Crackdown on crime wave against Chinese tourists in Bangkok as concerns also raised on cannabis

[webfact]

Police Major General Teeradej Thumsutee, the Head of Investigation for the Metropolitan Police Bureau in the capital which has launched the crackdown as Thailand moves to make the country more secure and safe for genuine incoming Chinese tourists.

 

by James Morris and Son Nguyen

The Royal Thai Police has launched a campaign to root out dangerous criminal elements from among the growing number of Chinese visitors with the screening of incoming travellers for prior criminal histories and the more extensive monitoring of Chinese arrivals in tourist hotspots such as Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket. At the same time, a crackdown against Chinese mafia networks in Bangkok was also launched in April.

Thailand has begun to crack down on criminal elements entering the country from China at the same time as the Metropolitan Police Bureau has begun to suppress illegal activities by Chinese underworld operators in the capital. The move comes as the ongoing growth of Chinese incoming tourists has slowed in response to a negative perception of the kingdom on the Chinese mainland driven by overblown social media reports, disinformation and including a negative portrayal of the country’s perceived new cannabis free for all culture.

 

The legalisation of cannabis in Thailand is only one of the problems that have beset the reopening of foreign tourism to the Chinese market since the start of the year with the recent imposition of stricter screening for visa applicants having already put the brakes on the rate of rise in numbers as Thailand puts the security and safety of foreign tourist first.

 

Full story: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2023/05/03/crackdown-on-chinese-crime-campaign-against-tourists/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Examiner 2023-05-04

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

The most versatile and flexible rental investment and holiday home solution in Thailand - click for more information.

[geisha]

Well, they’ll just have to root out the Chinese  criminals from the bona fide tourists !  Stricter immigration rules, phots / fingerprints and no more crooked immigration officers.

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

A headline that reads like a crackdown on crime against Chinese tourists, but turns out to be the opposite. Either way it can't be good for business. Or is this just another RTP cop looking for a picture in the papers?

Edited May 3, 2023 by George FmplesdaCosteedback
typo

[Bim Smith]

So it's really about rooting out Chinese criminal elements than about making Chinese (genuine) tourists feel safe because surely they would be a threat to everyone in the country not just the Chinese. Can't have competition for the Thai mafia hey

[bradiston]

Chulalongkorn should immediately withdraw its crass linkage of cannabis reform to a drop in Chinese tourism, whilst milking the weed for all it's worth, which is obviously billions of baht. Oh boy, check this out!

 

https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/47796/

 

Here's a link to the cited Chulalongkorn paper:

 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370038400_The_Chinese_media_narrative_of_Thailand_as_a_tourist_destination_after_the_legalisation_of_cannabis#pf1

Edited May 3, 2023 by bradiston

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The Royal Thai Police has launched a campaign to root out dangerous criminal elements from among the growing number of Chinese visitors with the screening of incoming travellers for prior criminal histories

And how do they achieve this when a criminal comes in hidden within a tour group?

[bradiston]

If you read the article cited, and the media comments it quotes, it turns out that most of the negative perception of the so called legalisation of cannabis in Thailand is centered on the notion you might unknowingly eat some of it, given it could have been added to anything you order (food being the main preoccupation of Chinese tourists, presumably). Still, better than a spoonful of potassium cyanide, I guess.

 

It admits that monitoring Chinese media content is immensely hampered by the savage censorship of all Chinese media platforms. Any mention of cannabis, let alone legalisation, will be ruthlessly excised. Big Brother approved propaganda only.

Edited May 3, 2023 by bradiston

[AustinRacing]

Chinese mafia taking business from Thai mafia. Government connected to Thai mafia more so than Chinese mafia. Thai mafia orders government to do something about it. Thai businesses usually paranoid about foreign competition as seen in all sorts of industries - underworld businesses no exception. 
disclaimer- a friend told me this.????????????

[sammieuk1]

First start with rooting out the RTP and 90% of the criminality will be gone ????

[Bangkok Barry]

51 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

And how do they achieve this when a criminal comes in hidden within a tour group?

Every person in a tour group now has to apply for a visa individually, rather than the previous method when the tour company applied for the entire group. That was in the news a few days ago.

[stoner]

maybe im too high already....whats the cannabis concern here ? 

[hotchilli]

18 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Every person in a tour group now has to apply for a visa individually, rather than the previous method when the tour company applied for the entire group. That was in the news a few days ago.

And a criminal background check is done at the Thai embassy in China?

[klauskunkel]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The Royal Thai Police has launched a campaign to root out

 

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

And how do they achieve this when a criminal comes in hidden within a tour group?

The campaign does that. The police launch it. The campaign roots the criminals out! It's RTP science.

[khunjeff]

Problem: Chinese citizens are being kidnapped and murdered in Thailand

 

Solution: re-criminalize cannabis

 

Makes sense to me!

[stoner]

2 minutes ago, khunjeff said:

Problem: Chinese citizens are being kidnapped and murdered in Thailand

 

Solution: re-criminalize cannabis

 

Makes sense to me!

6 puffs of separation. 

[patman30]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The legalisation of cannabis in Thailand is only one of the problems that have beset the reopening of foreign tourism to the Chinese market

How?

[ignore it]

I'm thinking TAT should send their next dog and pony show promoting Chinese tourism to the RTP and Immigration.

[mberbae]

Reading BBC today and the HUGE Mafia bust in Europe with ties

to the Chinese mafia is enough to give one pause. It's easier to

bribe Thai police than Chinese police, one would assume. Thus the

extra vigilance here in LOS.

[Rig Pig]

Chinese Tourists?!?

How is this considered a crackdown on crime wave against chinese tourists? I don't understand or maybe the headline is wrong. Which chinese tourists are being arrested in this "crime wave"? 

[moe666]

The chinese came and brought their criminals as well. The Rissians did the same thing 

[brianthainess]

2 hours ago, stoner said:

maybe im too high already....whats the cannabis concern here ? 

Maybe It's cheaper in China.

[brianthainess]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

monitoring of Chinese arrivals in tourist hotspots such as Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket.

Will they have checkpoints on entering these "Hotspots"? Just how will they implement these extra checks at Airports ? So no extra checks on the Chinese if going to the 'Hotspot"???? Chiang Mai 

[Clarkey611]

1 hour ago, stoner said:

6 puffs of separation. 

No need to talk about my Ambassador like that!

[Bangkok Barry]

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Every person in a tour group now has to apply for a visa individually, rather than the previous method when the tour company applied for the entire group. That was in the news a few days ago.

And a criminal background check is done at the Thai embassy in China?

I don't know. Ask them, if you're interested.

[Burma Bill]

3 hours ago, Rig Pig said:

Chinese Tourists?!?

How is this considered a crackdown on crime wave against chinese tourists? I don't understand or maybe the headline is wrong. Which chinese tourists are being arrested in this "crime wave"? 

Zero dollar Chinese tourists using Chinese Triad owned hotels, bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, tour buses etc. in Thailand??

[Andrew65]

6 hours ago, bradiston said:

If you read the article cited, and the media comments it quotes, it turns out that most of the negative perception of the so called legalisation of cannabis in Thailand is centered on the notion you might unknowingly eat some of it, given it could have been added to anything you order (food being the main preoccupation of Chinese tourists, presumably). Still, better than a spoonful of potassium cyanide, I guess.

 

It admits that monitoring Chinese media content is immensely hampered by the savage censorship of all Chinese media platforms. Any mention of cannabis, let alone legalisation, will be ruthlessly excised. Big Brother approved propaganda only.

I remember "Happy Herb Pizza" in Phnom Penh, where cannabis (if you want) was sprinkled on your pizza, the amount equates from "Happy" to "Very Happy"????.

I talked to a bar owner that I knew who owned a bar just down the road. He said, almost without exception, when people come into his bar after being there they do the same thing:

1. Sit down

2. Order a drink

3. Fall asleep

(Not very good for business!?).

Edited May 4, 2023 by Andrew65

[Toby1947]

The guy in the picture is definitely a criminal, shifty looking geezer 

[John Drake]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand has begun to crack down on criminal elements entering the country from China at the same time as the Metropolitan Police Bureau has begun to suppress illegal activities by Chinese underworld operators in the capital.

Ah, so the correct headline for the OP should be "Crackdown on Crime Wave By Chinese Tourists in Bangkok"

[Sydebolle]

I think it is a repetition of what started approx. 100 years ago in the United States with Italian immigrants and the mafia. Given the present dedication of Thailand's finest with their open purses and highway robbery attitude in most cases, I can only wish "GOOD LUCK". 

The Chinese, specially  the less than legal crowd, is WAY smarter than the resident crooks in the Land of Smiles!