Recent Thai "Vape Ban" Story (PBusardo's website)

Can't cut and paste... Was published 2 days ago.

Link: http://www.tasteyourjuice.com/wordpress/archives/14108

Sorry if that has been posted already + sorry if this should be in another part of the forum.

 

Absoulte madness.

I saw a guy blowing massive clouds outside Robins nest in Pattaya last week. Went and had a chat with him and asked if he knew vaping was illegal. He had no idea, told him to check this forum out and to be really careful.

Was then in MBK on Monday and saw an entire shop selling vape gear and juice. Up in the floor with all the mobiles. Not just one or two mods, but the entire store was dedicated to vaping!!!!

 

I am waiting for the next story where they come crashing into someones home searching for vaping gear. I think this is not too far fetched. They have the address through customs after any item may be rejected from delivery. It is only a matter of time until they start sending swat teams to your home. I actually think it is a possibility. In my humble opinion things are out of control. I have lived here quietly for many years without a single offense but this new situation has me making some hard decisions about staying in Thailand.

 

Wow this is scary.
I wonder if showing the cops the youtube video of the higher up saying only importing and selling vape gear was illegal would have changed the outcome.

 

Its getting out of hand, just plain stupidity.

 

The main problem here in my opinion is that they can put you in jail (actually a small cell in the police station) just to wait for the "court" to open and the judge to sentence you (or not). This period of time you're waiting in a cell is already a punition and is not related to the sentence that will be pronounced later (if any)... Most of us would rather skip this few hours in a cell for a (not so) reasonable amount of money...

 

I actually think this is just another form of extortion which is common practice here. Funny but true story:
I was driving in my car with my dog in the passenger seat. I was stopped by a policeman who tried to extract a fine because my dog was not wearing a seatbelt. This actually happened to me. After some discussion and 500 baht later he let me go. Such is Thailand. My dog does not vape so she can't be fined for vaping while driving.

 

In this story:

-Legit way: spend 2 nights in jail + get sentenced to the minimum (4 x value of vape gear / let's assume around 10k bahts) + get a record to your name.
-Bribe way: Pay 50k, go home.

I know I would choose the bribe way all day long... I would probably make some drastic decision afterwards though, like leaving the country...

 

You are just being extorted by paying the 50,000 Baht because they just know that you don't want to wait for 2 days before going to court!

I now think it is much better to drive on the road completely drunk than to be a vapor in Thailand! It is just unbelievable! We really live in a fu**ed up country!

 

An unfortunate story. He did state that he was aware of the law.

Mistake #1 He took his Mod out in public with him for only a short trip out to pick-up food, and he rolled up to a police checkpoint with the mod clearly in view.

Mistake #2 Thinking having his chid with him would warrent some leniency. I think that worked against him. This gave them the added threat of taking both him and the child into custody. He should have called someone to come get the child at that point.

Mistake #3 Admitting he did not have a lawyer. He could have used that opportunity to call his friend that gave him the 50K to contact a lawyer for him.

Mistake #4 Going back after being released to get bribe money. Well maybe was worried that his bike was worth more than 50K and he'd lose it or that they would come after him, but he should have first been thinking about getting his child to a safe place (you can't be certain that you won't still go to jail after paying a bribe, after all, thats illegal too) then go hire a lawyer. If the police come after him at that point, how would the officer explain releasing him after he was arrested?

Also, couldn't the fact that he had offered a bribe (fine as he put it) in the first place possibly have gotten him into even more trouble?

Of course easy to sit here at home and think of this. If I were in his situation I'd probably be scared into offering to pay a "fine" too.

I'm not sure if a lawyer could have even helped him. We did hear one report on the forum where the lawyer told him their was nothing he could do.

Bottom line, best to avoid situations like this completely. Don't vape in public.