Thailand: Easy For Bad People To Conduct Business?

[AskTheCPT]

I have lived here for a few months and just heard how the Russian Arms dealer was arrested, and supposedly the Tamil Tigers leader. There is the obvious insurgency in the south.

For the people who have lived here longer. Is this the norm? Why are these shady people in Thailand in the first place? Are there increasing occurrences of world-wide fugitives doing business or planning attacks in anywhere in Thailand and Bangkok?

Is the Thai government law enforcement, etc. capable of stopping bad things before they happen?

Basically, is Thailand a 'Safe Haven' for scum?

Edited August 11, 2009 by AskTheCPT

[Datsun240Z]

It attracts a lot of scum indeed. I've met some in personal, aint happy tell you. And they brake you down mentally.

[EndofDays]

It attracts a lot of scum indeed. I've met some in personal, aint happy tell you. And they brake you down mentally.

You're talking about me, aren't you?

[AskTheCPT]

I'm from what I think of as a scum filled wasteland aka USA

America has low level scumbags as well as the giant white collar criminals but (Save all the Bush jokes) doesn't really have any mega- criminals, like world-wide arms dealers/terrorists etc.

It seems Thailand attracts the big fish or is this just recently?

[Soutpeel]

doesn't really have any mega- criminals, like world-wide arms dealers.

CIA...Oliver North....Iran Contra's....

[sanmiguellight]

I have lived here for a few months and just heard how the Russian Arms dealer was arrested, and supposedly the Tamil Tigers leader. There is the obvious insurgency in the south.

Basically, is Thailand a 'Safe Haven' for scum?

But as they were arrested or being looked for this shows theyre not welcome, the UK lets all kinds of despots, murderers and shady billionaire businessmen through the front door.

[richard_smith237]

With a lack of confrontationalism* it’s to easier to wear a ‘jacket of ignorance’ or the underwear of ‘not giving a toss’ because it doesn’t affect you’….

That attitude appears to help those who want to take advantage of others.

*verbism, I know

Edited August 11, 2009 by richard_smith237

[ciaociao]

doesn't really have any mega- criminals, like world-wide arms dealers.

CIA...Oliver North....Iran Contra's....

How about the biggest con man. OBAMA Better than Maloof.

[Harcourt]

doesn't really have any mega- criminals, like world-wide arms dealers.

CIA...Oliver North....Iran Contra's....

Rumsfeld, George Tennet, et al.

Why not include Bush? Just because he is a joke doesn't mean he isn't culpable.

[daoyai]

Geography plays a big part, this part of the world has long hosted pirates, smugglers and the like. Porous borders, busy international airports and seaports corrupt shipping officials.

Edited August 12, 2009 by daoyai

[Heng]

Can only speak for myself but if you mean 'bad' meaning 'cool,' then yes.

[bobright]

Can only speak for myself but if you mean 'bad' meaning 'cool,' then yes.

if bad equals cool , hear hear! this is sick!

[scorecard]

'Scumbags' exist at some level in every country.

The reality of life is that the 'scumbags' would dominate / control every country in the world if there weren't controls which have some level of teeth.

My belief is that whilst politics in Thailand is dominated by the type of people who currently make up 90% of the current gang we call politicians (all interested in one thing - their own enrichment, almost none of them capable of logical thought, let alone vision), then we will continue to see lots and lots of scumbags operating with impunity. Why is Thailand so far behind Singapore, Taiwan, even Vietnam and China? Same point again, lack of capable and sincere people in parliament.

In fact, I suggest that until the middle classes get a voice / get enough courage and refuse to accept the current gang of leeches and thieves then nothing will change, nothing will progress, the scumbags will continue to dominate unchecked.

Part of the puzzle is that the Thais who are capable and sincere (interested in the broad development of Thailand, equal justice for all etc., and there are plenty of them) don't want to be associated with the current gangs of leeches and thieves.

Like the development of quality democracy, control of the scumbags, in any country, nothing will change until the middle classes demand change.

What's the key - education which gives our young people lots of quality insight and the ability to analyze.

[Mario2008]

When referring to people use their proper name, 1 post deleted for using improper name.

[Heng]

Why is Thailand so far behind Singapore, Taiwan, even Vietnam and China?

Demographics, in that those who are capable leaders, entrepreneurs, etc. have more to work with in terms of the rest of the team's roster.

BTW, what's Vietnam ahead in? How much you like it? ... because you're certainly not referring to GDP, whether total or per capita.

[mrtoad]

Last time I looked, the UK had plenty of "bad people" living there doing business. I don't think Thailand is particularly bad for attracting high profile scum bags, more likely to see them in places like London.

[neverdie]

Scum Bag spotting was my job for two decades. Theres certainly no shortage of them here, but just about everywhere I've been I've seen em, you just have to know how to spot them.

Theres quite a few on this thread too, I can smell em thru the optical fibre

[Geekfreaklover]

'High profile scum bags' - nice use of words Mr T.

It's the low profile scum bags you have to watch out for. .The ones dipping below the surface.

[mrtoad]

'High profile scum bags' - nice use of words Mr T.

It's the low profile scum bags you have to watch out for. .The ones dipping below the surface.

Absolutely GFL, agree on that - but thought I'd use that one in respect of a certain person.

[Geekfreaklover]

'High profile scum bags' - nice use of words Mr T.

It's the low profile scum bags you have to watch out for. .The ones dipping below the surface.

Absolutely GFL, agree on that - but thought I'd use that one in respect of a certain person.

Yeah I know what you mean - I was trying to counter by using an aquatic / pond / toad type metaphor. 'dipping beneath the surface.' - i'll get me coat.

Anyway Thailand is not an easy place for anyone to do business. Business is tough all other the world. Especially when you have to jump through more hoops than 'Hoopy' the jump hooper winner of last years hoop jumping compitition.

Being bad, whilst giving you an edge does not confirm that you will suceed in business.

[neverdie]

When referring to people use their proper name, 1 post deleted for using improper name.

Mario, I dont mind if people call me, neverdie, Mr neverdie, Sir neverdie, god, sir, legend, sexy man, handsome or any combination of the above, so please don't delete those name errors, afterall the people here are only human

[mrtoad]

'High profile scum bags' - nice use of words Mr T.

It's the low profile scum bags you have to watch out for. .The ones dipping below the surface.

Absolutely GFL, agree on that - but thought I'd use that one in respect of a certain person.

Yeah I know what you mean - I was trying to counter by using an aquatic / pond / toad type metaphor. 'dipping beneath the surface.' - i'll get me coat.

Anyway Thailand is not an easy place for anyone to do business. Business is tough all other the world. Especially when you have to jump through more hoops than 'Hoopy' the jump hooper winner of last years hoop jumping compitition.

Being bad, whilst giving you an edge does not confirm that you will suceed in business.

I totally missed the toad metaphor, I think I need to wake up!!

Yes, Thailand is not an easy place to do business because of the hoop jumping, and you are totally right being bad doesn't mean you will succeed. We have a number of projects through our company, but we still find the overseas clients easier to deal with in most cases.

[dondraper]

Thailand is the Switzerland of Asia. Where you think all that Golden Triangle drug money has been laundered from these last 40 years? You've got Laos which when I went there in 2005 didn't have ATMs, Myanmar and Vietnam (which has been a part of the civilized world for an entire 10 years now)... Gotta clean that money.

No surprise that people like Mr. Bout end up in Thailand to conduct business.

[Maizefarmer]

Thailand is the Switzerland of Asia. Where you think all that Golden Triangle drug money has been laundered from these last 40 years? You've got Laos which when I went there in 2005 didn't have ATMs, Myanmar and Vietnam (which has been a part of the civilized world for an entire 10 years now)... Gotta clean that money.

No surprise that people like Mr. Bout end up in Thailand to conduct business.

On the issue of Bout ... lets not forget it was Uncle Sam who enticed Viktor Bout to Thailand i.e. it was the Amercian's in this case who setteled on Thailand as been the ideal location for conducting dodgey business.

Ironically, as it has nowed turned out, it's a Thai judge who has ruled against the USA's extradition request, stating that, the issue of whether or not FARC is a terrorist organisation is esentialy a politicaly motivated decision, and that as Thailand has no ruling or policy one way or the other on the status of FARC in this regard, an extradition request based on a 3rd parties political motives/grounds/reasons cannot be upheld in a jurisdiction (meaning: Thailand) which adopts a neutral standpoint.

I kinda like that, and it's an argument not without merit - the judge has made it clear because the USA subscribes to an opinion about FARC, should not automaticaly imply everyone else has to go along with that opinion.

As another member notes - the USA's involvement with and business in supporting the School of the America's is not politicaly dissimilar to what Viktor Bout is accused of with respect to his willingness to do business with FARC.

Funny, isn't it, that if it doesn't suit Uncle Sam's foreign policy, then it should be "illegal".

I sincerely hope that Uncle Sam looses this battle.

[hhgz]

"I have lived here for a few months and just heard how the Russian Arms dealer was arrested, and supposedly the Tamil Tigers leader. Basically, is Thailand a 'Safe Haven' for scum?"

If it's a "safe haven", why are the bad guys being arrested?

[Heng]

Most of the bad guys aren't though. Just the stupid ones, those being overly flagrant, no connections (not even by several degrees of separation), etc.

[Scott]

I think it's a Hub thing.

They have been vying to be the hub of all kinds of things....this one seems to have hit the jackpot.

[Gaccha]

I have lived here for a few months and just heard how the Russian Arms dealer was arrested, and supposedly the Tamil Tigers leader. There is the obvious insurgency in the south.

For the people who have lived here longer. Is this the norm? Why are these shady people in Thailand in the first place? Are there increasing occurrences of world-wide fugitives doing business or planning attacks in anywhere in Thailand and Bangkok?

Is the Thai government law enforcement, etc. capable of stopping bad things before they happen?

Basically, is Thailand a 'Safe Haven' for scum?

Your mistake is the syllogistic move of making 'shady' into 'scum'. The people you speak of as scum are not the people I think of as scum.

1. The Russian arms dealer is no worse than the US government as an arms dealer. As the Thai judge said when he threw out the case against the Russian, it was a political case. As a country the US has the ability to define what is 'legal' and attempt to assert this with all its power. Thailand, however, has its own ideas.

2. The insurgency in the South has an extremely complex background. it is ethnicity issues mixed with religion and general economic underdevelopment. The Thai state further exacerbates it by usuing 100 year old military manuals and by insisting that an essental part of Thainess is to be Buddhist, which the Muslim-dominated South feels then in a constant state of alienation. I wonder who you think are the 'scum' in this matter...

3. There are scum. I almost got beaten up by a British expat 'roid user in Issan for no other reason than his imagination caused him to believe I had mouthed off to him. These sort of people who routinely commit petty crime would be locked up in the UK or be under considerable constraints (the police would always be looking out for them) but they can run wild here.

So I think the target of your disgust is the wrong people.

[samjaidee]

Thailand is the Switzerland of Asia. Where you think all that Golden Triangle drug money has been laundered from these last 40 years? You've got Laos which when I went there in 2005 didn't have ATMs, Myanmar and Vietnam (which has been a part of the civilized world for an entire 10 years now)... Gotta clean that money.

No surprise that people like Mr. Bout end up in Thailand to conduct business.

Are you saying the the Vietnamese were not civilized before 1999? That is a particularyly ignorant thing to write. On what basis do you make that assumption? If you define civilization as follow the west then does that make the Chinese uncivilized? I'm sure other members would like to know the correct definition of civilization as defined by dondraper

[dondraper]

Thailand is the Switzerland of Asia. Where you think all that Golden Triangle drug money has been laundered from these last 40 years? You've got Laos which when I went there in 2005 didn't have ATMs, Myanmar and Vietnam (which has been a part of the civilized world for an entire 10 years now)... Gotta clean that money.

No surprise that people like Mr. Bout end up in Thailand to conduct business.

Are you saying the the Vietnamese were not civilized before 1999? That is a particularyly ignorant thing to write. On what basis do you make that assumption? If you define civilization as follow the west then does that make the Chinese uncivilized? I'm sure other members would like to know the correct definition of civilization as defined by dondraper

lets start with an international banking system and a currency that does not fluctuate in value 25% on a weekly basis. Unless you think all the profit from all that white and brown is being stuffed under someone's mattress.

It would not surprise me at all to hear that Bangkok's skyline was built from drug money just as Miami's was.

Edited August 13, 2009 by dondraper