Thai police are facing more criticism from Western tourists as the junta's campaign to clean up Thailand sees a wave of enforced urine tests on the streets of the capital under the pretext of checking for drug use.
Among recent complaints, a Western couple says they were arrested and searched twice in two days - with the man forced to undergo a urine test at a roadside for the second time.
“This is our first and last visit to Thailand… The harassment of tourists in the street is totally unacceptable,” the tourist wrote in a letter to the editor of the Bangkok Post under the name Reese Walker.
“We will be reporting these events to our respective embassies and won’t be recommending other people to visit Thailand based on two frightening incidents of what we believe to be racial profiling.”
With complaints accumulating, a Facebook page has been dedicated to sharing foreigners’ experiences of "harassment" at the hands of the law, while internet portals catering to travelers advise those randomly arrested not sign any documents if they are brought to a police station, and ask officers to contact their embassy.
Thai authorities have yet to react.
In another letter to the editor, a resident under the name S. Tracy recounts the arrest last week of a visiting friend, who ended up shortening his holiday in Thailand and traveling to Malaysia instead.
“He was heading back to his hotel mid-afternoon when he was accosted by police and subjected to the same intimidation and humiliation as other victims have reported,” S. Tracy wrote Sunday.
“The Tourism Authority of Thailand can pay the biggest PR firms in the world to promote the country, but with people becoming increasingly aware that they can be harassed, shaken down and potentially imprisoned, no campaign, no matter how swish, will recover the country’s image,” the reader added.
Tourism in Thailand has been dealt a blow since the beginning of the year, mostly due to travel warnings from Western countries after the military’s declaration of martial law nationwide and its seizure of power in May.
With the industry suffering at least a 10 percent decline - according to immigration department figures - the Tourism Authority of Thailand has launched multiple marketing campaigns over the last six months in an effort to boost tourist numbers.
In one such attempt, the government agency produced and posted onto YouTube a five-minute-video clip titled “I hate Thailand” in which a frustrated British tourist – James -- stumbles from misunderstanding to misunderstanding as he attempts to find a lost bag
After finding help in the form of a young attractive local girl who introduces him to the renowned hospitality of the Thai people, James becomes an English teacher, extending his stay by two years and discovering his belongings were instead stolen by a thieving monkey.