The Unlikely Outlaws: still waiting to get our bond money and passports back

You are certainly correct that we are an unlikely group of outlaws. Pattaya bridge club has been operating for 22 years, under the legal umbrella of the Contract Bridge Federation of Thailand, and never before has the insinuation of gambling been made. We were not raided by the police but by officers of the local authority based in Banglamung, who apparently found it incomprehensible that that a group of pensioners, including several ladies in their 80s, were engaged in innocent pursuits.
Later, we were all herded into baht buses (“No charge mister”) and dumped in the police station for a further 10 hours. During that time we were fingerprinted, had mug shots taken (“Don’t smile mister”) and invited to sign lengthy statements written in Thai and without translation (“Don’t worry mister, you speak to judge later”). This allegedly criminal ring included two retired officials from foreign embassies, several successful businessmen from Europe, many expats married to Thai nationals and two elderly unfortunates who needed regular medication which they were unable to obtain in custody.
In fact, we never appeared in court and were eventually set free. We appreciate the contribution of Pattaya police chief colonel Suthat Pumphanmuang who – on examining the evidence – declined to send us to court in the waiting Black Maria without authorisation from his Bangkok superiors or the Interior Ministry. We are now waiting patiently for our bail bond of 5,000 baht each – it was not a fine by the way – and our passports to be returned.
I want to pay public tribute to Chodchoy Sophonvanich, president of the Contract Bridge Association of Thailand, who was astounded by the news of our arrest and kindly visited Pattaya at short notice to speak with local officials and to explain a little about duplicate bridge played in every country in the world, including North Korea. In view of the viral anti-Thailand publicity that our case has generated internationally, one would hope that the accusers in this case might just look before they leap or alternatively take bridge lessons. Thais are very welcome.
Barry Kenyon
Pattaya