The Lighter Side of Police Corruption in Bangkok, Thailand

My very pregnant friend, craving fruit in a way that only the pregnant can, managed to convince her husband to take her to market on the back of his motorbike. 

Somehow deciding that their sole helmet should be worn by the driver, the choice in judgement was heavily questioned by the policeman who pulled them over. 

Amenable and apologetic, they paid the fine of 300 baht directly to the policemen, as is the Thai custom.

Thai policeman

Continuing onwards, they realized upon arrival that they had no money left to spend. 

Lacking bank cards, instead of returning home, they went back the short distance to the policeman, nicely approached him, and asked if they could get a rebate on the bribe so that they could afford some fruit. 

He pulled 100 baht out of his pocket, and handed it to them with a smile. 

Even corrupt police are friendly in Thailand. 

 video: differences in police forces around the world

Corrupt Thai Police

Meet with friends, getting late, excuse myself, take a taxi home. Driver pulls onto a side-street connecting to the main road. Police shine a light onto the cab, and seeing me, order the taxi to pull over.

Testily, they command me to exit the car. Not amused, unsure what’s going on, I see little choice. 

“Where’s your passport?” they demand.
“Back at the hotel,” I reply. I make it a habit to keep my most valuable travel position under lock and key as much as possible.

I’m wearing short sleeves and shorts. “What have you got in your pockets?” 

"Nothing." 

“Show us,” they order.

I pull out a small wad of cash, and a black credit card. “What’s that?” they ask accusingly. “My hotel key,” I respond, “Why are you searching me?” This isn’t America where the police must have probable cause.

“Empty other pocket,” they order. 

“I don’t have anything.”

“Empty pocket.” 

Two cases, one small green plastic labelled 'Glide,' and the other a metallic black emerge.

“What’s that?” they demand. 

“Dental floss dude.”

“And that?”

“My camera, would you like me to take your picture?”

They glower at me. “Where are you going?” 

“Back to my hotel to get some sleep.”

Unhappy, they tell me to get back into the cab and go. I don’t delay. Undoubtedly they were hoping to find some contraband substance, likely drugs, not so they could haul me away to jail, but so they could extract a bribe from me.

Not feeling great about the encounter, part of life I guess. 

the not always honorable Thai police