On patrol with Pattaya volunteer cops

reader · April 14, 2017

From Pattaya One

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In 2002 Pattaya, Thailand invited foreigners to assist them as tourist police, at first for translation and as an informal tourist information service, but its scope has since been widened to include real law enforcement.

Thailand’s most sinful city, Pattaya is famous for getting men a little hot under the collar. And discontent is boiling over at the police mobile unit stationed at the entrance to the resort town’s infamous Walking Street. A giant Pakistani man is stating his case vociferously to the volunteer foreign cops who patrol the red-light district on a nightly basis. Beside him, a feminine Asian form on skyscraping stilettos chews gum and shoots him sour looks. “I am not a homosexual,” cries the man. “This thing deceived me,” he says, jabbing a finger at his companion, whose perceptibly manly features and guttural tones make it obvious she was born a he.

“He refused to pay her,” says Andros Plocins, an English member of the Foreign Tourist Police Assistants (FTPA), as we watch the scene unfold. “So now we have to sort it out.” The situation is soon defused. The man, who it transpires, had got a degree of value for the transaction before he realized the reality of the situation, has to pay the agreed price. The ladyboy, meanwhile, is hit with a 200 baht ($6) fine for soliciting. “He should have just paid in the first place,” continues another policeman, laughing. “She was pretty hot.”

Taking care of such misunderstandings is among the many responsibilities of the FTPA. Foreign volunteer police have been pounding Walking Street since 2002, when Pattaya’s Tourist Police Division invited foreigners to assist them. At first, their primary role was to help Thai officers with translation and to provide an informal tourist information service. The FTPA still provides support to foreign visitors, but its scope has been widened to include duties such as stopping bar fights and apprehending thieves. Although volunteer officers don’t have powers of arrest (approval is needed from a supervising Thai officer), they carry handcuffs, batons and cans of pepper spray. Indeed, with their black SWAT-esque uniforms, they cut imposing figures.

The FTPA numbers around 60 members from 20 different countries while its reach extends across the greater Pattaya area thanks to the recent introduction of motorbike patrols. Despite this diversification, however, Walking Street, which they patrol every evening from 9PM to 3AM, remains the primary beat for volunteer officers.

Article continues at

http://pattayaone.news/en/foreign-tourist-police-thailand/

Yet another flying farang

At around 4:30am in the early hours of April 14th, a British tourist died after falling from the third floor of a guesthouse on the world famous Walking Street in South Pattaya.

Police and emergency services arrived onto the scene to find 31-year-old, Mr. Christopher Andrew Laidler, from England, lying seriously injured in the street, struggling to catch a breath, but still alive. He had fallen from the Sweet Heart guesthouse, which is also home to the Sweet Hearts agogo underneath.

http://pattayaone.news/en/briton-plunges-death-pattaya-guesthouse/

reader · April 14, 2017

The most dangerous place in Thailand seems to be a window or balcony in Pattaya.

Excerpts from The Mirror (UK)

Eye-witness Pol Nuttinon said: “There was a lot of panic and the foreigner was naked in the street. He was big and he landed so hard.

Police Captain Kengsart Nuanpong said the rooms of the guest house were rented on a “daily basis” and none of Christopher’s valuables or possessions were found there.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/naked-british-tourist-31-dies-10226608