them to poolice to file a complaint. On Wednesday they returned to give further details of what happened to them.

Pol Maj Gen Apichart Boonsriroj, chief of Surat Thani police, sent extra officers from the province to join Koh Phangan police in investigating the case.

The investigation led to the identification of five suspects. They include Pol Snr Sgt Maj Suriyan Ranjuan, 50, of Koh Phangan police station.

The others are Thanin Srikaew, 46, Apidet Khongman, 31, Thaweesin Khongnak, 34, and Suriya Ruangthong, 47.

Koh Samui provincial court on Wednesday approved a request for arrest warrants for the suspects on charges of colluding in extortion, assault and illegal detention.

Three of the men -- Mr Thanin, Mr Apidet and Mr Thaweesin -- turned themselves in on Wednesday.

Mr Thanin denied any involvement, while the two others confessed to having offered to sell "drugs" to the tourists, but claimed it was really a common painkiller ground up to fool tourists into paying for it. They denied assaulting Ms Lobanova.

Pol Maj Gen Apichart said drastic disciplinary action would be taken against Pol Snr Sgt Maj Suriyan if found guilty.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... ian-couple
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Re: Koh Phangan cop accused of assault, drug extortion against tourists

Post by John Bingham »

This sort of thing is why I would never live in Thailand. The cops in Cambodia are no angels, but I've never heard of them pulling a stunt like this on tourists. Nasty fuckers.
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Re: Koh Phangan cop accused of assault, drug extortion against tourists

Post by ExPenhMan »

These creeps pull this shit a lot, particularly on migrant workers from Cambodia, Myanmar and Lao. If they spot a couple on the street or in a mall, they extort them on the spot. Happened many times to some Burmese I know. Thai cops are nasty low-lifes.

They also pulled this on a friend on the street, saying he had drugs. Did not. And a restaurant owner I know from Japan was extorted for no reason. Due to mutual friends knowing higher-ups, phone calls were made and cops called off.

For this and other reasons, I'm leaving Thailand in a couple of months.
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Re: Koh Phangan cop accused of assault, drug extortion against tourists

Post by boozyoldman »

This sort of report is long long long overdue.

Unsurprisingly, it was Koh Phanghan but it could have been any of those 3 corrupt islands with their local semi-mafia families.

BOM's "Significant Other" has/had a sister who disappeared in Thailand. Like that. Just disappeared.
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Re: Koh Phangan cop accused of assault, drug extortion against tourists

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

ImagePhoto Bangkok Post/Supapong Chaolan
The two victims at the police station. You can see the Russian woman's face has been seriously bashed.


-A police officer being sought over the alleged assault and extortion of a Russian couple on Koh Phangan is believed to have committed similar offences and faces being dismissed from the police force.

Pol Maj Gen Apichart Boonsriroj, chief of Surat Thani police, said on Thursday he had ordered a police team to hunt down Pol Snr Sgt Maj Suriyan Ranjuan, 50, of Koh Phangan police station.
The team has received information as to the officer’s whereabouts and are trying to arrest him...

Pol Maj Gen Apichart said Pol Snr Sgt Maj Saiyan, who is in hiding, had earlier faced a similar complaint. This prompted him to be transferred to Don Sak police station in the same province. The accused officer had sought annual leave for 10 days before reporting to work at Don Sak police station. During the annual leave, he committed the offences again.
The police chief said the accused officer would be dismissed from the police force and face drastic action.
KohPhangan News
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Re: Koh Phangan cop accused of assault, drug extortion against tourists

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Article from 2 years ago, a Time journalist's personal experience with a shakedown by Thai police in Bangkok:

Tourists Are Reporting a Dramatic Surge in Harassment by Thai Police
Ian Lloyd Neubauer / Bangkok
Jan 20, 2015
It was Christmas Eve and I was at the upstairs area of a terrace bar in the Silom Road area having a late-night drink. At around 2 a.m. I called it a night and descended to the ground floor. There I saw half a dozen police officers searching the premises and interrogating the bartender, who was handcuffed on a chair. An officer detained me straight away. “What's going on?” I asked, identifying myself as a journalist.

He made a menacing fist at me, which convinced me to pipe down.

About 15 minutes later, another police officer produced a bag of white powder, shook it near my face and accused me of buying it. I emphatically denied the claim. Meanwhile, other police officers began helping themselves to drinks from the bar. When the bartender protested, they kicked him in the shins.

Eventually, a police officer took me outside where a Thai woman told me if I paid the equivalent of $15,200, I would be released...
http://time.com/3674200/thailand-touris ... extortion/
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Re: Koh Phangan cop accused of assault, drug extortion against tourists

Post by ExPenhMan »

Most extortions occur in the centre of tourist districts/islands. It's why I live far away from the tourist activity and rarely enter the ripoff zones.
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Re: Koh Phangan cop accused of assault, drug extortion against tourists

Post by Trinitysmackstain »

You must have a high tolerance for boredom and as Outskirts of any city or town is SEA theres sweet not much to do besides stair at the wall.
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Re: Koh Phangan cop accused of assault, drug extortion against tourists

Post by Anchor Moy »

Trinitysmackstain wrote: You must have a high tolerance for boredom and as Outskirts of any city or town is SEA theres sweet not much to do besides stair at the wall.
LOL can we translate this to english ? Or did you use googletranslate ?
theres sweet not much to do besides stair at the wall
Uh huh. :D
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Re: Koh Phangan cop accused of assault, drug extortion against tourists

Post by ExPenhMan »

Au contraire (I think). One doesn't need to hide in the "outskirts." [Note: This is a free translation of your (drunken?) post. See St 172 ref below]

But first, I haven't been in a go-go bar in 4.5 years, likewise beer bars. They, along with the Bangkok street bars, ceased to be fun 4-5 years ago. Everything has gotten super expensive, too. I have a great circle of friends and virtually no one plays in the night life game anymore because of the preceding reasons. Most of us live out near Phra Khanong, hardly Samut Prakhan.

As for Pattaya, I lived on the Dark Side for 3 years, a 10-min ride to the Beach (when Central Road and Suk weren't blocked by construction). It's sane and quiet, yes, but a lot of nice locals and expats living there. I never lack for something to do. The beach side is for tour groups now and for 2-week millionaires. But, as I said, go-go's ceased to exist for me years ago. The Beach side is only for shopping, although the Dark Side now has a new TOPs supermarket as well as a Murphy's and Retox, plus a load of other bars and restos.

In PP, I'd live out in TTP. Came to dislike the 172 scene, full of severe drug and alcohol abusers. Worse than I had ever seen since I moved out of PP in 2012.

All of this is moot since I'm leaving Thailand in a few months for a spell in Vietnam.
Last edited by ExPenhMan on Sun Mar 19, 2017 3:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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