Expats and visitors are two completely different things.

Editor: Some visitors are Thais. But aren't all expats visitors, whether or not they live here, temporarily or permanently? I guess those that become Thai citizens, though, are no longer expats or visitors.

Posted by Sam W on May 26, 2010 08:44

Only two Americans, both for petty pot charges.

Editor: There's no such thing as a petty drug charge in Thailand.

Posted by MustavaMond on May 26, 2010 09:06

And the winner is....Baxter Gerald Wknsor for getting arrested while playing dominoes for baht!

Posted by Cat on May 26, 2010 09:49

Now, how about a list of Thais who have been arrested over the same period! That WOULD be interesting.

Editor: I don't understand. Why would that be interesting?

Posted by Antz Pantz on May 26, 2010 11:58

would be interesting to know how many Thais get arrested for drunk driving.

Posted by VFaye on May 26, 2010 12:48

Mr Ed, Antz Pantz and VFaye, Yes I too would like to know the comparative figures, then we can get an idea of just how big the drinking and driving problem on the island is. I see no reason not to request these figures, or is there something to hide, or is it once again middle finger time for the farang???

Posted by Robin on May 26, 2010 16:33

Antz Pantz is exactly right. It would be great to compare this list on the drunken charges. In theory, since Thais outnumber the "visitors" by more than 1000:1 the arrests should be quite interesting. Names not needed, but some figures and what for, would be nice.

It would show equality issues for a start.

Editor: The law should certainly treat everybody equally, but a ratio of 1000:1? Hmmm, obviously some profound statistical analysis there. Expat tourists in Patong are more likely to behave foolishly, hence the talk of a drunks' centre for them. To me, the figures for expats in trouble over four months for the whole of Phuket are a fraction of the size that paranoid types would have us believe. The onus of proof surely falls on those who claim the law is unequal, not the other way around. Every drunk on wheels should be stopped, no matter what their background. These figures for expats have come to light because the honorary consuls want to know about all cases involving overseas nationals. Progress is being made. Can't we put the persecution complex to one side for now, please?

Posted by Tbs on May 26, 2010 19:57

"Some of the cases have yet to be concluded, and in some cases, the people who have been accused deny their guilt."

Yet you chose to share them anyway. Nice.

Editor: It's standard procedure in all democracies for people charged with an offence to risk having the allegations reported by an alert media. Would you prefer it if Thailand was an authoritarian exception? You want your justice system to operate behind closed doors? North Korea . . . Burma . . . your options are shrinking.

Posted by Colin on May 26, 2010 20:47

What fine ambassadors for their countries these people aren't!! No sympathy for the drunk drivers but I suppose some will blame the locals for the lack of a public transport system.

As usual it's never the individual's fault just the nasty MiB!! The police SO publish monthly crime stats - they are regularly available in another english language publication it may not be appropriate to mention here. I'm sure the Ed could publish the figures here as well as they are released.

No point in listing every name - there's not enough bitspace for it but the stats do make interesting reading.

Editor: The Phuket Gazette usually writes about crimes on Phuket, based on the monthly statistics. The document released on Monday and published in Phuketwan is the first summary of alleged crimes by expats. These expat figures may be recorded by Phuket police, but they have never before been published.

Posted by Mister Ree on May 26, 2010 21:44

News is news and needs to be reported. However I can't help to wonder why is it necessary to publish the names, especially when it's only foreigners.

Publicity may go a long way in cutting down crime but then it should be levied equally.

Publish the names and crimes of Thais also or don't publish any names at all.

That aside, I saw a Thai man last night fall down on his motorbike on a side street because he was just so incredibly drunk. I went to the hotel next door asking the staff to call the police and help me to stop him from continuing his journey (he was unhurt) but they could not have cared less.

I called the police myself and I speak reasonably good Thai but they just hung up on me.

Trying to paint this DUI problem as a problem caused by foreigners is hogwash.

I support the strictest means of clamping it down but a major part of why many foreigners do it is because when in Rome, do as the Romans.

Thais do it all the time, everywhere, and just about never get caught. Even police can be seen driving drunk.

If the real purpose of this article is to try to reduce the number of DUI cases, which I struggle to believe, then these aspects of the problem should be addressed too.

Editor: The purpose of this article is to disclose for the first time in detail the level of interaction between police and expats on Phuket. Whether you drink and drive in Thailand or anywhere else is your affair. But when you kill or maim someone, blaming the locals for your approach may not be enough of an excuse to save you from deep trouble. Phuketwan is published in English for people who can read English, so a list of Thai names would serve no purpose. However, if fear of having their name published stops even one expat from drinking and driving, that's no bad thing.

Posted by Amazing Thailand on May 28, 2010 12:22

"Thoma Gottfried Germany February 3 driving dangerously at Patong"

I'd like to see the Thai comparisons on this one.

Posted by Andyman on May 28, 2010 14:11

It's nice to get a response from the editor. I am as anti-Drugs and anti-DUI as anyone can be.

However if the purpose of this article is to, as you put it, " disclose for the first time in detail the level of interaction between police and expats on Phuket " - I still don't understand why was it necessary to publish the names to achieve this ?

Nationality, age, gender and crime suspected of would suffice, no ?

I fully agree accusing others of similar crimes is pathetic. An individual always has the choice.

But it swings both ways. The elementary question should be why is DUI so widespread and socially condoned in Thailand ?

This is not the case in the countries a vast majority of foreigners on Phuket come from.

Publishing the names of suspects without their consent or even a note that all suspects are innocent until proven guilty by a court of law would land this publication into multiple lawsuits in most countries.

Admittingly that will not be the case here in Thailand as long as no-one makes the mistake of publishing similar information of a Thai Phu Yai but just because you can get away with something in Thailand you could not back home doesn't mean you should do it.

Quite similar to getting away with DUI over here but not back home ?

Editor: Anyone who is charged by police with an offence in Thailand, Britain, Australia or the US risks having their name reported, here or in those other democracies. You don't have to be convicted first. With more serious crimes on Phuket, and probably elsewhere in Thailand, the accused are paraded for the media. This happens with Thais and non-Thais . . . so you get your photo in the newspaper and on television, as well as your name. Names are only suppressed if the person charged is under age. We did not publish the list as a deterrent to people not to drink and drive, although it may have that effect. (The publication of the names of 33 dead expats is as good a reason as any not to die, though.) Without the names, there would be no point. I don't know whether driving under the influence is more prevalent in Thailand or elsewhere, but it's usually a matter in most places of what people can get away with, and whether the law is enforced rigorously. I guess (and this is purely a guess) the expats who are caught in Patong may attempt to drive while drunk right in front of police, making their behavior obvious, or are caught at checkpoints. I have yet to see anyone being pursued on Phuket for committing a driving offence.

Posted by Amazing Thailand on May 28, 2010 15:19

Fascinating to see that Eric Salih and Selwayn Casey, bosses of the Lersuang Group, what was once one of the biggest foreign property companies in Phuket, being arrested for bouncing cheques in Patong :-) At least there is a record somewhere.

Posted by Andrew on May 29, 2010 17:15

Note how women have their marital status titles listed. Presumably Ms. being the misspelled Miss, (unmarried) as a Mrs. (married) is included but not the men.
Will Thai English language media please stop this sexist practice rooted in "wife as property" mores.

Editor: Khun Horse Doctor, Our preference is for the Thai system, where men and women share the same honorific. As these names and honorifics or lack of them have been supplied to us by Phuket police in English, we have gone along with their spelling, and their honorifics. Your ''wife as property'' notion remains fanciful, if not ludicrous. I don't know where you come from, but there was a time when women who did not wish the honorific to declare their marital status decided that Ms was non-discriminatory and therefore much fairer. It is not and has never been a misspelling of Miss. If the Thai police are being non-discriminatory, that's no bad thing.

Posted by Horse Doctor on May 30, 2010 12:52

and some people managed to buy their way out....

Posted by alain on May 30, 2010 17:26

a Swiss national even succeeded to buy his way out, even though being a second time offender...caught with +1.6% of alcohol he got only community service....

Editor: Forgive me for being a journalist, Alain, but if his blood alcohol content was 1.6 percent, he was lucky to escape being very, very dead.

Posted by alain on May 31, 2010 15:15

@Editor, Alain:
Alain was presumably talking about the alcohol inside the swiss sold to Thai beer, after filled with ice cubicles.

Posted by Lena on May 31, 2010 16:04

editor, he did not give up the habit though...

Posted by alain on May 31, 2010 16:46

Show us a list of Thai's arrested for all the various typical idiot offences they act out! What is this weird tendency that Phuketwan has to act like some "moral compass" for all to see? YOU ARE A NEWSPAPER, STICK TO REPORTING!!

Editor: Our prime interest (and yours too, judging from your unpublishable comment about expats from various places) is in the passport-holding expat community.

Posted by BOM on May 31, 2010 23:09

Phuketwan,

I agree wholeheartedly Ms. is preferable to Miss or Mrs. and is comparable to Mr. in that it denotes no marital status.

My point is the article's author chose to only assign the various marital status titles to the females.

And if you honestly think women are not treated as marriage chattel in a large portion of the world, you are mistaken. Thailand even has its own version, "Sin Sod" is it called?

Posted by Horse Doctor on June 3, 2010 09:36

would you not get drunk when it is your insurance company who is paying...

Posted by ozonetip on June 3, 2010 10:50

not 1 single irish person.

Posted by thairish on June 4, 2010 01:49

Baxter, this goes a long way to explaining why I've not seen you for a while. See you when you get out.

Posted by gimmyabrek on June 8, 2010 11:04

Cool...15 Brits, 4 Canadians, and only 2 from the US.

Posted by Beccac on August 15, 2010 11:29

Are you stupid!?

You are already the hero on the faschist xxxx web-site.

:-(

Posted by P. Hupe on November 11, 2010 14:57

mr. Mario Wieser come from Austia and not from Australia.

Posted by Peter Mager on June 19, 2015 04:00