This month, Midnight Hour replies to a reader's query (and a Frequently Asked Question - (FAQ)) - the question was brief and to the point, referring to an article in an American publication on Police Shakedowns in Bangkok.   The reader's question and an excerpt of the article are immediately below.

TIME QUOTE - "

Mastercard’s 2014 Global Destination Cities Index recently ranked Bangkok as the second most visited destination in the world after London.   Spend a few days this hedonistic metropolis and you'll soon understand why, for it offers an almost unbeatable mix of culture, edgy nightlife, cheap shopping, comfortable hotels, warm weather and — who can say no? — Thai cuisine.

But since the May 22 coup d’état that saw the ouster of a democratically elected government and martial law declared across the country, many tourists and expatriates in Bangkok have fallen prey to a criminal practice.   The victims have little recourse when reporting incidents to the police, because the perpetrators are police officers.

“If you go to Sukhumvit Road, you can see the police looking for tourists who are smoking or drop a cigarette butt, then they ask them for their passport and make them pay 2,000 baht [just over $60].   I see this happening all the time,” says anticorruption politician Chuwit Kamolvisit. ...."  **

           ...more at http://time.com/3674200/thailand-tourism-police-corruption-shakedown-extortion/

  I am out on the streets most nights.   I am stopped at, and proceed through, the Police /Military checkpoints like everyone else.   Since implementation of Martial Law, I have never been harassed, either (on foot) on the streets, in bars or in taxis.   And in spite of being in touch with the Bangkok Nightlife Scene as well as most, I am yet to receive a first-person account of shakedowns from personal friends, acquaintances or my 'network' of reliable sources.   Nor have I ever witnessed foreigners being harassed by Police or the Military since the military takeover in May of last year.   I see the Time article as very poorly researched - specifically linking an increase in alleged Police extortion with the implementation of Martial Law.   Time had a reported isolated incident and hearsay as their support.   Also it should be noted that the reporter, as have many others, commingled and confused the functions and responsibilities of the Thai Police and the Military, and their relationship with one another.

  To the contrary, the article appears to be one of many that support, or tend to support, the official US view that the current transitional Military Government is 'undemocratic, therefore bad'. (Somehow defining 'election' as the sole criterion for, and synonymous with 'democracy'...).   In fact, the streets have been much more peaceful, and the police checks against civilians have been less egregious, fewer shakedowns than before.   I repeat, while there are still shakedown incidents -common in Bangkok for decades- there are much fewer, and they are much less egregious than in previous times.

  I have never heard, seen or read an (authoritative) account of a foreigner having to take a roadside piss test - as quoted later in the article.   Nor have any of my longtime-Bangkok resident friends.   As far as I am concerned, this is bullshit - until proven otherwise.

  The military takeover has made a huge difference in the stability and security on the streets - and I mean 'positive' difference.   If the military keeps its word and returns Thailand to a 'democratic-form-of-government' (as scheduled), it will have been a grand, unmitigated success.   I live in the area of Bangkok which was taken over by the Red Shirt anarchists on two successive upsurges.   I have seen the treachery of their hard-core thugs eyeball-to-eyeball, their snipers, their arsonists, and I have photographed it.   Since the implementation of Martial Law there has been no more blood on the streets, either Yellow or Red.

  Also, as a side note, while I am no fan of Chuwit 'Uncle Hot-Tub' Kamolwisit, he is quoted out of context - his remarks regarding the 'Sukhumvit litter-police' in no way implied that this practice was implemented during, or was exacerbated by, the current interim Military regime.   The 'litter-police' scam has been going on for years.   American journalism failing big-time - again.....

  Frankly, articles like this, entirely unrepresentative and poorly researched, totally piss me off.   It's time to set the record straight.   Better yet, come to Thailand and see for yourself.

  For the record, yes Midnight Hour reads the blogs.   Yes, we read the local English and Thai papers.   Our conclusion from first-hand observations on the street, and from reading legitimate publications, is that many 'blogs' and much of the foreign Media go to print without verification.   We have found it 'best policy' to either print known facts, or if it cannot be substantiated by us, we clearly so state.

   As early as 2004 we were hearing from the taxi drivers of a Nightlife Area near Jatujak Park (common pronunciation : 'Chatuchak') which, according to stories, was sometimes visited by farang.   By 2006 it had reached "critical mass".   Midnight Hour first surveyed the Jatujak Night Entertainment Area at the end of July of that year (see our story HERE <LINK>).   Leaping forward in time, in the middle of 2014, we noticed that there was an unusual number of Nitespots closing down - what we didn't know was that it was the beginning of the end.

The Seven Nights was one of the better appointed Nitespots, offering food, drink, dancing and live music.

   Our initial 2006 survey / visit was an eye-opener - this was not just another bar beer area, there was a number of permanent entertainment structures offering live music and dancing.   At the time of the original survey, there were 20 Night Entertainment Venues and a number of restaurants.   However, the custom was almost exclusively "Thai Yuppie", and very few farang faces were seen there.   (Although we were most welcome on each of our visits.)

   On our visit last weekend, we noted that most of the structures had been pulled down, or were in the process of being taken down.   Many of the remaining buildings had been spray-painted with graffiti.   It appears that the massive S.R.T. land development projects on the West side of Kampheng Phet 2 Road are extending down from the JJ Mall area to Kampheng Phet Road, taking out this once-popular Night Entertainment Area.   The area never really had a formal name, so we were calling it either Chatuchak Night Entertainment Area, or Jatujak Night Entertainment Area.   But regardless of spelling, this group of Nitespots has been relegated to the bone yard, now but a footnote in the greater history of Bangkok's Night Entertainment Scene.

February's smile shines down from the North.