Links revealed between police and migrants on Koh Tao

[JOC]

More smoke and mirrors! All to distract us from the real question: The police's unwillingness to solve this case, and the armys reluctance to get involved. Who are they protecting?? Not the local mafiaboss, it has to be someone higner in the foodchain!!

That lowranking police are paid by illegal immigrants are not exactly breaking news!

[Toknarok]

Everyone pays tax in this Country. Every time anyone purchases anything you pay 7% VAT. In adition many items have an excise imposed, tobacco, alcohol for example.

[chiang mai]

It's thought there are around 2 million illegal Burmese in the country, even if they all pay 500 baht a day in backhanders the total is still not significant in the context of the total Thai economy.

[MJP]

It's thought there are around 2 million illegal Burmese in the country, even if they all pay 500 baht a day in backhanders the total is still not significant in the context of the total Thai economy.

It's 500 a month. Has been for as long as I can remember this practice.

[bkkgooner]

Half of the island's population made up of immigrants, Thailand is for Thais indeed.

Thailand's police force needs to be destroyed from roots up and replaced with a new force that is overseen by civilians

[halloween]

2,000 illegals pay 500 Bt/month or 1,000,000 not including those who ride motorbikes.

KT is a very small island.

Add KP and KS and how much is that amount paid monthly?

Tens of millions of Baht?

And this doesn't include the tea money the employers pay and it doesn't include the bribes paid to win the construction contracts.

Now multiply that by every single community in Thailand.

That is a huge amount of money and the Thai economy depends on that money.

If you remove the current method of collection then you will need to accept a new method of collection will be necessary.

Thats just simple economics guys.

What does the "current method of collection" have to do with the tax system?

BTW illegal workers pay VAT

[givenall]

i not have a problem with burmese coming here to feed their families but have a big problem with police taking money from them to do so.

wrong on so many levels.

Even with new government traspency business is as usual and nothing will change over her. Ever

[ClutchClark]

2,000 illegals pay 500 Bt/month or 1,000,000 not including those who ride motorbikes.

KT is a very small island.

Add KP and KS and how much is that amount paid monthly?

Tens of millions of Baht?

And this doesn't include the tea money the employers pay and it doesn't include the bribes paid to win the construction contracts.

Now multiply that by every single community in Thailand.

That is a huge amount of money and the Thai economy depends on that money.

If you remove the current method of collection then you will need to accept a new method of collection will be necessary.

Thats just simple economics guys.

That would assume the money is reinvested in the community for the community. Which it isn't.

I am not assuming that which is why I earlier described this method of taxation as inefficient.

Without a documented accounting system there is limited accountability on where it is spent or whose overseas account it winds up in.

As I have previously stated, I am not supportive of this current system but its not as simple as TV posters seem to think. You can't simply just end it.

Nor can the General continue his position without both popular support and support from the influential community. If he fired all police then he would effectively end the collection method the elite have always employed to collect their graft. The General understands this would be suicide.

Its interesting how so many on here think they know better how to run a country than the people of that country.

Do you think thats the dark shadow of Imperialism continuing to rear its ugly head?

[moe666]

Here we go again visitors trying to tell Thailand how to do things. Right or wrong it has been there system for a long time and it seems to work for them. You want to pay higher taxes to pay cops higher salaries go back home and complain all you want.

[khunpa]

When my son grows up, I am for sure going to get him into police school.

Lawyer, Doctor... Forget it. Police is the way to go! Above the law and easy money rolling in every month. What a job!

[MJP]

2,000 illegals pay 500 Bt/month or 1,000,000 not including those who ride motorbikes.

KT is a very small island.

Add KP and KS and how much is that amount paid monthly?

Tens of millions of Baht?

And this doesn't include the tea money the employers pay and it doesn't include the bribes paid to win the construction contracts.

Now multiply that by every single community in Thailand.

That is a huge amount of money and the Thai economy depends on that money.

If you remove the current method of collection then you will need to accept a new method of collection will be necessary.

Thats just simple economics guys.

That would assume the money is reinvested in the community for the community. Which it isn't.

I am not assuming that which is why I earlier described this method of taxation as inefficient.

Without a documented accounting system there is limited accountability on where it is spent or whose overseas account it winds up in.

As I have previously stated, I am not supportive of this current system but its not as simple as TV posters seem to think. You can't simply just end it.

Nor can the General continue his position without both popular support and support from the influential community. If he fired all police then he would effectively end the collection method the elite have always employed to collect their graft. The General understands this would be suicide.

Its interesting how so many on here think they know better how to run a country than the people of that country.

Do you think thats the dark shadow of Imperialism continuing to rear its ugly head?

Well it's the reason such a monied country is still a dump.

[Soutpeel]

funny how officials went to great lengths to say there are no mafia on KT, but isn't the protection racket a preferred revenue generator for any self-respecting mafioso

the world over ?

Seems the government officials have been looking in the wrong place for the KT mafia....

[coma]

Thai police ganats.

[jaltsc]

Everyone pays tax in this Country. Every time anyone purchases anything you pay 7% VAT. In adition many items have an excise imposed, tobacco, alcohol for example.

I doubt that the small stall owner or store owner declares their income from purchases. Therefore, they are not paying the 7% VAT. If every business charged, collected and paid the VAT there wouldn't be such a shortfall (estimated as 160 billion baht for fiscal year 2013-14) in the national collected taxes.

Edited October 2, 2014 by jaltsc

[khunpa]

2,000 illegals pay 500 Bt/month or 1,000,000 not including those who ride motorbikes.

KT is a very small island.

Add KP and KS and how much is that amount paid monthly?

Tens of millions of Baht?

And this doesn't include the tea money the employers pay and it doesn't include the bribes paid to win the construction contracts.

Now multiply that by every single community in Thailand.

That is a huge amount of money and the Thai economy depends on that money.

If you remove the current method of collection then you will need to accept a new method of collection will be necessary.

Thats just simple economics guys.

That would assume the money is reinvested in the community for the community. Which it isn't.

I am not assuming that which is why I earlier described this method of taxation as inefficient.

Without a documented accounting system there is limited accountability on where it is spent or whose overseas account it winds up in.

As I have previously stated, I am not supportive of this current system but its not as simple as TV posters seem to think. You can't simply just end it.

Nor can the General continue his position without both popular support and support from the influential community. If he fired all police then he would effectively end the collection method the elite have always employed to collect their graft. The General understands this would be suicide.

Its interesting how so many on here think they know better how to run a country than the people of that country.

Do you think thats the dark shadow of Imperialism continuing to rear its ugly head?

Exactly, and also why people who think The General will be the big "savior" of corruption in Thailand are wrong. Nothing has really changed or will change, because the corruption-level is to deep and widespread here. It will take many generations overcome this.

[ikke]

The first thing Junta government needed to do was reforming police, didn't happen end will never happen.

[NongKhaiKid]

It was once suggested to me that when something like corruption becomes a way of life it stops being wrong.

There may be some truth in that but it's also a great excuse to try and explain / excuse an embarrassing problem.

Thais do complain about corruption yet opinion polls also show that the majority in that poll say it's ok as long as it's not excessive and everyone can share.

[steelepulse]

2,000,000 a month is a nice little earner for the bibs. I wonder what each guy transferred in has to pay to get to KT?

[culicine]

Holiday Killing 101: Checklist for Thai Authorities

http://www.asiasentinel.com/society/holiday-killing-101-checklist-thai-authorities/

What do you bet they frame a Cambodian (or two) so that they can continue with the fallacy that 'A Thai wouldn't do such a thing'?

It's possible that the original dna results are still held in Singapore so if would be hard to frame someone. That might explain why they have not caught anyone yet. I'd be a bit worried by any dna testing done by the police here though.

[culicine]

funny how officials went to great lengths to say there are no mafia on KT, but isn't the protection racket a preferred revenue generator for any self-respecting mafioso

the world over ?

Seems the government officials have been looking in the wrong place for the KT mafia....

Those dirty cops on that island should be moved far away from any tourist sport. If the government can replace a police chief, why not some lowly cops on an island?

[culicine]

2,000 illegals pay 500 Bt/month or 1,000,000 not including those who ride motorbikes.

KT is a very small island.

Add KP and KS and how much is that amount paid monthly?

Tens of millions of Baht?

And this doesn't include the tea money the employers pay and it doesn't include the bribes paid to win the construction contracts.

Now multiply that by every single community in Thailand.

That is a huge amount of money and the Thai economy depends on that money.

If you remove the current method of collection then you will need to accept a new method of collection will be necessary.

Thats just simple economics guys.

That would assume the money is reinvested in the community for the community. Which it isn't.

I am not assuming that which is why I earlier described this method of taxation as inefficient.

Without a documented accounting system there is limited accountability on where it is spent or whose overseas account it winds up in.

As I have previously stated, I am not supportive of this current system but its not as simple as TV posters seem to think. You can't simply just end it.

Nor can the General continue his position without both popular support and support from the influential community. If he fired all police then he would effectively end the collection method the elite have always employed to collect their graft. The General understands this would be suicide.

Its interesting how so many on here think they know better how to run a country than the people of that country.

Do you think thats the dark shadow of Imperialism continuing to rear its ugly head?

Exactly, and also why people who think The General will be the big "savior" of corruption in Thailand are wrong. Nothing has really changed or will change, because the corruption-level is to deep and widespread here. It will take many generations overcome this.

Corruption is just another facet of Thainess, the same as prostitution and the acceptance of mia nois here....just to name a few.

[kalbo123]

Exactly, and also why people who think The General will be the big "savior" of corruption in Thailand are wrong. Nothing has really changed or will change, because the corruption-level is to deep and widespread here. It will take many generations overcome this.

It does not have to take many generations....look at what happened in Singapore..

Where the great leader goes wrong here.. is that he starts cleaning from the bottom, eg beach vendors, taxi drivers etc..

Where he should start from the top, eg the entire police force and his own so precious army leaders.

Problem is, nobody with money in Thailand goes to jail... jail is for the poor.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

It sounds like they're running their own little country on this island and maybe they've been getting away with it for decades. Taoland ?

I wonder how many other islands this kind of thing is happening on ?

All of them, even the very small ones.

[halloween]

Everyone pays tax in this Country. Every time anyone purchases anything you pay 7% VAT. In adition many items have an excise imposed, tobacco, alcohol for example.

I doubt that the small stall owner or store owner declares their income from purchases. Therefore, they are not paying the 7% VAT. If every business charged, collected and paid the VAT there wouldn't be such a shortfall (estimated as 160 billion baht for fiscal year 2013-14) in the national collected taxes.

You don't seem to understand the VAT system. When the small business owner buys stock from a larger firm, he pays 7% on that. He then sells at a higher price, which makes him liable to pay 7% of that LESS the VAT paid on his purchases. if he doesn't declare his sales and VAT liability, he has still paid the original 7%.

[boomerangutang]

It's easy for Thais in authority to take advantage of foreign workers. Same for Chinese and Chinese-Thais employers. Despicable.

As for tax. Gimme a break. The richer a person is in Thailand, the easier it is to avoid tax. The peons at the bottom rungs of the ladder shouldn't pay tax (as some on this thread are alluding to). Every baht they put in their pockets (that's not getting sent to relatives in their home country) is being spent locally. Each baht spent locally gets circulated about 7 times.

[hgma]

Thailand....What you see has nothing to do with reality in life!

Edited October 2, 2014 by hgma

[SteveFong]

there is more egg being poured on the face of the new PM to make 1,000 egg foo youngs for all poor people, worldwide

this case is blowing Thailands world of corruption up faster than the USA and Nagasaki

[BSJ]

I have the perfect solution: All the police on Koh Tao will be given 48 hours to get themselves to their new posting....in Yala province.

[MikeENZ]

Some quick maths.

There are 2000 migrant workers paying 500 baht a month in bribes to the local police. That works out to be 1 million baht a month, or 12 million baht a year.

Converted into US Dollars thats around $370,000 USD per year in bribes just from the burmese workers (not counting bribes from businesses who employ farang in the Dive or bar industry). There are anywhere from 5-7 permanent police officers. Assuming there are 5, these cops are pulling in $74,000 USD per year in bribes, just from Burmese workers.

A new police officers salary is 7200 baht per month (86,400 per year / $2662 USD) and can rise to a maximum of around 70,000 baht per month (840k baht per year or around $26,000 USD). This means that that the average cop is pulling anywhere from 3 to 27 times their annual salary in bribes.

That is absolutely INSANE !

[halloween]

Here we go again visitors trying to tell Thailand how to do things. Right or wrong it has been there system for a long time and it seems to work for them. You want to pay higher taxes to pay cops higher salaries go back home and complain all you want.

Everybody who doesn't like it should leave! What about my Thai friends and family who don't have that option?

Do you BIB are the equivalent of the village bobby, loved by all? Do you think people that work hard for their income enjoy handing over to some little tin god in a brown uniform? Or enjoy watching them sitting around swilling grog all day, and then handing out summary injustice to whoever has the most bribe money?