Aussie arrested in Phuket over mat theft (AAP)

[Sean Moran]

Aussie arrested in Phuket over mat theft
May 19, 2009, 11:02 am <GMT+10>

Australian embassy officials in Thailand are providing consular assistance to a Melbourne woman charged with stealing a bar mat from a bar in Phuket.

Full Story.

[villager]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/5 ... mat-theft/

Aussie arrested in Phuket over mat theft
May 19, 2009, 11:02 am <GMT+10>

Australian embassy officials in Thailand are providing consular assistance to a Melbourne woman charged with stealing a bar mat from a bar in Phuket.

Full Story.

Hey Sean, many thanks for bringing this total lunacy to the forum members attention , this sort of thing will draw fellow Aussie,s like a magnet to Thailand,s already terminally ill tourist trade , in my view she should be compensated for her experiencing this total nonsense by over zealous power crazed officials and an official apology be made, of course we both know this will not be forthcoming in case the officials "lose face".

[Sean Moran]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/5 ... mat-theft/

Aussie arrested in Phuket over mat theft
May 19, 2009, 11:02 am <GMT+10>

Australian embassy officials in Thailand are providing consular assistance to a Melbourne woman charged with stealing a bar mat from a bar in Phuket.

Full Story.

Hey Sean, many thanks for bringing this total lunacy to the forum members attention , this sort of thing will draw fellow Aussie,s like a magnet to Thailand,s already terminally ill tourist trade , in my view she should be compensated for her experiencing this total nonsense by over zealous power crazed officials and an official apology be made, of course we both know this will not be forthcoming in case the officials "lose face".

Don't forget that her own friends have confessed to setting her up. Still I wonder how she happened to walk out without realising that they'd stuffed a bar mat in her handbag.

[villager]

Hey Come on Sean, even if she was aware don,t you think that this was a touch of the "using a sledgehammer to crack open a peanut", but don,t you agree this sort of news will not fall easy to the prospective Aussie tourist?

[Sean Moran]

Theft is a criminal offence where I come from. Same goes for Victoria where Melbourne is. We can go to jail for it even!

Why does the name Shappelle Corby spring to mind now?
"I don't know WHO put the bar mat in my bodyboard bag, your honor!"

[villager]

Theft is a criminal offence where I come from. Same goes for Victoria where Melbourne is. We can go to jail for it even!

Why does the name Shappelle Corby spring to mind now?
"I don't know WHO put the bar mat in my bodyboard bag, your honor!"

Hey Sean , are you trying to inform me that in Ozz it,s normal practise to throw someone in the slammer for 4 day,s for being suspected of stealing a beer mat , over and out , period,and I mean period.

[Sean Moran]

Wasn't there something in the article about the case going to court on Monday? In any case, she made bail from what I remember. Being held on remand without bail for four months before your trial is quite normal practice in Australia. There's kind of "side-valving" sort of argot that is known about how the innocent ones on remand are the angriest of all. She'll get her day in court, but it should be interesting to see if further arrests might be made in this sordid bar-mat trafficking fiasco!

Certainly breaks the monotony to hear about a live one down in Phuket for a change, anyway.

[villager]

Beer mats are supplied FREE by the brewery as part of their advertising/marketing budget.
They're only made of paper mache and printer with slogans. They are completely worthless.
We used to have a game for pints to see how many beer mats you could flip
For those unfamiliar with this English pub game, place the mat(s) on the edge of the bar with 50% poking over and then strike down and as they flip catch them between your thumb and 2nd finger The winner is the person who flips and catches the most mats. You get three tries at each level like a high or long jump competition
What is God's name is going on in Thailand This story is even more ridiculous than the Simon Burrows story
Where is Abhisit and the TAT in all this, they seems completely out of touch with events, who is really running the show
Sounds like the "New Gestapo" to me

Hey Pappy , Just what is going on here, Sean Starts this thread, then appears to support the ridiculously heavy handed approach by the Thai officials for the heinous crime of "stealing" a beer mat by a fellow Aussie, nice show of patriotism though for which under any circumstances from any other country in the world would be regarded as a "storm in a teacup" .

[villager]

PHUKET: A Melbourne mother of four is facing five years in a Thai jail after allegedly "stealing" a bar mat (coaster) from a Phuket pub. The report says 36-year-old Annice Smoel was arrested by undercover police as she left the Aussie Bar in Patong on May 3. She says friends had put the bar mat in her handbag as a prank, but the undercover police working in the bar found the mat and arrested her. She spent two nights in a four-metre-by-four-metre jail cell.
"I had only just picked it up … had a quick look inside and saw there was something I didn't recognize in it," she said.
"I was nowhere near the handbag
One of the girls involved went down to the police, confessed and apologised, they told her to go away."
Ms Smoel, who was in the country to celebrate her mother's 60th birthday, has been stranded in Thailand for the past 17 days after police confiscated her passport. She said she was hanging in there, but wanted to get home as soon as possible to see her four children, aged six, eight, 11 and 12.
If she is found guilty, Ms Smoel faces between two and five years in jail.
Ms Smoel is now stranded in Phuket as the police have seized her passport pending adjudication of the case.
It is understood that her husband has returned to Melbourne to look after the couple's children.
The incident follows the arrest and incarceration for 3 weeks of British national Simon Burrowes earlier this year after he had spoken "rudely" with an Immigration officer at Phuket International Airport. He was finally found guilty of the offense in court and fined 500 baht (approx US$ 14.28).

Who are these "undercover police" working in Patong bars - The "New Gestapo"
Welcome to Thailand, The Land of Smiles Enjoy your holiday but don't laugh, don't talk (your conversation is being monitored), don't complain about anything (especially about the THB150 ATM charge), watch what you eat and drink (it could be poisoned), don't wander around alone especially after dark, you're likely to be mugged, raped or murdered, just give them your money and [MOD EDIT, word change]: "bugger off" cos that's all they're interested in and Immigration/Police will arrest you on the slightest pretext in order to make sure that they get some of your money too.
It's a country of bandits and they're all out to rob you

Hey Pappy , with respect lets try and keep your posts strictly onto this thread of which Sean is the OP , as I personally feel his reply,s to myself are somewhat odd and without any sympathy whatsoever , I simply decided to "close the show", maybe he would like to add to your comments on the thread he chose to post.

[Sean Moran]

"I don't like cricket ... Oh No!
I love it ... "