Thailand Is Considered As A Sanctuary For Foreign Criminals

[george]

Thailand is considered as a sanctuary for foreign criminals

Immigration stricter in visa extension issue

PATTAYA: -- It was disclosed that foreign criminals from Iran, Iraq, Columbia, Pakistan, Europe and other countries are using Pattaya and other locations in Thailand as a convenient hiding place for their whereabouts and activities.

News spread worldwide when the Immigration Officers were able to arrest John Mark Karr, the American school teacher for murder of little 6-yearold JonBenet Ramsey, child beauty queen of Colorado 10 years ago. Karr had traveled to Thailand and concealed himself in the Kingdom since 2005.

Although it is a sterling piece of work from the Immigration Department, questions linger on whether it’s time to be stricter on background checks on the passports of those criminals who disguise themselves as a tourist.

Mr. Yang, aged 40 and a Chinese mainlander, was a criminal who was charged with swindling 1,000 Millions Baht from people.

He provided information that his escape into Thailand was aided by a Thai male who introduced himself as a high ranking Military Officer from the Ratchada District in Bangkok.

He was the one who oversaw of all the necessary procedures and forged identity documents for Mr. Yang. The first time Mr. Yang paid 1 Million baht, the next time he paid about 2- 300,000 each time for the forged documents.

Yang said that there are 2 methods of forging an identity. The first is obtaining the name of a dead person (one that’s not been reported to the authorities) normally a hill tribe person and assuming their identity. They will get the name from a corrupt district official or village headman who allows the criminal to assume the death person’s identity, by putting him on the house registration and making an identification card under that deceased person’s name.

The 2nd Method is by purchasing names and surnames from a living Thai person who’s willing to sell their name. The criminal will then affix his portrait to a fake identification card in the local registered district. As for the seller they merely go and change their name and surnames.

After the forgery of the identification card is completed the next process is to forge a passport. This can be done in the Bangrak area of Bangkok, where it is known that Mr. “R” will do for the Indian nationals and Mr. “B”will especially do for the Chinese.

Mr. Yang went on to say that after the whole process of forging an identification card and passport, the escaped criminal is then able to live in Thailand easily and is able to travel to the 3rd world countries.

The accused killer of JonBenet Ramsey was eventually found, arrested and deported to the U.S for trial. JonBenet arrest raises Thailand crime fears

Unfortunately Pattaya and Thailand is still considered a haven for foreign criminals who wish to assume another person’s identity and disappear.

More than half of Pattaya, the world most renowned tourist place has been converted into a residential and business area for foreign investors.

The larger the economic growth of Pattaya, the more foreign investors will go there to benefit.It’s difficult then to avoid foreign criminals who assume the identity of a Thai national and then reside in the Kingdom.

Therefore, Pattaya must set up an international criminal center to investigate and keep track of these foreign criminals.

Police Lieutenant General Pirom Preeyakorng, the Deputy Superintendent of Banglmoong Police Station, Chief of Subjugation Center, stated that presently most foreign criminals are hiding themselves in Bangkok but they normally go and do their criminal activities in a resort like Pattaya.

These criminals normally will do their job during the “high season” (October-March) after which they will return to their county only to return at the same time.

These foreign criminal will normally commit their crimes on fellow foreigners. Police Lieutenant General Pirom mentioned that there are quite a few gangs of cross country criminal in Chonburi area with similar characteristics as the above mentioned but different in some way as follows:

1. Iranian gangs normally will concentrate on larceny and theft in various hotels. They normally concentrate on credit cards using them for the purchase of items or sometimes forging a credit card and passports for travel in-out of different countries. Some sell the stolen items to other criminals; this gang tends to be violent and will not hesitate to use weapons on their victims.

Iran’s Mafia and Thai gang carried and robbed young Aussie owner of Diamond Shop

2. Iraqi gangs are similar to Iranian ones but they are not as violent.

3. Columbian and other South American gangs concentrate on thefts from car break-ins.

They work as a 3-person team with defined duties. This gang will target bank patrons. They will observe the cars of the victims coming in and the money or valuables they possess. When the victims walk into the bank their vehicle will be broken into and valuable items stolen. Or they’ll observe how the amount of funds the victim withdraws then puncture the tires of the car.

They’ll pretend to be a good Samaritan and help the victim. The victims are will be unaware the criminals actually intend to steal their valuables. Sometimes they will follow the victims, when the their car is parked in a deserted area a “smash and grab” theft will be attempted.

Typical tactics of this gang is committing thefts 2-3 times, returning to their country to avoid arrest.

Later their friends from the same gang will come back and commit similar crimes. They will exchange the stolen money into their currencies and transfer the money to their country.

4. The Pakistani gangs are similar to the Middle-Eastern gangs but their criminal activities are at a lower level.

5. European gangs, for example German, English, France, and Scandinavian and American ones normally will victimize on people from their own countries.

Swindling is the most popular method of theft. They will start up fraudulent Real Estate companies, giving the victim a false sense of security. They then put down a deposit or a large down payment.

The criminals will then close down the company and flee. The victim sometime later realizes that they have been swindled and the property that they have purchased doesn’t exist. Mafia Gang "Bandidos" Busted!

6. French gangs are proficient in the theft of credit card data; they’ll then sell this data to the gangs that fake credit cards. This criminal gang will buy blank passports from Hong Kong or Taiwan, the stolen passports will then be cut up and their own or their customer’s pictures inserted.

The price for the fake passports depends on the country that the customers want to go to. American passports will cost them 100,000 Baht each. For European countries the price will vary from around 10,000-30,000 Baht.

This gang will consider their customer’s appearance. Some will be sent to the USA or UK or if they look Mid-Eastern they will be sent to France where many Muslims live.

There is a large market for the buying and selling of fake credit cards.

Using the latest technology they use equipment to tap information via the telephone line of the credit card authority for various bank that transmit confidential customer information. The criminals are difficult to catch because they are mobile and change their residence constantly. The first arrest was made in Thailand in July of this year.

The Subjugation Center for Foreign criminals admitted that the Kingdom’s liberal visa policy to encourage tourism has done just that but has also enabled Foreign criminals to be able to enter and do their work easily.

Lately the Immigration Department has become stricter in visa issue.

Currently there are only 14 countries that don’t require a visa for entry, before that it was 58 countries. Some countries have refugee status, especially nationals from Iraq and Iran. In some cases they are classed as an illegal stay since they do not exit according to the visa expiration.

The Subjugation Center had taken preventive measures by calling all upon the suspected foreigners who has history of illegal entry, or is suspected to be dealing in criminal activity to come to the Center to make a record for follow up.

Since the tragedy of the World Trade Center and the volatile situation in the Middle East, the Subjugation Center has become more vigilant to any kind of criminal violence.

The center has become especially strict with the tourist areas and hotels where many Americans reside. As for future preventive measures the Center will send out officers and plain-clothed police to patrol the area for security purposes.They will be vigilant on the movement of suspected groups.

The Center admitted that they could not attain a 100% prevention rate. Every week officers with foreign language capabilities are sent out to talk to the foreigners, providing them with cautionary information. Pattaya Police grab Cameroon gang

-- Source: Pattaya Daily News 2006-08-26

[jasonc]

As is the case with ANY country that has open borders.

Authors like this should be ashamed of themselves. It's media like this that is the sludge of society. All these stories do it breed distrust for foreigners and build upon peoples sense of fear by perpetuating stereotypes.

At best the Thai police will counter effect the bad publicity and make life harder for all the expats. Thailand is reeling bad enough after the publicity of Karr who is a freak. What good could possible come from this article?

What a bunch of cr@p!

[britmaveric]

Well forged documents are prob being used by said criminals, so I think it would be rather hard to prevent.

[atlastaname]

Thailand and Spain have this thing in common ... they have more than their fair share of criminals , HOWEVER take away all of them and the economy would suffer to a great extent and the criminals would go somewhere else where they are more welcome and spend their money there.

Bit like sex tourists... if Thailand was to close down ALL the sex related outlets there would be a mass exodus overnight and a huge slump in tourism.

Controvercial statements i know , but true anyway......

[jase555]

Agree with jasonc, the writer should be ashamed of themself. This tabloid style nonsense only fuels the negative stereotypes of expats. Now living in England and there are gangs here from Europe, US, etc, etc. These are only a tiny minority of the population and I would still welcome those from other countries.

[Conan]

The larger the economic growth of Pattaya, the more foreign investors will go there to benefit. It’s difficult then to avoid foreign criminals who assume the identity of a Thai national and then reside in the Kingdom.

I smell Kee Kating.

It's not only difficult it is impossible for a foreigner to set themselves up as a Thai national, the only one able to do this would be an Asiatic born overseas and raised in Thailand.

Whoever wrote this is a complete idiot.

Anyway got to run now, jsut saw some of my French mates - going to hit them up for a couple of those free credit cards

[brahmburgers]

Yes, it's easy to stereotype. If such a 'reporter' hears of a Pakistani or a Malaysian doing come certain bad thing - then he can raise red flags and smear the whole bunch - most of whom are probably decent folks. It is bottom-feeding journalism that may inspire the Thai constables to take a firmer grip on things - though more often than not the cops' well-intentioned measures are off-base and wind up hurting the good folks instead of weeding out the bad apples they're supposedly aiming at.

As for forged Thai identities. It's not unusual up where I am in northern Thailand for people to check around with corrupt village headmen (headwomen don't exist) - indeed a couple Burmese women friends of mine of successfully made it stick - and are now doing legit little businesses in Thailand - whereas before they were kept in brothels. Obviously, western looking farang couldn't pull the ID ruse - it would have to be someone who looks Asian or middle eastern - though wouldn't the Thai authorities catch the fact (during periodic checks) that the ID fraudsters couldn't speak decent Thai?

[yankeechief]

Just another excuse to get the farangs out of Thailand. I'll just keep getting my passport satmped until they decide that we can't do that anymore. I think they should also drive the baht rate down more againest the USD, while they are at it. The whole place is going to hel_l in a hand basket, maybe we will all be deported from the new airport!

Edited August 26, 2006 by yankeechief

[Martin]

My village has elected a woman as "phu yai baan" (village head man).

Fifteen years ago, in Singapore, I was Senior Invigilator at an exam for 600 Business Studies students. I looked at their exam questions and was impressed---no way would such high-quality questions be set for the same age-group in Britain. I then looked at them all busily working away and thought "I am seeing The Future. It is Asian, and it is female".

Similarly, when I go to the bank, or a government office in Thailand, I see things are changing.

[Alboy301]

Personally I don't really care about the various mafia in Thailand. It's not as though Thailand is going to have the balls to tackle foreign gangsters with any vociferousness anyway. However any measures they can put in place to keep any more farang wasters out is more than welcome.

[stumonster]

I then looked at them all busily working away and thought "I am seeing The Future. It is Asian, and it is female".

perspicacious

as long as they can bypass the stage of being influenced by sh1t soapies on "media corp et al" , they are on a winner

[bangkapiboy]

It made for very interesting reading. But I think citing an example of a gang from a certain ethnicity in an article link doesn't mean it is the norm for gangs from that country. Very sensationalized, but interesting article. Surely some UK daily would pick it up for printing!

[MP5]

As for forged Thai identities. It's not unusual up where I am in northern Thailand for people to check around with corrupt village headmen (headwomen don't exist) - indeed a couple Burmese women friends of mine of successfully made it stick - and are now doing legit little businesses in Thailand - whereas before they were kept in brothels.

How can they be doing business legit if they have false id's?

[deminister]

What an incredible nonsense. Which NGO or which government department got paid for compiling this rubbish? It is so easy and also too easy to take examples. You will find foreign criminals in any given country, even in the US or Europe. Fake passports? Hmm have a look at the streets of Marseille or Amsterdam. Fake Creditcards, Malaysia is the Credit Card Capital of the world when it comes to using it. Laundrying money? Thailand is hardly suitable, except for hiding a bit of dirty money for own use. Wake up, let the police do what it has to do! One more thing, who said it was a great job when it came to karr? A pathetic man who was not hiding, he travelled the world, and his capture was not the work of Thai immigration. It showed however how narrow minded and simple the law enforcemnet people are over here. He confessed, so he must have done it. NOW I know why the use of forensics in the South is frustrated by the police. It is more convenient to rely on statements than the truth!

[george]

Pattya Daily News goes on...

Foreign criminals just want to live out a beachside retirement and spend their ill-gotten gains

JonBenet arrest raises Thailand crime fears

PATTAYA: -- Foreign criminals just want to live out a beachside retirement and spend their ill-gotten gains, while others continue their lives of crime, getting involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, prostitution and child sex.

The arrest in Bangkok of an American suspect in the decade-old JonBenet Ramsey murder case has again cast the spotlight on Thailand as a criminal hideaway, especially from sex charges overseas.

John Mark Mr Karr, who Thai police say confessed to killing six-year-old JonBenet, had successfully applied for a teaching job in Thailand just days before his arrest on Wednesday, and had visited Thailand a total of five times.

Child protection groups and criminal experts fear that Thailand‘s reputation as a haven where crimes go unpunished is attracting foreigners seeking a luxurious lifestyle while escaping justice.

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific, says that many countries in Asia are seen as more corrupt than Western nations.

There are no good laws in many countries in Asia to be able to prosecute pornographers and perpetrators of sexual violence, Asia is a refuge, a haven. It‘s a paradise for perpetrators.

Barely a month goes by in Thailand without another arrest of a foreign sex offender or violent criminal. Last week, an Australian man wanted on pedophile charges was arrested on the Thai border with Cambodia.

Last November, a notorious Dutch gangster was shot in the seaside town of Pattaya, apparently in retaliation for the assassination of a lawyer who defended senior Amsterdam crime figures.

Nualnoi Treerat, co-author of a book on Thailand‘s illegal economy, Guns, Girls, Gambling and Ganja, says that many foreign criminals head to beach resorts such as Pattaya, Samui and Phuket.

"They like to go to the tourist places because it is easy to hide themselves among the tourists and legitimate businessmen," "The law enforcement in Thailand is not really strict," she says.

She is particularly concerned about foreign sex offenders getting jobs in schools, which she says is quite easy because of the lack of background checks.

"We worry very much, especially because in Thailand we need a lot of foreigners to teach English, and it‘s quite hard to check everybody," she says.

According to US media reports, Mr Karr had a teaching resume boasting of placements in Germany and at "prestigious" schools in the United States. He reportedly also worked in the Netherlands, South Korea, Costa Rica and Honduras.

Anthony Burnett, a spokesman for ECPAT, an international organisation that tackles the exploitation of children, says sex offenders often try to get access to children by getting jobs as teachers or in homeless shelters.

"When a sex offender leaves one country, it is no longer possible to keep track of their movements, so their presence is usually unknown in the country they are visiting," he says.

Sudarat, who goes by one name, the director and founder of the Coalition to Fight Against Child Exploitation, says that Thailand, like many other developing countries, is seen as an easy place to procure sex with children.

"I think they may find they can get the children easily for economic reasons, children who are vulnerable, street children, children who do not have parents," she says.

She says that Thailand‘s aggressive drive to attract tourists is coming at the expense of the safety of children.

"They have to care more about the control and not just promote tourism like mad," Sudarat says.

However Thai officials say they are making progress. According to immigration officials, 329 people were deported in 2005 – which would include people wanted for crimes overseas and tourists working illegally.

This number has been rising steadily since 2002, when 207 were removed.

Foreign ministry spokesman Kitti Wasinondh says that Mr Karr‘s arrest demonstrates the effective co-operation between Thailand and foreign countries.

"Thailand has a clear policy not to allow any type of criminal to use its soil as a safe haven," he says.

"But Thailand is an open country and we welcome millions of tourists each year, so it is possible that some may abuse that."

-- Pattaya Daily News 2006-08-26

[Thaible]

Great article! The good farangs should be happy that all the bad ones will be caught and deported, thereby leaving the ones remaining with a better reputation.

[Johpa]

Apart from being a bit sensationalized, there is nothing new in these reports. When I first arrived in Chiang Mai over 25 years ago, at the most popular drinking oasis for the then tiny ex-pat community, three of the regulars were bank robbers from Australia.

[ilyushin]

Got to be many more foreign criminals in the US than any other country in the world.

[sunreader]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/5285610.stm

"Police have said a man they want to find following the murder of his wife and three children left the UK on a flight to Thailand four weeks ago...."

Here's another one.....do they really think they will just blend in?

[Mishka]

Got to be many more foreign criminals in the US than any other country in the world.

I am coming over to Bangkok in few weeks time, any guys would like to show me sites? Maybee?

[KhunFon]

Thailand Is Considered As A Sanctuary For Foreign Criminals

Do I read you well, Foreign Criminals?

Why not just say Thailand Is Considered As A Sanctuary For Criminals.

Crime is everywhere, when the top is giving the bad example.

If the top is allowed illegal doings, the rest will follow so.

That is so in a country, in a corporation, in a football ligue, that is so on Internet. Why should it then be different, in a country where political and ethical standards are low?

It is called decadence, ask the Romans.

[cmiuc]

Got to be many more foreign criminals in the US than any other country in the world.

Should we be racist in our comments and only think coz 1 crazy man confessed of which is said that is not sure whether he did the crime or not... and "not guilty, until proven guilty", make your statement qualifiable?

Tone down the who's who in this criminal market place... All people that do the bad thing equal them, not their country.

And we could point fingers if we wanted.

C

[CTM]

“Columbian and other South American gangs concentrate on thefts from car break-ins....committing thefts 2-3 times, returning to their country to avoid arrest.” How is 2-3 petty thefts going to fund them flying back and forth from South America? Granted, sometimes they might get lucky and hit someone who just withdrew a huge amount of cash.

[CTM]

Got to be many more foreign criminals in the US than any other country in the world.

Should we be racist in our comments and only think coz 1 crazy man confessed of which is said that is not sure whether he did the crime or not... and "not guilty, until proven guilty", make your statement qualifiable?

Tone down the who's who in this criminal market place... All people that do the bad thing equal them, not their country.

And we could point fingers if we wanted.

C

Huh? I think what he means is in America are gangs from all over the world. Russian, Armenian, Mexican, Jamaican, Jewish, Italian, Columbian, Japanese, Chinese, and so on. This does not include homegrown criminals and gangs of all ethnic stripes. How is that racist? It is fact.

[rossigee]

Well, what do you expect? In a country where corruption starts at the top (with Mr T) and goes all the way down to the 'nice 'young girl who dishes out work permits at the local labour office (in Prachuab Kirikhan, btw) who seemed to require 4000baht (apparently "no - it's not corruption money - it's an unadvertised service charge" !?!) deposited in her bank to be passed on to 'ensure the right decision is made' (by her superiors, I expect she means). It's a real shame, as the majority of Thais (that is, those that don't wear a uniform or a suit) are actually good honest people (such as my girlfriend, her family and all our friends here), but none of the good guys have the guts to stand up to the bad ones, usually for fear of their lives. IMHO, if they can't keep their own house in order, I don't expect they'll make much impact with the foreign contingent. Personally, I'm sick to the back teeth of being told that I can get whatever I'm having trouble getting if I am prepared to pass considerable amounts of money 'under the table' (I got this offer twice yesterday in Bangkok!). I starting to think that because I've got principles I'm probably in the wrong country (or just unfortunate to have fallen in love with a girl from the wrong country).

And, IMHO, what the article says about Pattaya is right. Every farang I met in the few days I spent there, without exception, was there because they were in trouble of some sort or another in their own country, whether their country knew it or not. They'd do well to start the clean-up there.

Right, I'd better go hide somewhere safe.

[lostgringo]

PATTAYA: -- Foreign criminals just want to live out a beachside retirement and spend their ill-gotten gains, while others continue their lives of crime, getting involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, prostitution and child sex.

"Why can"t people learn to spell ColOmbia correctly. He is not referring to ColUbia in the US. It is ColOmbia in South America."

The arrest in Bangkok of an American suspect in the decade-old JonBenet Ramsey murder case has again cast the spotlight on Thailand as a criminal hideaway, especially from sex charges overseas.

"The is a concern that this guy may not be guilty and is only confessing to this crime to get himself out of Thailand" He is NOT guilty yet."

Also, I wonder how I would get by taking on a Thai's name. A very white hombre who absolutely does NOT look like an Asian. Sure, I am going to around with a name like Wong Fong. Yes officer that is my real name. lol.

I my humble opinion, get rid of the sex offenders and criminals and leave all those beautiful tight butted women for me.

[charlesfrith]

Two places that are 'Sim Same But Different': Pattaya and Vegas, you heard it here first.

[Alreadyinuse]

Since when was America a part of Europe?

US fake passports are worth alot, due to the number of requests? Seams like a lot of people wants to travel to the US and that with fake passports. I wonder why?

Would that be for business or ??????

[Alreadyinuse]

Sorry, maybe that was another forum

[Snake V]

As is the case with ANY country that has open borders.

Authors like this should be ashamed of themselves. It's media like this that is the sludge of society. All these stories do it breed distrust for foreigners and build upon peoples sense of fear by perpetuating stereotypes.

At best the Thai police will counter effect the bad publicity and make life harder for all the expats. Thailand is reeling bad enough after the publicity of Karr who is a freak. What good could possible come from this article?

What a bunch of cr@p!

Agreed. What a crock. Iranian and Iraqi gangs / mafia. I just spewed hot coffee on my keyboard. Sounds like the neo-cons from the USA had some input into this one.