Transcript of the above video:

Unfortunately, this is becoming something of a recurring theme on this channel, this sort of 'foreigners behaving badly, sort of again recurring stories, recurring narratives. I suspect going into high season and with the, it's interesting, because it has been really sort of 5 years, well 4 years, since we've gone into a real high season like we are right now. Even last year, going into the high season nobody really had the attitude of oh we are going into a "high" season. Now it turned out to be a lot better than people thought, I have noted that in other videos, even the new season this year has been referred to as the ‘green season’ amongst many Thais, especially the tourist sector, as it appears a lot of folks are especially interested in Thailand's recent legalization of Cannabis are staying longer in Thailand and staying in non-peak times compared to years past. That said, we haven't really gone into a high season in like four or five years now where people were going in with expectations regarding a high season and the data points were indicative of a rather large high season. I think we are looking at a rather large high season coming. I mean I'm just sort of looking around on the streets of Bangkok and I'm seeing foreigners all over the place in October, and that is not overly common. Obviously we see tourists here year round but I think the numbers are going to be good this year, all things considered, and this is due to a number of different factors, most notably they have changed the visa rules - it is a lot easier to get in now and for a variety of reasons I think this is going to be a big high season.  

That said, going into that high season I suspect we'll probably have even more of these videos because again in the past, before social media got to the level it is now, and also before people could sort of become instant journalists by reporting on things, mostly using their smart phones and these stories sort of come out. So what I am trying to say is I don't think necessarily the foreign community is getting "worse" here in Thailand per se but I do have some questions especially this past low season where we saw a spate of incidences involving foreigners here - we have discussed that at length - but I am wondering if this is a phenomenon that we are just seeing now and it was always sort of like this or if we are really seeing a sea change with regard to the type of foreigners that come to Thailand. Time will tell and I'll keep making these videos and we can kind of parse that out as we go along.

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Thai Examiner, thaiexaminer.com, the article is titled: Brit high on pot tried to escape arrest in Pattaya. Held on night time invasion and Visa overstay charges. Quoting directly: "Brit, high on Cannabis, arrested in Pattaya," I think this is interesting. First of all it is notable, I think it's funny that the press, or certain aspects in the press are wanting to point out "oh this person was high on cannabis!" Notice that when other foreigners behaving badly and they are probably is alcohol involved, that's never inserted in there. Now this could be due to the fact that the Cannabis legalization is a relatively new phenomenon here in Thailand, but I wonder because there are certain special interest most notably Big Pharma and Big Alcohol, that are not big fans of the developments with regard to Cannabis here in Thailand. That said, I find it a little bit strange that it seems like some of the press go out of their way to note that: "oh, this person had Cannabis in their system." My next question would be did they have any alcohol in their system too? And if so why not mention both? Again, I don't know if there was but it's interesting. Quoting again: "Brit high on Cannabis arrested in Pattaya for night time invasion and Visa overstay. Held on deportation in notorious Thai Immigration Center after 120-day Visa lapse," - I'll get into that here in a moment - quoting further: "Charges of property damage add to his legal woes as he awaits trial and deportation. A UK man is being held at Nong Prue Police Station in Pattaya, facing nighttime invasion, property damage and Visa overstay charges. The 28-year-old was taken into custody on Thursday evening by a Chonburi Immigration Bureau Officer on foot of a Provincial Court warrant and on suspicion of overstaying his Visa. The Brit was high on Cannabis as he attempted to evade arrest." As usual Thai Examiner goes into a lot of detail; I urge those who are watching this video, go check out that article in detail. I hesitate to make light of any of this but apparently this person tried to like evade but they were high on Cannabis and that does not put you into the most clever of states of mind; it doesn't make you exactly act with alacrity and a lot of speed okay. That's just not the nature of Cannabis inebriation. That is just a fact. That said, quoting further, and I think this is a good teaching point for those who watch this channel, quoting further: "Deportation process can drag on for months with offenders required to cover expense of direct flights home. Cases like this often take months to resolve. For instance, offenders are required to cover the full cost of their deportation. Only direct flights with tickets purchased from airlines operating out of Bangkok are accepted by Authorities." And even then it's quite limited.

We assist oftentimes in these matters. I call it, and I'm borrowing a term from the American Immigration vernacular, but I call it "expedited deportation" so we get calls sometimes from people that are already in Immigration detention and they are looking for assistance in basically facilitating their way out, not in any untoward way, just dealing with the bureaucracy, dealing with the administrative functions or functionaires I should say and trying to basically move it through as quickly as possible to get out of detention because you just want to get out of there. Look I've seen many of the incarceration facilities here in Thailand over the years, the corrections facilities not limited to places like Klong Prem, the remand prison, the Pattaya Provincial facilities as well as Immigration facilities. I can say from personal experience, if I was picking one to be in, Immigration Detention would not be high on that list. In fact it would probably be on the low end, if not the lowest one on the list of where I would want to be residing at any given moment. It's not designed for comfort, it's not even really designed for correction. It's designed for holding and processing out, and that's its main function. For that reason, it's a little bit more austere I should say than perhaps some other facilities here in Thailand. It's not a place you really want to be. So again oftentimes we'll get calls from relatives and things of people who are in Immigration detention looking to get them out in the fastest manner possible, again not changing any outcomes, not changing anything associated with procedure but just trying to go ahead and expedite it so that they can get out of the country, because nobody wants to spend all that much time in an Immigration detention facility. Quoting further: "At length, Police revealed that (I'm going to redact the name) but Mr. so and so, was arrested after a tip off. The young man dressed in gray shorts and a black T-shirt attempted to evade arrest. However, Officers pursuing him had little difficulty as he was under the influence of marijuana." Yeah again, just to kind of drive that home. If you're going to come to Thailand and try to do a bunch of I don't know sneaky stuff, maybe lay off the pot, I mean I would just as a general recommendation or maybe don't come to Thailand and try to do sneaky stuff in any event. That being said, and the thing to take away from this video, one) I find it a little strange that they go out of their way to mention the Cannabis part of this; again this person could just as easily have been intoxicated on alcohol or something else. Again I would like to know if alcohol was also involved and if so why is there no mention of that. 

That said, again the biggest thing to take away from this video which is most pertinent to sort of the bailiwick of this channel, would be the fact that yeah, deportation is not a place that you want to find yourself and it's a good idea to keep yourself in Visa status, that's another issue. This person was on a protracted overstay and now that they have been apprehended they are definitely going to be blacklisted under the current Blacklist rules for a minimum I would guess of 5 years. As we've discussed in other videos, if you're apprehended in Thailand with even one day of overstay, it can result in a 5-year ban. So that said, the thing to take away from this video is to understand that look if you are going to come to Thailand, kind of behave well and secondly, maintain your Visa status lest you find yourself in a Immigration Detention Center awaiting deportation.