A Must Read Letter

[logbags]

The following letter appeared in today's Nation. Perhaps the most clear pointer to how the Police mafia extorts business owners. Remember this if you deal with these bandits. This is why casinos, massage parlours, drugs and so many other things like Kratom are illegal but still prosper. More often than not the Police are the ones running these things. Just gives them more excuses to grift. Newcomers to Thailand or people thinking of opening a business should read this. Older people should know the people who get screwed the hardest are Thais. Farangs often escape from things Thais get hammered for. A lot of this is hidden from tourists, just watch the Police often enough and you will see yourself. The greatest of jokes is when the police themselves say they will look into these issues. Watch the police in Patong, you can see them on a collection almost every night at some venue. Cops used to own lots of bars in Patong but dunno about that now.

Police involvement is systematic

What a tragic start to the New Year! Now we will see the police trying to cover up any involvement they had with the owners of this "entertainment venue". The normal practice for the police is to refuse to authorise operating licences so that they can collect money every month from all the operators of these establishments in return for them taking no action against them for operating illegally. Then later, if there is any problem they can always say that they are in no way to blame because they had objected to an operating licence. However, all the time that these places operate, the police themselves are employed as part time security guards!

Everything is done with the involvement of the police. They don't want legal operations which comply with all the safety regulations etc. If they did, then they wouldn't find it as easy to 'squeeze' the owners. Of course, there are no receipts given and the money is not collected by the police themselves but their 'agents'. If they don't receive payment then they will enforce early closing. Early closing and closure during certain holidays which is discretionary, is controlled by the police. It is a separate issue and not connected to the implementation of safety regulations. In short, the whole problem of safety and many others are only a result of the police being placed in a position of authority in the first place. They abuse that authority and look what happens - higher prices, unwanted police claiming free drinks etc. encouragement not to comply with safety regulations. The police should have no say in any matters relating to business. The regulations should be enforced by a competent agency who cannot use other devices and regulations for their own benefit. If there is a disaster due to non-compliance, then the police should be called to act against the authority involved. They will certainly not take action against themselves.

We can now expect the over-zealous enforcement of regulations regarding opening hours and under-age customers. This is purely cosmetic to show the public that they are doing something. They can't afford to tackle the cause of the problem as they will lose money. They will not care either, that the few tourists who are coming here will be inconvenienced and in future look for other places where they can spend their money. All the police care about is money now. They, like the immigration division are having a hard time (hence15 day visas which give an opportunity for more 'squeeze') They all need to keep the corruption money flowing to support those in higher positions. Laws in Thailand are mostly to facilitate corruption, not for the benefit of the people

[LivinginKata]

[huggybear]

Police involvement is systematic

LivinginKata's laughers response is spot on.

logbags, not sure how long you have been in LOS, but this is not news to anyone.

[londonthai]

a very brave for the newspaper to publish such materials, even in letters to the editor.

was the letter anonymous?

[Kan Win]

a very brave for the newspaper to publish such materials, even in letters to the editor.

was the letter anonymous?

Letter to the Editor - The Nation

4th one down the link.

Yours truly,

Kan Win

P.S. more letters can be found here:-

The Nation - WebBoard

[F1fanatic]

Sorry to add a spanner in the works, but the one time I had anything to do with the police they were v kind and considerate.