Foreign Mafia Running Pattaya

[Basil B]

Typical American.........they think that all crime is some kind of organized.

Conspiracy theories and maffia.............problem with Pattaya is, that most crimes are NOT organized.

Here we go again, "Reds Under the Bed", the Americans were at it first, now they Russians are pushing them out.

[Guderian]

I used to own a GoGo Bar on Soi Diamond, and I can assure you that the only "mafia" that ever came demanding money were Thai people dressed in brown uniforms.

The whole article is dramatised nonsense.

[me313]

Typical American.........they think that all crime is some kind of organized.

Conspiracy theories and maffia.............problem with Pattaya is, that most crimes are NOT organized.

You may be correct, but I wonder how you know this for sure? I doubt that the sex industry in Thailand, or anywhere, is not "organized" and heavily so.

[Beetlejuice]

Sex tourism is a multi-billion dollar industry and a key element in the underground trade of human trafficking!

And this why the Thai authorities will not go in with all guns blazing, plus the so-called human trafficking in many cases means, prostitutes that are willing and able to travel far and wide in order to sell their services believing they are going to make big money within the illegal sex industry. Most are fully aware as to what is involved and expected of them, they only cry sex slave when the job does not work out.

The issue here is that the Western media is bringing the attention of the Thailand sex market to the public and the Thailand government is making gesticulations that they are trying to tackle the problem in order to appease the critics of the criminal gang and corrupt officials run sex scene in Pattaya.

If the Thai authorities were truly serious about remedying the problem, than they would simply closed down the sex establishments and deport the foreign undesirables.

[jacko45k]

That must be an old picture of Walking St, haven't seen that much space there at nightime for a long time.

Struggling to place it actually.

I have lived here for some years and am unfamiliar with The Chocolate Butterfly Bar.

[NowImEasy]

Who cares which mafia runs Pattaya.

As long as they stay there.

Have you been in Chiang Mai recently? There are many Russian tourists now. Maybe when the word gets back to Pattaya, a few "Dons" might take a peek at the scene here. I don't think they will find much here, though, as the sex and drug scene is very low key. I know nothing about the drug situation, of course, because i'm not so stupid that I would buy or use anything but alcohol. But the sex scene is evident to anyone walking around the old town. Mostly older, unattractive ladies, past their prime. The young and pretty ones head south.

[moe666]

Such a bulls--- story

[bartender100]

Having lived in Pattaya on and off for years, I see little evidence that Russian mafia are starting to controlling the nightlife, most of the bars and gogo's don't even like them as customers.They may be running the Russian tour industry, and may even be supplying girls to that, but that's about it. The only Russian venues on WS have Russian girls working, not Thai

Never heard of the Chocolate Butterfly Bar, neither has Google

Edited February 20, 2013 by bartender100

[khunken]

This is a typical shallow report similar to those of around 20 years ago from UK TV channels about Patpong, Nana & Soi Cowboy. 'The girls are poor, some forced into prostitution, some under aged, pimps exploiting them', etc etc etc.

A real investigation would be a proper look into the Kamnan Po family mafia who control the whole bloody province. The so-called Russian mafia is a minor player - if such a thing really exists (the story certainly doesn't prove it).

I suppose this sort of 'journalism' sells to those who don't know better.

[stingray]

"To have a girl in Pattaya for the night, where she spends the whole night with you, that's it; she's yours," Jim said. "It's, you know, you're buying a girl for the night. That's what you're doing. That's what's so nice, and she has to do whatever you ask her to do."

Yeah sure, and if you don't believe that I will tell you some more porkies.

the decision to work in the red-light district is sometimes accepted by friends and family.

Sometimes it is, or is it that they are encouraged MOST of the times.

Remember he said his wife is an ex bargirl so it may have her telling him whatever to make him feel better for marrying her.

Bargirl or not Bargirl. There are not much differences. Every lady hope to get some benefits, not only the bargirls. BTW it's in the westernworls the same. No girl would stray with a "loser"

[Groadie666]

Let me guess...... The Thai mafia doesn't like competition??

[nodomino]

This article is nearly total garbage. If you are interested in understanding the relationship between the Thai police and the Russian 'Mafia' well, you won't find it here. If you need to know the nationalities of the users of sex services, you won't find it here. If you really want to get a grip on why and who is employed as a sex worker in Thailand, you won't find it here. This kind of journalism is crafted and directed to the smug hypocrite demographic and serves as 'shocking expose' for the witless, gullible and ignorant. I'm sure the pay is OK though.

[stingray]

Pattaya is a disgusting toilet. I honestly have no idea why anyone besides a creepy sex tourist would want to visit there.

What an incredibly narrow minded and ignorant statement. There are many other things to do in the Pattaya area rather than visiting bars and hookers and there are many Expats that are happily married, with families who like living in the area. I know because I am one of them.

I am not allowed to post a link, but try Googling 50 things to do in Pattaya you might just be surprised.

I think Thomas has led a very sheltered life, and probably hails from the Bible Belt.

yea anybody who hates Pattaya must be from the bible belt. LOL. Are you seriously this ignorant? Pattaya is a disgusting sewage pit. Anybody raising children around there needs their head examined

Pattaya is the only place i stay in Thailand. Better here than somewhere in Nakon Nowhere or in sticky Bangkok. Pattaya is the Best in South East Asia. It's the Action here. Somebody likes and somebody don't likes. Doesn't matter i didn't came here to have a family life. Family life i could habe 25 years ago in Switzerland, but i didn't want it. Everybody haves a different mind and different way of life. That's the way it is. But than again all the life in Pattaya can not be. Therefore i go at least once or twice to my Homecountry in Switzerland. It's wonderful there.

[tomacht8]

The low price of sex in Pattaya's red-light district is a draw for many sex tourists. It is often as low as eight US dollars.

eight dollars = 240 Baht?

often = regulary?

Where?

Sounds the author knows exactly the going prices.

Brilliant research

[prvtdetdave]

My initial thought is here is a typical wannabe journalist, using all the catch phrases.

Same old B.S. article just a different reporters name.

It had to be a slow day at the Huffigton Post to print this load of bullocks.

[quandow]

"Multi-billion dollar industry?" In Pattaya? I think we throw that word "billion" out too freely any more. Agreed, there's a LOT of money changing hands in Pattaya, but billions of U.S. dollars? Hmmm . . .

[loonodingle]

Doesnt the US military send ship loads of troops to come and empty there balls in pattaya. Infact years ago when pattaya was created it was for this purpose. The Americans started this all off.

[PEP]

Out of all this garbage I have concluded that one must feel sorrow for those retirees who are trapped into what they believed would be a secure haven. Do you have to lock your doors and windows at night? Us new residents of Issan do not.

If you think I am Pattaya bashing please read the article in the following link. It is about a town in Australia called Wilcannia where I previously lived but was forced to greener pastures.

Extract:- "

http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/retire-in-canberra-or-save-a-dead-end-outback-town-decisions-decisions/351/

“In that year alone the town recorded nearly 20,000 arrests for public drunkenness, which translated to an arrest rate per person of 25 times a year. And 20 per cent of the arrests were juveniles.”

[71Cuda]

Sensationalized, shoddy, Pussy Whipped, Cock Blocker journalism.

[monkeycountry]

I have often wondered why most americans seem to have no clue what's going in the world around them, but it all makes sense to me now. Their newspapers and "journalists" are of the same quality as the Thai ones :-)

You simply making such an ignorant statement pretty much confirms you have no idea whats going on in the world around you. Let me guess. Youre from Manchester or some other depressing UK hellpit right?

Whatever makes you happy :-)

[wealth]

Pattaya is a disgusting toilet. I honestly have no idea why anyone besides a creepy sex tourist would want to visit there.

What an incredibly narrow minded and ignorant statement. There are many other things to do in the Pattaya area rather than visiting bars and hookers and there are many Expats that are happily married, with families who like living in the area. I know because I am one of them.

I am not allowed to post a link, but try Googling 50 things to do in Pattaya you might just be surprised.

I do understand both statements.

BUT I've been there once and it only confirmed my gut feelings I had before and thought it's filthy.

No, not about the Russians or any other nationalities.

All the hapless attempts to change the image of this place won't work.

There's still the aura of Schizophrenia embedded in it's roots.

Casting Pearls in front of swines comes to mind.

With ASEAN coming things will change for worse.

A GHETTO with money will turn into a slum as it was designed so a long time ago and not limited to Pattaya only. Pattaya was designed as a cash cow for Thailand from Thais. This should explain it. No matter what noble programs one thinks to achieve there, it won't work. When you live there you are only part of this cash cow and as long as it gives milk it's alright.

When you live there you are walking in the aura of Schizophrenia and nothing will change that until the Thais get really serious about it. The chances are close to zero.

Watch the arms trade for the underground in Rayong near Pattaya.

[Miami Bob]

Now that I see this originally appeared in the Huffington post it all makes sense. For those of you non-Americans that don't know, the Huff post is a far left liberal/socialist, politically correct, gun grabbing, anti patriot, new world order, agenda 21 publication. Any article they print will be heavy spun toward that mind set. Keep this article in mind when you read other things in the Huff post that they claim to be fact.

[belg]

US has it own problems with south and middle american girls being smoggeld and used in drug muling, prostitution, etc...

but good thing they work together with other agencies to track the pedo's in their countries

no cure for them, but chemical or physical castraction

[khunken]

Now that I see this originally appeared in the Huffington post it all makes sense. For those of you non-Americans that don't know, the Huff post is a far left liberal/socialist, politically correct, gun grabbing, anti patriot, new world order, agenda 21 publication. Any article they print will be heavy spun toward that mind set. Keep this article in mind when you read other things in the Huff post that they claim to be fact.

You forgot 'commie'.

[Pinot]

First this is an article that was written for the most leftist liberal news(?) service inthe US. Huffington even kisses Obama's assets.

Now on to the article. I agree with the posts that the American's tend to forget that like all the other problems they left behind in Vietnam they also left Khaosan Road and Walking Street. Let's face it the vets that came to Thailand for R and R them came to let loose get laid, smoke some weed and get drunk. These bars were created by them for them. To be honest it was the war that educated me about Thailand.

Huff also forgot to mention that these houses only exist because of the people that come here. If the god people of England , Australia and the UK decided not to come here then it would not exist.

As for the mafia yep you definitely do not want the Russians as they will not pay as much kick back to the police.

Let me guess, your watching Fox News.

[froggerman]

article is complete trash. (1) I'm sure some non-voluntary sex work exists in pattaya but obviously the extreme minority. What the "trafficking trafficking" hysterics fail to recognize is that there's no business reason people would involuntarily traffic people to do work that said people are already desperate to do voluntarily in exchange for money. This would be odd and poor business sense, besides morally wrong.The article states "not all sex workers are non-voluntary", making it sound like almost all of them are "trafficked". (2) most of the money is kept by the girl, not the bar, police, and/or mafia. (3) Eight dollars? No. (4) "She's yours for the night and will do anything you like". Have to lol at this too. That's pretty darn optimistic. The bottom line is that these women are there on business, and making good money, and their working conditions and salaries are such that they would laugh at $8 and very few of them are interested in spending a whole night with anyone for any amount of money.

[kamahele]

I don't understand how an article about human trafficking turned into yet another venue for those with some kind of penis envy to spew anti american swill.

1. No where in the article does it state the writer (who isn't a journalist) is an American? No, he works for an internation organization based in New York (yes that is in America). The focus of this group is to work "for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls around the world." Seems like a noble cause to me.

2. Was an American quoted in the article? Yes. Jim, a retired Limo driver from NY tried to spell out the situation for "working girls".

3. Is the content of the article based on the writer's first experience in Pattaya? No, most of the article are quotes from people such as Matthew Friedman, former regional manager for the United Nations Interagency Project on Human Trafficking. (don't know if he is American but of course the UN is based in NY so they must be a branch of the American govt right?) And Palissorn Noja, who runs Pattaya's Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Abuse Center. Pretty sure he isn't an American.

Does America have crime? Yes. Is this story about America or in any way suggests that Americans or America are better than Thais or Thailand? No. It is a story about the sex workers in one 3 mile stretch of one Thai city. Is the Russian Mafia entrenched there? If I am to believe the frequent posts on Thaivisa, then yes. Is crime and prostitution a problem there? If I am to believe all the posts from the expats living there then yes.

It would be nice if just one post on Thiavisa.com forum didn't end up as an anti -somebody else post and that members could stick to the facts. If it is factually incorrect, just point it out with the rhetoric. Of course some people have nothing else to do but sit in front of their laptops waiting for the next opportunity to pounce.

[Beetlejuice]

As regarding unwilling sex workers, let the journalists try this as an experiment:

Befriend any Thai girls from any brothel, massage parlour or bar in the country.

Convince the girls that the guy has a legitimate business at the other side of Thailand, such as a store, factory or guesthouse. Tell the girl that he will keep her employment anonymous in cases where sex workers is concerned about repercussions from their gang bosses and offer her 10000 baht to 15000 baht per month as a shop assistant, factory worker or hotel receptionist or chamber maid. And than see how many will accept the guys offer of a chance to escape the sex industry for a legitimate job. My guess is that only very few or more likely probably none will take up the opportunity.

The do gooders have attempted this scheme in the past with a chance for the girls to get out of the sex racket completely, and most failed.

The authorities must either put up or shut up, otherwise all this is just a load of hot air blowing in the wind and I’m certain that the gangs and corrupt officials will not take any of these threats seriously and are not preparing to abandon ship just yet.

Edited February 20, 2013 by Beetlejuice

[thenoilif]

While the title and some of the ideas expressed in this article are misleading there is in fact a Russian Mafia in many tourist areas in Thailand and their presence is growing. I wouldn't say that they are "running" things in these areas but they have more influence over goings on that any other non-Thai organization has had in the past.

This is no different than any other crime syndicate in other countries. The syndicate pays off the right people and they are allowed to do their business without reprecussion but if they get too far out of line they get slapped.

It's comical that anyone would assume that they have even a remote idea as to the specific presence of any organized crime syndicate or how they operate. How they are shown in movies is completely different than real life so assuming they have little presence because its not obvious is very nieve.

Lastly, I trust very little news these days as most agencies are driven by certain agendas that can create bias reporting but I imagine that a little more research was done to write this article than what most of you have done. In fact, I'm guessing that many of you have never even been to Pattaya.

[onnut]

Spoke to the owner of a well established chain of pubs in Thailand just after he opened his first in Pattaya a few years back, he said he has to pay the Russians down there.

No way! I don't believe it. He was having you on. I worked for a "well established chain of pubs in Thailand" at the highest level, Pattaya Phuket, Samui, Bangkok, and the only money we had to pay out in that way was to the Boys in brown.