Thailand's Irresistible Attraction For Fugitives

[PlastikbinLina]

Maybe they should do what they are doing in Malaysia.

They are scanning your fingers, they probably check to see if you are a criminal.

Time will tell, Thailand could be next to do it.

Is this a recent activity by the Malaysian Immigration? I went through Sadoa by bus about 6 weeks ago without having my fingerprints taken.

[Honkytowner]

The corruptibility of police/immigration officials notwithstanding, it beats me why any fugitive from American justice would choose Thailand as a bolt-hole. The country is a virtual satrapy of the United States. They all get nabbed when the Feds bring enough pressure to bear.

[huck]

I wonder why? Although it used to be that if you married a Brazillian lady and had a child you could not be extradited but if they caught you before the lady gave birth you could. Lovely beaches and that Carnival thing. If i were a criminal that's where i'd go.

This is for the Thai Government and the Thai Immigration service.

If Thailand wants more decent people to live here it will have to

change its laws and make it possible for foreigners to own land

and do bussiness in a fee way. This is the miminum requirement

no foreigner that is serious and decent will live in a country that

doesnt offer this.

[aaacorp]

I wonder why? Although it used to be that if you married a Brazillian lady and had a child you could not be extradited but if they caught you before the lady gave birth you could. Lovely beaches and that Carnival thing. If i were a criminal that's where i'd go.

This is for the Thai Government and the Thai Immigration service.

If Thailand wants more decent people to live here it will have to

change its laws and make it possible for foreigners to own land

and do bussiness in a fee way. This is the miminum requirement

no foreigner that is serious and decent will live in a country that

doesnt offer this.

change its laws and make it possible for foreigners to own land

Then the prices of the rai will explode due to the foreign investissments, then majority of thais won t be able to afford land because of the price offered by westerners

and do bussiness in a fee way. This is the miminum requirement

Even if the law is a bit boring for small companies with the thai majority requirement, (which by the way is far more flexibles for those who come from US or have a US partner), it s quite easy to have a business here, in one day you can basically create a company...

no foreigner that is serious and decent will live in a country that

I know a lot of serious foreigners with decent will who had invest or wish to invest in thailand, the main problem is not the law but how corruption helps to avoid the law.

I just mention this because i think it s quite easier for people to create a company if you do not decide to have your 3months known wife as partner or his brother or any thai you barely know.

[djvolak]

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

So in your opinion it is just US fugitives in Thailand? Wow. Nice post. Thanks for showing yourself for what you are.

[djvolak]

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

Really good to know if I want to stay away from criminal elements, then I just need to avoid Americans and only mix with the pristine characters from Europe, England and Australia.

All seem to have a little too large a percentage of American bashers among'st them. I had always put it down to emotional insecurities but now I know better.

In case anyone cares, I was born and raised in Australia. At age 20 I moved to the US. I moved here at age 60.

I would never try to defend some of the elite powers that run the US, but the ordinary people are at least as good as any in the world. Many seem to have a tough time grasping this concept.

Thanks for that mate! Cheers!

[fxe1200]

With my new papers I am not a fugitive any more. Thank God and Thailand!

[softgeorge]

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

And England, and Germany, and France, and every other country who has had fugitives arrested in Thailand recently. But what fun is acknowledging that every country has criminals when you can bad mouth the country that the entire world depends on for prosperity?

I don't think that the world depends on the the US for prosperity that is a falacy. I don;t think the U.S is economy is in very shape and the U.S dollars has slipped. Weren't they also going to take away the U.S credit rating also? A lot more prosperity in Australia at the moment without any help from the U.S.

[softgeorge]

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

So in your opinion it is just US fugitives in Thailand? Wow. Nice post. Thanks for showing yourself for what you are.

There are criminals from throughout the world hiding in S.E Asia not just in Thailand.

[sydneyjed]

You'd be surprised who is living here and who you could end up sharing a drink with...When my mate sent me the news headlines last year that a Scotsman we knew called'George' was all over the Sunday papers back in the UK as a wanted fugative for date rapes and company embezzlement we couldn't believe it.George Hoolahan was is real name but was known as George Murray/Bernard out here!!Was here 10 years and had re-invented himself as an interior designer while in Bangkok...The Ozzie guy the other week who was wanted back in Oz Adam Freeman...heaps of sex offenders surfacing from time to time..the list goes on and not all coincidently from the US....bad apples from every corner of the world frequent the bars and towns and most of the time you wouldn't have a clue whose who(and are you really bothered)!

[elektrified]

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

Let's see now there are criminals/fugitives in Thailand from Europe, Russia, the Middle East, South America, Asia, and on and on. Not only Americans...

[djlest]

Well they say that about Mexico too

And Brazil - and pretty much every third world country that has pretty women that dance for dollars...

If they say all the scum of the earth float to Thailand because of the lax law, ease of corruption and the pretty girls all in a row.

Then maybe its true...

But lets not forget the merciless Bar girls that travel to more affluent shores to peddle their wares in the name of love

I think a little give and take is in order...

[SouthernMan3]

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

I am American and I totally agree.

Actually it would be wonderful is all countries did this.

This article is coming from a US slant as it was published in the New York Times.

There are also plenty of 'undesirables' from all over the world !!!

[davidkia]

as thailand is proud to be corrupted (see poll on TV), it's indeed inviting people with bad intention to come here and just use the corrupt ways of bribing the right people to live a good life as a (ex) criminal ?

yes i agree with that , in some ways they are better as they are happy to be here & don't make prob;ems fpr anyone, but that's only my opinion!

[DumFarang]

"...it can be hard to distinguish between the felons and the investment bankers on vacation. (In some cases, presumably, they could be one and the same.)"

I love it!

"...Crystal waters?" -where????

If you're in Pattaya nowhere. Come south my friend.

[maidu]

Where are the money launderers when you need them? I've got a couple small ticket items that I could sell for big ticket prices, but we just don't get the sordid types up here in Chiang Rai, not that I've met anyway. The farang I've met here are all quite decent. Either that, or they're Thaksin types that are adept at appearing decent when in my company.

Now if we could only find a way to inspire the local cops to get off their scrunched together (pistol to blubber) motorbikes, and find a way to catch Thais who routinely run red lights, we might improve things around here. Rough estimate; 10,000 red light runners per hour, from 8 am to 8 pm, just in the town center. When I grew up, I learned that green means 'go' and red means 'stop.' Now I'm learning that red means 'step on the gas,' and green means; 'wait a minute for the red light jumpers to clear the intersection.'

[SteeleJoe]

I find this thread really odd. Why are people reacting so strongly to this article?

I'm especially baffled as to how it becomes a US thing -- this is not a US government statement so why do people act is if t's a case of the US being hypocritical?

The USA is not any better than Thailand in this regard. There is not enough space on the internet to talk about the unethical and criminal things that happen in the USA. I hate when journalist have nothing to write about and make up stupid stories like this. True or not, I can easily make up the same story about the United States.

Freedom of speech is over-rated.

Wow. Real heat there...

The USA is not any better than Thailand in this regard.

In what regard? In being a haven for criminals? For having corrupt law enforcement? Are you sure? Even if that were true -- and I question your apparent assertion that it is -- why would it mean that an American journalist shouldn't write about Thailand? Should a journalist from a country which has a problem not be allowed to write any problems in another country?

There is not enough space on the internet to talk about the unethical and criminal things that happen in the USA.

Uhmm..be that as it may, I ask again -- why should a journalist or newspaper that is American (though the latter clearly being international in scope) -- not write about anything negative outside the US? Does that apply to journalists and newspapers of every country? No one should report anything except their own news unless their own countries have none of the same issues?

I hate when journalist have nothing to write about and make up stupid stories like this. True or not, I can easily make up the same story about the United States.

Which is ti that you hate: when they write about stories like this or when they make them up? If the latter, then I would share your displeasure -- because as we both know, "make-up" means to fabricate ie lie. But we also know that "write about a story" is not the same thing. You seem to want to dismiss it as untrue but know you can't -- in fact you go on to reinforce that with "Even if it is true" but then say you can easily make up the same story...yes, if it's true you could then lie and say the same is true in the US.

But why would you? And if it's true, what's your objection to it being written about?

Freedom of speech is over-rated.

Wow. That is so incredibly messed up so many levels -- not the least of which is that it's really dumb.

[bubblegum]

I'm on the run.... oh sorry my English, I,m having a runner (bowel problems)

[SteeleJoe]

Another gutter press load of tripe, mr Fuller joined the long line of pricks who think they are cleaver dicks who actually read crap somewhere and try to make a story from it

So, the NYT is gutter press now? And the story's not true?

And here we have some real hysteria:

A report from a typical redneck. Before pointing the finger to let's say, Thailand, Cambodia, Spain, Amsterdam or any other place where a lot of refugees can be found simply because they blend in, the Yank should question it's own country questionable status. How can a country like Thailand be held accountable when tens of millions of illegal foreigners are crossing the US border, working illegally and are embraced too by the employers?

132 America Criminals caught in Thailand, I suspect a whole lot more are living in Latin America, Europe, Venezuela or Middle America. Americans are pretty good in lecturing others while they simply fail themselves on all fronts.

Do you even know what a "redneck" is? How is this journalist a typical one? And I don' think the article is about "refugees", is it?

The border issue in the US is so obviously different from Thailand's problem I won't even bother, but again -- why does the US issues have to be connected? And if the US has a border problem, Thailand cannot be held accountable? That makes no sense.

And still feverish:

How many Latin American criminals cross the US on a daily basis? I have no figures but I will not be surprised if it is many many times the criminals leaving the US on a real passport but due to their own incompetence. And yes criminals from all countries go abroad, but they do not point their fingers to the host country. Thailand's borders are far less corrupt than those of the US.

Not a single fact there. And what's this about criminals going abroad but not pointing fingers at their "host countries"?!

[SteeleJoe]

And then we round it off with this gem:

Wonder if the paper in question is still holding a grudge against the place over that little interview incident of may, 2010?

Are you joking? You think maybe the article has been written and published because the NYT is holding a grudge about an interview?

Maybe in this thread we have the Perfect Storm: there are posters -- as I have mentioned before -- who take extreme umbrage at any thing ever being said that is negative about Thailand. And there will always be -- understandably -- posters who love, indeed need, to say negative things about the US no matter what contortions they must go through to do so...(and I'm not talking about people who in relevant thread point out some of the very legitimate and genuine things about the US that are worthy of criticism and anger).

[DumFarang]

The USA is not any better than Thailand in this regard. There is not enough space on the internet to talk about the unethical and criminal things that happen in the USA. I hate when journalist have nothing to write about and make up stupid stories like this. True or not, I can easily make up the same story about the United States.

Freedom of speech is over-rated.

Hmmmm....but the unethical things that happen in other parts of the world, like the EU, could be covered with, oh say, .00001% of the internet while America's crimes against humanity are so numerous as to overflow the entire web?

Oh wait excuse me...I'm trying to type a whole response but still wiping tears of laughter from my eyes...

Ok that's better...sorry what were we talking about?

[mania2301]

Another hub added to the already long list of HUBS....congrats!!!

[SiamWallaby]

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

And England, and Germany, and France, and every other country who has had fugitives arrested in Thailand recently. But what fun is acknowledging that every country has criminals when you can bad mouth the country that the entire world depends on for prosperity?

I don't think that the world depends on the the US for prosperity that is a falacy. I don;t think the U.S is economy is in very shape and the U.S dollars has slipped. Weren't they also going to take away the U.S credit rating also? A lot more prosperity in Australia at the moment without any help from the U.S.

Here here!

They don't call us "The Lucky Country" for nothing m8.

I do fear that we're just keepin our head above water because of all the natural res's we have though. Time will tell.

[Scully]

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

I am American and I totally agree.

Actually it would be wonderful is all countries did this.

This article is coming from a US slant as it was published in the New York Times.

There are also plenty of 'undesirables' from all over the world !!!

At last someone that has quoted WilliaminBKK that isn't overly defensive due to their patriotism. I find it strange that so many have been offended by this post, if this was my country being talked about then I would whole-heartedly agree with the statement.

Southernman hit the nail on the head by saying "it would be wonderful if all countries did this".

[nurofiend]

But what fun is acknowledging that every country has criminals when you can bad mouth the country that the entire world depends on for prosperity?

[SouthernMan3]

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

I am American and I totally agree.

Actually it would be wonderful is all countries did this.

This article is coming from a US slant as it was published in the New York Times.

There are also plenty of 'undesirables' from all over the world !!!

At last someone that has quoted WilliaminBKK that isn't overly defensive due to their patriotism. I find it strange that so many have been offended by this post, if this was my country being talked about then I would whole-heartedly agree with the statement.

Southernman hit the nail on the head by saying "it would be wonderful if all countries did this".

Thank you for the positive reinforcement.

Sometimes I think that I am out here alone just waving in the wind.

(which is O K too.........)

But again, thanks.

You made me feel all warm and fuzzy !

[WilliaminBKK]

My apologies for seeming to suggest this problem is US only, I didn't mean for my comment to be considiered anti US, in fact I avoid threads where the tone takes that turn.

The article had a US slant hence my comment, I do believe all countries should do a better controlling passengers when exiting, if not for anything except the alleged can go into hiding in their home country and or do the time for the crime.

[diehard60]

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

And just where are you from? Germany, China, Australia, or Europe? I think you forgot to mention them. I will not say what I think because I will get yeld at. Again.

[diehard60]

The USA is not any better than Thailand in this regard. There is not enough space on the internet to talk about the unethical and criminal things that happen in the USA. I hate when journalist have nothing to write about and make up stupid stories like this. True or not, I can easily make up the same story about the United States.

Freedom of speech is over-rated.

Or Canada, Australia, England, or just about any country. EVEN YOUR"S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MILT]

Then perhaps it is time for the USA to have a control when people board an airplane in the USA so their criminals stay there.

And then we might see a 1% reduction in the criminals entering Thailand...

By your 'English(!)', I can see that you are not American. Is your home country free of criminals? Or do you just take a free swing at the US whenever you see a cheap opportunity?

So typical...

WilliamBkk Sleep it off man. Tomorrow's another day mate