" Chuwit" Appeals To Us Over Denied Visa

[george]

"Chuwit" appeals to US over denied visa

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Chart Thai leader Chuwit Kamolvisit has appealed to the United States Embassy in Bangkok to reconsider its refusal to grant him a visa, saying as a Thai parliamentarian he should be granted more respect.

The former massage parlour tycoon-turned-politician is vice chairman of the House Committee on Police. He had planned to join his colleagues on an official mission to the United States.

Mr. Chuwit argued that the decision to deny him a visa could be linked to his earlier protest against the alleged US seizure of an ancient Thai royal head dress which, he said, belonged to a Buddhist temple in Ayudhya province. Several Muslim MPs had also been denied a US visa, he added

Mr. Chuwit said he would not lodge a formal protest against the US embassy. But the Americans should understand that he had relatives in the United States, and that he had given up his sex-related businesses.

--TNA 2005-08-19

[SnakeBite]

Who did he GIVE his business to? Couldn't have been any rellies or maids could it? No, that would be too much like Toksin.

[sriracha john]

Mr. Chuwit argued that the decision to deny him a visa could be linked to his earlier protest against the alleged US seizure of an ancient  Thai royal head dress which, he said, belonged to a Buddhist temple in Ayudhya province.  Several Muslim MPs had also been denied a US visa, he added.

Geez, Chuwit... you don't think the denial has anything to do with your pimp past??? or IS it still present, even??

Then compound your declining credibility by attempting to tie in with the Muslim MPs. Were they denied due to the same reason as yours?? For trying to retrieve a Buddhist temple relic?

[Sphere]

I think he was denied because of putting up too many of those hammer posters on Witthayu Road.

[HarryHacker]

….…it just shows how undiplomatic the diplomats are who work in the embassies here in BKK. Disgraceful.

[TokyoT]

[Heng]

He didn't seem to have any problems going to Vegas and Atlantic City once a month when he was just a massage parlour owner. Looks like he's going to have to settle for MGM Macau from now on.

[awarrumbungle]

"Chuwit" appeals to US over denied visa

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Chart Thai leader Chuwit Kamolvisit has appealed to the United States Embassy in Bangkok to reconsider its refusal to grant him a visa, saying as a Thai parliamentarian he should be granted more respect.

Granted more respect for being a Thai palimentarian! That's the reason he's been refused isn't it?

[kat]

"Chuwit" appeals to US over denied visa 

BANGKOK: -- Deputy Chart Thai leader Chuwit Kamolvisit has appealed to the United States Embassy in Bangkok to reconsider its refusal to grant him a visa,  saying as a Thai parliamentarian he should be granted more respect.

The  former massage parlour tycoon-turned-politician is vice chairman of the House Committee on Police.  He had planned to join his colleagues on an official mission to the United States.

Mr. Chuwit argued that the decision to deny him a visa could be linked to his earlier protest against the alleged US seizure of an ancient  Thai royal head dress which, he said, belonged to a Buddhist temple in Ayudhya province. Several Muslim MPs had also been denied a US visa, he added

Mr. Chuwit said he would not lodge a formal protest against the US embassy.  But the Americans should understand that he had relatives in the United States, and that he had given up his sex-related businesses.

--TNA 2005-08-19

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

oh right, the seizure of a relic that was stolen and sold to an auction house by a Thai

[COBBER]

Whatever happened to the charges he was facing over his alleged involvement in the Sukhumvit Square demolition. Did they just go away? Where the business owners ever compensated?

I believe any person with criminal convictions will be denied entry to the U.S.

[Iain]

….…it just shows how undiplomatic the diplomats are who work in the embassies here in BKK. Disgraceful.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

they always are.

[Rinrada]

Whatever happened to the charges he was facing over his alleged involvement in the Sukhumvit Square demolition. Did they just go away? Where the business owners ever compensated?

I believe any person with criminal convictions will be denied entry to the U.S.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Stick to that rule and no Thai politician would ever get a Visa.

[Heng]

Whatever happened to the charges he was facing over his alleged involvement in the Sukhumvit Square demolition. Did they just go away? Where the business owners ever compensated?

Of course they were compensated. I'd assume all bulldozer rental fees, cement purchases from local construction materials dealers, etc. have all been paid. In fact, with a lot of these businesses, you have to make payment in advance.

[mouse]

For a free massage I will put in a good word to my Embassy.

[meelousee]

Whatever happened to the charges he was facing over his alleged involvement in the Sukhumvit Square demolition. Did they just go away? Where the business owners ever compensated?

I believe any person with criminal convictions will be denied entry to the U.S.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey not one stinking satang has been paid back. Those who had businesses there lost all.

Some of the Americans did lodge official complaints and had them certified at the US Embassy.

But who can tell, the US Embassy is notorious for grand errors of biblical magnitude. Not to mention rude, arrogant and completely out of the loop when it comes to knowledge of standard regulations (CFR’S)

But who has not heard this song and dance before?

[MyNameIsFarang]

Whatever happened to the charges he was facing over his alleged involvement in the Sukhumvit Square demolition. Did they just go away? Where the business owners ever compensated?

I believe any person with criminal convictions will be denied entry to the U.S.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You believe wrong. But that's not what I came here to talk about...

Whatever IS that monstrosity a-building on the old Sukhumvit Square site? It looks like a cross between a factory smokestack and the sluice of an abattoir. Still it beats the shanty town on Soi 6.

[pazu]

I'm not talking about the case of this MP, but a personal case of my brother. He has a Hong Kong Passport (visa-free to most European countries, Japan, or what you called the "1st world", but...) not US of A.

Once he was sent to work in US for a short time, he was equipped with all documents from his company (quite a famous one in Hong Kong) but he was refused a visa. Just because the embassy thought my brother changed his job once in 18 months after his graduation, and the embassy deduced that if he could have two jobs within 18 months after his graduation, then he could probably find another job (or work in a Chinese restaurant?) in the USA.

The US Embassy is definitely one of the most paranoid embassy in the world.

[BkkPundit]

I remember that Chuwit at one point studied in the US, possibly for a Masters. I did hear him being interviewed a few years on Thai TV where he had stated he worked in a bar after he completed his studies. If my memory serves me correctly, he was in the US for a couple of years. Is it then possible he was actually in the US working illegally at this point.

[sriracha john]

Updated and expanded:

Massage Tycoon-Turned-Politician Refused US Visa

Tuesday, 23 August 2005, 12:07 pm

Article: Richard S. Ehrlich

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's massage parlor tycoon-turned-politician said the American Embassy rejected his visa application, barring him from joining a Thai government trip to visit FBI, DEA and other U.S. officials.

"They don't give any reason, but maybe it was because of the massage parlors I owned before I became a politician," Member of Parliament Chuwit Kamolvisit said in an interview on Thursday.

Differs from his original claims that the denial was over retrieving the Buddhist relic.

He told the U.S. Embassy that he sold his Bangkok massage parlors -- which included the Copacabana, Victoria's Secret, Honolulu, Hi Class, Emmanuel and Julianna -- when he ran unsuccessfully in August 2004 to be Bangkok's mayor.

During his campaign, he promised to make the Thai capital "the city of joy, the city of happiness."

Wouldn't those be more appropriate mottos when he DID have the massage parlors all over town?

"The massage parlor business was [legal] under Thai law, and Thai law gave the license for the massage parlors," Chuwit said he told the embassy.

Chuwit's populist style earned him a seat in Parliament as deputy leader of the small Chat Thai Party.

"We never comment on individual visa applications," a U.S. Embassy spokesperson said when asked about Chuwit's complaint, which also appeared in a Thai newspaper on Thursday (Aug. 18), headlined: "U.S. Rejects Chuwit Visa Request."

Chuwit said the parliamentarians' trip went ahead without him on July 29 to New York to meet Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Agency officials, and to Los Angeles to meet the police department, plus a visit to Las Vegas to learn about the tourism industry.

There's Heng's Vegas connection....

Chuwit is notorious in Thailand because he was the country's biggest massage parlor tycoon and boasted that he employed 20,000 women while secretly compiling a list of police who allegedly accepted his bribes.

20,000?? That's a lot of "joy" and "happiness" (refer to above comments)

In a 2004 interview, he said he paid corrupt officials "about 200 million baht [five million U.S. dollars] in 10 years."

"I am not saying it is 'bribes'. I always say it is a 'convenience', to make my business convenient, to make my business smooth," he said at the time.

bribe aka tea money aka under-the-table money aka "convenience" money aka "smooth" money

Chuwit insisted he has never been convicted of any crime, though he is currently on trial, charged by police for allegedly illegally demolishing bars, shops and other small businesses in Bangkok.

For those that asked earlier about the current state of the above incident, he's "currently on trial".

Hundreds of small business owners claimed Chuwit led a gang of thugs who looted and destroyed dozens of commercial establishments on trendy Sukhumvit Road amid suspicion that he wanted to oust the low-rent tenants and upgrade his property.

Chuwit denied the allegation, and accused army and police officers of running amok in the pre-dawn, January 2003 melee.

Mass psychosis?? The reports at the time said that 600 men were involved with the destruction of the block. Chuwit is saying that 600 policemen and soldiers all went crazy at the same time??

Amid the mayhem, Chuwit was arrested and spent a month in jail in May 2004, but was released to stand trial.

To be concluded? when?

Despite rubbing the U.S. Embassy the wrong way, Chuwit remained optimistic about eventually visiting America.

"I still have two kids with my ex-wife" living in America, he said.

"The embassy rejected me for the official visa, so I applied for the tourist visa. There is no answer yet. My passport is still at the American Embassy. Maybe next week I'll call them."

[Sphere]

"The massage parlor business was [legal]under Thai law, and Thai law gave the license for the massage parlors," Chuwit said he told the embassy.

Yes, then why....?

"I am not saying it is 'bribes'. I always say it is a 'convenience', to make my business convenient, to make my business smooth," he said at the time.

[lingling]

Hey not one stinking satang has been paid back. Those who had businesses there lost all. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Did any of them have permission from the owner of the land to use it? I think not.

[sriracha john]

Hey not one stinking satang has been paid back. Those who had businesses there lost all. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Did any of them have permission from the owner of the land to use it? I think not.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

As is common here, things are not so always black and white when it comes to ownership... but often are a bit murky.

Colonel Pravit Lakawanit, superintendent at Lumpini Police Station, said the demolition was the climax of a long dispute between the owner of the property, the Nickel Company, who sublet the property from Chuwit's Sukhumvit Silver Star Company earlier this month, and middlemen who rented the property to the tenants.

In 1999, Sukhumvit Silver Star Company sublet the property to BTR Holdings but the contract expired in December 2002.

However, the tenants were kept in the dark about who the rightful owners were and whether BTR still had the right to sublet the property to them.

But yesterday, Suraphong Benjatikul, a lawyer representing the Nickel Company, who reportedly sublet the property from Sukhumvit Silver Star on January 23, told reporters at Lumpini Station that the company is willing to pay compensation to the owners of the property destroyed by the raiders.

If the tenants had no real cause... and it was a simple case of evicting them, Chuwit would have never been arrested.

[raybkk]

Whatever happened to the charges he was facing over his alleged involvement in the Sukhumvit Square demolition. Did they just go away? Where the business owners ever compensated?

I believe any person with criminal convictions will be denied entry to the U.S.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey not one stinking satang has been paid back. Those who had businesses there lost all.

Some of the Americans did lodge official complaints and had them certified at the US Embassy.

But who can tell, the US Embassy is notorious for grand errors of biblical magnitude. Not to mention rude, arrogant and completely out of the loop when it comes to knowledge of standard regulations (CFR’S)

But who has not heard this song and dance before?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Are you sure?! No compensation?!

I was paid compensation and so where other people. It might not have been in full but at least we got most of it returned.