Physical Violence Or Murder In The Business World

[Trevor]

The rural ice-making trade is fertile ground for the hired 'kah-ta-gohn' or motorcycle gunman to eliminate rivals in this lucrative field. In a country where life is cheap, people are poor and guns are commonplace, surely any prospective business person must consider whether his legitimate activities are likely to interfere with any vested interests, possibly resulting in his getting blown away without warning. The police are pretty much useless at catching professional hitmen, and their patrons will just claim immunity through a suitable alibi.

Can members here relate any anedotes on this topic, or speak from personal experience of threats or violence in the business world?

[RamdomChances]

I was accosted by a machine gun weilding gunman the otherday, he thought I was going to buy a 5 bhat bag of ice from a rivel, luckely I was on my way to score a couple of kg's of "crack" so I had no problem

[dugdig]

That Dutch prawn guy got killed the other day. There's a topic for it somewhere. They said the motive wasn't clear but now I think he was scoring some 'unauthorized' ice.....

[RDN]

The rural ice-making trade is fertile ground for the hired 'kah-ta-gohn' or motorcycle gunman to eliminate rivals in this lucrative field.  In a country where life is cheap, people are poor and guns are commonplace, surely any prospective business person must consider whether his legitimate activities are likely to interfere with any vested interests, possibly resulting in his getting blown away without warning.  The police are pretty much useless at catching professional hitmen, and their patrons will just claim immunity through a suitable alibi.

Can members here relate any anedotes on this topic, or speak from personal experience of threats or violence in the business world?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here's a few:

Airport taxi driver beaten to death

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.as...rch=yes&Id=1249

Taxi boss fails to get cabs into airport

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.as...rch=yes&Id=2418

Kata boatmen blockade Amancruises yacht

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.as...rch=yes&Id=3412

[Darknight]

The vise president of CP petro once told me he couldn't fire anyone in his 3000 man company

If he did he would probably be found dead in two weeks. And this was a Chinese Thai man with a lot of influence.

[Nam Kao]

I have heard many times ~10,000 baht

[OldAsiaHand]

The vise president of CP petro once told me he couldn't fire anyone in his 3000 man company 

If he did he would probably be found dead in two weeks. And this was a Chinese Thai man with a lot of influence.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's a common issue here. Remember the Australian auditor who was murdered a year or two ago up country? Remember the on-going TPI upheavals and the threats to the receivers that caused several to leave the country?

Post-1997, I was brought in to reorganize and run a reasonable sized financial services company in Bangkok. The reorganization eventually included terminating a half dozen members of middle management who had been scamming the company in various ways and restructuring the business in partnership with a major European bank.

I thought the whole matter had worked out without much fuss until long after we had sold the company and I had left. That was when my wife told me about the army security unit she had hired through her family contacts to cover my ass while I was doing all that. She had been told by friends that a hitter had been hired by someone who wanted to kill the deal, literally in this case, and a police friend of my father-in-law's had found this hitter following me around Bangkok on a motorbike.

After the army guys were brought in, they picked up the hitter. I'm told they had a serious talk with him and, gee, he must have gone back to his village since no one has seen him since. They also said they had some more serious talks with the folks who had hired him and then covered me twenty-four hours a day for another month until my wife was sure I was safe.

Of course, I found out about absolutely none of this for several years after it happened.

The lesson is this: we live here in a world we can never even hope to see clearly, let alone understand. That applies to everyone, even you guys who love to sound so smug about the presumed cultural sophistication and sensitivity you have accumulated during your time here. If you really do believe you have even the slightest idea what is actually happening around you, I wish you the very best of British luck.

As the old desk sergeant on Hill Street Blues used to remind his patrol cops before every shift, 'Be careful out there.'

[mbkudu]

The Thai police have a list of known hitmen in Thaialnd. If you suspect that someone might be trying to kill you, you could ask the police for a look at the list.

Then you would at least narrow the possibilities down a bit. Why these known hitmen are not behind bars is a mystery to me. TIT

[samran]

The vise president of CP petro once told me he couldn't fire anyone in his 3000 man company 

If he did he would probably be found dead in two weeks. And this was a Chinese Thai man with a lot of influence.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The lesson is this: we live here in a world we can never even hope to see clearly, let alone understand. That applies to everyone, even you guys who love to sound so smug about the presumed cultural sophistication and sensitivity you have accumulated during your time here. If you really do believe you have even the slightest idea what is actually happening around you, I wish you the very best of British luck.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If it wasn't so true, it would be funny. Everytime I am sitting in a Taxi and the driver starts talking current affairs, ranting about how dangerous the south is, I ask him has he been to Chonburi lately...and he immediately reconsiders his opinion.

On a slightly lighter note to OldAsiaHands story, a couple of years ago while working on a project, everyone was warned off a very attractive girl on our team. We were told "her dad owns a Petrol Station in Chonburi".....code for the fact that her dad was a mobster. Goes without saying she drove home every night alone in her Mercedes.

[Team Bukowski]

As the old desk sergeant on Hill Street Blues used to remind his patrol cops before every shift, 'Be careful out there.'

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

actually, if I remember rightly he used to say "go do it to them before they do it to us" !!! Fancy yourself as a hitman?

[taxexile]

The lesson is this: we live here in a world we can never even hope to see clearly, let alone understand. That applies to everyone, even you guys who love to sound so smug about the presumed cultural sophistication and sensitivity you have accumulated during your time here. If you really do believe you have even the slightest idea what is actually happening around you, I wish you the very best of British luck.

thats probably the most perceptive comment i've ever read on this forum.

[rubl]

As the old desk sergeant on Hill Street Blues used to remind his patrol cops before every shift, 'Be careful out there.'

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

actually, if I remember rightly he used to say "go do it to them before they do it to us" !!! Fancy yourself as a hitman?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thailand can be a wonderfull and safe place to work and live. I'm a IT consultant to one of the larger american Computer/IT companies here. I 'support' projects and customers. Non-binding advise, no hierarchical position, no threat to local personel, reasonably paid. In one word: safe

Mind you, I'm not really ambitious

[Trevor]

How's this true late-1970's story for a hit with a twist.

One Thai-Chinese gets jealous of another's success with the ladies and decides to eliminate him for better access to the gene pool. He sets up his mark to sell heroin in Taiwan using a poorly-educated Thai courier to carry it past customs, which is successful. Informs the police there as the sale is being set up on the island, and collects a hefty cash reward from the authorities for 'information leading to arrest'.

The two victims are initially sentenced to death, later serving ten years each and come out penniless. The set-up guy gets his girl and a nice nest-egg. The mark dies as driver in a roll-over traffic accident in rural Laos in 1995, possibly whilst intoxicated with alcohol.

[mbkudu]

How's this true late-1970's story for a hit with a twist.

One Thai-Chinese gets jealous of another's success with the ladies and decides to eliminate him for better access to the gene pool.  He sets up his mark to sell heroin in Taiwan using a poorly-educated Thai courier to carry it past customs, which is successful.  Informs the police there as the sale is being set up on the island, and collects a hefty cash reward from the authorities for 'information leading to arrest'. 

The two victims are initially sentenced to death, later serving ten years each and come out penniless.  The set-up guy gets his girl and a nice nest-egg.  The mark dies as driver in a roll-over traffic accident in rural Laos in 1995, possibly whilst intoxicated with alcohol.

If you play with fire, you may get burned.

[kat]

Yes, but I mean, if you have a managerial position and you happen to fire a Thai, does this mean you have to fear for your life? My last job was international, so I was sheltered from such scenarios, but my next job may put me in direct managerial proximity to a small Thai staff. Do I have to worry about getting offed or what?

[kat]

"After the army guys were brought in, they picked up the hitter. I'm told they had a serious talk with him and, gee, he must have gone back to his village since no one has seen him since. They also said they had some more serious talks with the folks who had hired him and then covered me twenty-four hours a day for another month until my wife was sure I was safe."

I love that they had "serious" talks with the hitter and the folks who hired him and then everyone went home to their village. Isn't attempted pre-mediatated murder a crime? TIT lol.

[Darknight]

Yes, but I mean, if you have a managerial position and you happen to fire a Thai, does this mean you have to fear for your life?  My last job was international, so I was sheltered from such scenarios, but my next job may put me in direct managerial proximity to a small Thai staff.  Do I have to worry about getting offed or what?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well i would be Carefull if i were you