Police Swarm Sunee Plaza Jan 18

[TotallyOz]

In a show of force, police from several departments swarmed into Sunee Plaza tonight. They had officers at every gogo bar and beer bar I saw. I did a quick sweep of the Plaza and counted at least 120 officers. I don't know how many were actually there but they were checking for ID's and doing pee tests.

 

I don't know the final outcome of what happened but it was a fast and furious show of strength. IMHO, a real waste of money and effort.

[Guest buckeroo2]

In a show of force, police from several departments swarmed into Sunee Plaza tonight. They had officers at every gogo bar and beer bar I saw. I did a quick sweep of the Plaza and counted at least 120 officers. I don't know how many were actually there but they were checking for ID's and doing pee tests.

 

I don't know the final outcome of what happened but it was a fast and furious show of strength. IMHO, a real waste of money and effort.

 

I walked through Sunee at about 10:30 PM and there were police officers and vehicles everywhere. I can only report on what I saw but it seemed to me that at the time I walked through all of the focus was on the go-go bars. The beer bars seemed to be operating with full staff and lots of customers - on the other hand the go-go bars had police outside, inside, etc with staff detained. There were pee stations set up throughout the plaza and it appeared all the guys detained were go-go bar workers - I saw the police presence at Wonderland, Eros, and Krazy Dragon. I walked by Nice boys and it was dark and closed. Mic Boys had the mamasan out on the terrace - their door was wide open - the place was well lit and there was no one inside - no boys, no police - I think they may have already taken the boys to be tested. I agree there were many, many police. I counted at least 15-020 police vehicles - all entrances and exits to Sunee were blocked. I did not stop - I did not talk to anyone - I only observed and it appeared to me that the beer bars were operating normally and were busy - all the go-go bars seemed to have police presence. I strolled through the entire Sunee area and I was not stopped or questioned.To me it appeared all the farangs were just sitting in and outside the beer bars watching the show. I do not know what if anything happened to any customers who may have been inside one of the affected go-go bars.

[Guest Astrrro]

I do not know what if anything happened to any customers who may have been inside one of the affected go-go bars.

 

They seemed to have no interest whatsoever in the farangs.

 

I was in one gogo and only three boys so the gogo must have known something was up.

[gerefan]

Good Boys was busy shutting up shop about an hour before the raid! How did they know?! They obviously were not raided.

 

I saw every venue (including all beer bars) being raided and EVERY member of staff at every one was being inspected (IDs). They were even in the Dom Plaza Hotel!Im not sure if the staff at Beer Bars were pee tested.. Certainly they were at the Gogo bars.

 

They set up pee stations at several places and they were all very busy.

 

There looked to be a high ranking officer being escorted around the Plaza during the raid and his every move being filmed by the media!

 

Quite a show!

[Guest TheCornerBar]

I was here. Never seen that many BIB before. They tested every single Thai in Sunee Plaza. They used Corner Bar for pictures but NONE of my boys tested positive. In fact, I have never seen any of the boys they had rounded up before. Not one of them. They took pictures of about 12 or so boys in front of my pool table. They checked ID's and pee tested every single Thai in sight. They did not speak to any farrang unless they were spoken to first. They were wearing a uniform I had never seen before. It had PY on the front of the t-shirt and police on the back. I asked one of them what the PY was for and he said Pattaya. They were very polite and matter of fact. The customers seemed to enjoy the excitement. We could all use less drug addicts. Just wish this would actually work.

[TotallyOz]

I was here. Never seen that many BIB before. They tested every single Thai in Sunee Plaza. They used Corner Bar for pictures but NONE of my boys tested positive. In fact, I have never seen any of the boys they had rounded up before. Not one of them. They took pictures of about 12 or so boys in front of my pool table. They checked ID's and pee tested every single Thai in sight. They did not speak to any farrang unless they were spoken to first. They were wearing a uniform I had never seen before. It had PY on the front of the t-shirt and police on the back. I asked one of them what the PY was for and he said Pattaya. They were very polite and matter of fact. The customers seemed to enjoy the excitement. We could all use less drug addicts. Just wish this would actually work.

 

Thanks. I wish something would work but randomly testing everyone and sending those away who can't afford it won't work. I don't know the solution to this either. But, I do wonder how many other areas of Pattaya were hit this hard. Will Sunee be a regular target? Or, will they also go after the straight bar areas who pay more tea bag money? My main gripe has always been I think Sunee is unfairly singled out. Perhaps I am wrong in this assumption but it is still there.

[Guest RichLB]

As to hitting the straight bars, as well, remember there was a similar raid on soi 6 a couple weeks ago. I, for one, support these actions. They may not put a damper on the actual use of drugs in the area, but I suspect that it will discourage those who are selling them on the street may be forced to move elsewhere.

 

I'm also less cynical about Thailand's drug programs. While there is certainly corruption, my experience with friends who have been arrested is very positive. My friend was pee tested, found positive for yaba, and that resulted in monthly visits for one year to the police station in Chonburi for follow up testing. In addition, home visits were conducted here in Pattaya and they even sent a team to his village to interview neighbors and family about his character. I don't know if this is typical, but it is certainly more rigorous than the programs that exist in my home country. I relate to it as a life saved.

[TotallyOz]

I'm also less cynical about Thailand's drug programs. While there is certainly corruption, my experience with friends who have been arrested is very positive. My friend was pee tested, found positive for yaba, and that resulted in monthly visits for one year to the police station in Chonburi for follow up testing. In addition, home visits were conducted here in Pattaya and they even sent a team to his village to interview neighbors and family about his character. I don't know if this is typical, but it is certainly more rigorous than the programs that exist in my home country. I relate to it as a life saved.

 

I have had similar experiences but the boys said they only had to pay 300 baht each time to avoid the pee test. So, as usual things can always be handled by a little money. I know MANY boys that have been to jail over yaba and everytime they come out reformed. Last night I was sitting in Nice Boys with a boy when the raids started. He has been telling me that the jail cured him of his problem and no more was he using. When the manager said the police were coming he got very sad. I asked him what was going on and he said he was worried about getting in trouble again. I asked when the last time he used Yaba, he said long time. He asked how long Yaya stay in pee pee. It told him I thought a month or two. He said, he may have a problem as he tried 2 weeks ago. I gave him some money and he quickly put on some clothes and left Sunee.

 

Yaba is a hard drug habit to kick. I struggle daily with my addiction to Diet Coke and I know how hard it is to drink less. I can't imagine something as strong as the Yaba craving.

 

I don't know the answer. I hate Yaba. But, it seem almost impossible to weed out of one's mind once they partake in the hidden fruit.

[Guest Soi10Tom]

It was quite a show to watch!!!

The police's first wave swooped in on their scooters; then bringing back up as their pick up trucks and rolling jail blocked the ends of the sois. Everyone, police, customers, owners and boys, were quite pleasant to each other: which I gather is the Thai way. There were quite a number of police agencies envolved providing a number of different uniforms...something for most everyone with a uniform fetish. They arrived in waves going from brown on to black and then boys in tan...these waves were all a bit confused by the news media who were running about like chickens with their heads cut off. To add to the confusion it was obvious that the only pre planning done by the police was to say. "Let's have a raid in Sunee." as every one ran about looking for pee bottles, documents and one thing or the other and trying to look professional as they were literally planning on run.

 

I spent most of the time the raid was in progress having red wine at Corner Bar where the pool table and several of the seating areas were cleared for the pee test (which took place in the bathroom) and detention of those who failed the test. Here is what I noticed and several of the others in attendance found striking. Of all of the boys arrested for failing the test we only recognized one, an over weight ladyboy mamasan from one of the GOGO Bars.

I heard that there was an one hour warning put out to the bars that a "Party" was about to begin, so it would appear that the only ones caught up in the trap were the street walkers and those not smart enough to get out of town while the getting was good.

 

I'm sure business will be back to normal tonight as the police have made a big news splash which will please all of those who needed to be appeased and the police made a few extrat baht so they can afford some of the little extras in life.

[Guest fountainhall]

Thanks to everyone for great on-site reporting. Reading the posts made me feel as though I had been there myself!

 

There looked to be a high ranking officer being escorted around the Plaza during the raid and his every move being filmed by the media!

Isn't this always the way they conduct these raids? And isn't it often the case that the high ranking official has just been appointed and wants to impress superiors? Or prove that he is implementing some new policy directive?

[Guest Mark7711]

SUNNE is not the only place raided.

[PattayaMale]

I believe that the US DEA is helping fund these raids as recently there were banners strung above the streets which publicized their involvement.

 

It is good to read that those that are arrested get help while in custody and most of those as Michael said feel it helped them.

 

But reading other posts via Thaivisa, saying Pattaya now has more foreign "mafia" (gangsters) than ever before; it would be surprising if these raids will lead to less drug use here....or anywhere else in the world.

 

Having seen the "war on drugs" fail so miserably and be so costly, maybe someone will come up with a different policy that actually works. With all the billions of dollars in every currency being budgeted by all law enforcement agencies, winning this "war" in reality be very hard to have the policy change, I believe.

[Guest fountainhall]

Surely the war on drugs can never be won until governments target some of the root causes of such addiction

[TotallyOz]

Surely the war on drugs can never be won until governments target some of the root causes of such addiction

[KhorTose]

I have said many times that most people are addicted to something. I am not sure what the solution is to the Yaba issue. I wish I had answers but it is beyond my comprehension. I have lost many amazing BF's to this drug in both the USA and Thailand. I would love to be able to find a way to help those that want the help.

 

Proper parenting is the most important of the things Fountainhall mentioned. If you really want to help, join your local harm reduction center and donate. Why do I think they have the answer? Because Holland has been doing this for years and it works. No need to invent the wheel, it is already out there.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harm_reduction

[gerefan]

mmm... 46 arrested for drugs or underage...yet all bars and gogos appear to be operating normally tonight.

Story and pix here...

http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/18877/justice-ministry-lead-raid-on-sunee-plaza-area-in-south-pattaya/

[aussie_]

Wonderland Go Go Show Bar was closed last night

[Guest ronnie4you]

The bar owners knew the raid was coming. At the bar I was in, the boys were told to leave if they had done drugs. Many did. It must be hard to get up there on the stage every night trying to look sexy. I am sure that some take the uppers to keep doing this. Truck drivers in the US take uppers all the time. It's not just Thai dance boys. But for the dance boys, their looks will pay the price of long-time drug use and then they will be driving trucks- if they can find a job.

Why don't the farangs who support drug eradication help these Thai boys get off the drugs?

[pong]

TODAY's =sun 6/2/11 newspaper BangkokPost has a report on what the Pattaya police (surveying about 100.000 Thai and they quoted as 400.000 farang!! in their hood) did, incl, this Sunee raid (said to be mainly aiming at drug-users). The dapper men in brown were shouted and abused at by the farang customers, said to be mainly pensioners living permanently in PTY, as were the journalists. Apparently the farang did not know this abuse might also have landed them in jail-but the police turned a blind eye for that. It also stated these raids were weekly routine, a week before done in soi 6 (thats north PTY)-mainly Isan bargirls and katoeys there. Most other reports they had to deal with were thefts and robberies, often by katoeys.

[Guest fountainhall]

surveying about 100.000 Thai and they quoted as 400.000 farang!! in their hood

Just for clarification, the report gives a quote from a senior police official in which he refers to the Pattaya area of just over 36 square kilometres, including Koh Larn -

 

"Considering that about 100,000 Thais are living here, together with 400,000 foreigners, both residents and tourists, as well as more than 100,000 people coming for holidays at weekends, it is not an easy task to maintain law and order,"

Are there really only 100,000 Thais living in Pattaya? I am surprised. Rather more worrying, though, are the reporters' comments about the Sunee raid.

 

A number of Thai men employed there have their urine checked on the spot for drugs, and those testing positive are arrested. Many foreign men watch passively while the officers perform their job, some holding hands with their young Thai partners, drinking alcohol as if nothing is happening . . . Many of the Thai men are very thin and look unhealthy. Some of them, while waiting to be taken to the police station, tell Spectrum and the police that they are HIV positive.

 

One very thin 18-year-old man from the Northeast says he is not gay, but sleeping with foreign men is the only way he can make money. During his short stay at the bar, he says he was introduced to crystal methamphetamine (ice) by his friends and became addicted. He says he is HIV positive.

 

''After sitting with the foreigners, who usually like to get drunk, they take me to a hotel or apartment without asking if I'm HIV positive or not. I don't ask them either,'' he says, adding that most of his clients are foreign men retired in Pattaya. Police also search rooms above the bars, finding drug-taking implements in some, many of which have only a mattress on the floor

As with any newspaper report in Thailand, I would have to doubt the accuracy of some of the 'facts'. Yet the reference to "many of the young men" and HIV is another reminder that the HIV statistics for all msm in Thailand are shockingly high at not far short of 25% - for ALL msm, not only bar workers. Condom use is vital here.