After a Chinese tourist documented on her Douyin app, (the Chinese version of TikTok) that by paying 7'000 baht she not only avoided the queue at Suvanabhumi Immigration, but was also escorted by police to her hotel in Pattaya, the police knew no better than to warn tourists about 'fake policemen'! In the meantime, however, the evidence was so great that at least two of the three (real) police officers involved were suspended from duty .... If you believe the comments in the Bangkok Post, everyone already knows how corrupt Thailand is. In greedy Thailand, you can buy anything and everything. The police should warn residents and tourists about their own people - and not about the (hardly existing) "police lookalikes".

A Taiwanese celebrity called An Yu Ching has taken to Instagram to relate her experience just after New Year (2023): Charlene, An's name in English, said she was stopped at a police checkpoint on January 4th, 2023. The police asked for her passport and visa, and she showed them a VOA (Visa on Arrival). But the police gave her a hard time by asking where her real visa was and she was subjected to a body and bag check. She was then taken to the police station where she had to apologise for something she had not done. She was then taken to a quiet corner and asked for 27'000 baht to sort everything out.

The officers deny having demanded money at the checkpoint and say they only warned her for possessing a vaporiser. Who could be telling the truth?

BREAKING (January 30th, 2023): The Bangkok Metropolitan Police issued a statement on Monday, January 30th, confirming that the Huay Kwang Police extorted money from Taiwanese actress Charlene An as alleged. The statement said the investigation is still in its early stages and it is not yet clear if the amount was 27'000 baht.

For additional information please read the report published by Asean NOW.

Bangkok Post: Chinese gang links under scrutiny

Bangkok Post: Ex-cop, 2 women face questioning about triad assets

Bangkok Post: Police probe schools linked to Tuhao

Bangkok Post: Mafia pull alive and well

Bangkok Post: Policy-level corruption rife, anti-graft body says

Bangkok Post: Tuhao 'nominee' grilled

Bangkok Post: Immigration Bureau top brass 'took bribes' for triad visas

Bangkok Post: Cop panel to probe IB-triad link

Bangkok Post: Chuwit entitled to 5% of assets seized from triads, says minister

Bangkok Post: Immigration chief vows to tighten visa extension rules

Bangkok Post: Inquiry into Immigration-triad links

Bangkok Post: Luxury resort, cars worth B3bn seized from alleged triad boss Tuhao

The Nation Thailand: 27 Thai immigration police officers found to be aiding Chinese triads

Bangkok Post: DSI enters fray in 'Tuhao' triad case

Bangkok Post: Tuhao's wife faces money-laundering charges

The Nation Thailand: Tuhao’s wife arrested in Bangkok over money laundering charges

Thai Enquirer's Opinion: Prayut's promise of cleaning up Thailand from ‘ills’ falls flat on his face after Chinese triad network seeps to the top ranks

Bangkok Post: Cops will seek to extend Tuhao's wife's detention

Bangkok Post: Criminal charges laid against 10 suspects in triad case

Bangkok Post: 'Triad boss Tuhao' to face money laundering charges

Bangkok Post: 19 arrests in Chinese triad case, but 18 suspects remain at large ....

The Nation Thailand: Surachate to wrap up probe against 80 immigration police on Monday

But Chuvit Kamolvisit said he did not trust an investigation team led by Pol Lt Gen Thiti Saengsawang.
Please read above Royal Thai Police: Organized like the Mafia?

Published by Khaosod ENGLISH on November 28th on its Facebook page:

A 27-year-old civil engineer working for a local administrative body in Nong Bua Lamphu province committed suicide on Friday night and left a damming suicide letter saying he decided to take his own life because he couldn't bear the systemic and endemic corruption at his workplace related to inspection and approval of road and infrastructural construction. Panumesuan wrote to final letter to his parents that he couldn't cope with the corruption system where he was instructed to collect bribes from construction contractors to distribute it to local officials at his tampon administrative office. "To dad and mom... I'm sorry I have to be doing this. "I am confronted with an awkward workplace... where I am being coerce into extorting bribe for testing materials," he wrote, adding that the rate is 3 percent of the construction costs. "I am newly employed and not knowing the rules well only to confront with systemic corruption which is a culture of the tambon administrativeorganisation [Or Bor Tor]," wrote Panumesuan, who joined the local administration six months ago but tendered a resignation letter effective Dec 1." "In the end I realized I couldn't habitually adjust to the corruption culture.... The local [administrative] system is like a tool for the administrators to make money and not just politicians but civil servant like the director of the Civil Engineering Section as well... Their bad deeds can be narrated without end. May all of them pay for their graft and corruption... If my body is still well [after suicide] please donate it to Khon Kaen University's Department of Anatomy." Panumesuan's body was found inside his pickup truck where he apparently took his own life by letting the car emissions in. The man also left another letter to the public inside the car.

Bangkok Post: Senator says officers are taking bribes from traders

Bangkok Post: Parks chief sacked amid corruption investigation

The younger brother of one of the four brothers, a deputy immigration inspector, accompanied his brother to Hong Kong before telling the police that he knew nothing about (his brother's) online gambling operation. Are the police trying to take us for fools?

For additional information please read the report published by Bangkok Post.

The Nation Thailand: Thailand's new 300-baht 'landing' fee for foreigners gets go-ahead

Thai PBS World Cabinet approves tourist fee of 150-300 baht for all foreign tourists

The Straitstimes Thailand to impose $12 entry fee for foreign travellers from June as tourism booms

Bell Travel Services now offers bus transfers not only from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Pattaya, but also from Don Mueang Airport to the Pattaya Bus Terminal on North Road. Timetable:

Suvarnabhumi Airport to Pattaya: 08:30 10:30 14:30 18:00
Departure from Level 1 Gate 8, near Airport Street Food hall

Pattaya to Suvarnabhumi Airport: 06:00 09:00 13:00 17:00
Departure from Pattaya Bus Terminal on North Road

Fare (one way): 300 Baht

Don Mueang Airport to Pattaya: 10:30 15:00
Departure from Terminal 2 between Gate 10 and 11

Pattaya to Don Mueang Airport: 06:00 15:00
Departure from Pattaya Bus Terminal on North Road

Fare (one way): 350 Baht

Tickets can be purchased at the relevant departure points or booked online via Bell Travel Services.

Ekamai to Pattaya Fare: 131 Baht 06:00 - 21:00 : Bus runs every hour

Pattaya to Ekamai Fare: 131 Baht 04:30 - 21:00 : Bus runs every hour

Bagna (Rungrueng Bus Station) to Pattaya Fare: 131 Baht 06:30 - 21:30 : Bus runs every hour

Morchid to Pattaya Fare: 131 Baht 06:00 - 18:00 : Bus runs every 2 hours

Pattaya to Morchid Fare: 131 Baht 05:00, 07:30, afterwards 10:00 - 18:00 : Bus runs every 2 hours

Suvarnabhumi to Jomtien Fare: 143 Baht 07:00 - 21:00 : Bus runs every hour

Jomtien to Suvarnabhumi Fare: 143 Baht 07:00 - 21:00 : Bus runs every hour

Hua Hin Airport to Suvarnabhumi Fare: 325 Baht 06:00, 08:00, 10:00, 11:30, 12:00, 14:00, 16:00, 17:00, 18:00

Suvarnabhumi to Hua Hin Airport Fare: 325 Baht 07:30, 09:30, 10:30, 12:00, 13:00, 14:30, 16:00, 17:00, 18:00

Hua Hin to Pattaya Fare: 473 Baht 09:00, 15:00

Pattaya to Hua Hin Fare: 473 Baht 08:00, 16:00

Unkonscious Beach Festival 2023
Location: Alexa Beach Club, Na Jomtien

Burapa Bike Week Pattaya 2023
Location: Eastern National Sport Stadium on Soi Chaiyapruek 2

Pattaya Music Festival 2023
Location: Pattaya Beach Road, Jomtien Beach Road & Koh Larn

St. Patrick's Day Parade
Location: Alcazar Showcase, 2nd Road, Pattaya Beach Road

Rolling Loud
Location: Legend Siam, Na Jomtien

Songkran Festival
Location: Pattaya, Naklua, Jomtien

Unlike some other places in Pattaya, the bars and restaurants in the Rompho area are also attractive during the day - try it out!

The new Infectious Sports & Music Bar opens to the left of a Findig Shoes shop on Thappraya Road, just about 100 metres from Jomtien Beach.

Giant Octopus opened on Jomtien Beach Road. The large venue provides live music, food and drinks on two floors.

Oregano in the Rompho Complex doesn't really need any advertising. The restaurant, which is known as a pizzeria, is currently full almost every evening. Good quality at reasonable prices is obviously the recipe for success here too.

In recent years, Rompho Barbecue Buffet has evolved from an unassuming restaurant into a glittering star in the buffet sky. The restaurant is filled to capacity almost every evening. Adults pay 259 baht, children up to 130 cm 99 baht.

The premises of the former Good Day Food restaurant are now used by the new Hippo Bar. It is located to the right of the still closed Kiss, Food & Drink Group restaurant. We were credibly assured that only gazelles can be found in the Hippo Bar ....

Announced as an AKARA Hotel before the start of construction of the Grande Center Point Group's Space Hotel opposite, the building has been in ruins on Naklua Road for months. Years ago it was still listed as a link on the website of the AKARA Hotel in Bangkok, but the apparently abandoned project has now almost completely disappeared from the internet. Perhaps a good soul will be found to take on this very advanced construction and complete the project.

The former Witherspoons in front of the Basaya Hotel has become a popular meeting place on Beach Road as Café la Plage.

Since February 7th, the popular Threpprasit Market has been open seven days a week. As in the past, the market opens at around 17:00.

Banaras, the Indian Bar, Club & Restaurant on Pattaya Central Road, reopened.

A former Massage parlour for Chinese Customers turns into Ying Club on Pattaya 3rd Road.

Drinking Street, for more than a decade a popular meeting place with many open bars, restaurants and car parks in the north of Pattaya Second Road, will be demolished and put to a new use.

A Sand & Stone Health massage parlour and Genie's all-in-one café, kitchen, lounge and resthouse have opened on the site where Grover's Inn & Restaurant was located on Pattaya Beach Road until the pandemic outbreak.

Under a completely renewed roof at the entrance to Soi 8, several new bars have pitched their tents and are waiting for thirsty guests.

Destiny and Hyderabad are two new restaurants offering reasonably priced food to Soi 8 visitors as a complement to the well-known Sailor Bar.

Hamura Bar has opened in the premises of the former Lisa's Coyotee Bar in front of the popular One Patio Hotel in the northern part of Pattaya Second Road.

On Bali Hai, where there used to be an Italian trattoria and the Pattaya Rocket Ball, there is now a new 7-ELEVEN in an architecturally beautifully designed building.

The former Subway sandwich shop in front of the Eastiny Hotel entrance in Soi 8 is still unused and looking for a new tenant.

As our photo shows, Second Road between Soi 8 and Soi 7 has been firmly in Indian hands since the end of the pandemic.

The Walkabout Creek Pub near the Fairrit Shopping Centre and Tony's Fitness at the junction of South Road / 3rd Road has been closed for good.

The Base Inn opened in Soi Honey (official name: Soi 11, off Pattaya 2nd Road), where Arya Inn used to be. Room rates start at 600 Baht/night. The new hotel also runs a nice Bistro & Bar and is located opposite the world renowned Honey 1 Body Massage Parlour.

Basilisk, once a very popular hangout on Pattaya Walking Street, moved to the Tree Town Bar Complex in Soi Buakhaow during the pandemic. When the JJay Bar closed, the management took the opportunity to move their location within the Tree Town area.

What used to be the Basilisk Bar at the back of the Tree Town Complex is now the Sai Bar. Smoothies and cocktails, among other drinks, are served here.

The new gentelmen's club with an integrated A Go-Go lounge and bar has been around for about a month. The place is only a few metres away from Soi Buakhao's At All Café on 2nd Road's Soi 21.

Gomzi's Bar & Restro and Premium Coffee Shop & Guesthouse in Soi Lengkee, off Soi Buakhao, are two new and highly recommended places to eat and drink.

What used to be Shanghai in Soi Lengkee is now Paris is Love, a French restaurant with an integrated bar.

Where Kilkenny's Bar and Guesthouse used to be, the Mayfair Group, known for its Mayfair Bar in Soi Buakhao, is opening a fabulous Las Vegas A Go-Go Club, a dine-in nightclub.

Lips Lounge has opened in Soi Honey. A lounge by day and a go-go bar by night, the venue has some connection to Pandora's A Go-Go Club in Soi Lk Metro and - as the logo suggests - to the Lush Lounge in Soi Chaiyapoon.

The Ratanakorn Bar Complex located near the popular Night Market in Soi Buakhao returns to its roots, opening up the part of the building that previously housed a Tesco/Lotus Express convenience store as a bar area.

As Friends, the HipHop Disco, as well as the 69.1 Club in Soi LK Metro, off Soi Buakhao are closed for renovation.

Bling Disco was closed to make way for a new - or improved - nightclub. The disco opened on August 31th, 2022, as the "sexiest disco club in town" but never won over its visitors.

Harry's Place, a 12-room guesthouse opposite the world-famous Honey 1 Body Massage Parlour in Soi Honey, is available for rent. If you are interested, please call 081 874 6697.

The well-known Route 69 Bar will get a new life as Route 69 A Go-Go Club.

Please come back at night. Then it is truly spectacular!

A still-mysterious venue is to replace a repeatedly announced but never opened Indian MAYA nightclub to the left of the King Kebab Booth. Its name: Shadow in Cave.

Sugar girls, a nightclub with attractive ladies, mainly from Russia, has opened in the premises of the formerly controversial Sea Potion Shark's Fin restaurant.

On the second floor of the Lucky Bar building, where until a few months ago the Champion A Go-Go Club had its ladies dancing, the Mixx Disco, known from Bali Hai Entertainment Complex, has opened a branch.

Two Brothers has opened an open-air chill & restaurant to the right of Oring's Massage & Spa.

Flex A Go-Go has opened in Soi Diamond, off Walking Street, in the premises of the former Central Club (which was also briefly announced as Su A Go-Go but never opened).

The Trillion Club, once an Indian discotheque in Soi 16, off Pattaya Walking Street, has closed and is available for rent. The club is a remnant of Tony's former empire. If you are interested, please call 088 844 9656

Hilton Club A Go-Go, a bar in Soi Diamond, has closed its doors. The establishment had a short life. It opened on September 10th, 2022, in the premises of the former Diamond Sports Bar.

Mong Do Lay, once home to Alan Burger's cozy Burger outlet, is now a simple high-spirit outlet.

Miniso, the Chinese gadget shop with a Japanese touch located opposite the still ailing Soho Square, has closed for good.

Heaven Club A Go-Go, a well-known second-floor nightclub on Soi Diamond, off Walking Street, is up for sale. If you are interested, please call 098 326 3248