I think this is what's going on.
Taxi's, speedboats, jewelry scams, mafia beer bars, prostitution....
Thailand government is ok with it because it's a safety valve that injects income into a lower level of society many of which being uneducated and prone to a criminal darker side would be involved in other far more serious criminality.
Con men, thugs...
These people must be run or at least pay off someone above them. Even lowly street vendors have to pay cops for sidewalk space.