Mark Wolfe

Here is the list for rates obtained at great expense from the Samui Lamai branch of the Post Office for

DOMESTIC FARCLES and INTERNATIONAL PARCLES:

Still nothing even remotely touching on the original question of death by bike statistics on Samui. Surely there is a government branch that keeps tally of such things.

Someone with red-hot Thai abilities should call round the offices and whatnot. There ARE stats on this somewhere....

Please lets keep KPG as it is...

Oddly, in all these years, I had never been to Had Rin until this last month. I drove there and was surprised at those very steep hills and never realized what a <deleted> hole it is. Boy, if that's a model of "keep it as it is," I'd pass.

"Slow right down with drop in tourists..."? Builders don't build for short-term gains; they build for the future. Tourist numbers are not going to drop in KP in the next 5 to 10 years, or beyond.

Alleged corruption by a single biased individual.

This has little if anything to do with the subject of organized crime on Samui (if it exists at all).

Why? I didn't say anything about guilt or innocence. Perhaps you might contact The Nation and the Pattaya Daily News and tell them to delete their news stories for the past. Or maybe ask Google, Yahoo and all the rest of the search engines to block that URL. I don't understand your point; however, if you wish to update, please do.

ONE good reason, why we need all these luxury land developments on KPG...

So I will have some place to stay when I go there. You don't expect me to stay in the claptrap, fleabag hotel/resorts that are festering across that beautiful island like carbuncles, do you?

Submitting a document to the authorities subtitled: Cigars, Caviar, Champagne, Cocaine & cun_t sort of shoots the whole thing in the foot.

However....

Bandidos members arrested for Samui land deals

Three members of the Bandidos, an international motorcycle gang, were arrested yesterday on charges relating to illegal land sales on Koh Samui, police said.

A team of 100 officers raided 10 locations on the resort island early in the morning, arresting two alleged gang members and a Thai official suspected of being an accomplice in the illegal land sales. A third foreign national sought by police later turned himself in.

...DSI spokesman Colonel Piyawat Kingket said the Bandidos gang brought more than Bt3 billion into Thailand and laundered it in Koh Samui through several tourist businesses.

DSI chief General Sombat Amornviwat said his department had received a complaint from British national Neil [only name given in the article] that the gang had threatened to kill him until he turned over his business last December. (Pattaya Daily News says: The remaining forces were sent to search various business places that were run by their gang, including the "Ussy Pub" which was run by the Gang Leader. He had obtained this pub from Mr. Niel Pattrick William, a British national after the gang had blackmailed it from him.)

During a six-month investigation, police found that the foreign suspects were members of the Bandidos gang and had a network that extended to Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket. They trafficked drugs in Thailand and laundered money here, Sombat said. They also engaged in illegal land deals in which they bribed land officials and used forged Sor Khor 1 documents to claim ownership of land they later sold to other foreign nationals.

-- The Nation (July 19, 2006)

There is a "Samui Comedy Festival"? Is that a joke?

There are several places to buy motorcycles on the island. Try another place.

Tongue-in-cheek is a term used to refer to humor in which a statement, or an entire fictional work, is not meant to be taken seriously, but its sarcasm is subtle.

The Ordnance Survey was originally a military survey of the Scottish Highlands in 1747.

So the word "ordnance" is used correctly in the original map, but though the years the military nature of the map evolved into a civilian cartography.

I would therefore be interested in purchasing an ordnance survey map of Koh Samui.

I don't understand the replies. This chap must be looking for some sort of map showing where the weapons or bombs are:

Ordnance. "1 a: military supplies including weapons, ammunition, combat vehicles, and maintenance tools and equipment b: a service of the army charged with the procuring, distributing, and safekeeping of ordnance. 2: cannon , artillery" - Merriam-Webster dictionary.

I'd like to see one of those maps myself.

competent, complacement, intelligent, hard working, with english language training and starting pay of about 30,000 baht would help for starters. ( I know thats to much to ask but at least I'm saying it )

30,000! What sort of employment here in Samui pays that?

As for the purchase of a vehicle, anyone can buy on an installment plan.

thairaid:

mark, have you been to anywhere else in Thailand? if so, have you noticed how many very nice new cars there are here compared to the rest of te country? think mark, a bit, please...

We are not talking about anywhere else in Thailand. However, I seem to recall spotting a few "very nice new cars" in Bangkok. You are suggesting that the prevalence of new cars in an area is an indication of mob influence. That's certainly an interesting piece of inductive reasoning...

I think there is some confusion on your part and others regarding the difference between an organized crime syndicate and a gang (and not a street gang such as in the US).

Instead of applying ad hominem arguments, please address my previous questions. What is controlled, islandwide, by this/these syndicates and how much income is generated? You might also explain the hierarchy and how the chain of command works.

Mud dauber under the workbench....

When the Samui cops find out the Bkk cops are coming down to bust the DVD shops, they call all the shops to warn them, then collect 10k from every one. Have also been told by a shop owner she pays a monthly fee to the cops here. Sounds pretty organised to me

Organized? That's simple graft. Look it up. This has nothing to do with organized crime mobs.

geekfreaklover:

I knew at least three people killed by the big boys.

"The big boys"? You suppose they are somehow connected when actually they are just cliques. And the killing surrounding the real estate agent or whatever; what makes you think MR BIG ordered a hit? You might as well spend your time looking for that missing Japanese WWII gold in the Philippines. Someone has a grudge and you make it out to be some conspiracy.

For those who think there is an organized mob here, let me ask:

1. What things are controlled by the mob? Drugs? Gambling? Taxi fares? Construction contracts? Vegetable prices?

1A. Of those things controlled by the mob, how much income are we talking about?

(1. I can't see much on Samui that would be of interest to an organized mob, given that 1A, even if there were payoffs and shakedowns, the amount would not be worth the effort.)

I believe that there are "gangs" in the sense of small groups of local (men) who fancy themselves "players"; maybe they own a club or two, or come from a wealthy Samui family (sold land/have lots of coconut palms, whatever makes one wealthy here). They are self-styled tough guys who hobknob and like to be flashy. I hardly believe they are running any covert, illegal operation beyond petty theft, and certainly there aren't any gangland bosses who decide who sells tom yom or how much the laundry cost should be per kilo or who decides that so-and-so needs to eat a bullet.

Thank you...

...those August 12ths seem to be coming faster now....

hemmmmm ....then please explain the "standard" taxi-meter fares ...the ones that are all the same make, color, etc...and not the other ones, that there are NONE of on the island...think

Not sure about that, but an accurate meter is an accurate meter; however, the taxi drivers here were instructed by some authority to be allowed the 90 baht surcharge and to have their meters register differently than in Bangkok, for example, if memory serves.

How anyone, when pulled up half an hour after finishing with the jetski, would pay out money for 'damages' is beyond belief to me. ...

That the police or a court of law would find a cause for a legitimate case against a tourist is equally beyond belief.

Agree very much, but you and I must be more seasoned travelers or expats. If something is absolutely without a doubt a scam, I always hold my ground, firmly and without fanfare. Eventually, when they see that you are not a rube and aren't going to capitulate, someone usually backs down (sideways) and the storm passes. Keeping a level head is really key with this strategy and appealing to higher authority (and the waiting game).

I also agree that most people who are vacationing don't want the hassle of dealing with a strange situation is a strange and "lawless" land. Things might change some if people thought that standing up for their rights and not being taken advantage of is better than allowing themselves to be sucker-punched in the wallet so they can get back to spending more time laying in the sun encouraging melanoma.

I was under the impression that a pole, as in "pole dancing," was attached to the floor, although I would like to see some of the professional girls gyrate around a mop....

My OP...

There is no mafia in Samui.

You would not know.

Of course, thus this thread. Did I miss something there?

I think that some are confusing localized self-interest groups, taxis, rental vehicles and club/bar/restaurant owners (for example) have some hierarchical structure within each segment, but as for a "mafia on Samui," such that one or two "heads" get together and say, "We're raising the price of motorbike rentals to 500 baht a day. Pee Guidoporn, make it happen," is silly.

I also agree that there are influential families here. That does not mean they are into extortion, graft and violence.

Let me also say that I am not suggesting that there is no collusion here. But just because Ralph's and Safeway charge the same for tomatoes doesn't lead me to the conclusion that they are in cahoots and are artificially establishing a price above the free market.

I think there is a difference between similar businesses with less than scrupulous people involved being opportunistic and a family or several pulling all the string from the top.

But, as norwayeagle points out, I do not know this for sure. It is unlikely that anyone on this board has concrete evidence of actual Samui underworld bosses and their organizational structure, but if so, please clear the air.

The FBI defines organized crime as any group having some manner of a formalized structure...

"Formalized structure" is the operative phrase here.

I don't believe this exists here. Any appearance of structure is coincidental. While a few people may be friends who scratch each others' backs, there is no "big boss" and his minions.

It's like saying that everyone who plays golf on Samui is a member of the "golf on Samui gang." There might be a few small groups that play together, but the general picture is one of individuals acting in their own self interest.

...and have someone take a video of the operator taking care of the camera...

Aside from the semantics of "mafia" being an Italian term, is there really an organized crime group here on Samui?

My guess is no. I think what we have is a section of the local male population who take advantage of tourists (and perhaps each other) as they can, and socialize with each other to some degree.

Motorbike and jet ski owners sometimes attempt to falsely claim damages from unwitting tourists. Because there is some "gift" given to the police when they "arbitrate" these disputes, they are more apt to see the Thai complainant in a favorable light (that's a nice way of saying graft).

Shop landlords, all of which are Thai, form a group (even though they may not be actively associating) and I suppose some have a clique mentality as well (one that might include the notion that foreigners are necessary evils and who need to show the "bosses" the kind of respect that they feel they deserve.)

Taxi drivers take what they can because they can get away with it, and there is no way to enforce any sort of meter-use regulation.

Kids riding around on bikes at night at full speed are just kids.

I think there is a leap of misunderstanding to think that all these groups/individuals (and there are more examples than I provided) are somehow all interconnected in some sort of "Samui mob family." There is no organized structure with "bosses" and "foot soldiers." Whatever is happening here is because of opportunism and greed.

There is no mafia in Samui.

I still don't understand how anyone could agree to paying for damages after the boat has been returned unscathed, and when clearly, if a boat is shown with damage that could not have been done by normal use.

Tip: Do what you do with a motorcycle hire: take digital photos of the craft before you rent from several angles.