Jurisdiction

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Among the things that I have difficulty understanding about how things work in Thailand is what law enforcement agencies have jurisdiction and where.

 

The following story, appearing in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS, illustrates what I mean:

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Bangkok Police Launch Sweep of Pattaya Bars

 

On Thursday evening a squad of 70 Bangkok-based police decided it was time they had a little sojourn into the fleshpots of Pattaya and spent some hours wandering about the various beer bar complexes and go-go bars as well as a couple of the more infamous soapy massage joints.

 

Accompanied by a frothing gaggle of media hacks, all armed with television cameras as well as the latest in still digital cameras, the upstanding men and women of the Bangkok police force visited the Sabailand Massage Parlour on Second Road, at the corner of Soi 3 if any of you are not quite sure where to find it. Here they interviewed a number of the more attractive and younger looking girls, asking them to produce their Identification cards in order to prove that they were all over the legal age to engage in activities involving water, soap and excitable men.

 

Satisfied with this, the police troop then moved onto a number of beer bars in the Soi 2 area and once again were compelled to chat with the more attractive and younger looking girls, checking identification cards and asking about the health and well-being of sundry family members and farmyard stock.

 

Then it was into a couple of the go-go bars where many members of the media were excited to find a large number of ladies who were wearing g-string bikinis. The flashbulbs of the cameras in the media scrum helped to really light up the dressing rooms and general area of the chrome pole palaces while the very professional police persons asked the girls to produce their ID cards. Most of the girls were forced to go into their lockers in order to show the plastic cards, explaining it was difficult to keep the card on their person when dressed in not much more than a pair of boots and a smile.

 

A senior policemen told one bar owner that the 2:00AM closing time should be enforced and that staying open later than this is against the law. The bar owner allegedly told the policeman that he paid a little extra money each month in order to stay open later, but the Bangkok officer said whoever he paid the money to it couldn