PHUKET: A top-level investigation is underway into allegations that Phuket police and lawyers defrauded a South African tourist of about 700,000 baht.
Concern about the case is being expressed in Johannesburg, London and Bangkok as well as on Phuket, where regional Tourism Authority of Thailand director Bangornrat Shinaprayoon said today: ''We need to know the whole truth.''
She could not confirm a report that 300 tourists from South Africa who were due to visit Phuket for a medical conference had altered their destination to Dubai because of the case.
The Johannesburg Star and its online site iol.co.za first reported the Phuket ''ordeal'' of Gabriel Sequeira, 43.
On a 10-day holiday on Phuket last month with his family, Mr Sequeira is alleged to have tried to pass fake US dollars at a bank on the final day of the trip.
According to the Star, Mr Sequeira ended up paying 200,000 rand - the equivalent of more than 700,000 baht - to police and lawyers before his passport was returned so he could fly off Phuket.
Phuket Police Commander Major General Pekad Tantipong has been ordered by Royal Thai Police headquarters in Bangkok to fully investigate the matter.
The order came late on Friday after a Phuketwan reporter contacted Major General Pekad, who at that stage had no knowledge of the allegations.
Today Major General Pekad met with Colonel Boonlert On-Kang, of Chalong Police Station, the officer in charge of the case.
Colonel Boonlert, who is well-regarded, has been ordered to write a full report.
The call for a thorough explanation came from the office of the Thai Ambassador in South Africa via the London office of the TAT, which oversees the region.
It is likely that Phuket's honorary consuls will also seek a ''please explain'' because all cases where Phuket police confiscate passports are supposed to be reported directly to Major General Pekad, who then notifies the appropriate envoy.
Mr Sequeira told the Star on arrival back in Johannesburg on Thursday that he had produced receipts for the US dollars that had been issued in South Africa.
''Basically I had to buy my way out,'' the newspaper quoted him as saying.
However, Colonel Boonlert today denied any wrongdoing or police involvement in a shakedown.
''If Mr Sequeira paid over any money, then it must have been to his lawyers,'' the colonel said.
A statement warranting examination emerged today with the revelation that one of Mr Sequeira's friends said in an email that Mr Sequeira had also been carrying with him $2000 in US notes, left over from a holiday he had taken in Mauritius 10 years ago.
It remains unclear at this stage where Mr Sequeira was held and for how long before he was released on bail, but his wife Carla was ''sickened by what she saw when she went to visit him.''
''He was in a tiny cell the size of a toilet cubicle with about 10 other foreign men,'' the report said. ''There was a dip in the centre where they could relieve themselves and there was a guy on the floor eating food.
''Gabriel was holding onto the bars and said 'Try and get me out of here.'''
The article headlined 'My R200,000 holiday hell 'is not likely to encourage South Africans to travel to Phuket.
It follows publication in a popular magazine in Germany of a long report on violence and extortion by Phuket's tuk-tuk and jet-ski operators.
The Star said the South African family's problems began as they were ''about to check out of their hotel when Sequeira crossed the road to exchange $US1000 at the bank in order to settle his hotel bill.''
The couple ''believe they were targeted because Sequeira was exchanging a large amount and police had identified him as a rich individual.''
At some point, the Star said, the authorities ''demanded more money to take the dollars to Bangkok for forensic investigation - costs of which the family had to cover.''
On Wednesday, after Sequeira was given his passport to withdraw the equivalent of his last 20,000 rand, he managed to leave Thailand.
''He paid a fine for overstaying his visa and was free to leave with no pending criminal action against him on record,'' the Star said.
Phuket Police Accused in 700,000 Baht Holiday 'Ordeal'Concern about the case is being expressed in Johannesburg, London and Bangkok as well as on Phuket, where regional Tourism Authority of Thailand director Bangornrat Shinaprayoon said today: ''We need to know the whole truth.''
She could not confirm a report that 300 tourists from South Africa who were due to visit Phuket for a medical conference had altered their destination to Dubai because of the case.
The Johannesburg Star and its online site iol.co.za first reported the Phuket ''ordeal'' of Gabriel Sequeira, 43.
On a 10-day holiday on Phuket last month with his family, Mr Sequeira is alleged to have tried to pass fake US dollars at a bank on the final day of the trip.
According to the Star, Mr Sequeira ended up paying 200,000 rand - the equivalent of more than 700,000 baht - to police and lawyers before his passport was returned so he could fly off Phuket.
Phuket Police Commander Major General Pekad Tantipong has been ordered by Royal Thai Police headquarters in Bangkok to fully investigate the matter.
The order came late on Friday after a Phuketwan reporter contacted Major General Pekad, who at that stage had no knowledge of the allegations.
Today Major General Pekad met with Colonel Boonlert On-Kang, of Chalong Police Station, the officer in charge of the case.
Colonel Boonlert, who is well-regarded, has been ordered to write a full report.
The call for a thorough explanation came from the office of the Thai Ambassador in South Africa via the London office of the TAT, which oversees the region.
It is likely that Phuket's honorary consuls will also seek a ''please explain'' because all cases where Phuket police confiscate passports are supposed to be reported directly to Major General Pekad, who then notifies the appropriate envoy.
Mr Sequeira told the Star on arrival back in Johannesburg on Thursday that he had produced receipts for the US dollars that had been issued in South Africa.
''Basically I had to buy my way out,'' the newspaper quoted him as saying.
However, Colonel Boonlert today denied any wrongdoing or police involvement in a shakedown.
''If Mr Sequeira paid over any money, then it must have been to his lawyers,'' the colonel said.
A statement warranting examination emerged today with the revelation that one of Mr Sequeira's friends said in an email that Mr Sequeira had also been carrying with him $2000 in US notes, left over from a holiday he had taken in Mauritius 10 years ago.
It remains unclear at this stage where Mr Sequeira was held and for how long before he was released on bail, but his wife Carla was ''sickened by what she saw when she went to visit him.''
''He was in a tiny cell the size of a toilet cubicle with about 10 other foreign men,'' the report said. ''There was a dip in the centre where they could relieve themselves and there was a guy on the floor eating food.
''Gabriel was holding onto the bars and said 'Try and get me out of here.'''
The article headlined 'My R200,000 holiday hell 'is not likely to encourage South Africans to travel to Phuket.
It follows publication in a popular magazine in Germany of a long report on violence and extortion by Phuket's tuk-tuk and jet-ski operators.
The Star said the South African family's problems began as they were ''about to check out of their hotel when Sequeira crossed the road to exchange $US1000 at the bank in order to settle his hotel bill.''
The couple ''believe they were targeted because Sequeira was exchanging a large amount and police had identified him as a rich individual.''
At some point, the Star said, the authorities ''demanded more money to take the dollars to Bangkok for forensic investigation - costs of which the family had to cover.''
On Wednesday, after Sequeira was given his passport to withdraw the equivalent of his last 20,000 rand, he managed to leave Thailand.
''He paid a fine for overstaying his visa and was free to leave with no pending criminal action against him on record,'' the Star said.
Latest The South African media is reporting that a Phuket holidaymaker had to pay more than 700,000 baht to extract himself from a false claim that he had passed fake US dollar bills.
Phuket Police Accused in 700,000 Baht Holiday 'Ordeal'
Phuket Tuk-Tuks Lashed in Europe; Jet-Ski Arrests; Amnesty Condemns Killings; Phuket Parades Begin; World Sports
Phuket News UPDATE German magazine hits at Phuket ''highwaymen''; Amnesty calls for halt to slaughter; Yingluck urges end to corruption; Man U rocked; Tune expands; Phuket Veg Parades begin.
Phuket Tuk-Tuks Lashed in Europe; Jet-Ski Arrests; Amnesty Condemns Killings; Phuket Parades Begin; World Sports
Get the broom... Lift up the carpet...........
Posted by innocent bystander on October 2, 2011 16:03