Thai Police Pledge to Eradicate Foreign Motorcycle Clubs Involved in Alleged Criminal Activities

[webfact]

Revving up for justice: RTP launches covert crackdown on rogue motorcycle clubs
by Top 

 

Picture courtesy of Pattaya News.

 

A countdown is underway for five prominent foreign motorcycle clubs that have been operating covertly within Thailand‘s borders. This comes as the Royal Thai Police (RTP) intensifies its efforts following a successful crackdown on the infamous Outlaws Motorcycle Club in Pattaya last month. The RTP’s relentless pursuit, initiated on July 21, resulted in the arrest of the alleged Austrian group leader just as he was about to flee the country, showcasing the RTP’s determination.

 

According to RTP disclosures, the notorious biking club, led by the Austrian national, has been involved in cross-border criminal activities. They were allegedly linked to a specific incident that occurred last June in Pattaya. During a hideout at a Bangkok-based Outlaws clubhouse, Olaf Thorsten Brinkmann, a 62 year old German property broker and a member of the German gang, was apprehended.

 

The arrest of Brinkmann and his three associates, coupled with the crackdown on the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, sets the stage for the RTP’s current mission against five major motorcycle clubs operating across the nation. These clubs include the Outlaws Motorcycle Club (Outlaws MC), Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (Hells Angels), Bandidos Motorcycle Club (the Bandido Nation), Mongols Motorcycle Club (the Mongol Brotherhood), and Vagos Motorcycle Club (also known as the Green Nation).

Mainly overseen by Australian citizens, these clubs thrive in popular tourist destinations like Phuket, Koh Samui in Surat Thani, and Pattaya. Allegedly, they demand protection fees from foreigners running businesses in these areas. In some cases, the risk escalates to abduction or murder of foreigners for monetary gains, according to the RTP.

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/news/pattaya/royal-thai-police-intensify-crackdown-on-major-foreign-motorcycle-clubs

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-08-02

 

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[Bim Smith]

Why name them before enforcement. Talk about giving them the heads up. I smell a brown envelope.

[Jonathan Swift]

11 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I wonder why they were allowed at all.

The hint is in the names: Outlaws, Bandidos, ... 

I don't think the gang names are printed on their passports nor do they write it on any of their forms. "reason for visiting Thailand: Murder and mayhem"

[Ginner]

11 hours ago, BE88 said:

Big Joke declares that it is necessary to amend the pension permit law because it is too easy to obtain it with 800,000 B. and that to attract quality people it will be necessary to amend it. I assume he meant quality person who is willing to deposit a few million in Thai bank.

 

The tic tac has begun for our departure from the country of the quick smile.

The easiest way to do it is raising the retirement age for foreigners in Thailand to  65. AS that is when most countries set the age to retire, with a pension, Joke has known all along about these so-called biker clubs, but like the article said , the gangs only targeted foreigners, So no action taken, just a brown envelope every other month. Joke is looking to make more money.

[BE88]

11 hours ago, CartagenaWarlock said:

Where did he say? Do you have any links to validate the veracity of your claim in your post?

Read in English newspaper that cannot be named here that begins with B.

[BE88]

11 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Stupid thinking, probably criminals have more money than the hard working retired folk

I agree.

[ikke1959]

another crackdown with no results.. as seen at black smoke cars, illegal casinos,  speeding, overloaded trucks etc etc... a nice word but they don't do anything

[BE88]

10 minutes ago, Ginner said:

The easiest way to do it is raising the retirement age for foreigners in Thailand to  65. AS that is when most countries set the age to retire, with a pension, Joke has known all along about these so-called biker clubs, but like the article said , the gangs only targeted foreigners, So no action taken, just a brown envelope every other month. Joke is looking to make more money.

May be, or Big Joke tries to get back on top of immigration by sending the message to the new government, look I have a plan to get more money into the government if I'm elected.

 

[charmonman]

Oh For F—- Sake!

 

If they want to get rid of farang retirees there’s an easier way, just wait for them to die or return to their own countries for medical care. That seems to be the trend among the older farangs I know here.

Using the presence of “outlaw” motorcycle clubs to justify stricter requirements on retirement visas seems like typical twisted and absurd  official Thai logic. How about just arresting people who actually commit crimes and deporting them? Or is that too straightforward?

 

What percentage of people on retirement visas are members of outlaw motorcycle clubs here I wonder? Maybe 0.01 percent? Or should I add another zero?

[jacko45k]

12 hours ago, BE88 said:

Big Joke declares that it is necessary to amend the pension permit law because it is too easy to obtain it with 800,000 B. and that to attract quality people it will be necessary to amend it. I assume he meant quality person who is willing to deposit a few million in Thai bank.

 

The tic tac has begun for our departure from the country of the quick smile.

The reality is it is too easy to obtain without the need to have the money in the bank too....

[mokwit]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Allegedly, they demand protection fees from foreigners running businesses in these areas. In some cases, the risk escalates to abduction or murder of foreigners for monetary gains, according to the RTP.

This can be stopped by making things more difficult for retirees it seems.

[BE88]

4 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

The reality is it is too easy to obtain without the need to have the money in the bank too....

Now it is clear that the new government will have to find the 10,000 B. promised to the people with the return of Taskin and where will he get them?

One will certainly be these on the table, you know the farangs are all full of money in the Thai vision.

Big joke will have promised to clean up this possibility too.

Only the future will tell.

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The RTP on July 21st launched a crackdown

Instead of daily practice.

[ezzra]

Truth to be told, would't want to be in Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, aka ' big joke' shoes with all those headaches he has to put up with from in-house criminals and foreign ones alike, the poor guy is viewed as the saviour of all Thailand's problems, big job for one man.

[mokwit]

Shouldn't they be looking at how many people on retirement extensions have been convicted of a crime since 1979 and then compare that percentage wise/statistically with the Thai population and people on other visa classes such as VE/VOA/TR before knee jerk making things difficult for law abiding retirees?

[steven100]

9 hours ago, brianthainess said:

RTP just shut up and get on with it. 

Their time would be better spent going after Thai criminal thief's and cheats ... oh sorry'   that would be thousands .....   ????

[Mike Teavee]

5 hours ago, mokwit said:

Sorry, should have in some way better indicated I was being sarcastic. We all had to keep 400k year 'round but the agency business continued as before.

 

Yep... The only Retirees impacted by the requirement to keep a minimum of 400K all year round were the ones who kept 800K in there in the 1st place. 

 

It had no impact on the people who don't keep the 800K & use an Agent to "Assist with Finances" for their extension who were presumably the target of the new rules. I don't even think Agents fee went up as a result of it.

 

 

Whatever changes they make I hope they will "Grandfather In" Retirees who have been here for many years, IIRC last time they increased the Finances they did this for Retirees who have had their (unbroken) Non-IMM O for 4 years. 

  

 

 

 

[actonion]

Big Joke   wants  quality people, quality people want a quality  country too, not the polluted,  garabge filled  country  you're offering...

[mokwit]

2 minutes ago, steven100 said:

Their time would be better spent going after Thai criminal thief's and cheats ... oh sorry'   that would be thousands .....   ????

Popular belief has it that he is Prawit's appointee. He was appointed head of Immigration when they had a contract for fingerprint recognition. Apparently he was put in place to ensure there was no corruption in the contract award...........

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, Jonathan Swift said:

I don't think the gang names are printed on their passports nor do they write it on any of their forms. "reason for visiting Thailand: Murder and mayhem"

But it's not too difficult to identify them on the streets...

 

[mokwit]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

But it's not too difficult to identify them on the streets...

 

These guys are smart. They probably take the colours off before going through Immigration at the airport.

[mokwit]

10 minutes ago, Mike Teavee said:

Whatever changes they make I hope they will "Grandfather In" Retirees who have been here for many years, IIRC last time they increased the Finances they did this for Retirees who have had their (unbroken) Non-IMM O for 4 years. 

That was before the 2014 "Government" and it's high quality appointees. They didn't grandfather a change in financial requirements for retirees - specifically 400k year 'round. I just think to change the deal on retirees makes Thailand NOT a retirement destination and that will likely be broadcast on the internet by people who have to leave and go back to rainy afternoons back home.

 

My guess is it will be 3m, maybe grandfathering, depending on who the Government is. No, I am not scaremongering. 3m seems to be their new minimum for "quality" judging by recent visas aimed at "quality" tourists. Easily achieved by not issuing new 800k extensions and requiring new retirees to get OA/OX (with all the attendant requirements such as no criminal record) in their home country.

[actonion]

16 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Popular belief has it that he is Prawit's appointee. He was appointed head of Immigration when they had a contract for fingerprint recognition. Apparently he was put in place to ensure there was no corruption in the contract award...........

I wonder who's watching  the Corruption Investgator,   while he's watching the Corrupt

[ChrisY1]

13 hours ago, NoDisplayName said:

That's strange.  No mention by the joker as to how easy it is to obtain a visa with no money in the bank in exchange for a brown envelope with 25K baht to an agent.

 

Must be an urban legend.

A phone payment nowadays....brown envelopes are gone.

[wazzupnow]

11 hours ago, swerve said:

Should target the criminal bikers in particular (and not all retirees) to find a way to get rid of them.  Maybe with criminal record checks and a tattoo limit (eg. >10% of total skin area).

 

11 hours ago, swerve said:

Should target the criminal bikers in particular (and not all retirees) to find a way to get rid of them.  Maybe with criminal record checks and a tattoo limit (eg. >10% of total skin area).

 check for this one  that will be enough 

[Mike Teavee]

14 minutes ago, mokwit said:

That was before the 2014 "Government" and it's high quality appointees. They didn't grandfather a change in financial requirements for retirees - specifically 400k year 'round. I just think to change the deal on retirees makes Thailand NOT a retirement destination and that will likely be broadcast on the internet by people who have to leave and go back to rainy afternoons back home.

 

My guess is it will be 3m, maybe grandfathering, depending on who the Government is. No, I am not scaremongering. 3m seems to be their new minimum for "quality" judging by recent visas aimed at "quality" tourists. Easily achieved by not issuing new 800k extensions and requiring new retirees to get OA/OX (with all the attendant requirements such as no criminal record) in their home country.

If it does go to 3Million then I can only hope that the silver lining is we get the 10 (2x5) year visa that go along with the Non-IMM OX...

 

I would guess that the increase will be to either 1Million (has a nice round number feel about it) or 1.2Million (50% increase) either of which are a hell of a bump but not too big as to generate Headlines of "Thailand Doubles/Triples Requirements for Retirement Visas"  

 

 

Maybe somewhere in the middle? E.g. 1.5 - 2Million in the Bank for a 5 year Visa? 

 

 

[jacko45k]

48 minutes ago, mokwit said:

Shouldn't they be looking at how many people on retirement extensions have been convicted of a crime since 1979 and then compare that percentage wise/statistically with the Thai population and people on other visa classes such as VE/VOA/TR before knee jerk making things difficult for law abiding retirees?

Well I am not sure comparing to Thais has validity in this. They are interested in foreigners, I also suspect retirement extension numbers may well reflect negatively  to other classes.... but I have no data on that. I reckon education extensions might well contain a few miscreants, as well as married, if only to accommodate the younger ones. Maybe retirement extensions going to  older folks is an idea, over 60s not over 50s.  Are these gangs of motorcycle clubs really made up of over 50s on retirement extensions?

[Lucky Bones]

I would have thought that you only need to fear these clubs if you get involved with a club.

 

Anyone remember the 1970's Aussie movie "Stone"?

Great stuff.????????

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, BE88 said:

Read in English newspaper that cannot be named here that begins with B.

It was in a German expat gazette yesterday (TIP Zeitung). A mate alarmed me.

If it all goes back to BP you can still hope it's a hoax.

[KhunBENQ]

Fortunately it's not bigjoke who makes/changes laws.