I just loved this one. Here it is, as it appears in the PATTAYA CITY NEWS:

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American and Three Water Police Arrested on a Variety of Charges

 

On Tuesday evening the 29th of August police from Banglamung station arrested three Pattaya-based Water Policemen who will more than likely be charged with the attempted bribery and extortion of a 52-year-old American national named Billy Whittaker.

 

Three days earlier, Mr Whittaker had been arrested by the Water Police in front of the VC Hotel in south Pattaya after they discovered him in possession of 100 ecstasy tablets as well as a loaded pistol, a sub-machine pistol, six loaded magazines, spare bullets and 600,000 baht in cash.

 

According to Mr Whittaker the Water Police took him back to their base where he claimed they offered to let him go if he would pay them a lump sum of 2 million baht. The American told them he didn

So the guy is wandering around Pattaya with a loaded pistol and a sub machine gun and large amounts of drugs! What a quiet suburban backwater you all live in.

 

But I would guess that the policeman that the drugs dealer called at Banglamung was the dealer's protector.

What a quiet suburban backwater you all live in.

 

Even with these sorts of goings on I still feel much safer here than I ever did in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area. Of course, with more and more crime reports, especially violent crime, that feeling is slowly, but surely, being whittled away. I remember feeling perfectly safe literally anywhere in Pattaya at any time of day or night. Now I'm not so sure anymore.

 

Don't forget, to the average Thai mind "farang" equates with large amounts of money. That makes you a potential target for criminals, especially if you are the type who flashes large amounts of cash or wears expensive gold chains. Snatching gold chains and making a quick getaway has become a very common crime in Pattaya now.

 

I'm reading more and more reports about "farang" who are caught committing felonious crimes in Thailand. I don't get it. The consequences are bad enough in one's home country, but ending up in a Thai prison is not a risk I'd want to take. I suppose greed is one factor. Stupidity is another one. It's hard for me to imagine someone crazy enough to go to a foreign country and start committing crimes, but I see reports about just that more and more often.