Litter louts meet litter touts in Thailand
A pair of Thai scammers could be tossed in jail after shaking down tourists for dropping litter.
The men — who were working for Pattaya City Hall, south of the capital Bangkok — face a jail term of up to one year and a fine of up to 20,000 baht ($800) for posing as authorized officials to extort money from unsuspecting visitors.
Tossing rubbish on city streets can garner legitimate fines of up to 2,000 baht ($80), but offenders are to be given receipts.
Two Chinese tourists and their tour guide complained to police that men in city uniforms had demanded they each pay the $80 fine for dropping cigarette butts, but then pocketed the cash without providing receipts.
When confronted, the bogus officials at first denied any wrongdoing but later confessed to the scam after being shown CCTV images of the incident, the Bangkok Post reported.
According to Pattaya City’s deputy mayor, the pair were contract workers and not city hall staff. They have since been dismissed.
CUSTOM COAT British traveller beats luggage charge
An enterprising British traveller is lining his pockets with savings after finding a way around an airline’s new hand luggage restrictions.
Lee Cimino described to the U.K. Sun how he is sewing his possessions into his coat as a way of beating budget carrier Ryanair’s fees of up to £25 ($45), for carry-on baggage.
Cimino said he was heading to a birthday weekend away to Belfast, Northern Ireland, when the penny dropped.
He spent around $70 fitting out an old coat so it could hold enough clothes for an overnight stay within the linings.
“It’s not breaking any rules to try and take all of your luggage in your clothes,” he told the paper. “The coat fitted comfortably with all of the stuff in it and I even wore it around Belfast until we got our accommodation.”
Cimino said the comfortable jacket betrayed no sign of its extra cargo and “no one commented” as he went through airport security.
NO ROOM SERVICE Hawaiian strike ruins couple’s honeymoon
An American couple who say an ongoing hotel workers strike in Hawaii ruined their honeymoon are now suing.
The pair, from North Carolina, are suing the Marriott and Kyo-Ya Hotels and Resorts, saying they were never told about the labour dispute, which has dragged on for more than a month.
In documents filed with their class-action lawsuit, the couple said they were charged the full price of US$2,400 for their five-night stay at the Royal Hawaiian, despite limited or no housekeeping services, no valet parking service, no room service, no pool attendants and “very limited to no” restaurant and bar service.
The labour disruption, now in its sixth week, is affecting five hotels on the islands and is the longest strike in nearly 50 years to hit the state’s hospitality industry, Hawaii News Now reported.
Both striking workers and hotel management are paying a heavy price. “Nobody wins in this,” a former hotel executive said. “The workers really don’t recover the funds, the tips they would have gotten, so they suffer.”
He said hotel staff are suffering too, working up to 19 hours a day to cover for staff walking the picket line.