Fugitive Politician 'Kamnan Poh' Absence In Court Will Cost Daughter Bt15M

[AleG]

It's just a game to all involved; from the absentee gangbanger, his family to the judiciary. Everyone knows that 15 million is a drop in the ocean for this family and their associates. In the real world, a judge would stop f*cking about and bang-up the daughter in jail until the murderous father returned. But his spawn have all managed to get into local or national government with all the 'immunities' that this imparts.

You know, the guy in question is despicable and everything, but in the real world, if by that one is to understand societies were the judicial branch of government is functional, people don´t go to jail to be held as a kind of hostage until the actual culprit gives himself up.

[ratcatcher]

A simple, respectable family wedding. Somchai in black jacket.

[DisainaM]

the historic background of chonburi and Kamnan Poh

Crime and Violence: The Case of Chonburi

Situated along the eastern coast not far to the south of Bangkok and on the old lucrative Siam-

Cambodia-Vietnam–Southern China coastal trade route, Chonburi has long been a major

settlement in its own right. During the early Bangkok period, its vast virgin forested hinterland

served as hiding places for those phrai escapees as well as criminals from neighboring coastal

towns. Soon later settlements grew out of these remote criminal dens [sumalee 2000: 19–

39]. During the early government centralization and economic expansion of the late nineteenth

and early twentieth centuries, crimes seemed to grow out of hand in this coastal region.

Bandits, criminals, and hired killers flocked into the areas in hundreds for their share of the

growing economy. The area was so infested with bandits and criminals, seriously threatening

law and order, that at long last Rama V had to appoint one of his most trusted army

commanders and confidants, Phya Surasakmontree, whose past military achievements included

the suppressions of the Holy Man’s and the Shan rebellions of 1901–02, the task of suppressing

these criminals and bandits and to help restore law and order. A military unit with thousands of

battle armed troops under his command moved in, and one of the most fascinating crime

suppression campaigns in modern Thai history was launched, with its headquarters at Chonburi

itself [ibid.: 68–71].

The campaign was more or less successful, but Chonburi, as a thriving coastal trading

settlement, has never been without its many criminals, bandits and hired killers. A daily in

November 1926 reported a much talked about gun robbery by a group of 11 bandits in a

settlement near the provincial administrative town of Chonburi which took some 6,000 baht

from a house owner. More than 50 shots were fired during the robbery. In addition, a few

months earlier, there was a gun robbery of a Bangkok-Chonburi steamboat by two bandits

while the boat was moored at a pier. In its hinterland, the most famous active bandit was Sua

Ming who operated out of his base in Phanatnikhom, a growing inland settlement [NA 1926: R7

M 26.2/1, News clipping: Kroh Lek Raiwan, November 30].

During WW II, Chonburi, with a major Thai naval base along its coast, was chosen as an

operation base and training center of the Seri Thai resistance movement. Some American OSS

agents were assigned as advisors and combat and tactical instructors of local recruits which

until the very last day of the war amounted to about 2,000 [Haseman 1978: 125]. There is no

doubt that enough Allied small arms and ammunition, and more, were shipped into Chonburi to

equip these combat trained men. It is to be noted that during the 1950s and well into the 1980s,

Chonburi and Phetchaburi, on the western coast not far to the south of Bangkok and also a

major Seri Thai operation base with a training camp which trained some 4,300 new recruits,

were notoriously known throughout the country as “Gunmen towns.” Most reliable hired

gunmen and killers were said to have come from these two provinces.

Postwar Chonburi, however, especially during the 1950s, was quite a unique case.

Probably beside only Bangkok, it benefited most from the postwar economic recovery and still

later from the national economic development during the 1960s and after. Among all the other

major economic activities that went on in full swing were the logging industry and the sugar

cane and tapioca plantations. All were taking the advantage of its vast piece of unoccupied

virgin forestland a few kilometers inland from the coast. Land became a priced property and

cheap labor to till the land and for the logging industry was scarce. In addition, as a sea coastal

town, Chonburi was also one of the major centers of all sorts of inbound contraband traffic.9)

Thousands of new settlers and fortune seekers from all directions headed toward Chonburi

during the 1950s, and Chonburi yet again became more or less a lawless province. Gunmen,

hired killers and local mafia bosses emerged in increasing number. Crimes spread and

gangsters abounded. Peasants were beaten and their lands taken. Most notorious of crimes,

however, was the “khai narok” (Lit. hell camps) where laborers, in particular those from the

postwar economically stricken Northeast, were violently forced to work in the field in daytime

and locked up at night under armed guards. Those who dared to escape from the plantations

received death sentences [NA 1959: M 3.1 Ph/P7/2502, News clipping: Sarn Seri, July

28]. Murder over land contests and battles between mafia gangsters, using almost always

modern, military type, small arms, leading to more killings, were not unusual. Literally

9) For a general description of postwar Chonburi in this respect, see Sumalee [2000: 109–114].

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speaking, almost never a day passing that was without a violent criminal case.

The 1950s big business and the availability of powerful arms obviously affected the power

structure of crime. During the prewar years, most criminals and bandits either worked on their

own, as “lone bandits,” or as a band under the leadership of one of their own peers. They may

have had a connection in high places, local or otherwise, and as protégés, remained out of

trouble with the authority. In the postwar Chonburi crime and violence, most bandits and

criminals were soon forced to come under, more like an employee, the organization of one of

the local mafia bosses. Some became in their own right mafia bosses with their own crime

organizations [sumalee 2000: 131–132]. Connection for protection was also established with

powerful politicians and bureaucrats in Bangkok by many crime organizations; General Phao

Siyanon, the Police director general and most powerful strongman of Thai politics during the

1950s, for instance [ibid.: 132]. This last probably explains why the Chonburi crime and

violence during the 1950s was given little attention by the authorities and allowed to drag on for

some years.

Among Sarit’s top agenda after the 1958 Coup, beside the national security threat from

domestic and international communist movements, were the suppression of bandits, gangsters,

bad characters and the restoration of law and order. The deterioration of law and order in

Chonburi province must have been very serious and have gone too far in Sarit’s eyes. Not quite

a year after the 1958 Coup, in July 1959, the government moved in. A special task force

command was set up to be in charge of the suppression of crimes in Chonburi. It was a military

operation under the command of no one else but Sarit, the 1958 Coup leader, the Prime

Minister and the Supreme Commander of the Thai Armed Forces, himself [ibid.: 144].

Army, marine and police forces as well as a few airborne infantry units took part in this

military like expedition against crime. Military and police check points and road blocks were

installed on all major roads. An inland area of 2,500 square kilometers extending into

neighboring provinces, the heartland of all violence and gangster battles where most of the

plantations and saw mills and private arsenals of local mafia bosses were situated, were sealed

off, followed by coordinated surprise attacks by the armed forces [ibid.: 145]. Hundreds of

criminals, gunmen, and mafia bosses were arrested and huge piles of arms and ammunition

were captured. The crime cleansing campaign ran for weeks [NA 1959: M 3.1 Ph/P7/2502,

News clipping: Sarn Seri, July 24; NA 1959: M 3.1 Ph/P7/2502, News clipping: Sarn Seri, July

28; NA 1959: M 3.1 Ph/P7/2502, News clipping: Phim Thai, August 26].

This late 1950s military operation for the suppression of crimes was a repeat of the similar

operation conducted in the very same area half a century or so ago. The use of military forces

revealed just the scale of the disruption of law and order that the proliferation of small arms

during the postwar years inflicted upon a section of Thai society.

Yet the crime suppression campaign in Chonburi in the late 1950s was far from an absolute

success. Law and order were only temporarily restored. The plantation based economy in and

around Chonburi not only continued to grow but by the mid 1960s this area also experienced a

dramatic increase of investment in the service sector and the growth of the tourism industry,

thanks to Thailand’s involvement in the Vietnam War and its economic development

strategy. Soon a new crop of local mafia bosses emerged and crime and violence returned in

full force.

Conclusion

The surge of crime and violence in postwar Thai society as discussed above was well reflected

in, and corroborated by, the new Thai literary genre of “crime and violence romance,” emerging

almost immediately after the war. The theme and popularity of this unique genre attest to the

breakdown of the state monopoly of modern military technology and the consequent breakdown

of law and order in urban and rural Thai society. In other words, with regard to these

breakdowns of the state monopoly of military technology and of law and order in general, both

the reality and the imagination were one and the same.

To an extent, both the fictitious postwar crime and violence as portrayed in crime and

violence romance and the actual postwar crime and violence in Thai society as in the case

of Chonburi were obviously consequent upon the proliferation of small arms and the

“democratization” of military technology during WW II and after. Yet, there were at least three

sharp differences between the “reality” and the “imagination.” Of course, both the real crimes

and the imagined ones had in common the possession of small arms, the Seri Thai Allied

arms. However, while the fictitious bandits, particularly in the cases of Sua Bai and Sua Dam,

were organized and functioned as a military unit, and fought their battles using military tactics,

the 1950s organized crimes in Chonburi were not. While the crimes the Chonburi mafia bosses

committed obviously trespassed upon the law, seriously posing a challenge to the power of the

state,10) unlike the fictitious bandits, they scarcely engaged in direct confrontation, not to say

“battle,” with the state. Still further, while those fictitious military like bandits were handled

largely by local police and the Police Department crime suppression force, the 1950s organized

crimes were, however, suppressed by a military task force.

C. SOONTRAVANICH: Small Arms, Romance, and Crime and Violence in Post WW II Thai Society

Bang for the Baht - 1997

Thailand's hitmen are busy these days, killing business people. Their orders come from some very powerful figures

By Anthony Davis

THE MURDER HAD PROFESSIONAL hit written all over it. One evening last April, a motorbike drew up beside a silver Mercedes limo, just as it slowed at a speed bump in a posh Bangkok housing estate. The pillion rider raised a Beretta pistol, took practiced aim and squeezed off one shot. The 9mm bullet smashed through a rear window, piercing the heart and lung of the distinguished front-seat passenger. Hired killer Naruethuk Ountragul had mortally wounded Saengchai Sunthornwat, chief of the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand (MCOT). By the time the official's frantic wife Watcharee pulled up to aid the dying man, the assassin was gone.

Why did someone order Saengchai hit? In a word, greed. And that says a lot about the dizzying social changes prosperity has thrust on Thai society. Not that killers-for-hire are a new phenomenon; they have long practiced their deadly arts in the lawless provinces. But in the past, more often than not, contracts were politically inspired. Today the person ordering the hit is more likely a "respectable" businessman (or woman). "The number of these cases is going up," says top human-rights lawyer Thongbai Thongbao. "This is a reflection of social and economic problems and the growth in illegal businesses."

Nowhere perhaps do the hired killers find more work (and more money) than in the murky world where hard-knuckle business and money politics meet and merge. As one Sino-Thai businessman who works in Bangkok's problem-plagued real estate industry puts it: "If you cut corners yourself or do business with people who do, you need to know whose interests you are treading on. People can get killed."

Whether Dr. Nicharee Makarasarn understood that crucial rule of thumb will never be known. Last October, the 40-year-old anesthetist and teacher at Chulalongkorn Hospital was shot dead as she drove away from her Bangkok home. Police believe Nicharee fell victim to a business dispute between her elderly mother, whose affairs she managed, and wealthy Bangkok entrepreneur, Sukhum Cherdchuen. Nicharee's family had filed a lawsuit against Sukhum over a failed land deal, and he faced a $4-million settlement. Sukhum is an appointed senator, his apparent qualification being the size of his bank account and the gratitude of friendly politicians. He was later fingered by the hitmen and is now on trial.

It seems hardly coincidental that politicians have also been implicated in the shooting of MCOT chief Saengchai. Police arrested former Chiang Rai MP Thawee Puttachan for allegedly hiring the gunman. But authorities at first suspected that the real mover behind the hit was another former MP, businesswoman Ubol Boonyachalothorn, from northeastern Yasothorn. She was reportedly furious when Saengchai revoked the broadcasting rights to one of her companies as part of his campaign to clean up the corruption-riddled MCOT. Ubol was arrested and interrogated, and is today free after the prosecutors dropped the case for lack of evidence.

The men who do the dirty work for an all-too-respectable criminal elite usually take the rap. They rarely meet their employers or know whose lives they are extinguishing. It's an unforgiving profession but one not without cachet. The hired guns draw on the time-honored rural tradition of the nak leng, swaggering tough guys with their own code of loyalty and honor, half-mobster, half-Robin Hood. Says Pasuk Phongpaichit, an economics professor at Chulalongkorn University who has written extensively on Thai corruption: "Villagers needed to defend themselves against abuses by the central authorities." And that job often fell to the nak leng.

The nak leng as hired killer first emerged around World War I. But it was only after World War II that professional gunmen established themselves as a criminal fraternity with its own distinct sub-culture. In the post-war years army strongman Sarit Thanarat and police chief Pao Sriyanond wielded sweeping powers in the kingdom and political assassinations were the stock-in-trade. But in the '70s and '80s gunmen began gathering around fast-rising provincial entrepreneurs. Known in Thailand as jaopor and often of lowly Chinese immigrant extraction, these godfathers rode the rough ride of the kingdom's economic takeoff. Self-made men, they happily cut corners in a world where local government was weak, law was negotiable and money spoke loudly.

Chonburi province early on earned notoriety both for the power of its jaopor and the brazenness of its hitmen. Situated between Bangkok and Cambodia on the coast, Chonburi became in the 1970s the center of a thriving smuggling trade in drugs, arms, cigarettes and liquor. The chaotic boom spawned new wealth, new power -- and spectacular gang wars.

In 1981, Chonburi godfather "Sia" (Tycoon) Jiew died when gunmen armed with assault rifles, shotguns and grenade launchers attacked his Mercedes in broad daylight. Passing motorists thought they were watching a film shoot. The guestlist for Sia Jiew's funeral spoke volumes about the chummy ties between national leaders and provincial powerbrokers. Among more than 1,000 mourners that included army and police brass were elder statesman Kukrit Pramoj and Boonchu Rojanastien, then deputy PM. None of that prevented Sia Jiew's son and putative heir Parn from being dispatched in another high-caliber rub-out three years later.

Today, the lucrative fiefdom of Chonburi has been taken over by Somchai Khunpluem. Better known as "Kamnan (Headman) Poh," he is the quintessential self-made man. A grocer's son with four years primary education, he started out as a day laborer on a fishing boat. Now 59, he is a household name throughout the kingdom. Kamnan Poh reaped massive profits in the 1980s from real estate, hotels, massage parlors and whisky distribution. In 1989, he became mayor of the beach resort Bang Saen -- unopposed. Kamnan Poh has thrown his weight behind various political parties, including the Social Action Party, Chart Thai and, at least briefly, the New Aspiration Party of current Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh. Of course, the Godfather of Chonburi did not get where he is today by playing by the rules. He once described himself as "half-businessman half-gangster" and has noted matter-of-factly that in Chonburi "bad guys must die." And they have -- in considerable numbers.

Somchai's would-be nemesis is Pol. Maj.-Gen. Seri Temiyavej, whose unwavering incorruptibility has made him one of Thailand's most respected figures. Seri has crossed swords with the well-connected Somchai on several occasions. In 1990 more than 300 police commandos called at his house to search for arms. To no one's surprise Somchai was conveniently not at home and no guns turned up. Clearly irritated by the unwanted attention, he later complained: "My hands are tied. Whenever there is a case of murder in Chonburi, they point their finger at me."

And yet despite sporadic police "crackdowns," Somchai has survived and prospered. "A policeman like Seri can never stay for long," reflects one observer. "He can't clean up because people higher than him in the police can't protect him." Indeed, Seri has more than once been sidelined to "inactive posts" in Bangkok. Somchai, meanwhile, is enjoying his passion for cultivating bougainvillea, overseeing a broad range of businesses, and acting as an investment consultant to Japanese companies operating on the Eastern Seaboard. He has parlayed his enormous economic and political clout into respectability of a kind: two sons have sat in Parliament.

As a breeding ground for gunmen, however, Chonburi has never challenged Petchburi, a coastal province that backs onto the Burmese border and has long been another center for smuggling, as well as lottery and gambling rackets. Like Chonburi, it has a long tradition of powerful jaopor. Most famous is the Angkinan clan of Chinese businessmen whose close ties with the local police and military earned them the sobriquet the "khaki mob." Clan leader Piya Angkinan, like his brother and cousin, has served several terms as an MP. One time a journalist asked him why he traveled without bodyguards. Wasn't he afraid of his rivals? His deadpan response: "I used to have enemies, but all of them died."

While the provinces of Petchburi and Chonburi are well-known blackspots, the enforcer-bodyguard can today find steady work throughout Thailand, especially in the fast-growth provinces near Bangkok and on the central plains. "There are all kinds of illegal activity that require these professional gunmen," says Pasuk. "And not all of them are necessarily linked to major jaopor." Illegal logging, drug-running, prostitution, protection rackets and simple strong-arm debt-collection all require enforcers. In the capital, illegal gambling dens are multi-billion-baht money-spinners where tens of millions change hands every night. "Owners say they're not criminals," says an insider. "But they need to have gunmen around to protect them. Even if they've paid off the police they can't guarantee they won't be raided by rivals or that quarrels won't break out inside."

Estimating the number of hired killers on the prowl in Thailand is not an exact science. Some say there are as many as 5,000; a more realistic guesstimate is a pool of 2,000 to 3,000 men with weapons and training. Many do not set out to become gunmen but start their careers as bodyguards to the jaopor. Still, the pressure to impress the boss can become intense -- and the hired thugs try to outdo one another to prove their loyalty. That may mean taking a life. The virtually feudal bonds linking the hired retainer to jaopor can be difficult for non-Thais to grasp. As one lawyer with experience of such cases says: "If a gunman is really trusted, even if captured he won't point to his boss."

Some see themselves as real-life Rambos and think little of operating by day with massive firepower. Such were the men who blew away land tycoon Songsak Poommek just last month in Nahkorn Pathom, west of Bangkok. After one attempt on his life, Songsak, 42, was taking no chances and went everywhere with an armed cop. But he was no match for the four gunmen who opened fire one morning with assault rifles from the back of a pick-up truck. Both Songsak and the officer died in a hail of bullets. These days, such military-style hits merit a massive and draconian response. In a scene that is becoming ever more familiar, hundreds of police commandos backed by helicopters descended on Nakhorn Pathom. When the shooting stopped one gunmen was dead. Another was later captured. To no one's great surprise, the dead hitman was a cop. "A lot of police have contact with local jaopor and politicians," says a crime journalist. "When you look at their official salaries, it's not surprising that some get involved in this type of work."

While killing people can be lucrative, it depends on who is being rubbed out, who wants it done and who is pulling the trigger. Mafia retainers may earn just $2,000 a hit. But hardened professionals working in squads of three or four will charge anywhere from $12,000 to $40,000 per assassination. The gunmen arrested for the murder of Dr. Nicharee claim that Senator Sukhum paid them $20,000. Of that, the triggerman got $8,000, the driver $2,000 and the two middlemen $5,000 apiece.

The hired killer's modus operandi seems to be changing. In deference, perhaps, to the sensibilities of a rising middle class, the fully automatic, in-your-face celebration of jaopor power appears to be on the way out. More in vogue these days are the low-key, drive-by hits that claimed Dr. Nicharee and MCOT chief Saengchai. Says one police officer: "People are no longer prepared to put up with the use of war weaponry to settle business disputes."

The kings of the profession are lone-wolf gunmen who maintain a low profile. Men like Paisak. A professional hitman in his mid-40s with two kids, Paisak (not his real name) is a soft-spoken man with a passion for reading and an intellectual curiosity that extends far beyond Thailand. His favorite pastime is cultivating shrubs and flowers. By day he is a weapons instructor at a military facility several hours drive from Bangkok. From time to time Paisak takes on "other work." He speaks of his moonlighting with obvious reluctance. Paisak first killed as a teenager, he says. Since then, years of military training and discipline have honed the skills required to execute a hit efficiently and dispassionately. Nor is Paisak prone to the whisky-fueled bragging that has cost lesser men careers and imperiled prominent patrons. That level of professionalism doesn't come cheap. For his last job Paisak says he got $40,000. There is no reason to believe he is exaggerating.

Headquarters for the war on hired killers is located at the Police Information System Center in downtown Bangkok. Its latest weapon is a $14-million computer system; when fully online next year, it will link a central database with 600 terminals around the country and cover everything from stolen vehicles to missing people to hired killers. Local officials will be asked to constantly update files on known or suspected guns-for-hire. "Files will include details about their names, nicknames, families, known hang-outs, the type of gun they favor, and whom they're connected to," says Police Col. Pairat Pongcharoen, a keen advocate of greater computerization in a woefully under-funded police force. Gunmen will be divided into three categories: pros who work in squads, lone-wolves like Paisak and amateurs. The database lists about 500 killers-for-hire nationwide, down from some 750 before the last general election when provincial gunmen traditionally cash in big killing political canvassers. That is not to say 250 gunmen were arrested, explains Pairat. They were invited in for chats at their local police stations and discouraged "Thai-style." Says Pairat with a smile: "No one wants to go to prison or be 'suppressed.'"

Understandably enough, these days. When hardened criminals are unmoved by friendly dissuasion, cops fall back on the "kill-'em-all" school of crime-busting, which seems to be gaining ground fast. In December, police commandos executed six handcuffed gunmen with shots to the head. They had "resisted arrest" after a drug bust. The so-called Suphanburi Massacre was defended by a defiant Deputy Police Chief Gen. Salang Bunnag -- and tacitly approved by the government.

Despite police fire- and computer-power, those ruthless enough to hire a gunman know the chances of being nailed are low. Col. Pairat reckons only half of all assassins are ever brought to justice. As for convicting the person who orders the hit, the odds become even lower: killings are invariably contracted through at least one layer of brokers. "In practice it is difficult for police or public prosecutors to punish those who hire gunmen," reflects lawyer Thongbai. "It comes down to a lack of direct evidence."

Consider the Saengchai murder. Hitman Naruethuk is serving a life sentence in Bang Kwang Central Prison. But the man who allegedly hired him, ex-MP Thawee, is fighting the case in court, while Ubol, the woman that police had alleged was behind Thawee, is walking around free.

At difficult moments, Thailand's elite tends to close ranks and take care of its own. Small-fry do time; rarely, if ever, do the rich and powerful. In the case of Dr. Nicharee, investigators believe they have a solid case against Senator Sukhum and, significantly, refused him bail. Not that it was easy to get him behind bars; the Senate voted to uphold Sukhum's parliamentary privilege, which ruled out his arrest while parliament was sitting. And it still won't be easy to convict. Says a Sino-Thai businessman: "Whether Sukhum goes to prison really depends on just how good his connections are."

Ultimately, reining in Thailand's gunmen and those who employ them hinges on fundamental political issues of the coming decade: constitutional reform, more transparent government, excising money-politics and the corruption it spawns. Driven by the rising frustrations of an increasingly vocal middle class and an assertive press, the pressures for change are mounting. But few underestimate the resilience of the old order. "I don't see any improvement in the short term," says Pasuk. "We need more courageous people, particularly judges and prosecutors. But I don't see that, least of all in the judiciary." For the time being, it looks like business-as-usual for Thailand's hired guns.

Anthony Davis Asiaweek.com - Bang for the Bah

1997

http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/97/0328/is1.html

Edited December 1, 2011 by DisainaM

[Oberkommando]

^ that article is essential reading IMO. Thanks for posting.

[saintofsilence]

It's a pity that people who go to such places like pattaya are not made more aware of criminal activity in Thailand before coming after reading stories like this and seeing how crime gangs run on the beach with police seemingly turning a blind eye Pattaya city hall making themselves look good with a few meetings of promises only no press prepared to step out and ask tough questions shows reason to question who is running the show.

As one jet ski victim said to a scammer I will go to the police the scammers response we own the police.

No way would I recommend my family or friends visit this place until drastic changes are made.

[Buchholz]

The dowries included 4,444,400 baht, 20 baht gold, and over 100 million baht worth of diamond jewellery. The groom’s parents, Somchai and Satil Khunpluem presented the couple with a Mercedes Benz E-280, a house, and the Khunpluem family ring. The bride’s parents gave a plot of land worth hundreds of millions of baht.

Pattaya Mail - January 17, 2003

A simple, respectable family wedding. Somchai in black jacket.

A rare moment when Prem and Thaksin sat side by side smiling...

with Chavalit also attending, it made three PM's in attendance

Sukumol was a beautiful bride in 2003.

In 2011, her well known and admired cooking skills are amply evident

.

Edited December 1, 2011 by Buchholz

[lannarebirth]

^ that article is essential reading IMO. Thanks for posting.

Here's another good one:

http://books.google.com/books?id=-gW9Z0-q_xwC&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=local+godfathers+in+thai+politics&source=bl&ots=gD5k7FdQui&sig=bFdio-7dOSgNjmzcrHg2iiiZ-xA&hl=en&ei=MmjXToQGkPOtB-rF_ekN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=local%20godfathers%20in%20thai%20politics&f=false

[Buchholz]

^ that article is essential reading IMO. Thanks for posting.

Here's another good one:

http://books.google.com/books?id=-gW9Z0-q_xwC&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=local+godfathers+in+thai+politics&source=bl&ots=gD5k7FdQui&sig=bFdio-7dOSgNjmzcrHg2iiiZ-xA&hl=en&ei=MmjXToQGkPOtB-rF_ekN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=local%20godfathers%20in%20thai%20politics&f=false

And a six year-long thread on Thaivisa, detailing many exploits of the entire Khunpluem dynasty.

Sinking Lower The Lowest, Pattaya City News Breaks Record

.

[Orac]

^ that article is essential reading IMO. Thanks for posting.

Here's another good one:

http://books.google.com/books?id=-gW9Z0-q_xwC&pg=PA53&lpg=PA53&dq=local+godfathers+in+thai+politics&source=bl&ots=gD5k7FdQui&sig=bFdio-7dOSgNjmzcrHg2iiiZ-xA&hl=en&ei=MmjXToQGkPOtB-rF_ekN&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=local%20godfathers%20in%20thai%20politics&f=false

Good info - I see a mention in passing there for a certain Police Captain Chaloem Yoobamrung among the list of 'godfathers' as well.

[pastitche]

The entire family is wealthy and like most Thai families are close to one another and pool resources.

.

Oh I see, Thai families are special and have a magical cohesiveness. Thatks for the generalization. I must have some friends that are atypical; One family is marked by two uncles that are bitter foes, another one of my friends can't stand his cousins and won't attend family functions if they are present. You know what? Thais are alot like western westerners now when it comes to family units. just Many family members don't get along with other family members. Don't make assumptions when you do not have personal knowledge of the family. You are are aware that divorce rates are quite high in your magical land of the cohesive family unit right? And you are aware that in the past two decades, there is a growing problem of elderly parents not being taken care of by their children which has given rise to social activists asking for a better old age pension system. However, don't let me get in the way of your 1950's era of Thai family relationships. If you have any Thai friends ask them whetehr everyone is so loving and willing to cough up 15million baht for a sister in law. I would be surprised if som relatives are probably very happy the family will lose the bail pledge. And yes. that's another attribute of Thais, just like westerners:.

As I said, "most" Thai families are close.

There are certainly exceptions, such as the two families you cite (unless those are the only two Thai families you are familiar with).

This family is close and are always appearing in public together at local events I've attended. If that's a facade, then it's been a very convincing decade plus long facade that I've been witnessing.

The Thai friends and families that I'm familiar with have no qualms about pooling their resources. They wouldn't blink to support each other to the equal proportional amounts mentioned.

I'm sorry that you seem to have more exposure than I to the dysfunctional families of which you speak, but they do not account for "most" Thai families.

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If you want to know about wealthy dysfunctional families you need to look no further than the House of Windsor

[TAWP]

Sukumol was a beautiful bride in 2003.

In 2011, her well known and admired cooking skills are amply evident

Lordie...do they have kids or did she eat them?

[Oberkommando]

Here's another good one:

http://books.google....olitics&f=false

Yep, that is another good one. Thanks.

No doubt in my mind Thailand's culture and society are deeply flawed.

[Buchholz]

Sukumol was a beautiful bride in 2003.

In 2011, her well known and admired cooking skills are amply evident

Lordie...do they have kids or did she eat them?

Hmmmmm.... it's probably not conclusive, but I've never seen any at the public events.

.

[ratcatcher]

The entire family is wealthy and like most Thai families are close to one another and pool resources.

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Oh I see, Thai families are special and have a magical cohesiveness. Thatks for the generalization. I must have some friends that are atypical; One family is marked by two uncles that are bitter foes, another one of my friends can't stand his cousins and won't attend family functions if they are present. You know what? Thais are alot like western westerners now when it comes to family units. just Many family members don't get along with other family members. Don't make assumptions when you do not have personal knowledge of the family. You are are aware that divorce rates are quite high in your magical land of the cohesive family unit right? And you are aware that in the past two decades, there is a growing problem of elderly parents not being taken care of by their children which has given rise to social activists asking for a better old age pension system. However, don't let me get in the way of your 1950's era of Thai family relationships. If you have any Thai friends ask them whetehr everyone is so loving and willing to cough up 15million baht for a sister in law. I would be surprised if som relatives are probably very happy the family will lose the bail pledge. And yes. that's another attribute of Thais, just like westerners:.

As I said, "most" Thai families are close.

There are certainly exceptions, such as the two families you cite (unless those are the only two Thai families you are familiar with).

This family is close and are always appearing in public together at local events I've attended. If that's a facade, then it's been a very convincing decade plus long facade that I've been witnessing.

The Thai friends and families that I'm familiar with have no qualms about pooling their resources. They wouldn't blink to support each other to the equal proportional amounts mentioned.

I'm sorry that you seem to have more exposure than I to the dysfunctional families of which you speak, but they do not account for "most" Thai families.

.

If you want to know about wealthy dysfunctional families you need to look no further than the House of Windsor

Cheap shot, but why mention just Windsors?

Plantaganet,Tudor, Stuart, Hanover, and let's not forget the Romanovs. All royal houses have or had dysfunctional members. No further discussion is allowed on this forum.