Chuwit Gets 5 Years Jail For Bangkok Bar Demolition Raid

[ALFREDO]

well i have been walking by it for 2 years now, and have never seen it open

Not open, when you go to Nana Plaza-late in the night or back home-early morning from Nana Plaza.

[Semper]

What is on the site now? GPS co- ords?

chuwit park.

open from 6 am till 8:30am then 5:30 until 8pm (or something ridiculous to that effect).

A real boon to the community.

chuvit garden 2002-2011.kmz

google earth file showing the site from 2002 - 2011. must have google earth to view

it actually grew in quite quickly, too bad i have never actually succeeded in setting foot in the park. I believe chuwit lives next door, but not sure.

I think the owner can set whatever visiting times he wants. Sorry if the times doesn't fit your agenda.

[KarstenBoAndersen]

He needs to go to jail, what he did to the livelyhood of those bar owners was a disgrace, plus, he flattened my local and one of the best pool bars in Bangkok. For anyone who isn't aware he basically hired the army to flatten the block whilst the BIB stood by and let it happen.

A lot of the girls and other employees lost Id cards and othe valuables

Why did their iD cards lay back in closed bars ?? (it was late at night they came) !!

If they had asked for it, they was allowed in to pickup their thingsw, hundred others was allowed that

(they got back all their inventory, stock, personally belongings etc.)

It was wood sheds

I can only repeat what the Newspapers wrote after that raid.

A big group of Army soldiers with heavy equipment, bulldozers came and gave the Bars and whatever businesses only a very short time 10-30 minutes to get out of their premises. by far not enough time to get it all.

The Police was informed and advised not to intervene and they did not intervene!

Than the place was raided and flattened

Sure no time for discussions and to bring all important things out of your shack, who did not move would have been hurt or killed!

That is how the papers told it!

There was NO buldozers, a backhoe was all and some big lorrys !

There is splenty of photos of it !

I was there the night before, and i passed it the day after !

There had not been any buldozers around there.

[laocowboy2]

I was in BKK at the time it happened (and lost my shirts etc in a suddenly vanished laundry - there were other businesses as well as bars there). I seem to recall that Chuwit's company had leased the area to another company and was trying to get it back at the end of the lease. The bars etc had in turn sub-leased from the scond company - and for periods that ran far past the expiry date of the head lease). Chuwit spent more than a year (receiving no rent from the second company) trying to get possession before the 'raid'.

[billd766]

What is on the site now? GPS co- ords?

Vacant you can see from nana BTS station on the southside.

The two plots of land that you see from Nana BTS have been there since before I came in 1993. The one on the left as you look started building around 1996/97 and died in the Thai crisis, the one next to Pacific Place 2 has never been used. I believe they are owned by the family tha own Nana Plaza and Washington Square.

The one next to Pacific Place was sold a couple years back for a record at the time 1 Billion Baht or something.

I didn't know that but I have been living upcountry for 8 years now and try to avoid BKK if possible.

[soundman]

Post and replies with an un-called for personal attack on another member's wife have been removed from view.

Next post like this will earn that member a holiday from Thai Visa.

[atyclb]

He's a disgrace to the nation........this is the rotten evil corrupt Thailand we all detest personified

Scum, total scum.

This may hurt, but it is precisely that Thailand that creates and enables the beer bars, go go bars, and other entertainment related industries that many of us "love to hate", or "hate to love"

[KarstenBoAndersen]

Post and replies with an un-called for personal attack on another member's wife have been removed from view.

Next post like this will earn that member a holiday from Thai Visa.

You forgot one !

"Posted Today, 07:37

Hope that this scum losses his appeal and end s up in jail with some other inmates finishing him off.....this guy was once selling girls including underaged girls from neighbouring countries and yet Thais voted him in. I also hope that someday somebody would send his kids to work in a brothel. Simply filth along with the media and people who support him. ""

[tinfoilhat]

well i have been walking by it for 2 years now, and have never seen it open

Not open, when you go to Nana Plaza-late in the night or back home-early morning from Nana Plaza.

i walk by it every day when i am picking up my kid from school

[animatic]

Well this will be interesting, I wonder when the statute of limitations is on this one, it is pushing 10 years since the crime already.What is interesting is that Chuwit has just been sentenced, yet he is still a serving MP...in session? Currently non of the court cases against some of the red leaders are being heard because the red leaders are serving MP's. This clearly sets precedence that hearings and sentencing can take place.

Very funny that the lawyer appeals an 8 month sentence and gets 5 years...Doh!

Edited for wrong word!

Chuwit has been actively stepping on BIG toes over and over again, this is just one move to remove his presence. Yes, indeed 8 months extended to 5 years on appeal, not exactly proper procedures, but TIT. Someone bigger than a 5,000 lb pachyderm in the corner wants him gone from the scene, I can see why, but this shouldn't be allowed anymore than certain Golf courses deals should get a slide by pass for 20 years.

No doubt Uncle Chewy was far from the only or even main mover/investor etc, in the beer bar removals. If anything he was just the visible front man with big ones used to make the move.

Edited September 12, 2012 by animatic

[Johnniey]

He needs to go to jail, what he did to the livelyhood of those bar owners was a disgrace, plus, he flattened my local and one of the best pool bars in Bangkok. For anyone who isn't aware he basically hired the army to flatten the block whilst the BIB stood by and let it happen.

Rubbish - he did a good thing apart from the Malaysian restaurant that disappeared.

Much better to have a park there than dingy beer brothels.

[Ferangled]

Post and replies with an un-called for personal attack on another member's wife have been removed from view.

Next post like this will earn that member a holiday from Thai Visa.

You forgot one !

"Posted Today, 07:37

Hope that this scum losses his appeal and end s up in jail with some other inmates finishing him off.....this guy was once selling girls including underaged girls from neighbouring countries and yet Thais voted him in. I also hope that someday somebody would send his kids to work in a brothel. Simply filth along with the media and people who support him. ""

Is Chuwit a TV member? Where was the reference to his wife?

To be fair I think many people have similar sentiments to those responsible for the exploitation of women and (allegedly) minors...

NB. With regard to minors one should say "allegedly". Despite it being fairly common knowledge that many of his "massage parlours" employed under age girls to cater for certain clients tastes, I believe the only time it was actually brought to court he managed to beat the rap by claiming the girls forged their own fake ID. The girls claimed they were actually docked wages by their employer to forge them IDs as a condition of taking the job but hey, who to believe a pimp worth billions or a few child prostitutes being exploited by an adult...

[luckyluke]

But all know that something was coming.

Well certainly not everybody, for instance my wife and myself, she had a beauty salon there between the bars, and an Italian guy just opened a complete new air conditioning bar( 1.2 million investment he told me)1 week before.

[Johnniey]

He's a disgrace to the nation........this is the rotten evil corrupt Thailand we all detest personified

Scum, total scum.

You obviously haven't been here long or don't understand this country. Most Thai people love Chuwit.

Do you ever watch tv or read the newspapers?

Have you ever had a soapy massage? If yes, I bet you think that's ok.

[bkkjames]

He's a disgrace to the nation........this is the rotten evil corrupt Thailand we all detest personified

Scum, total scum.

You obviously haven't been here long or don't understand this country. Most Thai people love Chuwit.

Do you ever watch tv or read the newspapers?

Have you ever had a soapy massage? If yes, I bet you think that's ok.

Never really cared for soapies. I kept slipping everytime I tried to get it to fit in the bathtub.

[KarstenBoAndersen]

If you didn't know, you most had been death !

I was there the night before and some times doing the week up to it, and all was talking about that they soon had to move out !

That was the 2 first bars from Soi 8, a couple of poolbars deeper in !

I could see that all the owners was walking around talking with each other, they was scared about what would come !

There was huge signs in front, facing Sukhumvit, so if your wife had read these, she had known that something was going on.

It took long time before Chuwit made the raid (as he actually blamed a midleman do) !

So the Italien guy had been a fool, no friends telling him what there was on the signs and what was going on !

[KarstenBoAndersen]

Take a look at these links

http://www.bangkokeyes.com/map10.html

http://www.bangkokeyes.com/suksquare.html

Not all is right, but it give a view of what happend !

[reggaebkk]

Who knows if he will or won't go to jail... It all depends who wants him out of the political scene, and how well he will manage making political and business concessions to the ones who pull the strings of the supreme court puppets.

Time will tell...There's only one sure thing: the outcome will not be about justice and legal equity, this is business.

[chiang mai]

He needs to go to jail, what he did to the livelyhood of those bar owners was a disgrace, plus, he flattened my local and one of the best pool bars in Bangkok. For anyone who isn't aware he basically hired the army to flatten the block whilst the BIB stood by and let it happen.

Rubbish - he did a good thing apart from the Malaysian restaurant that disappeared.

Much better to have a park there than dingy beer brothels.

I only have one word for you, 'typo's".

[expatman]

Re Chuwit Park, it used to be open all day, morning until evening, until maybe a year or so ago...

And then the hours were shortened and now I believe it's just a couple hours in the morning and another couple hours in the late afternoon/early evening, but closed during the midday.

It's a very nice little local park, a kind of haven from the noise and rush of adjoining Suk Rd... Very popular with Thai and farang Moms and their small children. Too bad its hours have been limited.

It's open from 6 am to 10 am and from 4 pm to 8pm.

Quite a lot of people use the park, especially for exercise in the morning and families with small children in the evening.

I asked one of the caretakers why it was closed in the middle of the day and he said they had too many problems with "undesireables" sleeping there all day long.

[luckyluke]

From your link KarstenBoAndersen

But no one foresaw the catastrophic end that would befall the compound on the morning of 26 January 2003.

The "opportunity' was not lost on the safari-suited paramilitarys; they immediately began looting the bars of television sets, liquor, stereos and other items that would fit into their personal pickup trucks.

Do you think if the owners had know something they will have left their belongings there.

[chiang mai]

From your link KarstenBoAndersen

But no one foresaw the catastrophic end that would befall the compound on the morning of 26 January 2003.

The "opportunity' was not lost on the safari-suited paramilitarys; they immediately began looting the bars of television sets, liquor, stereos and other items that would fit into their personal pickup trucks.

Do you think if the owners had know something they will have left their belongings there.

I agree that most bar owners had no idea this was comming, most believed that they were paying their rent to a landlord and had no reason to suspect that the landlord was not in turn paying Chuwit. If the truth be known, there were bar owners who had no idea of Chuwit's existence in the food chain, they had their landlord and that's all that really mattered, that's why the whole thing was so unfair.

[KarstenBoAndersen]

Looting did we nor hear much about !

Bar owners know they lived there on borrowed time !

Remember the big signs, they where there for months !

As i remember was all allowed to go in and take their things, those i knew that time opened a new bar a few weeks later.

Would you like some occupy your land without paying ? And you can not move them !

I am always making sure our un-used land is fenced of with barbwire !

[KarstenBoAndersen]

From your link KarstenBoAndersen

But no one foresaw the catastrophic end that would befall the compound on the morning of 26 January 2003.

The "opportunity' was not lost on the safari-suited paramilitarys; they immediately began looting the bars of television sets, liquor, stereos and other items that would fit into their personal pickup trucks.

Do you think if the owners had know something they will have left their belongings there.

I agree that most bar owners had no idea this was comming, most believed that they were paying their rent to a landlord and had no reason to suspect that the landlord was not in turn paying Chuwit. If the truth be known, there were bar owners who had no idea of Chuwit's existence in the food chain, they had their landlord and that's all that really mattered, that's why the whole thing was so unfair.

There was huge signs telling them that the lease contracts they had was not valid, and they should not pay to the people who told them they have a lease from Chuwit !

So how can they say they did not know ???

How stupid are you allowed to be ?

The only thing they can say, is that they was surprices is was so powerfull done !

But they can not sya they was surpriced that something would happpend that would kick them out from a space they had no right to be !!

[chiang mai]

To be honest I don't recollect seeing those signs but if you say they were there I'm happy to believe that. I used to play pool at a couple of bars in that complex on a far too regular basis and was on fairly good terms with a couple of the bar owners and the issue of Chuwit (or even his name) never arose when discussing lease/business et al - even after the fact I had dinner with one of the (ex) bar owners and Chuwits name never figured in the conversation, all the malice and bad feeling was directed solely towards the lease issuer/landlord.

[Dap]

And what were Chuwits motives for dozing that block?

So he could build a park?

[KarstenBoAndersen]

And what were Chuwits motives for dozing that block?

So he could build a park?

Why should he let them be there for free ????

Chuwit did not get paid, and he had chancelled the lease because he had other plans, it was not Chuwit there rented the space out to bars in the beginning !!

[tinfoilhat]

Re Chuwit Park, it used to be open all day, morning until evening, until maybe a year or so ago...

And then the hours were shortened and now I believe it's just a couple hours in the morning and another couple hours in the late afternoon/early evening, but closed during the midday.

It's a very nice little local park, a kind of haven from the noise and rush of adjoining Suk Rd... Very popular with Thai and farang Moms and their small children. Too bad its hours have been limited.

It's open from 6 am to 10 am and from 4 pm to 8pm.

Quite a lot of people use the park, especially for exercise in the morning and families with small children in the evening.

I asked one of the caretakers why it was closed in the middle of the day and he said they had too many problems with "undesireables" sleeping there all day long.

the only people i see asleep there are cops

[chiang mai]

Building a park on the land was the penalty he had to pay, it was a bit like the white elephant story. A white elephant is revered and must be well looked after but not allowed to work, hence, when the king gave a subject a white elephant as a gift it was really a penalty in disguise since he couldd get no benefit from it, just overhead. Quite ironic I thought.

[harryfrompattaya]

He needs to go to jail, what he did to the livelyhood of those bar owners was a disgrace, plus, he flattened my local and one of the best pool bars in Bangkok. For anyone who isn't aware he basically hired the army to flatten the block whilst the BIB stood by and let it happen.

I have to tell you the truth he was cleaning up Thailand by getting rid of bars and pools tables us farangs should be glad he was cleaning up Thailand.

We of Thai Visa should raise money for his defense. Stop knocking a wonderful man of high morals

Edited September 12, 2012 by harryfrompattaya