Brit tourist beaten and jailed by mistake

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...il-immigration

I was thrown in Thai jail because of embassy error'
Andrew Drummond in Bangkok
09.03.09

A British martial arts expert claims he was beaten, shackled and
imprisoned in Thailand after a British Embassy official mistakenly
told police he was travelling on a false passport.

Simon Burrowes says he was treated like a drugs smuggler and thrown
into a Thai prison for more than three weeks.

The kickboxing and karate instructor, from Wembley said staff at the
embassy in Bangkok took 11 days to admit they were wrong but he was
then held for two more weeks after being charged with insulting
immigration officials.

He said: "I was arrested on a Friday getting my flight to Britain.
Thai immigration officials said they were suspicious of my passport.
When they checked with the embassy an official told them my passport
number did not exist.

"When I spoke to the embassy official he must have known I was
British. I told them the passport was legal.

"He said it did not exist. I begged him to double check. But he
refused because the embassy closed at Friday midday for their long
weekend. They said they would prioritise the matter the following
week, so I was sent to jail. But officials had all day in London to
check me out. I cannot believe they could not have done it."

The 44-year-old, who was in Phuket to study kickboxing, added: "From
that moment I was treated as someone less than human. I was handcuffed
to a Thai and sent to court. As I was being led into the court I was
beaten by an official with a leather strap. Then they sent me to jail
because I did not have £2,000 for bail."

A charge of travelling on a false passport has been dropped but Thai
immigration police have charged Mr Burrowes with verbally abusing its
officers.

He said: "They kept me waiting an hour studying my passport with a
magnifying glass. I told them I would miss my flight. They told me the
flight could not leave without their permission. But it did.

"I was angry. I grabbed my passport and walked out of the immigration
area, saying, 'I am a British citizen who has come to your country to
spend my money. Don't treat me like a 'f**king idiot.'"

Mr Burrowes demanded to speak to the chief of police or head of
immigration. Thai immigration police say it was they who were called
"f**king idiots".

Mr Burrowes has been released on bail but his case for insulting an
immigration official could take a year to go to court.

He said: "The closest thing the embassy have come to an apology is a
statement from their local consular officer who said 'I can empathise
with your self-righteousness.' He said it was a one in a thousand
glitch. But they could do little else to help me further."

An embassy spokesman "What I could say is that we provided efficient
and prompt consular assistance. The issue was resolved as swiftly as
possible."

wrote:
I was thrown in Thai jail because of embassy error'
Andrew Drummond in Bangkok
09.03.09

A British martial arts expert claims he was beaten, shackled and
imprisoned in Thailand after a British Embassy official mistakenly
told police he was travelling on a false passport.

Simon Burrowes says he was treated like a drugs smuggler and thrown
into a Thai prison for more than three weeks.

The kickboxing and karate instructor, from Wembley said staff at the
embassy in Bangkok took 11 days to admit they were wrong but he was
then held for two more weeks after being charged with insulting
immigration officials.

He said: "I was arrested on a Friday getting my flight to Britain.
Thai immigration officials said they were suspicious of my passport.
When they checked with the embassy an official told them my passport
number did not exist.

"When I spoke to the embassy official he must have known I was
British. I told them the passport was legal.

"He said it did not exist. I begged him to double check. But he
refused because the embassy closed at Friday midday for their long
weekend. They said they would prioritise the matter the following
week, so I was sent to jail. But officials had all day in London to
check me out. I cannot believe they could not have done it."

The 44-year-old, who was in Phuket to study kickboxing, added: "From
that moment I was treated as someone less than human. I was handcuffed
to a Thai and sent to court. As I was being led into the court I was
beaten by an official with a leather strap. Then they sent me to jail
because I did not have £2,000 for bail."

A charge of travelling on a false passport has been dropped but Thai
immigration police have charged Mr Burrowes with verbally abusing its
officers.

He said: "They kept me waiting an hour studying my passport with a
magnifying glass. I told them I would miss my flight. They told me the
flight could not leave without their permission. But it did.

"I was angry. I grabbed my passport and walked out of the immigration
area, saying, 'I am a British citizen who has come to your country to
spend my money. Don't treat me like a 'f**king idiot.'"

Talk about donning the pith helmet! No wonder he ended up with charges
against him. The whole thing could probably have been dealt with easily
if he wasn't such an ass.

Ian

On Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:38:14 -0400, "
wrote:

wrote:
I was thrown in Thai jail because of embassy error'
Andrew Drummond in Bangkok
09.03.09

A British martial arts expert claims he was beaten, shackled and
imprisoned in Thailand after a British Embassy official mistakenly
told police he was travelling on a false passport.

Simon Burrowes says he was treated like a drugs smuggler and thrown
into a Thai prison for more than three weeks.

The kickboxing and karate instructor, from Wembley said staff at the
embassy in Bangkok took 11 days to admit they were wrong but he was
then held for two more weeks after being charged with insulting
immigration officials.

He said: "I was arrested on a Friday getting my flight to Britain.
Thai immigration officials said they were suspicious of my passport.
When they checked with the embassy an official told them my passport
number did not exist.

"When I spoke to the embassy official he must have known I was
British. I told them the passport was legal.

"He said it did not exist. I begged him to double check. But he
refused because the embassy closed at Friday midday for their long
weekend. They said they would prioritise the matter the following
week, so I was sent to jail. But officials had all day in London to
check me out. I cannot believe they could not have done it."

The 44-year-old, who was in Phuket to study kickboxing, added: "From
that moment I was treated as someone less than human. I was handcuffed
to a Thai and sent to court. As I was being led into the court I was
beaten by an official with a leather strap. Then they sent me to jail
because I did not have £2,000 for bail."

A charge of travelling on a false passport has been dropped but Thai
immigration police have charged Mr Burrowes with verbally abusing its
officers.

He said: "They kept me waiting an hour studying my passport with a
magnifying glass. I told them I would miss my flight. They told me the
flight could not leave without their permission. But it did.

"I was angry. I grabbed my passport and walked out of the immigration
area, saying, 'I am a British citizen who has come to your country to
spend my money. Don't treat me like a 'f**king idiot.'"

Talk about donning the pith helmet! No wonder he ended up with charges
against him. The whole thing could probably have been dealt with easily
if he wasn't such an ass.

Maybe, but it does sound as if the British Embassy let him down badly.
It was their incompetence which let to him being arrested in the first
place. For them to allow someone who had done nothing wrong to be held
in jail for 3 weeks due to their own failure is quite unacceptable.

One of the functions of an embassy is to protect it's citizens when
traveling overseas. In this case it seems they were the ones
responsible for the problem in the first place. Having said that, it's
quite possible the way in which he reacted only made his problem even
worse for himself.

Chris