It's not exactly news but is still getting widely reported, including Time magazine:

http://time.com/3674200/thailand-touris ... extortion/

Here's a titillating excerpt to whet your appetites:


"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."

There's also a link to a lengthy article from the Bangkok Post two days ago entitled:

"Sukhumvit shakedown: Random searches and on-the-spot drug tests on foreigners have left many questioning police integrity"

Please credit and share this article with others using this link:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special ... -shakedown.
View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Post Publishing PCL. All rights reserved.

guess not all feel the same as you.

BANGKOK: -- Mastercard’s 2014 Global Destination Cities Index recently ranked Bangkok as the second most visited destination in the world after London. Spend a few days this hedonistic metropolis and you’ll soon understand why, for it offers an almost unbeatable mix of culture, edgy nightlife, cheap shopping, comfortable hotels, warm weather and — who can say no? — Thai cuisine.

True parts of sukumvit are bad so just don't get around there.

it does NOT apply to all of Thailand

Basically the army has broken the Thai police rice bowl so they are retaliating anyway they can and who is easiest to hit..... the tourists

This shit's been over for a month or 2. It was 100% in Thonglor from what I've read. The Silom bartender thing has nothing to do w/the bulk of it- that's Banrak. $15K, holy shit ! Those greedy bastards are in on the act now. The chief of Thonglor has been transferring to the boonies over the bad press. They've been pulling this for at least 7 or 8 years that I know of. I've been searched. I've had my taxis stopped. I've never paid anything or had to take a piss test though. Primarily between Asoke & Soi 22, also Ekkamai bus station. Supposedly looking for yaba, but it's really just a shakedown. If you have any prescription drugs w/no prescription it'll cost you at least 1000B. If you have a little Ganj - a lot more. I know a lot of guys got jacked up for having a couple Valium or Kamagra in their bags. I blame the Army for the uptick in shakedowns, they've been expropriating the Police's other revenue sources. Check this out: http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/lea ... pping-case

so the cops are really crooks and the military is bigger crooks? :O

Mr Curious wrote:so the cops are really crooks and the military is bigger crooks? :O

Girl in Baccarat a GoGo in Pattaya charged a friend 5800baht, prepaid, for long time. So it does get worse.

ps: The date worked out, no problems.

My understanding is the shake downs at Soi Asoke have ceased but no recent news about Ekamai Bus Station. At Ekamai, they targeted men arriving from Pattaya, both backpacker looking youth and older men who they thought might take Viagra. Talk about profiling being illegal in some countries, this really crosses the line. You are thought of as a drug user due to your being on a bus.

....You are thought of as a drug user due to your being on a bus.

Not exactly ,its where ur coming from...

Yeah, the Ekkamai thing went on for years. I got stopped & searched once near Soi 22, but I had nothing. They were looking for for any prescription drugs w/out the script. I was actually on my way to a pharmacy on 22 for just such items & lucked out. BTW the recent Time article where the author gets jacked up in Silom now appears to have been fabricated. It had a barnyardy aroma to it on 1st reading to me. LINK: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/

Wow, I had no idea. We don't drink, so don't go to bars - maybe just lucky to never have an issue in 25 years.
They look for steroids too or just boner pills and Rx?

why bring up a almost 3 year old post??

I was stopped and searched twice in 1 day outside my condo in Thonglor. It's like they picked a area and said "Okay we go after Westerners this week."

Never had a drug test but then I don't spend much time in clubs.