Thread: Thailand’s Reputation as a Gangsters Paradise

Thailand’s reputation as a great hideout for foreign criminals was highlighted last month with
the killing of an Indian gangster on Phuket island. Criminals are still using Thailand as a hideout despite the pandemic that has increased scrutiny of Thailand travel restrictions.
On February 4th, Indian gangster Jimi Sandhu, 32, was gunned down by two Canadian gunmen [who entered with Thailand pass] outside his rented villa in Phuket. Singhu was widely believed to have ties to the criminal underworld.





In the days following the killing, Interpol in Thailand issued a “red notice” for two Canadians suspected of killing Sandu in cold blood.
According to the Royal Thai Police, the two suspects were among many foreign criminals stationed in Thailand who take advantage of the country’s excellent transport connections to avoid arrest warrants issued in their own countries.
Above all, those who set up criminal enterprises from Phuket to Pattaya and Bangkok to Chiang Mai.
Change in Thailand’s Criminal Class


During the last week of February, Thai immigration officers arrested a 29-year-old Indian “mafia figure” wanted for murder, kidnapping, and extortion; three Chinese nationals who had been smuggled into Thailand in a supercar; and a Briton who was blacklisted but entered the country on an Israeli passport.
There is a change in the criminal class. Previously, Russians were involved in drug trafficking, counterfeiting and bank fraud in Pattaya,” said a detective who hunts down foreign crooks told SCMP.
It’s now Chinese, Koreans, and Taiwanese who are doing a lot of the online gambling and call-center scams, using Pattaya as the base where they rent big houses and use hundreds of phones to target their victims.
Multibillion-dollar scams frequently target Chinese nationals in China, whom the gangs lure in with interest-free loans, bogus stock deals, and phony investment opportunities.
Detectives have been alerted to such gangs by noticing that large quantities of takeaway meals were being delivered to big properties and no one has ever been seen entering or leaving, he said.
Fugitives in Thailand


Thailand has long been a magnet for criminals of all types, from drug traffickers and dark web administrators to fugitives like Bali bomber Hambali and Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
According to Paul Quaglia, a former CIA agent and CEO of political risk consultancy PQA Associates, Thailand has always been a place where people could do illicit trades. In the 90s, this was where a lot of offshore terrorist groups, particularly those operating in Sri Lanka, bought weapons from Thailand.
Besides fake documents, you could also buy fake passports in Thailand. Much of that changed after 9/11 when the United States came in and helped Thailand shore up its security.
Criminals’ lives have also been made more difficult by the pandemic, as the number of flights was reduced and multiple pre-departure documents checks were introduced, in addition to the authorities tracking any flight to Thailand and new arrivals.
As a result of the pandemic, it is becoming increasingly difficult for criminals to melt into crowds. Thailand welcomed 40 million tourists last year but has seen only a fraction of that amount in the years since.
Previously, the number of visitors couldn’t be processed fast enough by immigration, said Pisal Erb-arb, deputy commander of Thailand’s Narcotics Suppression Bureau. But since the pandemic, foreign criminals are easier to catch because there are fewer people around.


Criminals Forced to Adapt


The most prominent arrest during the pandemic was Hong Kong passport holder Lee Chung Chak, the alleged logistics chief of the Sam Gor group – one of the world’s largest drug networks – arrested in the capital of Thailand in October 2020.
Criminals in Thailand have been forced to adapt to the pandemic despite Thailand travel restrictions, with top-level meetings between gangsters put on hold and drug mules no longer being able to hide as airline passengers.
According to Jeremy Douglas, Asia representative at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, they don’t play by the same rules as the rest of us do, so they can shift methods quickly to connect supply and demand.
Criminals often take advantage of open and accommodating societies, and Thailand fits the bill, as it is very open for business and travel, Douglas said

Thailand's Reputation As A Gangsters Paradise

Amazing, not a word about likely corrupt Thai officials conniving with these gangs for a share in the loot.

Originally Posted by misskit

it is becoming increasingly difficult for criminals to melt into crowds

Indeed lucky there are no local criminals whatsoever, pesky foreigners

The Thai have made it even easier for foreign criminals to buy long term hiding based on the recently promulgated visa which requires a chunk of cash investment with no questions asked.
Thus the corruption continues and regular folk with spare capital can join the same club, making it easier for criminals to hide behind them, and avail themselves of the tidy little visa!

Thailand has a long way to go yet to match the levels of this type of corruption that Canuckistan now appears to have been caught hosting for some time now.

Originally Posted by bkkpla

Thailand has a long way to go yet to match the levels of this type of corruption that Canuckistan now appears to have been caught hosting for some time now.

Try to stay on topic please, at least when you are awake and posting.

Originally Posted by bkkpla

Thailand has a long way to go yet to match the levels of this type of corruption that Canuckistan now appears to have been caught hosting for some time now.

I once heard that Thai Police was called "the best organised mafia in the world".....by the UN !

Searched it but can't find it, so could have dreamed it up.

However:

Police corruption[edit]

On the occasion of the festivities surrounding its 12th anniversary, the Office of the Ombudsman, Thailand reported on its activities since its inception.
Chief Ombudsman Panit Nitithanprapas noted that her office had handled nearly 25,000 cases during the period and observed that the Royal Thai Police had been found to be "the most corrupt agency in Thailand".^[52]

Curiously, Ms Panit's photo does not appear among those of other former ombudsmen on the organisation's website, nor is there any other mention of her.^[53]

In the words of Jomdet Trimek, a former police officer, now an academician, "In-depth studies of the causes of...corruption tend to be avoided."^[54]

Jomdet attributes police corruption to two factors: a centralized police bureaucracy which gives too much power to a few; and very low police salaries. He divides police corruption into three main forms: embezzlement of government funds, coercing bribes from the public, and collection of protection money from illegal business operators and gives examples of each.

At the level of constable, this petty thievery is driven by low wages: entry level salaries for police with no university education was 6,800 baht (2012). In June 2015, the Bangkok Post reported that, "Thai police officers are paid around 14,760 baht per month (6,800–8,340 baht for entry level) and have to buy their own guns and even office supplies."^[55]

He posits that one reason salaries are so low is that the sheer number of officers is staggering, roughly 250,000. This means that an increase of 5,000 baht in every cop's monthly salary would cost the government a politically untenable 15 billion baht annually.^[54]: 51

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha appointed no-nonsense Police-General Somyot Poompanmoung head of the RTP following the coup of May 2014. Somyot, whose declared assets exceed US$11.5 million, has vowed to transfer, arrest, or prosecute all corrupt officers. But, according to Chuwit Kamolvisit, a former massage parlour magnate turned legislator, "police reform" is a never-ending mantra which never produces results.

The "cash-for-jobs" culture within the police is too deep to uproot, he says, alleging that low-ranking officers earning just US$460 a month tap the public for bribes, or solicit protection money from dodgy businesses to top up their salaries and buy promotions. "Rank and status is everything in Thailand... when you are a small policeman to go up [sic], you need to have the right boss, and preferably one at a 'golden police station'– near a casino or entertainment venue", he explained.^[56]

In a 2008 article, The Economist summed up their assessment succinctly: "In Thailand's most sensational crimes, the prime suspects are often the police."^[57]

In August 2015, a post was made on the Sakon Nakhon Police Facebook page, allegedly from a junior officer.

Among other observations the post asked, "...Are our meagre salaries enough to support our families?

The answer is no. We have to borrow money and get trapped in debt. "So what about the phuyai [bigwigs]?

Are they in debt too? Definitely not. They are rich. Why? Because at the end of every month, money from gambling dens, entertainment venues, the sex trade, human trafficking, drugs and whatnot are routinely sent to them." The post was immediately deleted.
Then the Facebook page was deleted altogether. The supervisor of the junior policeman in charge of the page said it was all a technical mistake. Someone had hacked into the page to write the message to taint the image of the police force.^[58]

In the view of Rangsit University's Associate Professor Police Lieutenant Colonel Krisanaphong Poothakool, "We hear that police reform is ongoing, but in practice, not

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_...ice_corruption

Originally Posted by misskit

three Chinese nationals who had been smuggled into Thailand in a supercar;

Must have been difficult to conceal them unless they were disguised as Yokohama tyres.

Oh, Thailand is a right royal gangstas paradise alright.