Thirty foreign tourists had their nights cut short when police and soldiers raided five Pattaya discos and detained them for not carrying their passports.
About 100 officers stormed the 800, Flexx, Fever, Perfect and Titanic clubs in South Pattaya around 1:30 a.m. Feb. 19, ending the party and hauling in the tourists who said they didn’t want to carry their passports for fear of losing them.
All 30 were released without charge once they were able to produce their travel documents.
About 100 officers stormed the 800, Flexx, Fever, Perfect and Titanic clubs in South Pattaya, detaining thirty foreign tourists for not carrying their passports.
A spokesman for the Royal Thai Police confirmed last year that foreigners can carry photocopies of their passport picture and visa pages, but authorities seem to have thrown that directive out the window in a recent series of raids of bars popular with tourists.
Immigration says the raids, which have cast a chill over Pattaya’s tourism industry during a fragile high season, is to crack down on transnational criminals, but none have been found in any of the operations.
Authorities now reportedly have asked club operators to ensure foreigners have proper identification before being allowed to enter.
