I have traveled to Thailand several times, and once the taxi driver put drugs on my luggage. He was crony with the guard at the airport who was very surprised when he could not find the small cocaine bags the driver has put there(and I had thrown away).
In Thailand they take drugs super seriously and they can blackmail you easily this way.
On the other hand you see all kind of scumbags from western countries traveling there thinking they could do whatever they please with total disrespect for the locals and the country.
Without more data, I bet this is the second case. If the online reviews are false the Hotel is in their right to accuse him of defamation.
How exactly does a Taxi driver coordinate with guards? At what point did you discover the scheme? You were nearly blackmailed and just threw away the evidence?
How does the Airport guard blackmail you? How goes he expect to get paid? Why go through this and not just blackmail the actual legitimate drug users?
Here's a possible scenario based on the OPs story.
Two brothers - one works as a taxi driver, the other as an airport guard.
The taxi brother inserts small packs of cocaine in the bags of his passengers. Then texts his airport guard brother a description of the passenger and bag he inserted the drug in.
The passenger arrives at the security check and his bag gets pulled out.
The airport guard finds the drugs and puts the passenger in a room somewhere in the airport. The passenger now gets an option: pay a nice bribe and board the plane, or don't and spend the night there with the option of landing in a Thai jail.
Passenger decides to opt for the bribe (at that point, who wouldn't) - even though they know full well they didn't carry any drugs.
The airport guard brother pockets the $XXXX and the passenger hightails it out of there. Scared shitless.
Brother and brother meet at a bar later and share their spoils, celebrating with a nice meal and a few too many drinks.
Rinse and repeat. Could work with nephews, friends, family - it's probably not that hard.
A similar thing happens in the Philippines, but with gun ammunition instead of drugs. Yes, having a single loose ammo in your luggage at the airport can land you in jail. It got so bad that passengers would wrap their entire luggage with duct tape or cellophane to make sure the guards at the airport won't sneak one in. In fact, airports actually have cellophane dispensers so passengers can wrap them at the airport in case they forget to do it at home.
They removed the legal penalties of of the bullet scam now it's a stern talking to and once they believe you have no evidence of using a gun/ammo, they hunt down the guards.
The CCTV, X-ray machines and general security theater is an extension project of the DHS, that posted warnings of NAIA used that to force NAIA to upgrade it's security theater alongside immigration.
I've traveled a lot in the past 6 years, living abroad. Absolutely, wrap your bag if you can. Just watch what the locals are doing. If the majority are doing this, do the same.
All this is very common in third world countries. We continually prey upon each other in the best of times and heaven help any sheltered foreigner who happens to walk around with their guard down.
The first time I encountered this I was legitimately surprised. I have since accepted it as "a thing that just is" when traveling, but I suspect the same is true for united893: they are lucky enough to have never needed to think through this kind of scenario until now.
Here in South Africa if you rent a car at Johannesburg airport, the corrupt metro police are waiting for you at the airport exit to "fine" you for "incorrect driving" or having the wrong licence. Easy for locals to dodge, but foreigners who respect a uniform easily pay the ransom.
The airport guard searches your bag, finds the cocaine and proposes you pay a hefty sum to make the problem go away. The taxi driver gets his cut for planting the evidence.
> Without more data, I bet this is the second case. If the online reviews are false the Hotel is in their right to accuse him of defamation.
I've been to Thailand many times too, mostly to Krabi (for the climbing). And like many, I use trip advisor.
I view the negative comments first. I find negative reviews valuable. A lot of them are made in anger and sometimes on purpose and less fault from the establishment.
This brings me to the review system. Trip advisor reviews make or break a place. Although arresting someone is quite extreme I hope there is a better way to moderate them.
In Thailand they take drugs super seriously and they can blackmail you easily this way.
On the other hand you see all kind of scumbags from western countries traveling there thinking they could do whatever they please with total disrespect for the locals and the country.
Without more data, I bet this is the second case. If the online reviews are false the Hotel is in their right to accuse him of defamation.