I know that there must be much more to this story than the police are telling us but from what information we have available to us this seems like a very harsh treatment for a minor offense. As someone that has lived in Thailand for a long time and has even violated the same law that she is "guilty" of at the moment, the way that they are treating this woman is not ok, and there is and should be some outrage about what is going on here.
She won the Miss Russia contest back in 2013 and I guess life choices weren't as awesome as they could have been because now she finds herself on the inside of one of the world's most awful prison systems for a very minor offense.
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Her crime? She overstayed her visa by 10 days. I know people that overstayed a visa for much longer than that and it was just a question of handing over money for the fine and signing a form. What I suspect is really going on here is one part of the article that I read in that it was stated that "miss Tikhomirova doesn't have any money and that is why she overstayed in the first place." It is well-known in Thailand that if you have money, you don't ever go to jail or ever get in trouble so her not having money, the idea is likely that someone who does that she is related to is going to come up with a bunch of money to give the police. This tactic has been used many times for people to get out of jail or even get out of ever being arrested. Someone with a history like her own, being crowned as one of the most beautiful women in the world, is a prime target for someone that likely has some people in her life that will come to her rescue with a bag of money.
In the meantime she is being held in a prison that is meant for 500 people but regularly has 2-3 times as many people as that in there. Thai prisons have gotten international attention in the past and are largely considered a horrible violation of human rights. The famous "Bangkok Hilton" prison is considered one of the most awful prisons in the world. She is not in that one but this idea that prisons are nice places, a notion that people in Scandinavia likely have, is definitely not true. It is rumored that Miss Russia doesn't even have access to food or safe drinking water.
Now, there are a couple of things that are very suspicious about her that while only happenstance, are worth pointing out.
She was apprehended in Pattaya. Pattaya is well-known for being a hotspot of prostitution not just with thousands of Thai women, but of any nationality that you can imagine including Russians. Apparently, there are some nationalities such as Korean and Japanese that pay BIG MONEY to be able to get up with this sort of woman. I'm being as nice as I can about this and have no proof of what I am saying. The Russian beauty has a past of being in Pattaya for long stretches of time and then going to Dubai for months at a time in between. Dubai also has a rather large underground market for escorts. I'm not saying that this is definitely what she dos for a living, but it does seem rather suspicious that these are the two places that she chooses to reside when both places and especially Pattaya, aren't particularly nice places to be especially if you are broke, as she claims to be.
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Here's my completely unsubstantiated theory: She was an escort, and a very successful one at that. Obviously you cannot get a work permit for this sort of work and in Pattaya this industry is extremely competitive and involves the assistance of the police force in order to stay in operation. I suspect that Miss Russia was operating outside of the rules, perhaps operating without paying a certain percentage of her earnings to a "pimp" or organization of some sort, and this is the backlash that she gets for doing this. The statements about her not having any money might not even be true because I don't know very many people with "no money" that regularly fly back and forth from Dubai, which is one of the most expensive places in the world.
I believe that the police are making an example of her in conjunction with the higher ups that exist in the prostitution underworld that is very much alive and well in Thailand especially in places like Pattaya and Bangkok.
Her family vehemently denies any involvement of her working as a escort, but even Russian media has accused her as such.
Regardless of what is the case here, this situation is getting international attention and hopefully something can be done to get her our of this situation because I have seen documentaries on prisons that exist in Thailand and it is definitely NOT a place that anyone would wish on even their enemies.
This also isn't a case of a nation being mean to Russia because of political reasons because Thailand ad Russia have excellent diplomatic relations and Russians are actually given visa incentives to visit Thailand more frequently and for longer stretches of time.
I suspect that some white knight, perhaps a wealthy Thai businessman or even one of the escort agencies that I suspect are the reason she is in this situation in the first place, is going to come to her rescue soon because it would appear as though the Russian government is sitting this one out, as they tend to.
this is 100% true in this whole story!
perhaps that is why most of the world welcomes their citizens
Sounds very feasible and crazy to think a Miss Russia can end up in this life style.
I know someone that won one of these pageants. Aside from the initial reaction from the public it isn't terribly prestigious and doesn't carry much long term celebrity. They must strike while the iron is hot or it doesn't actually end up benefitting them a great deal. one of my friends is married to a runner up in the Miss USA pageant and well, she looks like just about any American in their 40's now and has a normal corporate job. At least she has a good story to tell that others can't match!
We don't really know the whole story but its' really alarming.
She is supposed to be a role model of every woman since she won a crown for being Miss Russia, maybe she has deep reason why she chooses that job, overstaying is just a minor offense but the punishment is harsh, something fishy, other countries offer thirty days grace period to stay if your visa is expired. Does Thailand not given immigrants grace period?
They are supposed to, and there is nothing in the lawbooks that says they can put you in prison for this sort of offense but Thailand does what they want to do and well, it is their country and they can do so. But this is very suspicious because of the small offense and the very big punishment.
Yup that is their country they can do what they want to immigrants commiting a crime, but of course they will take ction according to due process, they will give fair punishment.
Sad to hear about the former Miss Russia. A warning or lesser penalty would be more appropriate but maybe Thailand is very strict with their local law.
⋆ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ ғᴏʀ sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇᴀsᴛ ᴀsɪᴀɴ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ ᴏɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ
⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ