Report for the Embassies of Great Britain and The Netherlands

At 17.15 on Saturday 15th March I received an anonymous telephone call to say that an Englishman and a foreign lady were being held in the central police station. I immediately went there.

Apparently Mrs Van W. an impressive woman, Dutch, age52 and her boy friend, Steve, British, age 32, had been picked up from the VIP Guesthouse at 11.00 that morning and handed over to the police who had registered their arrest in the duty book.

The charge was that both of them had overstayed their visas by 60 days. I tried to persuade the duty officer that this was not a prisonable offence and requested him to release them. He replied that since the arrest had already been recorded there was no way he could let them go.

It transpired that there was more to the case than a simple overstay. They owed money to the guesthouse. She had borrowed B5000 from a guest on Friday promising to repay it on Monday when the banks opened. She gave him her passport as security. When the guest learned that she had not paid back the guesthouse, they checked her passport and found that it was not the same one she had checked in with on March 1st. They therefore decided to call in Immigration who became suspicious and arrested them.

The main facts in their involved and varying story were that, while working in Cambodia , she the then manager of the Regent Hotel, they had both been offered jobs by a hospital group in Bangkok to set up a health clinic in Hua Hin. These people took their passports in order to obtain work permits and visas. After a month they realised that the group was bankrupt and that they would never be paid. They collected their passports and headed north for a holiday. They were advised that they could pay a fine of B100 a day for overstaying their visa.

They arrived in Chiang Mai and, after a few days, went to Chiang Rai. They spent two nights at the Rim Kok Hotel where she applied for the job of manager. They left their bags, and her passport, in a friend's room and checked out without paying their bill - the manager agreed to this as they promised immediate payment.

On Sunday morning I took them breakfast. She was suffering from migraine, etc. and the police agreed that she could go to hospital under escort. I left them there and went to call Dr Pairat as I hoped he could persuade the police to let her spend the night in hospital. We all went to the police station where it was agreed that she could spend the night at Lanna Hospital under guard.

By this time the police had become increasingly suspicious and thought that something more serious that a visa misdemeanor might well be involved.

I went to Lanna Hospital , made the arrangements for her admission and guaranteed payment. She checked in that evening. She complained that the guards had talked loudly outside the door, were spying on her and had entered her room. Dr Pairat had to come at 23.00 and sedate her. Next day they went to the Municipal court. The judge, presiding from a little table in the corridor, quickly sentenced them to one year's suspended prison and a fine of B1000 which was reduced by B150 for the two days they had spent in detention. They returned to the police station.

Shortly afterwards she rang me to say that a policeman had grabbed her breast. I spoke to the duty officer who explained that she had refused to go into the prison and the officer had had to use gentle persuasion. He added that his men had better taste and many better opportunities.

On Tuesday morning, after three days of frantic effort, she finally contacted a man in Bangkok who agreed to lend her B27,000 - this was paid to the Embassy on the following day.

During all this time I had been in touch with the British and Dutch Embassies and I had asked the missionaries to visit, comfort and feed them. I also knew that the Dutch manager of the Rim Kok Hotel was visiting them. Before the money reached me I had already settled her hospital bill and paid their fines. I now settled the guesthouse account and bought air tickets to Penang .

I took the tickets, my financial statement and the balance of the money to the Immigration Department and made firm booking to Penang for the following morning. I spoke to the Head of Immigration who told me that now they had tickets he would contact Bangkok to see if there were any other charges against them. This, he said, could take several days. I changed the tickets to open and returned them to Immigration.

She called me with a litany of complaints and accusations. I regret that I told her that she was no responsibility of mine and suggested that she contact the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok . If Steve wanted anything he could call me. In the afternoon Immigration called to ask if Mrs Van W. and her boyfriend could spend the night in my house and would I guarantee them. I rang the Embassy who confirmed that I should not do so - this I told to Immigration. The manager of the Rim Kok Hotel called to say that he was turning off his mobile phone as he did not want to talk to Mrs Van W. again.

Next day to the relief of all concerned they left.