Pattaya police deny demanding 15,000 THB from detained British tourist

Claims made in the UK’s Daily Mail edition are largely untrue, Pattaya police chief says but promises a review of the evidence

The chief of Pattaya police station in Chonburi province on Monday denied a report on foreign media that Thai police had demanded 15,000 baht from a detained British tourist in exchange for his release.

Pol Col Nawin Theerawit also said the report’s claim that the tourist was locked up in a cell for 36 hours and that the cell’s floor was dirty was not true.



Daily Mail website published the story on Sunday, saying that Andrew Hopkins, 55, was staying in an Airbnb in Pattaya when he decided to take a late-night stroll through the neighbourhood.

While making his way out of his apartment, Hopkins mistakenly knocked the entrance sign of the neighbours’ residence. Two furious security guards arrived and began shouting at him in Thai, the report said.

Moments later, the local police arrived at the scene and ‘threw me onto the back of a pick-up truck and locked me in a cell for around 36 hours,' Hopkins told reporters.

Daily Mail showed photos of a prison cell where it said the tourist was sent, which had grime all over the floor and was packed with some 130 people.

Hopkins said an Italian man eventually arrived and told him he had to pay 15,000 baht in cash to be released. He went on to say that he was marched to an ATM to get the cash and brought back to the station, where two senior officers took the money before setting him free.

Nawin said the incident took place on the night of November 22 last year, when the drunk tourist destroyed a vehicle barrier. Police officers brought him to the police station to calm him down and fined him 100 baht, before releasing him, he said.

Nawin said Hopkins returned to his accommodation but was denied a room due to a history of making loud noises while intoxicated. The tourist then caused a disturbance, leading to his arrest again, the station chief added.

Nawin insisted that after he was then taken through legal proceedings, all of the tourist’s belongings were returned and that a photographic record was made as evidence.

The Pattaya police chief said that all the detention cells are cleaned daily and are equipped with CCTV cameras that record 24 hours a day. He added that the incident is being investigated and that is being reviewed to ensure transparency for all parties.

(2025/02/04-00:00)