Australian And Ukrainian Arrested In Pattaya Protection Scam

[sunshine51]

You know what...? Something tells me I should actually feel

sorry for these two bumbling bozos but the fact is...is that

I don't. I mean look at em....

Neither look very menacing...more like really stoned and tried

to cop a couple easy Baht...or so they thought. Jail will be

good for em....maybe they'll learn a "proper" trade in there.

[Thai at Heart]

It was mentioned that Thai restaurants pay up to 30% commission on food sales. Wow, thats not bad

Any restaurant that can offer a 30% commision is obviously grossly over charging.

It only says eat not drink. What is the cost of a makro burger and fries?

[Billmont]

It was mentioned that Thai restaurants pay up to 30% commission on food sales. Wow, thats not bad

Any restaurant that can offer a 30% commision is obviously grossly over charging.

It only says eat not drink. What is the cost of a makro burger and fries?

When running a restaurant or any business for that matter overheads have to be factored in the product selling cost. Lighting, aircon, power for cooking, rent or mortgage, cost of equipment, crockery, cutlery, breakages, cleaning, laundry wages etc and then the cost of the ingredients. The cost of the ingredients have to be doubled at least to break even, then you have to add in a reasonable profit or a hugh profit if you want to give a 30% commission. If only life was so simple that overheads could be ignored and just work on the cost of ingredients until only your final customers are the receivers.

[rgs2001uk]

I wish to nominate the one on the right for, Hansam Man of the year award.

[Thai at Heart]

It was mentioned that Thai restaurants pay up to 30% commission on food sales. Wow, thats not bad

Any restaurant that can offer a 30% commision is obviously grossly over charging.

It only says eat not drink. What is the cost of a makro burger and fries?

When running a restaurant or any business for that matter overheads have to be factored in the product selling cost. Lighting, aircon, power for cooking, rent or mortgage, cost of equipment, crockery, cutlery, breakages, cleaning, laundry wages etc and then the cost of the ingredients. The cost of the ingredients have to be doubled at least to break even, then you have to add in a reasonable profit or a hugh profit if you want to give a 30% commission. If only life was so simple that overheads could be ignored and just work on the cost of ingredients until only your final customers are the receivers.

Umm, of course. But to give a 30% cut on 150 baht plates of fries and burgers, is doable if they have 500 bahts worth of beer.

The idea is just to get people in, and hope they drink quadruple their food bill.

[salty]

Pattaya the hub of protection scams.

[Billmont]

In reply to Thai of Heart who said:

Umm, of course. But to give a 30% cut on 150 baht plates of fries and burgers, is doable if they have 500 bahts worth of beer.

The idea is just to get people in, and hope they drink quadruple their food bill.

"500 bahts worth of beer" These type of tourists are more likely to drink 500ml of water. Always the big "IF", if my aunt had balls she would be my uncle springs to mind!

[lemoncake]

The chap on the right might be of Ukranian parents but speaks fluent English and could well have been born in Australia. I have met him many times when he was assisting Russian speakers and maybe that was his living - getting fees. He was well known at the police station but hardly an official member of any law enforcement group so using any connection to police for his scam was not based on anything real. He is a very personable guy and I am surprised to see this lapse in judgement but have seen others who think they have police friends fall foul of their delusions.

but were you aware he was a little drug dealer back in Oz?, i actually know him for over 20 years. He was not born in Australia but born and raised in Odessa, which is in UkrainE. The city is known for producing the worst scammers in the former USSR.

His way of making a living in Thailand for the past 10 years or so was scamming Russian tourists one way or another, He did try many other scams, one which i am aware of was him selling WOW the food delivery service but the so called Russian market for 2000 000 baht. He never owned or had any shares in WOW, all was just a scam.

In the recent years, he has fallen flat on his backside, because word got around in Russian community and he basically could no longer scam or get paid. So doing something like this is a no surprise to me.

Being sent back to Oz might be a blessing for him

[lemoncake]

double post, self deleted

Edited November 16, 2012 by lemoncake

[lemoncake]

Just the tip of the iceberg,..

these type's of stories will only get more popular week by week.

i was in pattaya last month,.i hadnt been there in years and i couldnt believe the amount of russians/ukrainians..

good news for 7/11

i wont be going back.

not to worry, pattaya will not be missing you

[lemoncake]

Umm, of course. But to give a 30% cut on 150 baht plates of fries and burgers, is doable if they have 500 bahts worth of beer.

The idea is just to get people in, and hope they drink quadruple their food bill.

most places serving russians or menu in russian charge about 300% more than the going rates.

example khow pad gai, the average price is 60 baht, in places for russians its 300 baht.

how they do that is also very simple, guides scare the tourists that by eating on the street they would get sick and die, they also advise them against eating anywhere but in certain places, because those are the only places who serve clean and fresh food, all the rest serve dirty, not fresh food.

those russians have no idea of what is what and considering that vast majority can not speak any english, they have no idea and pay the prices of 300 baht for rice with chicken

[prvtdetdave]

having a big sign like that asking for russian commission based 'tour guides' is asking for it.

what did she expect?

She probably expected more diners. I don't understand your reasoning. Sounds like good business to me.

I think our colleague is pointing out that a business which openly asks tour guides/operators to bring in thier cliental

may have a considerable amount of continous revenue, therefore maybe open to purchasing blackmarket insurance

(protection). I personnally think it was a good idea to generate extra business,

but I think 30% is too much and I would have searched for a more discrete way to approach the market which they were attempting to target(imo).

[gaucho]

kickbacks and commisions r the norm in resto ALL OVER THE WORLD ...believe me ...used to drive buses around europe ...if u have a bus load of 40 travellers u r constantly being offered incentives ...30% might seem excessive but if u have just taken 200 dollars worth of sales at 4 in the morning in a quick 15 min toilet layover of which 125 dollars is profit u dont mind slinging a sweetener ... same with the hotels if u could get yourself put on the list for even overflows ....money for jam ...

[COXYATCITY]

Just the tip of the iceberg,..

these type's of stories will only get more popular week by week.

i was in pattaya last month,.i hadnt been there in years and i couldnt believe the amount of russians/ukrainians..

good news for 7/11

i wont be going back.

.your right about the amount of Russians here(and along with them are,Mafia, pimps, prostitutes ,tour guides and the rest) ,they kept the hotels and 7/11,s busy.in the rainy season.god help us in the high season,but they are spreading out further now as well (ko samet,ko chang sattahip), anybody know about Samui,Phuket,Chaing Mai,,it wont be long before they are drinking lao khao in the fields of Isaan.

[fish fingers]

having a big sign like that asking for russian commission based 'tour guides' is asking for it.

what did she expect?

She probably expected more diners. I don't understand your reasoning. Sounds like good business to me.

In that case maybe you shd borrow her business model, good luck with that.

[JulesMad]

Do you need a work permit to run a protection racket here?

Yes, WP from the Russian Mafia (almost the same as from the Thai Labour department)

[antpet]

Dumb and dumber do security.

I love it when we have 'foreigners' - eastern Block scum bags - trying to muscle in on Thai cultural heritage. In Pattaya, a place known for being totally corrupted from top [wherever that is] to bottom [ the street], I love the idea that something as well honed as 'protection' can be undertaken by any foreigner.

It is accepted knowledge that every boy in brown chisels money from every street vendor at every oportunity. The tea money scams of 'helmet stoppage' are merely the visualisation of a racket that includes every living, breathing business in Pattaya. Too often have I heard of the police turning up and sitting in foreign business premises shortly after start up and waiting to be paid off!

Ask yourself why Carrefour pulled the plug.

Worse, I remember the tale of the large motorcycle business, ex-pat owned, where they simply arrested him and put him in the cells. He refused to pay the 200 k demanded and so they left him there. He stuck it out for 2 weeks then paid, plus the extra 50k for making them wait! After that they hit him again. Another arrest but this time he fronted up 50k and they let him walk. But even that wasn't enough as he then made a point of annually servicing and repairing a top cops family motorbikes all free of charge. But it still doesn't end there ............. to ensure his liberty, he annually visited the station, handed over 2 bottles of scotch, sat and chewed the fat with same top cop and left graciously.

That's what it took in Pattaya. I was there when he told that story shortly after selling up and leaving Thailand.He'd built up a large and successful business that was targetted by the endemic protection racket operated by the Thai police in pattaya.

Protection is an institutionalised industry run by franchised mafia with the involvement of and consent from the current police. The same police who get shipped out from Bnagkok and dumped in all the Thai up country backwaters in an attempt to end the Pattaya corruption. it's so bad that real law enforceforcement only happens when a cohort of Bangkok police are secretly dispatched to pattaya to make an arrest. The local force is all too interested in graft and pay offs to enforce the law. Pattaya is seen as a gravy train; make as much as you can while posted there and then cut an run. You'll never be allowed back by the Bangkok authorities as they know you are corrupt but without punishing anyone one; without facing the fact that the police are totally rotten; then, nothing will ever improve.

Therefore, foreigners can not work in the protection industry in Thailand. The exceptions are when the few legitimate foreign businesses fall foul of their fellow country men who operate only with sleeping partners who wear brown uniforms.

That explains the widespread presence of Russians in pattaya. The self same Russians that Wikileaks reported as being of concern to the US as their activities are merely a front for money laundering to fund organised crime and terrorism. That is just below the surface in Pattaya.

The misguided, unaware decent tourists who do visit the place are a veneer's depth from serial criminals and the consequences of crossing them.

To support this thesis with fact I refer to the Dutch estate agent who was assassinated by a contract killer during the two day period when associated criminals were executed in Holland. It made round the world headlines as major drug dealers were killed by their own. One of the career criminals was here in pattaya, fronting as an estate agent, selling new build estate properties to unknowing, unsuspecting foreigners.

Imagine arguing the point with that kind of person.

It is all organised, sanctioned, approved and condoned by the Pattaya City Hall mafia and the police mafia.

Enjoy your time in Pattaya.

[lemoncake]

Dumb and dumber do security.

I love it when we have 'foreigners' - eastern Block scum bags - trying to muscle in on Thai cultural heritage. In Pattaya, a place known for being totally corrupted from top [wherever that is] to bottom [ the street], I love the idea that something as well honed as 'protection' can be undertaken by any foreigner.

It is accepted knowledge that every boy in brown chisels money from every street vendor at every oportunity. The tea money scams of 'helmet stoppage' are merely the visualisation of a racket that includes every living, breathing business in Pattaya. Too often have I heard of the police turning up and sitting in foreign business premises shortly after start up and waiting to be paid off!

Ask yourself why Carrefour pulled the plug.

Worse, I remember the tale of the large motorcycle business, ex-pat owned, where they simply arrested him and put him in the cells. He refused to pay the 200 k demanded and so they left him there. He stuck it out for 2 weeks then paid, plus the extra 50k for making them wait! After that they hit him again. Another arrest but this time he fronted up 50k and they let him walk. But even that wasn't enough as he then made a point of annually servicing and repairing a top cops family motorbikes all free of charge. But it still doesn't end there ............. to ensure his liberty, he annually visited the station, handed over 2 bottles of scotch, sat and chewed the fat with same top cop and left graciously.

That's what it took in Pattaya. I was there when he told that story shortly after selling up and leaving Thailand.He'd built up a large and successful business that was targetted by the endemic protection racket operated by the Thai police in pattaya.

Protection is an institutionalised industry run by franchised mafia with the involvement of and consent from the current police. The same police who get shipped out from Bnagkok and dumped in all the Thai up country backwaters in an attempt to end the Pattaya corruption. it's so bad that real law enforceforcement only happens when a cohort of Bangkok police are secretly dispatched to pattaya to make an arrest. The local force is all too interested in graft and pay offs to enforce the law. Pattaya is seen as a gravy train; make as much as you can while posted there and then cut an run. You'll never be allowed back by the Bangkok authorities as they know you are corrupt but without punishing anyone one; without facing the fact that the police are totally rotten; then, nothing will ever improve.

Therefore, foreigners can not work in the protection industry in Thailand. The exceptions are when the few legitimate foreign businesses fall foul of their fellow country men who operate only with sleeping partners who wear brown uniforms.

That explains the widespread presence of Russians in pattaya. The self same Russians that Wikileaks reported as being of concern to the US as their activities are merely a front for money laundering to fund organised crime and terrorism. That is just below the surface in Pattaya.

The misguided, unaware decent tourists who do visit the place are a veneer's depth from serial criminals and the consequences of crossing them.

To support this thesis with fact I refer to the Dutch estate agent who was assassinated by a contract killer during the two day period when associated criminals were executed in Holland. It made round the world headlines as major drug dealers were killed by their own. One of the career criminals was here in pattaya, fronting as an estate agent, selling new build estate properties to unknowing, unsuspecting foreigners.

Imagine arguing the point with that kind of person.

It is all organised, sanctioned, approved and condoned by the Pattaya City Hall mafia and the police mafia.

Enjoy your time in Pattaya.

what a load of utter and total rubbish

i have hotels and bars and they do not lock me up, nor do the extort me, though i do not pimp the girls from the bar, nor do i run short time rooms. have all the licenses in place and a WP.

The only thing i pay is 1500 baht per month and thats for the nightly patrol by the police, oh and yeah a cup of coffee or a bottle of water.