"No Russian Mafia in Pattaya" – Chief of Banglamung District

[chrisinth]

Exactly which industries are dominated by russian nationals? Sounds more like the press trying to whip up a storm of xenophobia and sensationalism.

You are not Russian, are you;-)

Erm - no. But living in Pattaya I cannot see any industry that even comes close to being dominated by Russians - maybe you would care to enlighten me.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/656830-russian-go-go-bar-and-thai-pub-raided-by-pattaya-authorities/

Hanno, that is one go-go, certainly not an industry. Nobody is questioning that there are a lot of Russians there, and certainly more than a few flouting the law, but that does not make a mafia.

Besides, Chonburi would never let that happen. That comment is for anyone that has any idea about what happens in Pattaya............

[morpho]

Yeah right....and bears don't shit in the woods!

[Andre0720]

Why would anyone say such a thing...

We already knew that there are no problems in Thailand...

[CrisRMenumate]

So a guy walks into another guys business and shows him a picture of his business and says... would be real shame if a fire destroyed this business, I sell insurance, if you give me 3% of your money I make sure no fires or other calamaties occur. But if you don't take my insurance who can say if something bad will happen to your business, your car, maybe you, no... maybe your family. You need my protection. But that never happened in Pattaya, not by Chinese, Thai, police, russian or any other type of person arranging such honest insurance protection for any business there because there is no mafia organised crime operating protection extortion, lottery scams, drugging drunk stupid tourists and ripping off their credit cards, bringing russian hookers to Thailand and keeping them prisoner while taking all the money they earn on their backs, no drugs offered to russian or any other tourists by russian or any other drug peddlars... no the streets are clean as fresh fallen snow.... Well done Pattaya, a great example to every other tourist location in the world to achieve this. There should be books written, movies made, documentaries (get Michael Moore on the phone now) speeches, world wide presentations, diagrams, instruction guides to every other tourism destination in the world to get it as right as you have managed to do. Perhaps a film festival, I believe the former governor of Tourism knows how to arrange those? Congratulations to the BIB, the Mayor, the local government representative (oh... what was his name now, his father did something (in)famously? I just forget) and of course to the tourism officials who have made all this happen. World Tourism award 2013 and perpetually for the rest of eternity belongs to this jewel in our crown of destinations.

[Matthew2027]

5555555555555555555555555555555555555

[Mr Brown]

Russians openly selling Yabba across from Central Festival in Pattaya. However they are not Russian mafia... Just misunderstood criminals...lol

[technologybytes]

So a guy walks into another guys business and shows him a picture of his business and says... would be real shame if a fire destroyed this business, I sell insurance, if you give me 3% of your money I make sure no fires or other calamaties occur. But if you don't take my insurance who can say if something bad will happen to your business, your car, maybe you, no... maybe your family. You need my protection. But that never happened in Pattaya, not by Chinese, Thai, police, russian or any other type of person arranging such honest insurance protection for any business there because there is no mafia organised crime operating protection extortion, lottery scams, drugging drunk stupid tourists and ripping off their credit cards, bringing russian hookers to Thailand and keeping them prisoner while taking all the money they earn on their backs, no drugs offered to russian or any other tourists by russian or any other drug peddlars... no the streets are clean as fresh fallen snow.... Well done Pattaya, a great example to every other tourist location in the world to achieve this. There should be books written, movies made, documentaries (get Michael Moore on the phone now) speeches, world wide presentations, diagrams, instruction guides to every other tourism destination in the world to get it as right as you have managed to do. Perhaps a film festival, I believe the former governor of Tourism knows how to arrange those? Congratulations to the BIB, the Mayor, the local government representative (oh... what was his name now, his father did something (in)famously? I just forget) and of course to the tourism officials who have made all this happen. World Tourism award 2013 and perpetually for the rest of eternity belongs to this jewel in our crown of destinations.

<deleted> was that rant all about?

[jmccarty]

Russian mafia in tourism? That would be the infamous and brutal English to Russian language translation syndicate and the viscous Borshch and pirozhki cooks underground and dont forget the most dangerous of them all, the Russian speaking tour guides gang that extort 100s of baht per day from the most lucrative high end tourists here on budget package tours.

I do know, because I have seen that the BIB come to check on the welfare of several of my falang friends bars and restaurants to ensure these ruthless Russian mafia are not holding the defenceless publicans families hostage or forcing them to pay protection money or money just to keep business as usual.

But that is another issue.

Edited August 2, 2013 by jmccarty

[RisqEM]

This id the joke of the day! 5555555

[luckizuchinni]

First, there is no such thing as "the" Russian mafia. The mafias are large, fragmented, and generally are at odds with each other. Two of the largest and most powerful, for example, are a Jewish mafia and one originally made up of Afghan vets. The head of the largest Jewish mafias was taken out ten years or so ago while surrounded by body guards. The Afghan vets mafia claimed that one of their snipers did the deed at over 1,000 meters.

Second, at least according to the Russian press, a number of Russian mafias are present in Pattaya, mostly to launder money. According to the press, the Russian restaurants, dive shops, and tourist agencies are EXTREMELY profitable despite being only moderately or even poorly patronized.

I don't know how much Russian mafias are involved with the daily criminal activities in Pattaya, but they are certainly there and in numbers.

[Katipo]

...and the sky is not blue.

[technologybytes]

Russians openly selling Yabba across from Central Festival in Pattaya. However they are not Russian mafia... Just misunderstood criminals...lol

Even if there are Russians selling openly selling Yabba.. which I personally doubt. If the drug pusher was a from another nationality nobody would ever suggest it's got anything to do with Mafia.. but as soon as it's perceived to be Russian it all changes...why?

[CockneyGit]

"No Russian Mafia in Pattaya"

[BlackRussian]

I was thinking why there is no Russian mafia in Russia since the nineties, except for anecdotic old fat guys we sometimes see in crime news. Now I know. Thanks god, they all moved to Pattaya.

[Mr Brown]

Russians openly selling Yabba across from Central Festival in Pattaya. However they are not Russian mafia... Just misunderstood criminals...lol

Even if there are Russians selling openly selling Yabba.. which I personally doubt. If the drug pusher was a from another nationality nobody would ever suggest it's got anything to do with Mafia.. but as soon as it's perceived to be Russian it all changes...why?

So you know for a fact that its not happening ['which you personally doubt'] or are you just looking to stretch out the debate?

[Pui]

Those posters saying the Russian Mafia are involved in organised crime in Pattaya must substantiate their assertions buy telling us "What Crime"?

Russian holiday makers flock to the sunny beach town and continue to be a huge source of revenue for Pattaya. Local tour guides (rather sensibly) hire Russian translators for this purpose but per capita, those involved in crime must be very small. A lot of these Russians have money to spend, its an emerging economy I bet they cause a lot less trouble than drunken westerners.

You are not Russian, are you;-)

Exactly which industries are dominated by russian nationals? Sounds more like the press trying to whip up a storm of xenophobia and sensationalism.

Erm - no. But living in Pattaya I cannot see any industry that even comes close to being dominated by Russians - maybe you would care to enlighten me.

Edited August 2, 2013 by Pui

[SOTIRIOS]

...laziness.... drug and alcohol abuse.........dishonesty......incompetence...lack of skills......racism......

......have nothing to do with 'affecting Thai’s and their chances of gaining employment in certain industries'......

....it's always the fault of everybody else.....

.....tourists....foreigners....have become wise to the constant 'gouging' and misrepresentation of the most basic facts.....

....so the Thais are not pocketing as much for the least amount of effort.....as they have become accustomed.....so someone has to pay......

[Soi Dog]

So apparently the BIB have hired Sergeant "I see nothing" Schultz for their PR work.

[Pui]

I was thinking why there is no Russian mafia in Russia since the nineties, except for anecdotic old fat guys we sometimes see in crime news. Now I know. Thanks god, they all moved to Pattaya.

They may have moved to Pattaya, they may be just visiting but are they involved in crime in Pattaya, if so what crime? Personally I find them rather rude and obnoxious to be around but that doesn't mean I can go around suggesting they are doing something illegal in pattaya.

[AlexProBkk]

Russian is a difficult language. Very few Thais are ever going to master it. The sensible solution would be to legalize more Russian tourism workers and watch them like hawks. The current underground situation feeds mafia building.

As soon as Russians are licensed those licenses will be immediately controlled by gangsters.

As sure as night follows day.

What a load of b*llshit. Come on everyone.. Being Russian doesn't mean you are a mafia member) Relax please. I'm a Russian businessman here in Pattaya. I can assure you there's no Russian mafia neither in Phuket nor in Pattaya. There are a lot of Russian-Thai owned businesses. Some Russians have Thai partners, some have wives, some use lawyers. Have to admit many of them don't have work permits. But when did that make you a Mafia? It took me 7 months to legally obtain a work permit. Until that time I paid 3,000 thb a month to Immigrration and 3,000 thb to Tourist Police. So am I the mafia?

The thing about Russians is that they never stand up for each other and usually disunited. Having said that I'm aware that there may be Russian criminals. Like the gang of credit card skimmers. Remember that one? Sure! Not a single Russian in that gang. But Eastern Europe is associated with Russian in your minds. You just need to grow out of your xenophobic cold war stereotypes. Keep hating Russians on your own.

[atsiii]

A couple of years ago there was a murder in Pattaya. The BIB got in a fire fight with a couple of suspects, Russians, I believe, before the suspects surrendered. The two suspects confessed to having been there for the murder, but claimed they did not pull the trigger--and implicated another man (Russian, I think) as the trigger man. They then lead the BIB to where they had buried the body.

The BIB put out an APB on the "trigger man" and then let the two accomplices go! Yes, it's true... after having had a shoot out with the police, confessed to be accomplices to murder, and leading the police to the body; they were released (perhaps even given their guns back?). Do you think money was involved?

At any rate, while these two may or may not still be around Pattaya, it's good to know there is no Russian mafia present.

[Satanas]

No Russian Mafia in Pattaya?

55555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555

55555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555

555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555

5555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555 ...

[Pui]

A couple of years ago there was a murder in Pattaya. The BIB got in a fire fight with a couple of suspects, Russians, I believe, before the suspects surrendered. The two suspects confessed to having been there for the murder, but claimed they did not pull the trigger--and implicated another man (Russian, I think) as the trigger man. They then lead the BIB to where they had buried the body.

The BIB put out an APB on the "trigger man" and then let the two accomplices go! Yes, it's true... after having had a shoot out with the police, confessed to be accomplices to murder, and leading the police to the body; they were released (perhaps even given their guns back?). Do you think money was involved?

At any rate, while these two may or may not still be around Pattaya, it's good to know there is no Russian mafia present.

Still not fully comprehending the correlation between the 2 individuals in your story and organised crime (or Mafia) in Pattaya.

[somtampet]

It's the same as saying, there are no accidents in Thailand........ Or they are blind to see, or the Russians are very good in hiding it, or the money talks. you choose.

FACTS please

[somtampet]

Russian is a difficult language. Very few Thais are ever going to master it. The sensible solution would be to legalize more Russian tourism workers and watch them like hawks. The current underground situation feeds mafia building.

As soon as Russians are licensed those licenses will be immediately controlled by gangsters.

As sure as night follows day.

What a load of b*llshit. Come on everyone.. Being Russian doesn't mean you are a mafia member) Relax please. I'm a Russian businessman here in Pattaya. I can assure you there's no Russian mafia neither in Phuket nor in Pattaya. There are a lot of Russian-Thai owned businesses. Some Russians have Thai partners, some have wives, some use lawyers. Have to admit many of them don't have work permits. But when did that make you a Mafia? It took me 7 months to legally obtain a work permit. Until that time I paid 3,000 thb a month to Immigrration and 3,000 thb to Tourist Police. So am I the mafia?

The thing about Russians is that they never stand up for each other and usually disunited. Having said that I'm aware that there may be Russian criminals. Like the gang of credit card skimmers. Remember that one? Sure! Not a single Russian in that gang. But Eastern Europe is associated with Russian in your minds. You just need to grow out of your xenophobic cold war stereotypes. Keep hating Russians on your own.

GOOD POST

Ii DoNT THINK ITS Xenophobic,its sheer ignorance and a lack of knowledge why some farangs try to whip up hysteria about Russian mafia.Sure,u are right there are criminals in Pattaya that are russian,but i think some guys on here would poo poo themselves if they knew how many brits are involved in certain crimes over here

[technologybytes]

Russian is a difficult language. Very few Thais are ever going to master it. The sensible solution would be to legalize more Russian tourism workers and watch them like hawks. The current underground situation feeds mafia building.

As soon as Russians are licensed those licenses will be immediately controlled by gangsters.

As sure as night follows day.

What a load of b*llshit. Come on everyone.. Being Russian doesn't mean you are a mafia member) Relax please. I'm a Russian businessman here in Pattaya. I can assure you there's no Russian mafia neither in Phuket nor in Pattaya. There are a lot of Russian-Thai owned businesses. Some Russians have Thai partners, some have wives, some use lawyers. Have to admit many of them don't have work permits. But when did that make you a Mafia? It took me 7 months to legally obtain a work permit. Until that time I paid 3,000 thb a month to Immigrration and 3,000 thb to Tourist Police. So am I the mafia?

The thing about Russians is that they never stand up for each other and usually disunited. Having said that I'm aware that there may be Russian criminals. Like the gang of credit card skimmers. Remember that one? Sure! Not a single Russian in that gang. But Eastern Europe is associated with Russian in your minds. You just need to grow out of your xenophobic cold war stereotypes. Keep hating Russians on your own.

GOOD POST

Ii DoNT THINK ITS Xenophobic,its sheer ignorance and a lack of knowledge why some farangs try to whip up hysteria about Russian mafia.Sure,u are right there are criminals in Pattaya that are russian,but i think some guys on here would poo poo themselves if they knew how many brits are involved in certain crimes over here

I do agree with you. but it IS Xenophobic, but only because of ignorance !!!

Edited August 2, 2013 by technologybytes

[samjaidee]

Russian owned businesses in both Vietnam and Cambodia are famous for being used to launder money. Why should it be any different in Thailand?

[technologybytes]

Russians openly selling Yabba across from Central Festival in Pattaya. However they are not Russian mafia... Just misunderstood criminals...lol

Even if there are Russians selling openly selling Yabba.. which I personally doubt. If the drug pusher was a from another nationality nobody would ever suggest it's got anything to do with Mafia.. but as soon as it's perceived to be Russian it all changes...why?

So you know for a fact that its not happening ['which you personally doubt'] or are you just looking to stretch out the debate?

What language do you speak? When I say "I personally doubt" I'm not saying it's a fact.. I'm simply saying I personally doubt it. I'd have to be mad to think my personal doubts are facts... unlike lots of posters here.

[elgordo38]

I think I just saw Elvis there

[sdanielmcev]

Russia does not have a "mafia" It has a crime syndicate. There is a huge difference. "The Godfather" is not an introductory handbook to the world of crime.