BURNING ISSUE
Thailand's location a boon for international criminals
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- News reports of two passengers on the missing MH370 flight allegedly travelling on passports that were stolen in Phuket seems to have exposed Thailand as a regional hub of nefarious goings on. Yet, nobody is surprised.

An Italian and an Austrian lost their passports in Phuket last year. They lodged complaints with the Thai police and were issued new passports by their respective missions.

Earlier this week, their names popped up in the passenger list of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight, which was en route to Beijing. But, these two gentlemen were never on the flight.

However, this is not the first time that something like this has been reported in Thailand. In fact, criminal activities recorded in the Kingdom have gone far beyond something as simple as this.

International criminal syndicates of all kinds such as arms and narcotics traders, human traffickers, sex businesses, money-laundering operations and even terrorists have used Thailand as a hub to facilitate their tasks.

It is easy to find products, materials and facilities for grey, if not totally black, businesses.

Those who are in trouble at home can easily seek shelter, lead easy lives and even run businesses here. Gangsters of all sorts, be they from Asia, Russia or anywhere in the West, always feel at home in Thailand.

So-called freedom fighters, also referred to as insurgents and terrorists in some circles, can find a good supply of equipment in the logistically friendly Thailand. Fighters of different ideologies pass through, take vacations or even go underground in Thailand. They can meld into the rest of the population in places like Phuket, Pattaya, Sukhumvit Road, Nana or Khao San Road.So, why Thailand?

Geographically, the Kingdom is located in the centre of Southeast Asia and its transportation infrastructure makes it easy to link up with other regions.

Since Thailand is also close to places where guerrilla warfare is ongoing, the demand for small arms is very high. Plus, it is the land of narcotics producers and drug lords are still very active in the country.

Some of these drug traffickers also double as warlords, using the money they make from narcotics to finance their battles back home. They have been waging these wars and doing this businesses since the middle of last century.

Nowhere is it as easy to make a deal as in Thailand, as the country's laws and law-enforcement operations are very weak. It is easy to bribe officials and pave the way for illegal businesses, not to mention the high-ranking officials who also have a hand in this grey business.

Though other countries in Southeast Asia are not much better than Thailand in terms of law enforcement and corruption, the Kingdom appears to be a safer haven, thanks to its facilities allowing all kinds of transactions.

For instance, technology in Thailand is advanced, which means it is easy to find high-quality printing machines for producing false documents. Though telecommunications in Thailand may not be as good as in Singapore, it is good enough for communication as well as data and financial transactions.

Though the Thai banking system isn't as good as at Singapore, which is a regional financial hub, it is good enough for mafia members to move dirty money between Bangkok and the rest of the world.

Thailand has a strong and consistent tourism policy, generating quick and easy money from tens of millions of visitors every year. It welcomes people from all over the world and its loose and weak immigration control system offers human traffickers channels to work actively and efficiently.

Though helping Malaysia look for the missing plane is a good, humanitarian effort, perhaps the government should consider using its resources to identify false documents. Maybe using resources efficiently and correctly could help solve several serious problems.


-- The Nation 2014-03-12

Oh fantastic story.

U see we are such an amazing hub, even despite all our hard work, criminals use our natural location to become a hub too. Its not our fault, we are just hubtastic.

Thailand has something for everyone.

from the top down ...Thailand is so corrupt its considered normal !!!.......shows the morals of a Country, rob the poor to feed overseas bank accounts for what?...so they can brag...

gangsta paradise

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Oh fantastic story.

U see we are such an amazing hub, even despite all our hard work, criminals use our natural location to become a hub too. Its not our fault, we are just hubtastic.

"Hubtastic" - love it, absolutely love it.

The authorities must be very proud reading this today.....no doubt there will be some doors get a knocking!

Nothing new here. More hand wringing from the Nation.

The laws - mostly - exist and are - for the most part - very robust.

It's just that the pesky willingness to enforce them and the ever enduring spectre of universal corruption keep getting in the way.

sent from my hippo phone

The Thai press perceives it important to lay this Thai criminal racketeering out in this piece. The Thai press seems unaware that the entire world knows that Thailand is a swamp of criminal activity made easy by establishment, government, police, and military complicity. As long as money is to be made, Thailand welcomes you regardless of your business or activity. Everyone knows this. This is not news. What would be news if a few shit and tie bankers and corporate executives/high government officials were publicly busted and hauled off in handcuffs.

Perhaps the Nation might like to trawl through, for example, five year's worth of police arrests and court verdicts vs. convictions on this and publish a comprehensive infographic with some balanced case examples.

They could also report on any connections between foreigners involved in criminal activities and their Thai counterparts while they are at it.

That would certainly carry more clout, rather than this constant recycling of meaningless rhetoric masquerading as news.

sent from my hippo phone

An excellent exmaple of the hubris of Thai culture.

Can the Land of Scams (LOS) expect anything else, b/c it's leader is a criminal mastermind?

What an amazing article. Things have really changed since two stolen passports were discovered being used on the missing flight.

This was a story that should have been read from the bottom up. If I had read the last paragraph first, I would have saved 5 minutes to do something constructive:

"Though helping Malaysia look for the missing plane is a good, humanitarian effort, perhaps the government should consider using its resources to identify false documents. Maybe using resources efficiently and correctly could help solve several serious problems"

When somebody thinks it is a good idea to remove help in locating a missing plane to address issues that have been there for decades, they should have their laptop confiscated and confined to the kitchen to make coffee, IMHO.

Such BS

And they say it's all about the girls, fools.

With a corrupt police force it is all so easy and so very very cheap.................and with Taksin in forced exile no wucking furries.

Perhaps the Nation might like to trawl through, for example, five year's worth of police arrests and court verdicts vs. convictions on this and publish a comprehensive infographic with some balanced case examples.

They could also report on any connections between foreigners involved in criminal activities and their Thai counterparts while they are at it.

That would certainly carry more clout, rather than this constant recycling of meaningless rhetoric masquerading as news.

sent from my hippo phone

The Nation is a bit like the Malaysian Govt., they want to be seen as doing something about the problem. But in real time haven't got a clue.

Nowhere is it as easy to make a deal as in Thailand, as the country's laws and law-enforcement operations are very weak. It is easy to bribe officials and pave the way for illegal businesses, not to mention the high-ranking officials who also have a hand in this grey business.

Tell it to the family of the Red Bull heir's victim.....

This article is almost wanting to suggest that all this is the fault of those nasty foreigners....

Common knowledge that Phuket is a haven for criminal activity. One of the reasons why the Russians are moving in and taking over the island, no different from their own country in so much that money buys everything. If I was a criminal, Thailand would be my main location, since to conduct crime here is very easy since the law enforcement agencies, immigration dept, government officials and anybody with the essence of being corrupted will certainly look the other way for a bagful of cash !

Will Thailand ever get rid of corruption ? Not in many generations to come !

Maybe its time to go "Singapore style" and up the ante on capital punishment perhaps?

But then again under the Thai penal code, the death sentence can be applied to 35 crimes, including drug trafficking and yet we're still the hub of drug and human trafficking.

So its up to enforcement which is lax because the enforcers have their own hands down the honey pot so if capital punishment was seriously undertaken Thailand would lose most of its police force and high-ranking military personnel.

Not a bad place to start I think.

New Hub???

Thailand would be a model of morality and crime free if it

were not for all those foreign criminal types and scammers

that call Thailand home. blame it on the Farangs.

regards Worgeordie

The hub of corruption. How can it attract anything else?

gangsta paradise

And its been going on for years !!!! 55555555

The story is good to know. Maybe I can retire there now with some mates.

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What an amazing article. Things have really changed since two stolen passports were discovered being used on the missing flight.

This was a story that should have been read from the bottom up. If I had read the last paragraph first, I would have saved 5 minutes to do something constructive:

"Though helping Malaysia look for the missing plane is a good, humanitarian effort, perhaps the government should consider using its resources to identify false documents. Maybe using resources efficiently and correctly could help solve several serious problems"

When somebody thinks it is a good idea to remove help in locating a missing plane to address issues that have been there for decades, they should have their laptop confiscated and confined to the kitchen to make coffee, IMHO.

Such BS

I was shocked to read that Thai self centered comment. How self absorbed they are. preoccupied with their own delusional grandeur. Thais, oh boy, they are something else. Imagine if there had been a few establishment Thais on the flight?

Oh fantastic story.

U see we are such an amazing hub, even despite all our hard work, criminals use our natural location to become a hub too. Its not our fault, we are just hubtastic.

I wonder that the word “greed” did not appear in this article. Isn’t that the force that makes all this possible? But of course it can’t be the greed of Thais as they value “thainess” and high moral standards much more than profane bahtism.

Thailand has something for everyone.

Some tourist visas for small time players is okay. we'd all fit in together

Thailand has something for everyone.

And for someone who has everything there's always penicillin.

This headline should read :-

"Thailand's State of Corruption and Ineffective Mafia-Like Police Force Make it a Boon for International Criminals"

Tourists generally come here for the country's beauty, and a cheap holiday.

Retirees choose to live here for the great weather and low cost of living compared to where they used to live and work.

Businesses come here for the cheap labour, and lax laws and law enforcement.

Once tourist numbers drop substantially, and the retirees choose 'better' locations to retire to, and businesses go to other countries for their cheap labour and lax laws, then maybe, just maybe, Thai governments may clean up their act to try to get foreigner tourists and businesses back.

But while tourist numbers stay high, and foreign businesses continue to work here .... status quo.