absolutelyBangkok archive · Culture shock
Originally published Dec. 12, 2009
Wanna know about the inner workings of the Royal Thai Police? You heard all the hearsay and read some of those stories. But do you have proof? Did you learn anything the hard way? Here’s an eyewitness account:
Recently I was visiting a friend in Rangsit. It was a Friday night and we decided while his wife was out visiting neighbors a couple of streets away we would play some chess and keep each other company in their home.
If you play chess you know how time can fly. Hours can go by without realizing it. It is a sort of zen experience except that at the end of it you can be more frustrated than before. And it is, or can be addictive.
By a Reader
I played fairly serious chess for some years and at one point reached an Elo rating of close to 2,200. But my friend is more of an amateur. You now, the player that still enjoys the game and plays on against all odds until mated.
The kind that doesn’t see the absurdity of two geniuses playing chess in a movie and suddenly, one moves a piece and announces “checkmate,” to the other’s surprise.
That explains why in our third game with a rook and three pawns down without any compensation my friend was hanging on and on and on. We had not noticed the time go by and were surprised, when the phone rang that it was already 1.30 in the morning.
“Uh-oh” was our first thought. My friend’s wife never stayed out this late and the first thought was that something was up. We just had not noticed the late hour.
Sure enough. My friend’s wife called from the police station, where she had been placed under arrest along with 13 other people in a large cell. She was under arrest and the police wanted her to pay a 10,000 baht fine to be released immediately. She risked being charged with being in a casino and gambling, both of which are illegal in Thailand. Any house where ten or more people are playing cards can be seen to constitute a casino.
Here is what happened
My friend’s wife, Nok had been visiting friends in a house where there was a card game going on. About midnight the bell rang. The house was surrounded by police, even covering the alleyway behind the house where one “suspect” tried to leave the house by scaling the wall. They had apparently been called by an “informant.” At first the people inside were afraid to open the door but of course, under pressure and realizing they had little choice they allowed the police to enter the house.
It appears that in Thailand there are odd laws about card playing. As stated above ten people or more playing cards in a house is considered a sort of casino and gambling is illegal. Never mind that the stakes are five to twenty baht and the main purpose is the pleasure of company coupled with a bit of low level excitement. Later I learned from my friend that Nok goes occasionally and usually comes home 40 or 50 baht short or having won the same amount.
In any case what happened is this. The police informed everyone the fine was 10,000 baht to get released immediately. Otherwise they would all have to face the judge the next day and that a week in jail waiting for release was a possibility. That later went down to a few days, and eventually two. But the initial point was to frighten the people into paying the “fines.”
My friend told his wife to refuse to pay and to tell everyone else to do the same. Maybe not the wisest move, to make her the center of attention but as it happened, everyone refused to pay anyway.
The next day everyone did face the judge. Not in person, but via a video camera connected in a small room where each individual was questioned. All received fines, not of 10,000 baht but of 1,000 to 2,000 baht each and, all were released upon paying their fine.
Not a single one of the “perpetrators” received any sort of ticket, or proof of payment or information regarding a date to return to court or even the police. Nothing was on record except possible a list the police keep at the station to have recourse to every now and then.
It was in the evening of the next day Nok finally came home. I stayed the night with my friend and was there when she returned. She seemed to accept having been forced to pay a fine for which no proof was given. Not even a receipt. She seemed, in fact, relieved that it all just passed without more serious consequences. It was the first time in her life she had ever had a problem with the police and, she hoped, the last.
So beware in Thailand what you do, and never, ever assume that having harmless fun will exempt you from more serious consequences. Innocence lost can be lost in innocent ways. That’s life.
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