Phuket corruption scandal taken to PM Yingluck

[webfact]

Phuket corruption scandal taken to PM Yingluck
Phuket Gazette


Adviser to the Thailand Trade Organization Chart Chindapol sets a deadline for police action against government corruption. Photo: Saran Mitrarat

PHUKET: -- Patong business owners – tired of inaction by Phuket authorities in tackling corrupt officials collecting an estimated 50 million baht a month – have filed a complaint directly with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

“I handed the complaint personally to Suranand Vejjajiva, the Secretary General to the Prime Minister of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra,” Phuket businessman and adviser to the Thailand Trade Organization Chart Chindapol announced today.

Speaking to the press this morning, Mr Chart alleged that formal complaints filed to the “highest-ranking government official on the island” had yielded no response.

“Local government officers are not serious in following this up. The highest-ranking government officer on the island just called on the relevant department heads to discuss and inspect the problem, after that he went back to sleep.

“He is willing to let the problems from the past stay, and instead is focusing only on tackling new problems. The old problems have never been solved,” Mr Chart said.

Mr Chart repeated his claims on August 23 that at least 17 government offices in Phuket were involved in extracting bribes from local businesses to overlook closing times and to “protect them” (story here).

“At this stage, we have enough evidence to identify the places where police have collected money and how they collected it, but I cannot reveal this to the media,” he stated.

However, Mr Chart publicly named one relatively low-ranking officer* from an elite division of the Royal Thai Police as the bagman who collected the illicit payments.

“Among the officers, he collects most of the money from Patong business owners, about 4 to 5 million baht per month,” Mr Chart said.

“He asks for money from all kinds of businesses, including entertainment venues and businesses involved in land encroachment, and he supports foreign mafia operators in Phuket.

“He claims that the money goes to all the highest-ranking police officers in Phuket,” Mr Chart alleged.

Mr Chart also gave the press a breakdown of monthly “standard fees” collected: 3,000 to 5,000 baht from small businesses; 10,000 baht from medium-sized enterprises; and 100,000 baht for big business.

“He takes a cut of the profits made by some of the business in addition to the standard fee,” he added.

Mr Chart today also announced he will set up his own “complaint center” that will bypass officials in Phuket and have complaints filed directly with the appropriate officers in Bangkok.

“To help people who have similar problems, I will open an office to receive complaints and help them without going through local government offices,” he explained.

“The center will be called the ‘Complaints Center for the People – Andaman Region’, which I hope to open as soon as possible,” he said.

Patong Entertainment Business Association (PEBA) president Weerawit Kureasombut, also present at the the press conference today, warned that further inaction by the government will result in Patong business owners having to shut down their venues.

“The entertainment business owners are in trouble. We cannot afford to keep making such payments, so we filed a complaint in February to the Phuket Governor, but so far nothing has happened.

“So we filed a written complaint [to the Governor] again and handed a copy directly to the Prime Minister’s Office. We also sent copies to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Ministry of Interior, Royal Thai Police and relevant departments,” he added.

“The complaint was received by the Prime Minister’s Office on October 7. We will give the government 15 days [until October 31] to take action. If nothing happens, we will do something to let them know that we are in distress,” he warned.

Mr Weerawit urged lawmakers to consider allowing entertainment businesses to trade longer hours in order to stamp out the rampant corruption.

“In the complaint, we explained that we want to extend the closing time for our venues to 4am. The Public Entertainment Place Act BE 2509 currently allows entertainment venues to be open until only 1am – and this is costing us a lot of potential income because our customers start coming to the venues at about 11pm.

“If we are allowed to open longer, we could generate more money, which would mean a lot more tax revenues would be collected by the government,” he explained.

“It would be better if the government made late trading legal so that money currently being paid under the table would go directly to the government for public development,” Mr Weerawit said.

* The Phuket Gazette is withholding the alleged bagman’s name until the person has been verified as implicated in the collection of bribes on behalf of public officials.

Source: http://www.phuketgazette.net/phuket_news/2013/Phuket-corruption-scandal-taken-to-PM-Yingluck-22511.html


-- Phuket Gazette 2013-10-16

[clockman]

Brave man, life is just so cheap here!

[Shot]

Holy cow.

Edited October 16, 2013 by Shot

[steelepulse]

Good on K Chart, but it appears he's not expecting much from the PM on this as he states he'll wait until the 31st then take more action and the PM has had this since the 7th. Still it's nice to see someone trying to do something that's a locally involved person.

>>“The entertainment business owners are in trouble. We cannot afford to keep making such payments, so we filed a complaint in February to the Phuket Governor, but so far nothing has happened.

“So we filed a written complaint [to the Governor] again and handed a copy directly to the Prime Minister’s Office. We also sent copies to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Ministry of Interior, Royal Thai Police and relevant departments,” he added.

Not surprised about the governor doing sweet FA, but now maybe we know why the Minister of Tourism and Sports is here.

[Patje]

This man has a death wish ?

He is either very courages or very dumb , and reading what he is stating , I rule the second option out !!

I wish him all the luck and a long life !!

Thumbs up !

[tonneke breda]

Not afraid of the dark, this man, respect.

Am only afraid that the PM will let the problem being solved by the disappearance of this man...

[bubblegum]

Our dear PM will "vow" to have this looked into by a special committee AFTER she comes back from her shopping.

[nigelnigel]

All of Thailand needs more people like this...you know what would be cool? To have such a thing as a 'rule of law' here. This guy is incredibly brave!

[grjm378]

Thumbs up to him, I hope he gets some action and brings Phuket back to what it was when I went there 25 years ago. I hasten to add I would never go there now.

[slapout]

All of Thailand needs more people like this...you know what would be cool? To have such a thing as a 'rule of law' here. This guy is incredibly brave!

There does not seem to be a "rule of law" in Thailand. There some other rules that a quite apparent, rule of wealth, rule of numbers, rule of position, etc.

Concerned citizens who have had enough of those mentioned flaunting the law are best dealing with them by local justice. The citizens are referred to by several names/description depending on what country they operate in, but basically it is the wronged extracting justice on the wrong doers. It can be a quick and hard lesson for the wrong doers but one session is normally enough.

The PM has had so many clear documentation of corruption presented to her and her cabinet that she probably has an assistant just to file the evidence, accusation, etc in the national security strong box.

[GAZZPA]

Wow, this guy is a brave man. It's people like this that actually bring about change. What he needs is a lot of outspoken people supporting him, the more the merrier. If this happens he will be safer as sweeping the issue under the carpet will not be as simple as trying to silence 1 man.

Total respect is due,, good luck to him and his supporters.

[Thaddeus]

Adviser to the Thailand Trade Organization Chart Chindapol sets a deadline for police action against government corruption.

Shouldn't it work both ways, there should also be a deadline for government action against police corruption.

[klauskunkel]

Kudos to k. Chart, hope he's got protection...and also hoping he sets an example to follow...

[webfact]

Phuket nightlife leaders slam police corruption
Prapaporn Jitmaneeyaphan


Chart Jindapol says a policeman called 'Ja Wit' is the most corrupt.

PHUKET: -- Corrupt police were slammed in a press conference yesterday (October 15) for demanding massively excessive bribes to allow nightlife businesses to stay open past the official hour of 2am.

Chart Jindapol, who had to go public in August after being accused of being the bagman for 17 different corrupt officers, called the press conference at the new “Complain Public Centre of Andaman” that he has set up in an apartment block at the intersection of Palian and Damrong Roads in Phuket Town.

Complaints from the public, he said, would be passed on to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

He also disclosed that one police officer in particular – whom he named as “Ja Wit” – has been taking massive amounts of bribes, not only to allow nightlife businesses to stay open late but also to overlook cases of encroachment on public land and beaches, illegally-set-up companies with foreign shareholders and many other contraventions of the law.

“He was the one who sent the letter to the Phuket Reporters Club, which said ‘Mr Chart is the one who is collecting bribes in Patong’.

“I investigated and discovered he sent the letter. I also found out how his gang is set up. I know the how, where and what. I have all the information.

“He falsely claims that he is just following orders.”

Mr Chart said, “Patong’s entrepreneurs submitted a letter to the Phuket provincial governor in February, but no one has seriously tried to fix the problem. Patong business people don’t trust the governor anymore.”

Weerawit Kuressombut, the president of the Patong Entertainment Association, who weeks ago denied knowing Mr Chart, is now allied with him, and joined the press conference.

Mr Weerawit said, “Now there are 17 groups of officials extracting bribes. All of them are police.”

He said that there is only one reason nightspots pay bribes: to stay open after official opening hours.

“The way to fix the problem is that Phuket should be declared a special zone, and nightspots should be allowed to register [to open later than the law specified].”

“Tourists don’t come to Phuket only for the beach. They also want to enjoy the nightlife. Patong makes lots of money for the country, so they should think about [extending opening hours].”

He added that a senior policeman had told him that if he revealed information about police corruption, the police would promptly apply the 2 am closing time strictly.

Patong’s nightlife owners already have a “final measure” in mind – to completely close all their businesses in protest – but he said he has advised them not to do this yet. “If we do, [Thailand] will suffer huge losses,” he explained.

But he added that some nightlife owners have already given up the battle. “Some nightspot businessmen have turned their businesses into restaurants because they can no longer afford to pay the huge bribes.”

Mr Chart said, “I don’t mind if the government solves this with ministerial regulations or revised rules, but don’t let it continue the way it is now. All it does is allow [officials] to take advantage.

“If we want to fix the problem long-term, we should follow the model set by Pattaya. There is no problem in Pattaya because everything is done above board, not under the table.”

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-nightlife-leaders-slam-police-corruption-42383.php


-- Phuket News 2013-10-16

[jpeg]

Bearing in mind Yingluck's response to a large resort encroaching on public land was 'Well, at least the local people have jobs', and also considering the recent much trumpeted visit by the DSI - who are directly under Yingluck's maladministration, ended in sweet FA, I await with bated breath to see exactly what 'we will do something to let them know that we are in distress' will result in.

In the meantime, kudos to this guy

[NamKangMan]

“The entertainment business owners are in trouble. We cannot afford to keep making such payments, so we filed a complaint in February to the Phuket Governor, but so far nothing has happened." - February is in high season, and they were struggling to pay their "tea money."

Wonder how they got on during low season.

The new demographic of tourist to Phuket, even with the upcoming high season, will still see them still struggling to pay.

Those monthly envelopes must be getting thinner as more and more businesses close down.

Edited October 16, 2013 by NamKangMan

[laurentbkk]

when the Bangkok night life leaders will do the same ?

[jpeg]

“The entertainment business owners are in trouble. We cannot afford to keep making such payments, so we filed a complaint in February to the Phuket Governor, but so far nothing has happened." - February is in high season, and they were struggling to pay their "tea money."

Wonder how they got on during low season.

The new demographic of tourist to Phuket, even with the upcoming high season, will still see them still struggling to pay.

Those monthly envelopes must be getting thinner as more and more businesses close down.

Good point. I applaud the guy for taking a stand against corruption, but sincerely hope all the Godawful boom boom bars go to the wall and take what's left of their clientele with them. What a much needed breath of fresh air that'd be for Patpong-On-Sea.

[dcutman]

This has got to be one of the most tragic stories I have read coming out of Phukett. My heart really goes out to these poor club owners.

[EvilDrSomkid]

I think Mr. Chart here is over dramatizing. Just close up shop. Close all businesses in Phuket. Don't go to Phuket. It will not ruin the country. It is ALREADY ruined.

It is obvious the whole official apparatus is corrupt on that silly island. Even the governor is encroaching on public land. Everybody knows this but is afraid to do something about it.

That is also why the tuktuk maffia and and jet ski thugs still operate. They are the soldiers of the mob bosses who just happen to be officials.

The problem with these tourist islands is that they are too far from Bangkok and isolated. They turn into the local robber barons' private kingdoms. They have become so entrenched, it would require military action to get rid of them.

Same on Samui, KPN and Tao.

Edited October 16, 2013 by EvilDrSomkid

[kirk0233]

I admire Chart for doing what he can to stop the corruption, but the entertainment venues are breaking the law and paying bribes to be allowed to break the law. The corruption would not exist if they did not contribute to it by stayiing open past closing hours. Some help should be offered to the legitimate businesses that have to pay protection money monthly to the police. For example, my brother-in-law in Bangkok owns a small factory, is doing nothing illegal, and pays 5,000 baht monthly protection money. Who speaks for these poor people who create something of value and have part of it stolen monthly?

[hawker9000]

One voice crying in the wilderness...

[chrisinth]

He is a very brave man indeed, and I for one applaud him. It appears that they have appealed to everyone on the island and nobody is doing anything.

One of the only things left for them to do is to complain to a higher authority, which they now have done. The last action they could try is actually obeying the law............

"He said that there is only one reason nightspots pay bribes: to stay open after official opening hours".

“The way to fix the problem is that Phuket should be declared a special zone, and nightspots should be allowed to register [to open later than the law specified].”

I cannot criticize his complaints of corruption, but can criticize his method of delivering his message by admitting that those paying back-handers are self admittedly breaking the current laws.

As a footnote, I have always seen restrictions of opening times at any holiday location as stupidity at the highest level. Another one of these wonderful half thought out ideas by some middle class idiot in their ivory tower that has no idea of what the majority of tourists expect and want while on holiday...................

[greenwoodsolar]

But rather ironic isn't it that we see this guy as a hero when he's in a press conference called to complain about the high cost to the businesses of paying off officials so that they (the businesses) can continue to break the law. His complaint appears to be more about the price than the fact of the corruption. He would appear to be part of the problem rather than any solution.

[brfsa2]

And what is she (PM) going to do? she cant do nothing, the police will arrange something for her she ever do anything. This is a lawless police mafia state.

ONLY the military can do something in this country...

Edited October 16, 2013 by brfsa2

[rubl]

Where's supercop Chalerm when you need him (again)?

[robblok]

Everyone applauding him does not seem to understand. He does not mind breaking the law all he is saying is that he cant afford to break the law anymore.

Its not about stamping out corruption but about increasing his own cut in the profits and decreasing that of the police. He just want new laws so he is not breaking the law anymore and can keep all the money himself.

It really is just self serving interest I am pretty sure he is not doing this because he hates corruption he is doing this to get a bigger slice of the pie himself.

I don't mind but don't act like a hero, i doubt he would pay his fair share of taxes if he can avoid it.

I applaud that the cops are taking a hit and are shown to be corrupt and are exposed but its not done for the greater good its done for his own wallet.

[Thaddeus]

Where's supercop Chalerm when you need him (again)?

Ah Chalerm, the unsung zero.

[xylophone]

But rather ironic isn't it that we see this guy as a hero when he's in a press conference called to complain about the high cost to the businesses of paying off officials so that they (the businesses) can continue to break the law. His complaint appears to be more about the price than the fact of the corruption. He would appear to be part of the problem rather than any solution.

Good point, however that's only half the story.

Just about all businesses here are visited by the "bagman" (read BIB) for "protection money" whether they are breaking the law or not.

Failure to pay ensures that harrassment by the BIB becomes a regular feature, eventually forcing closure of the establishment.

Corruption pure and simple.