It seems like quite a few tourists have been detained at the Bangkok airport this year with allegations of shoplifting. In order to get out of this they have been forced to pay thousands of US dollars. Please read this BBC article for more information. I have been through the Bangkok airport many times over the last couple of years (see my Bangkok trip report) but I have not experienced anything like that…yet. I hope that they will sort this out or else it will be another set back for tourism in Thailand.