A friendly Immigration
officer helps Smith (left) with the paperwork needed to deport him back
to England.
Boonlua Chatree
A penniless Englishman angry with the British
government for supposedly not caring for him enough has been deported
after living in Pattaya on the charity of bargirls.
Chonburi Immigration Police were called to a clutch
of beer bars on Soi 7 Aug. 24 where a disheveled Christopher Paul Smith,
56, was dragging luggage from bar to bar, taking handouts of booze and
food from hostesses there. Confronted by officers, Smith gladly offered
to be remanded into custody, saying he had neither money nor a place to
sleep.
Immigration authorities had a better idea: Clean him
up and ship him home.
During processing, Smith railed against he British
government, saying that he’d been in Thailand for four years and that
when he spent all his money, the government wouldn’t bail him out. Smith
said he’d always been a tax-paying citizen and felt the government owed
him more respect and assistance.
While he said he was happy to get a free ticket back
home and be reunited with his eight children, he wanted to return to
Thailand, as the generosity of its people during his time of need
greatly impressed him. While his deportation likely will slow down any
return to the Land of Smiles, the kingdom’s forgiving immigration laws
likely will mean Smith will be reunited with his bargirl sponsors at
some future point.
