Thai Police Break Gang Of Colombian Thieves

[lauralucci]

Thank you for replying. As I was reading a previous post about me missing the point it was not that I missed the point, entirely, is that I deviated on purpose. It is also true that Colombia has a high crime rate but cannot comment on the crimes statistics comparative between Thailand and Colombia. The main thrust of my reply to your initial comment was more based on the preception people may have toward a country that is trying very hard to improve.

Best.

I meant no slur on any country, When in London, I met many S Americans who were honest and hard working. I had a G/F from Peru who I met at my friends wedding with a lady from Chile.

I spent 4 weeks in Brasil.

My point is these crimes are not opportunistic but are audacious and organised.

In my instance they turned over 4 houses, in the same street in 3 hours. This falls outside the "standard" pattern of crime in Thailand.

I failed to mention before, that when I inspected the recovered property, on a police computer, included were 3 Spanish passports.

I pointed out to the police that these passports were probably genuine. On one, the photo closely resembled one of those held in custody, thus divulging his real name and perhaps the other two passports might have led to tracing others involved.

Now you know how a Columbian may acquire a Spanish passport as a result of Gen Franco's victory , but try explaining that to a Thai who can't even find the phone number of the Columbian embassy

In Thailand there is enough racial stereotyping and I will not indulge in the same.

My frustration is directed towards incompetence not nationality.

P

[lauralucci]

I was curious to see the crime rate comprative between Colombia and Thailand...

Curiously enough if we speak of total crime rate per capita Thailand ranks #47 with 8.80422 per 1,000 people where Colombian ranks # 53 with 4.98654 per 1,000 people.

Secondly bad, evil, deceitful and treacherous people come from all areas of the world irregardless of ethnicity, religion, origin, sexual preference, or gender. Mafia's or organized crime syndicates are found everywhere too, I am sure that this is the case from where you come from, as I am certain someone from your country has gone to another person country and committed a crime. That is the sad part of everyday reality. It is also unfortunate when ignorance and misinformation, justifies some peoples presumption that all people from one nationality can be lumped into the same category. Many people from South America and Central America, are actually honest, law abiding, and hard working citizens.

I think you are missing the point.

No one is saying that _all_ Colombians are criminals. Clearly, this is not the case and vast majority of Colombians live ordinary lives and are perfectly respectable people who have to deal with their crappy security situation also.

The point is that Colombia (and South America) has a LOT of bad people - MUCH more than in the USA for example. People in Colombia are very poor, very desperate, and they are more accepting of violence as they have been exposed to it via various conflicts. I've been to Colombia and some other SA countries. Security problems permeate every aspect of your life. Lots of places you can't go to at night, and lots and lots of very violent crimes. There is a good reason why people in Bogota build fortress walls around their prison houses... complete with shard glass in concrete at the top. There is good reasons why people are very careful where they go after 4pm and avoid taking random taxis on the street. There is good reason why my Colombian friends in US don't want to go back there. The list of security precautions ordinary Bogotans take to live their ordinary lives is very long.

The point, if you need it spelled out, is that security and crime situation is much worse in Colombia than Thailand. It is not even close. I've crisscrossed almost the whole country of Thailand and wondered around everywhere at all hours of the day and security was never an issue. Not once. In contrast, in Colombia you simply can't go to a lot of places. You can't go to even more places as a white guy. And you can't go to a ton of places after dark. It's just a bad idea. In Thailand, you may bet pick-pocketed. In Colombia, you may get stabbed to death before or after they take all your stuff. Thankfully kidnapping situation improved in recent years... at least for foreigners, but that in itself speaks volumes, doesn't it? (BTW, I was robbed by 3 armed men in Bogota just 2 months ago...)

Yes, I know you are trying to defend Colombia and I agree that a word needs to be said that vast majority of Colombians are nice people. But saying that there are criminals in every country and Colombia is no different is completely missing the point. Colombia is much worse in terms of the crimes committed and the frequency of these crimes.

[Spee]

(I'm from SP/Brazil). It's the culture in general... bad... just bad. Same thing you see in France, in Italy and... in the Philippines. Shitholes, all of them.

Members from two F1 teams were robbed at gunpoint in SP while there for this past weekend's penultimate race of the season. It's one place in the world that I would love to visit, but not when every tourist walks out of the airport with a target on their back.

(edit: armed gunmen attempted to rob Jenson Button's car, but the driver got them out safely; the Sauber mechanics were not so lucky)

Burglaries and armed robberies are at the top of the nuisance/quality of life crimes that plague so many cities. New York City went through a drastic revitalization in the 1990's when DA turned Mayor Rudy Giuliani issued zero tolerance directives to the police for quality of life crimes.

Thailand has enough problems without submitting to massive growth in quality of life crimes. I would hate to see Bangkok become like Mexico City, where a simple taxi ride can be a roll of the dice for getting stuck up by armed motorcycle bandits. Same goes for home burglary. One should feel comfortable in going to work every day without worrying about a break-in.

It all starts with illegal aliens. I would suggest that it's fair to speculate that the subject criminals and most other foreign quality of life criminals are in Thailand illegally. It's time for Thai authorities to sweep up the trash and take out the garbage.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Spee

[moetownblues]

Why don't we ever see headlines like this

"Police break gang of Thai thieves"