Exploring Kuala Lumpur

 This is a long overdue entry which was supposedly posted in February 2011 but I didn’t have the time to finish it and I almost totally forgot about it.  Anyway, I am posting this blog  just the same,  about our Chinese New Year tour In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 4 months later 😀

My sister Kristine, her boyfriend Aba, and I spent Chinese New year in Malaysia (February 2-4, 2011).  We went to Kuala Lumpur and Genting.

The trip didn’t start well because we went to Johor Bahru to take the bus to Kuala Lumpur thinking that it is cheaper compared to getting a coach bus from here (Singapore)  I was the one who suggested that we go JB and take the bus from there to KL- the fare from Singapore is around  SGD 60-90 ++ per person while from JB to KL will only be around less than 40 ringgit per person.  It didn’t occur to me that it was Chinese new year and most of the people from Singapore will be going to Malaysia, KL in particular.  All bus lines are full and so we were also fooled.  We almost grabbed any transport being offer at double the price, we bought a ticket worth 70 or 80 Ringgit for a supposedly “bus ride” going to KL only to find out that we will be stuffing our arse in a sedan so I had our tickets refunded and they willing returned our money at less than 10 ringgit each (gggrrrr)  Good thing that we were able to get a bus schedule with causeway link express coach just that we have to wait for more 6 hours.

waiting at JB bus terminal for more than 6 hours 😦

So there, we arrived at KL at around midnight on the 3rd of February.  We stayed in one of the budget hotels in China town along Petaling Street.  We were expecting that since it is China town, the celebration of Chinese new year would be noisy and grandiose but it was short of both.

Anyway,  we started so early on February 3.  We grabbed an Indian food for breakfast in one of the hawker food stores there (there was a mcdonald’s just infront of our hotel though) and uuuhhhhrrrrmmmm I am not going to do that again (I mean eating in Indian hawker stores outside of Singapore).  It was tttteeerrrible 😦

Seeing KL for the first time in day light gave as an “aaaahhhh, ok?” reaction.  KL, aside from the KLCC, petronas area, is like a a very-wide-and-long Quiapo + Recto + Divisoria + Espana+ Baclaran + Monumento.  The streets were dirty, with garbage everywhere, and the air smells stinky.  We were able to roam around KL through bus and the trains, thanks to our tour guide Jeff (Aba’s friend)

Here are a few tourist’s attractions we visited during our trip:

1) China town at Petalling Street:  what can I say, this is the haven of all fakes.  Fake bags, shoes, accessories, etc. from LV, coach, gucci, and all expensive brands you can think of.  We bought our “I love Malaysia” souvenir shirts from China town

at China town - Petaling Street

2) Batu Caves  :  It’s one of the most popular tourist spot that is located in 2ombak District, 13 kilometers north of KL.  There is an MRT or LRT, I’m not sure, that is going straight to batu caves, and the station name is batu caves of course.

Batu Cave, is a big cave with series of caves and Hindu temples within the caves.  It is where the Indians hold there Hindu ceremony’s. Oh and there were lots of monkeys too.

My sister Kristine and me

at the entrance to Batu cave

the 272 steep steps going to batu caves

Kristine & Aba inside the Batu Cave@ the batu cave - the monkey vs Kristine

3) Petronas Towers  &  KLCC mall : everyone knows the petronas tower, the tallest skycrapers in Asia if not in the whole world.  And they really looked magnificent and majestic.  Just being there ang looking at it, you will forget that Kuala Lumpur is … forgettable… KLCC mall is actually the mall beneath the twin towers.  It is a big and modern mall that houses expensive signature brands.

at the Petronas TowerKLCC area, around the petronas tower

4) Resort World Genting :   it is a hill resort located more than one hour bus ride northeast of KL.    It is one of those resorts and casinos owned by the owner of resort world Sentosa in Singapore.  We didn’t stay there long because we had to catch the last trip back to Singapore which is at 3:30 PM.  Also, Aba and Kristine weren’t able to enjoy the rides there because one of the rides they wanted is faulty at that time.

@ the Resort World Gentingat Resort World Genting with the defective rides

So that was basically our Kuala Lumpur exploration.  The travel time is a gruelling 4++ hours from Johor Bahru to Kuala Lumpur  and 7-8 hours from Genting to Singapore.

– Sharosem (4June2011)

Coach bus

at one of the bus-stopovers going back to Singapore from Genting

Our Bintan Holiday

Frederick is in Singapore for a few weeks of vacation in April.  He only informed me of his vacation plan in early March AND that didn’t give me ample time to prepare for a grand getaway holiday.  He intended to surprise me but I warned him not too.  I don’t want suggestive surprises.

Since April is my husband’s birthday month, and he was here in Singapore in time for his birthday, I planned of giving him an unforgettable and enjoyable birthday present – a holiday trip again.  I was actually contemplating on going back to Phuket, Karon this time as it is more quiet and peaceful there, but I think April is a rainy season in Phuket so that will just spoil our fun.  Bali came to mind (Frederick suggested we go Bali too) but having less than a month to book, I wasn’t able to get a good tour package rate – tour packages were really expensive!!!  Good thing my Pinay colleague (Ana Bartolome) suggested why not try Bintan.  And so why not?

There were several factors “I” had considered for this trip as this is my birthday present to my Frederick. Of course, I have to consult and get his approval before booking.  First, the tour package must be a value-for-money up to the last centavos we are going to spend.  Second, the trip should not be physically tormenting for me (I don’t want to walk, to run, to hike, to climb, etc.).  Third, the place has to have a beach with beautiful sceneries because Frederick love the waters and nature.  Fourth, the ambiance should be quiet, relaxing, and conducive to baby-making.  Oh, you can check my blog post on Celebrating My Husband’s Birthday   for a more detailed considerations about our holiday 😀

We stayed 4 days and 3 nights at Bintan Agro Resort.  So how was our trip?  My husband enjoyed it and definitely I did too 🙂  What we loved most about this trip were:

1)      The Ferry ride  – well it’s not about the ferry per se as it was a bumpy two hour ride on high seas in an old, worn-out boat just twice or trice the size of a speed boat. It was about the travel it self.  This is our first journey getting off the shores of Singapore to Indonesia (Tanjung Pinang Bintan) I love travelling with my husband, may it be 12 hours by land, by sea, or by air. Regardless of how long or how excruciating the length and method of travel is, I enjoy it as long as I am with Frederick.  It is always nice to have someone who cuddles me and assures me everything is ok when the ride becomes rough and harrowing.

2)      The Bintan Agro Resort, the beautiful, peaceful, quiet, and relaxing ambiance, the friendly, always smiling, always helpful, and approachable staffs, and the 5 star treatment we received, it really was worth the money we spent.  Check the resort’s site for rates and promos http://www.agrobeach.com/index.html

3)      The waters, the pool and the beaches-  we enjoyed the beach though only went swimming in the beach during high tide as the water will go knee deep on the supposed shore line but when it’s low tide, which usually occurs in the afternoon around 4pm, the current is already strong and the shore line would literally be full of crawling crustaceans, small and big, sharp shells, mollusks those were, and they vary in shape from the regular clam shape, to spiral-shapes (agurong in Ilocano), to round, and they come in many colors too, black, grey, white, green, peach, etc.   We literally swim with school of baby fishes (during low tide), and played with some sea creatures starfishes, live shells, small crabs, small fishes, etc.

4)      The food – We had the best kwey teow we ever tasted at Bintan Agro resort, well that is comparing it the kwey teows we have tasted in Singapore and Malaysia.  The unique smokey flavour, according to my husband, might have been the secret to the resort’s kwey teow.  We give them a 4 thumbs up (out of 5)

The food at Bintan Agro Resort in general is simple and quite good in terms of taste and serving portions, but the variety is quite limited (both restaurants in the resort serve almost the same menu and the one at their sister resort, Cabana, also serve the same food) So by the third day, we don’t know what to eat anymore so we end up eating our own packed food- chips, chocolates, nuts and oh the icecream we bought from their convenient store. And good thing too is that, we had our city tour on our third day, so we got to experience outside local foods which we find quite acceptable.

Bintan didn’t disappoint Frederick in terms of exotic local food because he was able to taste a few.

5)      The sceneries and ambiance – Bintan’s beach is not as blue as I have imagined it to be and the sands were not as smooth and fine as those in Phuket, but the verdant green surroundings and the red-brown bauxite soil is really refreshing to the eyes. With the resorts solitary and isolated location (it’s an hour by private car away from the city proper), and despite the presence of many guests during our stay there,   it provided a serene, peaceful and quiet ambiance that was really relaxing and refreshing, and of course very conducive to lots of baby-making activities.

We also went to a few places around Bintan during our city tour, however, we didn’t really find them interesting.

6)      The sweddish massage- after our long day of sunburning swimming activities and leg-straining strolling we had around the resort we treated ourselves to a pampering Swedish massage. The masseurs were friendly and skilled. And the massage, it was relaxing and rejuvenating.

The only regret we had is that we haven’t had enought time to try the sea sport offered by the resort, like the flying fish, u-slalom, snorkeling, and fishing.  The best thing that happened aside from seeing my husband enjoying was that I learned how to swim and it all happened in Bintan 🙂

– Sharosem(3May2011)

Random Thoughts and Whines

 

1) May 7 is the General Elections in Singapore.  It’s not like I am going to vote cause I can’t and I’m not even a permanent resident here (nagrereklamo ako kasi nireject yung application namin) It’s just that this is my very first time to personally observe how elections are outside Pinas and I’d say election in Singapore is really really organize and peaceful unlike the colorful, extravagant, circus-like, and violent elections that we always have in the Philippines.  Ika nga ni Ana Bartolome “wala man lang daw drama”.  

The posters of each of the candidates are up and are placed on specific corners only.  No personal ads on print, radio, and tv but there had been “uncut”, “unedited” political forums broadcasted on tv for the past days. It’s an hour long debate pitting the 4 opposition parties against the ruling political party PAP (The People’s Action Party, led by PM Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew) It had been a “favorite” tv program of my husband while he was here in Singapore.  The candidates also have party rallies- a big crowd of  over 15,000 turned up at an opposition party’s rally particularly the Worker’s Party.  And the candidates’ campaigns are focus more on their official platforms, what they can offer Singapore, how they are going to tackle issues/problems concerning the country and its citizens,  and their programs and how they are going to do about it, and not on image and personality build-up.  Even political tirades and propagandas are focus on professional and political credibility of the candidates and their parties and not on personal matters.

With less than 10 days to campaign, I don’t know how the candidates are going to pull the strings to win. At this point I do not know of nor am I aware of any candidate aside from those belonging to the ruling political party PAP, owing that to memory recall.

I believe Singaporeans are taking the elections pretty seriously and whoever they choose will be base on what that candidate and his/her party has to offer specially on pressing issues such as the rising cost of living and of course on the influx of foreign talents like me meow moah. 

2) American Idol  contenders this season are very talented and each are blessed with their own unique style and of course I’m betting on James Durbin, Scottie Mccreery, and Casey Abrams for the title so voting off Casey at this level really disappoints me, AGAIN.  YesAmerica, you disappointed me twice this season.  T’was a BIG BIG BIG JOKE!!! I was expecting Jacob to go, but, really??? Casey??? It only shows that American idol is just about popularity contest either that or American viewers really do not know what pure talent means.  

3) Hygiene and offensive body odor.  I take a bath at least two times a day, I brush my teeth at least two to three times a day, I use deodorant everyday and see to it that my armpits are flawless (tawas lang po tawas), and I make sure that I am clean and I don’t smell repulsive and annoy other people.  It’s all about hygiene.  I understand that body odors depend on an individual’s body chemistry – sweat produce, bacteria on the skin that feed on the sweat, the metabolism process, the food that we intake, etc. etc.  But people, seriously??? We can reduce producing unpleasant smells through proper hygiene.  Water is abundant in this country, soap and shampoos are also inexpensive.  If you don’t want to use deodorant, fine, just please clean yourself with water and soap.  Do it for your own good. Bathing refreshes and relaxes the body.  If you are physically active and sweaty, like when you jog and you sweat a lot, I will understant and will not be annoyed even if you emit the worst and most stinky smell on earth.  But if you are well dressed and fully made-up for work, or for a party, or for whatever, , please make sure that you don’t smell bad as people will find you very unattractive, repulsive, and worse, annoying.

4) Wishing I’m pregnant.  I haven’t tested for pregnancy yet because I don’t want to get disappointed for the nth time again. Just wishing and praying I am.  Surprise me God please 🙂

5) Career change.  Any good advice anyone??? I’m begging you.  Ayoko na talaga dito sobrang ayoko na dito gustong gusto ko ng umalis sa kumpanyang ito!!!  I need to get my brains working again!

That’s all about it for today. Ciao.

-Sharosem(29April2011)

PS:  I miss Frederick.  I really miss my husband.

Now I Know How to Swim

the competition pool at Sengkang swimming complex

my handsome swimming teacher 🙂

at Bintan Agro (Indonesia)

 

Yes, I now know how to swim, at least from one point to another.  That is, to be exact, from one end of the competition pool to its middle section (a competition pool has a length of 25 yards and 1.2m- 1.8m deep)

It pays to have a good and patient teacher to learn how to swim 🙂 and thanks to my dear husband Frederick for being that. I am truly grateful.

Frederick had been encouraging me to learn how to swim so that we can enjoy the waters together.  He loves swimming and it is one of his favorite past time if not sports.  I never liked the water.  Don’t get me wrong, I like the water for drinking, cooking, washing, specially for bathing and when I crap.  But wading in the water is something that never appealed to me.  Submerging my feet in water gives me the notion and feeling of sinking and drowning that’s why I never go near a body of water unless I am with someone who knows how to swim and who I trust will not drown me :-).  

His previous attempts to teach me how to swim had been futile because I was too stubborn to even just flop my legs in the water and I have a lot of reasons and excuses to not to learn swimming.  So all I had been doing every time my husband and I were in a pool or beach was to always cling to him.  I wrap my arms or both my arms and legs around him and he carries me around, and I know he never enjoyed the waters as much as I did with me a burden on his back.  That  might have pushed him to take a more dramatic and drastic approach to get me to learn how to swim :p   No more Mr. nice guy giving in to my whining and pleas so I could get away from swimming 😦   No more considerate advices and words of encouragement like “you have to conquer your fears Dear” or “swimming is better than jogging because it helps you tone your body without the physical strain and sweat you get from jogging”.   And whenever I start complaining about this and that he shut me up using my own words,  “Dear where’s your “If there’s a will there will always be a way no matter what way that is” or “pag gusto, maraming paraan. pag ayaw, maraming dahilan”.  And the best part is he threatened me in order to motivate me and  increase the determination in me to learn how to swim.  Yeah, seriously he threatened me-  “Dear hindi tayo aalis dito (beach/pool) ng hindi ka natututong lumangoy” (we are not getting out of the water until you can swim), those were his exact words.  My mathematical instinct, automatically calculates the effect of those words to us: 

longer time in the water = lesser time for us inside the bedroom= reduced quality time together????!!!!

branching out to other equations like lesser baby-making activities=reduced chances of getting pregnant.   

That was unacceptable for me.  No can do.  There goes the button, he hit it right at the middle. The thought of that sent a lightning-speed signal to my brain jolting my cells, nerves, and muscles so I’d float and swim,  and indeed, it was effective 🙂 

Frederick was ecstatic when he saw me swim for the first time without him helping me.   His smiles were big and wide as if he won the lotto.

In two days, while we are having our holiday in Bintan, Indonesia, amidst the  agonizing and burning rays of the king sun and the stinging saltiness of the sea water that had been aggravating my burnt and dehydrated skin,  I learned how to swim :-). And Frederick also helped my sister Kristine with her swimming when we get back to Signapore.  Now, we both can swim and I can have swimming as part of my weekly activity. I just have to improve on the proper feet movement when swimming and hand movement, positions, and postures when doing a freestyle swimming stroke.  Frederick keeps on reminding me to do this and that, not like this or that (haaaaaaaayyyyysssss, deep sigh of being annoyed) 😀

Thank you Dear for not giving up on me and for believing I can do anything 🙂

Next to learn – DIVING 🙂

Now, I am challenging my husband for a lap swimming competion, but I have to improve my breathing technique while swimming.

– Sharosem(20April2011)

 

 

 

 

 

 

UN Plane Crashed in Kinshasa, DR Congo

 

On Monday, April 4, around 1PM,  Democratic Republic of Congo time, a United Nations plane crashed at Kinshasa Airport where my husband Frederick is stationed (He is part of UN’s crash and rescue group based at Kinshasa airport).  28 out of the 29 passengers and 4 crews aboard the plane died on the spot, the only  one man survivor is in critical condition (no update as of this writing). Frederick was devastated when he learned about the incident.  He was shocked in disbelief and horror, I can see that because some of his friends and colleagues were one of those who perished in the accident –  Jaco Dorfling and Randall Quickfall of PAE (UN contractor)

The news reached us on the very nigh t of Frederick’s birthday (April 5).  “Happy birthday manong Eric.  May UN plane daw na nagcrash sa Kinshasa (there’s a UN plane that crashed in Kinshasa)” came my sister Kristine’s text.  Way to end a day of celebration but my sister’s intention, of course, was just to inform and not to ruin our happy celebration.  She was not aware that the news will crash my husband.

Frederick could not believe the news until we got hold of the internet and checked the story out. And there it was, the news on the UN plane crash had been all over the headlines of BBC, CNN, UN news, MONUSCO etc. His facebook account had been flooded with heavy emotions from his colleagues and friends.  They were shocked and emotionally crashed due to the abrupt and tragic loss of lives of their colleagues, friends, and families.  I can see the pain they were experiencing at that time from the thread of messages posted on their fb walls. His colleagues in Kinshasa have been trying to get a grip with the accident and struggled to save the lives of the passengers as much as possible and to manage the situation. 

For my husband, he was not only distraught with sadness by the loss of his good friends, superior, and colleagues.  He felt helpless and frustrated also because he can’t be in Kinshasa to assist at the time when he is needed most.  If only he can, Frederick will fly back to Congo to extend his aid.

As for me, a wife who worries most of the time about the safety of her husband, I also feel devastated and frightened.  I am sensitive to other people’s feelings.  Yes, I am empathic – very much.  And seeing Frederick so sad breaks my heart. I may not have met nor have known his colleagues but I was also saddened with their untimely death.  I mourn for them and I also grieve along with their families and friends.  I understand the feeling of losing someone dear to you.  I feel them and I hate that kind of feeling nor do I want to be at the other side grieving for losing a love one.  That is precisely the reason why my thoughts and feelings had been chaotic when we learned of the tragic news but I tried not to show it to Frederick coz I don’t want to be an additional nightmare to him.  

I have mixed emotions about the tragedy: sadness, sorrow, anxiety, anger, worries, fear, restlessness, impatience, not to mention that my paranoia has heightened to its worst level.   As the night went deeper and Frederick still engulfed with the tragedy (he is trying his luck to contact his colleagues back in Kinshasa) I became antsy and my paranoia has already overwhelmed me  up to my core.  Gruesome images of accidents, wars, people dying, people losing body parts, people burning, loved ones grieving have been flashing in my head.  I’ve become delusional that such fate might befall him (God will not allow that to happen – please)  I’ve become more  paranoid.  A worry-sick, paranoid, you can say that.  Accidents and deaths are concepts that my comprehension automatically rejects and if it is only possible to block them, it would. It is something I want to avoid very badly.  Now, these concepts are haunting me. And that makes me even more worried and fearful and paranoid about Frederick’s safety not only from such unwanted mishaps- plane crashes while on his way to anywhere else because he constantly travels or vehicular accidents while he is driving, or being caught on fire while he is sleeping, or being sucked in by an airplane’s propellers and engines at work, or hit by vehicles driven by notorious Congolese drivers while walking (another colleague of him died from a hit-and-run in Entebe last month) but worse, I am afraid that he’ll get caught up in the middle of wars in Africa specially now that the elections in DR Congo are nearing, I hope that there will be no political crimes, uprising, civil unrests, nor wars of any kind, now and in the future.  I am so worried and afraid, freakishly fearful, that something bad will happen to Frederick that’s why I don’t want him to go back to Congo if possible. I begged him not to go back, but as always, he recites to me the same line “kung oras mo, oras mo”, “if it’s my time to die, I will die, regardless of what I am doing, whenever and wherever I am even if I am just inside the house sleeping,”  that is always his line and it annoys me a lot. I understand the concept, but I refuse to accept the premise. I don’t want anything bad to happen to him, I hope he can understand that.  I don’t want to lose him in any way because I will definitely go insane.  I know that he had signed up for this kind of work and I too is aware of it but I can’t help to be worried most of the times.  I pray for Frederick always – for his health, for his safety, for him to be out of harm’s way.  Prayer is my only weapon I hold on to that keeps my sanity intact.  Yes, prayer…

From my husband Frederick and I, our sincerest and deepest condolences to the bereaved families and friends.  Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

– Sharosem(16April2011)

L-R: My husband Frederick & Chief Randall

Frederick (L) & chief Randall (R) at work

 

Frederick (L) and chief Randall (R) at play

 

 

News on the UN Plane that Crashed in Kinshasa

 

4 April 2011 (source UN News Center / www.UN.org & ) – Only one person out of 33 passengers and crew members has survived a United Nations plane crash today at the main airport in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The plane, which had been travelling from the north-eastern city of Kisangani, was attempting to land in heavy rain at N’Djili airport in Kinshasa when it crashed about 1.30 p.m. local time after missing the runway.

Alain Le Roy, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, told journalists that initial indications were that bad weather (heavy rain and high winds) was a key factor in the accident.

The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) reported that the plane was carrying 29 passengers and four crew members. All but five of the passengers worked for the UN, with the others working for international organizations or non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Most of the UN staff on board worked for MONUSCO but some were serving with UN agencies.

 

MONUSCO has opened a 24/7 emergency call service for any enquiries relative to the plane crash.  Here are the numbers to be called +243-818904447 / +243-997064447

The plane that crashed is a  Canadair CL-600-2B19 Regional Jet CRJ-100ER. For additional details on this accident please click on the link :  http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20110404-0

Below Photos of the UN plane crash incident were taken from the internet and are not owned by me. thank you for sharing these pictures.

 

Warning for Tourists on Airport Scams

 

I came across these posts in one of pinoysg.com’s forum and I want to share these to all frequent overseas travellers, specially to my husband Frederick and to our relatives and friends who travel a lot.

Please be careful when you go abroad specially to the countries mentioned in these two articles. Be wary and vigilant at all times and do not be too trusting.

Read on and pass around…

– Sharosem(14April2011)

 

 

1)  Subject: Customs and Duty-Free at the airports..

source http://www.pinoysg.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=895436#895436

Unbelievable, but please apply caution.

All those who travel a lot, please be very, very careful. Read ahead…

An Indian was detained in Bangkok for stealing a box of cigarettes in a duty-free shop in Bangkok International Airport. He had paid for chocolates and a carton of cigarettes. The cashier put a packet of cigarettes extra into his bag and he thought it was a free pack. He was arrested for shop-lifting and the Thai Police extortion price was 30,000 Baht for his release. He spent two nights in jail and paid 500 Baht for an air-conditioned cell, 200-300 baht for each visitor, and 11,000 baht for his final release. The Police shared the money in front of his eyes. On top of that, he was charged in court and fined 2,000 baht by the magistrate and handcuffed and escorted to his plane. His passport was stamped “Thief”.
While there, his relatives requested help from the Indian Embassy and was told that they are helpless, many Asians are victimised similarly daily and letters and phone-calls to the Thai authorities are ignored. He shared a cell with a Singaporean the first night who paid 60,000 baht for his release. The second night was a Malaysian national who paid 70,000 baht.

Mind you this was not in a shanty shop in downtown Bangkok but in a duty free shop at the Bangkok Int’l Airport. BE WARNED. The above 100% correct information because Mr.Rajan Khera’s customer from India faced exactly the same scenario mentioned above when he was in transit at Bangkok Int’l Airport coming to Taipei.

Someone who went through the same ordeal in Dubai. He bought stuff at the Duty Free upon entering. The girl at Duty Free put a bottle of cologne in his shopping bag (he did not even see it happen). He was arrested for stealing ( this is before he even picked up his luggage ). He sat at the airport jail (where he was harassed for the whole day. (NO FOOD, NO WATER) for one day and only after he paid a fine (bribe of US 500..). That is all the cash he had in his pocket at the time. They let him go.

These are scams that are happening all over the place. Please BE CAREFUL! All of this is pre-planned and the people who work at the airport know who to target.

2) Tourists warned of Thailand Airport Scam (by Jonathan Head, BBC News, Bangkok)

soure :  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8154497.stm

Bangkok’s showcase new international airport is no stranger to controversy.

Built between 2002 and 2006, under the governments of then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the opening date was repeatedly delayed.

It has been dogged by allegations of corruption, as well as criticism of the design and poor quality of construction.

Then, at the end of last year, the airport was shut down for a week after being occupied by anti-government protesters.

Now new allegations have been made that a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until they pay large sums of money to buy their freedom.

That is what happened to Stephen Ingram and Xi Lin, two IT experts from Cambridge, as they were about to board their flight to London on the night of 25 April this year.

They had been browsing in the duty free shop at the airport, and were later approached by security guards, who twice asked to search their bags.

They were told a wallet had gone missing, and that Ms Lin had been seen on a security camera taking it out of the shop.

The company that owns the duty free shop, King Power, has since put the CCTV video on its website, which does appear to show her putting something in her bag. However the security guards found no wallet on either of them.

Despite that, they were both taken from the departure gate, back through immigration, and held in an airport police office. That is when their ordeal started to become frightening.

 

Interpreter

“We were questioned in separate rooms,” Mr Ingram said. “We felt really intimidated. They went through our bags and demanded that we tell them where the wallet was.”

The two were then put in what Mr Ingram describes as a “hot, humid, smelly cell with graffiti and blood on the walls”.

Mr Ingram managed to phone a Foreign Office helpline he found in a travel guide, and was told someone in the Bangkok embassy would try to help them.

The next morning the two were given an interpreter, a Sri Lankan national called Tony, who works part-time for the police.

They were taken by Tony to meet the local police commander – but, says Mr Ingram, for three hours all they discussed was how much money they would have to pay to get out.

They were told the charge was very serious. If they did not pay, they would be transferred to the infamous Bangkok Hilton prison, and would have to wait two months for their case to be processed.

Mr Ingram says they wanted £8,000 ( about $13,000) – for that the police would try to get him back to the UK in time for his mother’s funeral on 28 April.

But he could not arrange to get that much money transferred in time.

 

‘Zig-zag’ scheme

Tony then took Ms Lin to an ATM machine and told her to withdraw as much as she could from her own account – £600. He then withdrew the equivalent of £3,400 from his own account.

According to Mr Ingram this was then handed over to the police, and they were both forced to sign a number of papers.

Later they were allowed to move to a squalid hotel within the airport perimeter, but their passports were held and they were warned not to leave or try to contact a lawyer or their embassy.

“I will be watching you,” Tony told them, adding that they would have to stay there until the £8,000 was transferred into Tony’s account.

On the Monday they managed to sneak out and get a taxi to Bangkok, and met an official at the British Embassy.

She gave the name of a Thai lawyer, and, says Mr Ingram, told them they were being subjected to a classic Thai scam called the “zig-zag”.

Their lawyer urged them to expose Tony – but also warned them that if they fought the case it could take months, and they risked a long prison sentence.

After five days the money was transferred to Tony’s account, and they were allowed to leave.

Mr Ingram had missed his mother’s funeral, but at least they were given a court document stating that there was insufficient evidence against them, and no charge.

“It was a harrowing, stressful experience,” he said.

The couple say they now want to take legal action to recover their money.

 

‘Typical’ scam

The BBC has spoken to Tony and the regional police commander, Colonel Teeradej Phanuphan.

They both say Tony was merely helping the couple with translation, and raising bail to keep them out of prison.

Tony says about half the £8,000 was for bail, while the rest were “fees” for the bail, for his work, and for a lawyer he says he consulted on their behalf.

In theory, he says, they could try to get the bail portion refunded.

Colonel Teeradej says he will investigate any possible irregularities in their treatment. But he said any arrangement between the couple and Tony was a private affair, which did not involve the police.

Letters of complaint to the papers here in Thailand make it clear that passengers are regularly detained at the airport for alleged shoplifting, and then made to pay middlemen to win their freedom.

The Danish Embassy says one of its nationals was recently subjected to a very similar scam, and earlier this month an Irish scientist managed to flee Thailand with her husband and one year-old son after being arrested at the airport and accused of stealing an eyeliner worth around £17.

Tony told the BBC that so far this year he has “helped” about 150 foreigners in trouble with the police. He says sometimes he does it for no charge.

The British Embassy has also warned passengers at Bangkok Airport to take care not to move items around in the duty free shopping area before paying for them, as this could result in arrest and imprisonment.

Here are a selection of your comments:

A similar system operates in Cambodia. Police arrest foreigners in the street and you are contacted by someone who claims to have influence with the police and judges and who asks for large sums for your immediate release, which doesn’t happen. I was even told at my friend’s trial that the police would provide witnesses of my friend’s offence if more money was not immediately provided. Even though there was no evidence against him and he was acquitted, a large sum had to be paid to the prison authorities for his release.
John Smith, Doncaster, England

Two friends and I travelled to Bangkok 29 December 2008. We were really worried about the situation there, as the airport had just been closed for some time several weeks before. Aside being quite harassed by taxi drivers who wanted to take us to hotels they no doubt received commission from, the experience wasn’t very trying at all.
Connor, Chicago, IL, USA

Another scam at Bangkok Airport is when the Thai customs meet passengers off airplanes from Dubai/Qatar where there is cheap duty free. The customs tell passengers to put duty free items inside their check-in luggage when they take it off the carousel – or they will be prosecuted for smuggling. They then tell people that it will be OK not to show or declare any duty free items. When the passengers reach the arrivals area, the customs pounce and you are arrested and taken to customs head office at BANG NA and told to pay four times the duty or go straight to jail. There is an ATM machine next door to the customs office. Your goods are kept by the officers and they then pocket the money you have paid them and you are free to go without any criminal record.
Paul Grant, London, UK

Same happened to me in April this year. The police arrested me and charged me approx £400. There were 5 of us in our group, we purchased 1000 cigarettes at Heathrow, but on leaving the plane at Bangkok the police approached me and told me to keep them in one bag. I did as I was told, and that was the set up, so when I got through customs with the other four people they arrested me and would not accept what we told them. They took copies of my passport and made me sign at least six documents, all in Thai. They would not give me copies so at this moment I don’t know what I signed. They escorted me to an ATM. I have been in touch with the British consulate who asked me if I want to make a complaint but I don’t want to go to another country and find they have done something to my passport. I will never return to Thailand again, it was the scariest time of my life.
Lynn Ward, UK