frank lee bent wrote:3. They are now searching foreigners for drugs who they stop for traffic violations.

yes, they are doing it even to old guys near 70 riding in tuktuks.

frank lee bent wrote:yep- stopping tuktuks to search foreigners- in this case pensioners and decrepit too!

Anchor Moy wrote:

frank lee bent wrote:yep- stopping tuktuks to search foreigners- in this case pensioners and decrepit too!

Well, this is very interesting - seriously.(F'king implications are heavy.)

Less seriously, do they search the tuktuk drivers ? Most of them seem to sell/take drugs. Or is this a deal between tuktuk drivers and police ?
What is going on in S'ville ? Very very strange.

Anchor Moy wrote:

StroppyChops wrote:

Cam Nivag wrote:I mentioned this on the other forum, no one seems to care

And here, dear listeners, is another perfect example of irony.

Please explain this irony, O professor opcorn:
(Have my theory, but would love you to expand on this since irony on forums is easily misunderstood. Also, when irony is unintentional, is it still irony ?)

StroppyChops wrote:The irony being that, apart from being a reasonable bloke, Gavin is one of the members of the other forum that is not greatly known for giving a toss (idiom: not caring).

Soi Dog wrote:

Anchor Moy wrote:

frank lee bent wrote:yep- stopping tuktuks to search foreigners- in this case pensioners and decrepit too!

Well, this is very interesting - seriously.(F'king implications are heavy.)

Less seriously, do they search the tuktuk drivers ? Most of them seem to sell/take drugs. Or is this a deal between tuktuk drivers and police ?
What is going on in S'ville ? Very very strange.

I don't think it's particularly strange. There have been multiple, high-profile stories in the media over the past year concerning criminal behavior of foreigners in that area. Russian mobsters are the obvious examples of late but many other nationalities as well. An eventual crackdown on all those now deemed undesirable was inevitable. I don't know why anyone would be surprised that locals are getting different treatment from authorities than foreigners. Nor is it surprising that such a crackdown opens up yet another opportunity for any corrupt police to extort money from those who are perceived to have more money to extort. SHV will eventually live and die economically by middle class Chinese tourist numbers, not the drunken sexpat Western retirees or low-end hippie backpacker brigades that have occupied the place over the past decade. The later groups won't be missed.

wackyjacky wrote:SV is going to have to be content w/the cheap (old & young) demographic until the 5 hrs from PP problem is taken care of & I see nothing on the horizon.

wackyjacky wrote:How many people are they going to take off the road/day 100, 150 max ? .... Meh. They're flying a notoriously dangerous model of a small turboprop. I'd still rather take my chances in a taxi. How long do you think the tix will be a dollar for ? Now if we get Air Asia, VN Air, & BKK Air flying in, the place will boom.