A mysterious fall from grace - The rise and fall of 'Big Joke' Surachate Hakparn

[Jim7777]

1 hour ago, Farangwithaplan said:

Personally, I am happy he rounded up a bunch of scoundrels. I walked down lower suk from Asok to to Ploen Chit yesterday afternoon and it was the first time in ages there hasn't been an african guy trying to sell me some sort of illegal drug. Is that a problem for you? I only see it as a good thing. I'm unsure on how common people are affected by getting rid of illegals.

 

You say that tourists have been turned away but tourist numbers are up based on released numbers. How do you justify your statements on that?

 

People are leaving? Why, because they can't show they can afford to live as an ex-pat? Or have been here on the wrong visa or no visa?

 

I'm not sure I can agree with your post.

You are right if you’ve got nothing to hide then NORMALLY you’ve got nothing to worry about.  I’ve been here for five years and I’ve never even been visited by the cops but you have to at least follow immigration rules and keep up with your extensions on time or at least get a new visa is you don’t do extensions.  Thailand isn’t for everyone, at least not for everyone who wants to live here.  Me I’m just lucky to be retired in my 40’s and married to a Thai citizen that I met in the States 21 years ago and then one day in 2010 after my first few visits to Thailand just because I happened to be working in Tokyo Japan at the time before I retired we decided that Thailand would be an awesome place to retire and it was.  I still love it here just as much after almost 5 years actually living here.  Before that we used to visit all the time since December 2009 to 2010 and many visits after that.  When I finally retired I couldn’t wait to get back here to live.  

Edited April 10, 2019 by Jim7777

[Lacessit]

The rumour I have heard was that Big Joke was asked/ordered to handle the sedition case against the leader of the Future Forward Party, Thanathorn, and he refused. Not the way to endear yourself to the powers that be.

[bhatmasterson]

He forgot he's a person of COLOR TOO!

[Shocked farang]

6 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

Reading about his political connections for the first time. Can't help but wonder if the rank and file felt his promotions were well-earned or if he was seen as a fair haired boy.

 

I've been keeping an eye on how many foreign criminals have been arrested ever since Prayut claimed that Thailand had become a haven for international criminal activity. Yes, there's been a few Interpol-assisted arrests of guys who have been on the lam for a long time, and a few pedophiles, foreign prostitutes, shoplifters, romance scammers, and boiler room fraudsters were arrested, but to me, the vast majority of the guys paraded in front of the cameras night after night were overstayers whose big crime was laziness about visa related matters or illegal migrants from neighboring countries just trying to feed their families. Beyond immigration violations, criminality was only occasionally reported to have been uncovered during these highly publicized roundups and raids.

 

In my opinion, the calibre of arrests of foreigners during Big Joke's tenure - which were for mostly low level and run-of-the-mill offenses - provided less than compelling evidence for the junta's claims that Thailand had become a swamp of foreign criminality in urgent need of being drained.

Brilliant, he was also trying to get rid of the "Cheap Charlie", the poor budget tourist or retiree in order to attract more "Quality foreigners". What these people don´t realize is that without the adventurous backpacker, places like Phi phi island or Samui would never have become the sophisticated hubs they are now.

[balo]

2 hours ago, Farangwithaplan said:

Personally, I am happy he rounded up a bunch of scoundrels. I walked down lower suk from Asok to to Ploen Chit yesterday afternoon and it was the first time in ages there hasn't been an african guy trying to sell me some sort of illegal drug. Is that a problem for you? I only see it as a good thing. I'm unsure on how common people are affected by getting rid of illegals.

 

You say that tourists have been turned away but tourist numbers are up based on released numbers. How do you justify your statements on that?

 

People are leaving? Why, because they can't show they can afford to live as an ex-pat? Or have been here on the wrong visa or no visa?

 

I agree with you , I will miss some of Big Jokes raids , the criminal activities in cities like Bangkok and Pattaya probably gone down.

 

Yes some overstayers got in trouble too, but they can only blame themselves.   

[fxe1200]

7 hours ago, Aussie999 said:

Well, let's not forget the very honest cop, that was doing a very good job, had to flee Thailand, to Australia, in fear of his life, that fear from higher up, not from street criminals.

Or the cop recently murdered in Songkhla:   http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2019/03/19/crusader-ex-cop-gunned-down-at-home-in-songkhla/

 

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, atyclb said:

 

 

you mean something akin to "toxic masculinity" ?

No. Not on any level. For a man to be enough of a threat to women, that he is considered to have toxic masculinity, he has to be enough of a man to begin with. Not the case here. Just a bully, with too much power, who was a hater, and was called out for his path of destruction.  

[Thaidream]

1 hour ago, Internatltraveler said:

Now I invite you to shoot at me with your comments cause I am an experienced war veteran of a few years that has already dodged a lot of bullets so your's can permeate my shield anyway, so go for it!

You are certainly entitled to your opinion but I believe the following statement sums up my opinion on most things.

 

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ― Edmund Burke.

 

Westerners generally do not sit back without voicing opinions-good or bad.  However, Thailand  has a different  way of handling things.  The majority of us  may comment on things Thai but generally keep these opinions among  the Expat community and do not discuss them with  our hosts.

 

This forum provides a real service allowing us to get things 'off our chest' generally in a positive way and a fair and honest exchange of views.

 

As far as happiness- after one reaches a certain age- I know it's going to be a good day when I open my eyes each morning.

 

 

[Gecko123]

27 minutes ago, Shocked farang said:

Brilliant, he was also trying to get rid of the "Cheap Charlie", the poor budget tourist or retiree in order to attract more "Quality foreigners". What these people don´t realize is that without the adventurous backpacker, places like Phi phi island or Samui would never have become the sophisticated hubs they are now.

These collaborationist forum members who were-all-too-eager to embrace the junta's fevered and cynically nationalistic and xenophobic vision because they foolishly saw it as aligned with their snobbish self-interest and often racist ideologies ought to have their heads shaved, and be frog-marched down Walking Street while being pelted with food prep waste. A strongly worded opinion perhaps, but just a small taste of the bitter resentment their behavior engendered.

Edited April 10, 2019 by Gecko123

[wayned]

15 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

As far as happiness- after one reaches a certain age- I know it's going to be a good day when I open my eyes each morning.

I know that it was a good day when I take a shower and go to bed each night and hope that if it's my time to go that it is painless in the middle of the night and that I don't screw up everybody's lives around me with a prolonged illness!

[Dogmatix]

BJ said he would eliminate bribery at Immigration implying he was a clean cop but he rose far and fast in the police and by all accounts honest cops get left behind on the starting line for promotions. Bribery at Immigration tends to be small scale and is mainly done in a way that it is difficult for the bosses to know what the take is and demand their cut.  But Big Joke was also involved with other police task forces which allowed him to flit around the country dealing with organized crime where the big money is for police.

 

One thing we know about police supervision under the junta is that the first commissioner appointed after the coup was involved in big money dealings throughout his time as police chief. Under his own name and those of his wive and daughter he  invested hundreds of millions of baht in private placements of obscure micro companies listed on the SET before the SEC changed the rules to be fairer to small investors. Managements used to drive down their own share prices and then do private placements at cheap prices, often announcing unexpectedly good news not long afterwards. The former commissioner flipped all of these positions in a few days walking away with hundreds of millions in profits. It was such a sure fire thing that he was probably able to “borrow” all the capital at advanteous terms. Later we found out that one of his “lenders” was the owner of Victoria’s Secrets.  We never found out if he invested entirely on his own account or whether also fronted for people could be seen to be investing in shares.

 

We know very little about the BJ case but we do know the above and the past might be a guide to the present here, ie follow the money.

Edited April 10, 2019 by Dogmatix

[maddox41]

This is all smoke and mirrors he's a treat to the high powers so bring him  into the fold to become a puppet for the rooster as the rooster is a puppet for the almighty Prem. 

Immagration officials are breathing again. The brown paper conveyer belt is running after some maintenance. And soon we will all know where bj will end up. Right next to the Rooster &  Mr Watch hanging with big boys and a future player in the junta  I'm sure. 

[sambum]

Defence Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tratravanich said Prawit’s absence was because he suffered from food poisoning, not to avoid questions from reporters. 

 

Yeah, right!

[connda]

Might have parallels to Icarus mythology.  "Dang, my wings melted!"

 

[Farangwithaplan]

2 hours ago, Jim7777 said:

You are right if you’ve got nothing to hide then NORMALLY you’ve got nothing to worry about. 

Jim, I'm curious as to why you wrote the word 'normally' in capital letters. Is it an acronym for something? Is it for effect? Do you assume myself and others will not be capable of reading the sentence? I see this a lot now and I am wondering why.

 

If it is for emphasis, there are already norms such as italics , "inverted commas" and (parenthesis) to express that requirement. The exclamation mark at the end of a sentence works, too!

 

 

[Farangwithaplan]

2 hours ago, Shocked farang said:

Brilliant, he was also trying to get rid of the "Cheap Charlie", the poor budget tourist or retiree in order to attract more "Quality foreigners".

How exactly were the budget tourists being targeted? From what I read it was only the long term stayers who gamed the system with runs across the border who were being targeted. Can you offer one case where people, who hadn't recently gamed the system with a bunch of runs to live in the country were rejected for having a legitimate visa?

 

I've heard of none in the press. It would be interesting to hear of a case.

[elliss]

9 hours ago, Thailand said:

Intriguing.

 

 

      Fantastic , hip hip ,,

[elliss]

6 hours ago, bendejo said:

Next move for Big Joke: move to Penang and set up a visa procurement agency.

 

 

 

 

           Nigeria ? . 

[raccos21]

I don't think so that would be mystery fall but they need to unplug him before he gets too far. Probably he discovered something in the rabbit holes. And it is safe to keep him close to them. So, sooner or later the truth will be revealed let see what come next. That will be my guess.

[Mansell]

I kinda feel sorry for the guy, especially without knowing all the machinations going on behind the scenes. Who would want to work in a country and under a system where you are booted out at the whim of the leader........No, I wasn't talking about the USA!

[marcusarelus]

7 hours ago, mercman24 said:

said this before and will say until i am blue in the face, its about the money, too much money pouring into immigration via the back door, he upset too many people, with his clamp downs, thats my view

Why?  It was wrong the first time you said and it's still wrong.  Why not read the media that actually follow the real story and get an idea what is really happening around you?

[chama]

13 hours ago, YetAnother said:

because he is a fool and ridiculed at every opportunity

And since his boss trumped his authority he would rune the risk of being buried even further the he has been recently. Prawn was a liability during the election run but one might have thought he would have resurfaced now that the election is deep into the process of being "determined".

[gillap]

I agree with Dcnx.

Special adviser to the prime minister is not a demotion in my book! Surachat is leaving the police to be giving a new job is my understanding! Perhaps become a spook...something of that nature! The investigation is just a smoke screen in my view... disinformation!

[metisdead]

An irrelevant ranting post and a reply has been removed. 

[Humpy]

...perhaps no more space on his uniform for more badges, medals ,pins and studs !!

[kcpattaya]

Big joke indeed

[Lenny Jones]

" Well, let's not forget the very honest cop, that was doing a very good job, had to flee Thailand, to Australia, in fear of his life, that fear from higher up, not from street criminals. "

 

I remember this VERY WELL - investigating the deaths of Myanmar people being transported south in police trucks to be sold onto fishing boats.  Suddenly had to seek asylum in Australia.  Later offered "Safety" by the General to come back to Thailand to discuss the matter but refused - Something that could have been easily done with an international audio-visual set-up - - - - -