The Gun in Thailand that Made Zee Piss his Pants... Almost
During the month I spent in Thailand I took a five day trip to the northern most point of Thailand in the Chiangrai province. It was on my trip to Chaingrai that I saw fields of opium, stayed in a hut that backed up to a whore house, and went to the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle is the area in southeast Asia where Thailand, Burma, and Laos meet and was named the Golden Triangle because it was the area that produced the most amount of opium in the world. In 1999 when I was in Thailand it was no longer legal to grow opium but it was still grown in some areas of Thailand and was commonly grown in Burma. While there my group decided to take a day trip to Burma because although everything is cheap in Thailand its even cheaper in Burma.
Burma is not a very stable country to this day and nor was it stable in 1999. There were a number of groups that claimed to be the official government including one military group that was lead by a 12 year old boy. I think they were referencing this in the movie "Tropic Thunder" if you have seen that movie.
My group consisted of two other Americans, three Thais, and myself. We stopped at a bank to get cash before we crossed the bridge that went over the river dividing Thailand from Burma. I could see the bridge from the bank and as the others got money out of the bank I stood outside and watched as people freely walked each way over the bridge. As I walked with my group across the bridge I walked along the edge and looked down at the rushing river that was below. I heard shouting but I didn't think anything of it at first since I could understand a word of it. We were just over halfway across the bridge and I realized the rest of my group had stopped moving and I was now at the front of the group. The shouting got louder and when I looked up I saw four men in military uniforms running at us from the Burma side of bridge with what looked like AK47's raised and aimed at us. The first one ran directly at me, I looked back at my group and they all had their hands raised in the air so I raised my hands in the air as well.
The first man stopped about five feet away from me with his gun aimed at my chest and shouted something. I kept my hands raised and said, "I'm sorry, I don't understand." The next two did the same thing to the other Americans and the fourth shouted the most and moved his gun around pointing it at all of us. It felt I stood there in confusion for hours with a gun pointed at me but in reality it was probably only seconds. Everyone in our group looked terrified but the oldest Thai gentleman started talking the the individual that was doing most of the shouting who seemed to be in charge. He then explained to the group that the toll to cross the bridge was 20 USD.
The entire time we stood there people walked past us and continued on towards Burma without paying any toll but I was more then willing to pay the toll. They lead our entire group across the bridge never lowering their guns. We went into a guard shack on the other side where we each gave 20 USD to the leader. Once we had paid the 'toll' they lowered their guns and the leader shouted another order. It was obvious that he did not understand the concept of an inside voice. It was translated to me that we could leave now but based on his tone and body language I believe he told us to get the fuck out.
Okay, I didn't actually piss my pants but I think that if I had not just used the bathroom I probably would have not only pissed my pants but also shat them as well.
Man, glad you're still alive.
ReplyDeleteTalk about extreme extortion!
That is extreme extortion by American standards but fairly common in other countries. We got pulled over a number of times by police in Thailand. They basically pulled us over because there were white people in the car. They wouldn't even pretend to have pulled us over for a legitimate reason they would just demand a bribe.
ReplyDeleteIn the Dominican Republic there were three instances that the car I was in was attempted to be stopped most likely because I am white and they thought they could get money. Once was men with machetes and the other two times involved guns. One of those times was a police officer.
Its is an extreme rush to have a police officer walk out into the middle of road and point a pistol at your car and motioning you to stop only to have the driver hit the acceleration rather then the brakes. She was banking on the thought that the police officer would not want to fill out the paper work involved in shooting an American. She is crazy. There is a part of me that will always miss her.
That breaths new life to what I read in Infidel. Ali (the author) had finally got asylum in the Netherlands. While walking about, she asked an officer for directions. The officer was very kind to her. She couldn't help herself from asking if all the officers were nice like him.
ReplyDelete"I sure hope so!", was his response.
She also talked about how she got a ticket for riding her bike illegally across the road. She received a citation by an officer and she attempted to pay him on the spot. The officer had to instruct her that you never pay the officer directly. You pay the court.
She wasn't used to living under a stable government. That's why she want into politics. She wanted to know what made one society work where another would fail.
Zee, did you know have any idea of the type of situations you ran into when traveling abroad? Any warnings or clues?
I can't imagine the rush that would be!
I would have certainly pissed my pants!
I was prepared for the demanding of bribes from Thai police officers as well as a number of other things. Despite my warnings I almost got into a lot of trouble for making a joke related to their leaders which is against the law. That would make another good topic for Story Time with Zee. I was not anticipating the situation that happened in this blog but I was only 18 and not very well traveled at that time.
ReplyDeleteI was also aware that the incidents that happened in the Dominican Republic were probable. Typically when someone travels to the Dominican Republic from the United States they stay in resorts and stay to tourist areas where that would not happen. I stayed away from the typical areas for the most part and experienced local life with a local as a guide/partner in crime. I'm comfortable with my ability to talk myself out of trouble, if need be I'm comfortable with my ability to defend myself, and if worse comes to worse I can take a beat down as well.
Just a side word of advice if you ever do similar travels. Often people of other countries do look to take advantage of an American. There have been a number of occasions where speaking random words of German and Dutch while looking confused when confronted in English has worked to avoid conflict. Actually, I used that one in Chicago last year when I was approached about smoking next to a doorway which is not legal.
>I'm comfortable with my ability to talk myself out of trouble, if need be I'm comfortable with my ability to defend myself, and if worse comes to worse I can take a beat down as well.
ReplyDeleteYep. Very "Trinket" like. And that's a good thing, 'cause you live to tell about it!
It seems Trinket's life made a good story. Tonight I do live to tell about my life but even if I don't tomorrow I know the story of my life would be repeated and I know I lived it to the fullest.
ReplyDelete