Thailand Has A Stigma...

[Shuddee]

Partly, fugitives are attracted to Southeast Asia because of lax enforcement of immigration laws, experts said. Now, I'm not saying that all those with blond hair and ponytails or those who killed someone when they were a minor and already served their jail-time should be extradited, but this story really takes the cake and puts to rest all the wannabes who claim to know so much about stricter enforcement. Most of these claims on forums are ridiculous. A Pulitzer-prize winning newspaper shows it to be true, Thailand has one of the laxest immigration enforcements in the world (along with the rest of Southeast Asia)...

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Thailand attracts fugitives from U.S.

Lax law enforcement, easy hospitality lure many, who blend in easily with expatriates.

Craig Simons / Cox News Service

BANGKOK, Thailand -- American fugitive Morgan Michelle Hoke, dubbed "the ponytail bandit" for her suspected role in multiple bank robberies, could have reinvented herself here.

In downtown Bangkok, street vendors offer forged American driver's licenses for about $35. Medical clinics provide plastic surgery for a fraction of U.S. prices. The combination of lax law enforcement, easy hospitality and thousands of backwater towns has attracted a wide roster of fugitives to Thailand and other nations in Southeast Asia.

Hoke, 21, and her 26-year-old husband, Stuart Michael Romine, are accused of robbing banks in Texas and possibly in California and Washington. The couple arrived in Bangkok on Jan. 20, according to arrest warrants.

Hoke was detained Feb. 13 at a hotel popular with budget travelers and was extradited to the United States the next day. Romine flew from Thailand to India on Feb. 10, Thai police said.

The day that Hoke was detained, Thai police arrested Earl Bonds, a 42-year-old American wanted in St. Louis in a child molestation case. He was turned over to American officials for extradition.

The two deportations are part of a long and growing list of American fugitives caught in Thailand.

One of the most prominent recent extraditions was of James Vincent Sullivan, a multimillionaire who once lived in Palm Beach, Fla., and in 2006 was sentenced to life in prison without parole for arranging his wife's murder in Atlanta.

In another high-profile case, Saner Wonggoun, then 59, a Thai-born American citizen, was extradited to the United States in 2006 on charges of murdering his wife in California. He had been living in Thailand for 12 years when police found him working in a market in the country's north.

While Thai immigration police do not release statistics on how many foreign fugitives have been caught in Thailand, the nation of 65 million people extradites many foreigners each year, said Suppachai Paladech, an inspector with the department.

"If you type 'fugitive' and 'Thailand' into Google, you get a lot of news," he said. "Some people think they can escape here." (In fact, the Google search produces about 171,000 hits).

Partly, fugitives are attracted to Southeast Asia because of lax enforcement of immigration laws, experts said.

Americans like Hoke can blend in easily in Thailand, where more than 7,000 U.S. expatriates legally reside and work.

And last year, more than 700,000 American tourists visited Thailand.

This is point in fact. I have highlighted all the areas I feel are relevant to our current situation.

This article is from the following link: Thailand Attracts Fugitives

[sriracha john]

Thailand attracts fugitives from U.S.

Lax law enforcement, easy hospitality lure many

same, same ... article and thread here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=170702

Thailand Attracts Fugitives From America, Lax law enforcement and easy hospitality lure many