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25 June 10
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Persecution? No Music
hua hin, thailand Over the last couple of years, and possibly longer, there have been a growing number of comments and complaints made by businesses in the area with foreign connections, particularly bars, about the treatment they have been getting from the police. Most of these are concerning the large fines that many have had for a variety of offences ranging from not having the correct licences to working without a permit. The stories AWOL have been told also have a recurrent theme where no receipts are issued nor any formal procedures gone through to deal with these offences, and frequently they are accompanied with threats of the incarceration of the foreigner’s wife, girlfriend or staff until the requested payment is made. Understandably, the businesses in question never force the issue and pay the fine, and the timing of
No Football No games No Drinking?
the visits is often a factor in this, as they are apparently usually made on Friday evenings so any threatened incarceration would be throughout the weekend until the courts were open on the Monday. It is also difficult for the businesses to contact lawyers or others who could assist at this time. The latest issue to give cause for concern is the coverage of the World Cup; reports have been coming in from Pattaya and Phuket that bars are being fined for showing the games with an English commentary; this is apparently going a step further here in Hua Hin though, as AWOL has been
told that bars have been fined for just showing the games, despite the fact that they are being broadcast on public television stations. Whether there is a genuine breach of Thai law, a misunderstanding or just plain opportunism and corruption we can’t be sure, but the methods used to coerce the businesses to pay up, if true, are more akin to the Mafia than a law enforcement body. It seems that the foreigners with businesses here need to do something other than meekly pay Continued on page 2
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