Area travellers falling prey to Thai airport scam

A BBC report warns international travellers to watch out for the ‘zig-zag scam’ when they use Bangkok’s new international airport.
As regular readers know, at VietNamNet Bridge we focus on events in Vietnam. This story is an exception. VNNB reader Selim Hassan wrote us from Bangkok to applaud a recent VNNB article on a proposal to promote Vietnam to travellers as “the Happy Country.” In his note, Selim flagged a disturbing BBC report which we summarize here.
According to the Beeb, allegations are being made that “a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area of Bangkok’s international airport on suspicion of shoplifting or customs evasion, and then held by airport police until they pay large sums of money to buy their freedom.” Typically the payments are to a middleman, a ‘volunteer interpreter’ who volunteers to arrange bail, etc., and of course there are no receipts.
The BBC details one such instance, and adds that the British and Danish consular offices confirmed the outlines of the scheme.
A Thai lawyer is quoted as saying the travellers are falling victim to “a classic Thai scheme called the ‘zig-zag.’” Almost always the travellers are in such a hurry to get home that they fork over several thousands of dollars.
The full text of the BBC report can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8154497.stm