Bomb suspect bribed his way into Thailand: police

[dageurreotype]

We should all stand together and boycott Thailand until their immigration standards are in order. This is completely unacceptable behavior that can't be tolerated anymore.

Okay. You first

[Mojomor]

The real question is ''Why was the guy crossing illegally'' ------ it implies there was something wrong with his passport. This is all very strange.

[al007]

Only the tip of the ice berg

I was going to write about many of the scams I am aware of, but have to be sensible and keep my mouth shut

Start by a lifestyle audit on the families of every immigration and police officer, also add the school auditors to the list, incorrect start at the very top, and may the president make an example of himself, I am pretty sure he has nothing to hide, but maybe he is in the minority

[Maestro]

Removed two troll posts.

[wabothai]

Crackdown on the greedy ones is not possible. (It's easy, just check on their homes).

Thailand would have to close its borders on account of not having enough personnel.

[The Deerhunter]

Perhaps an object lesson is available to Thais that Corruption is rarely a victim-less crime. If some one is winning, there is usually a corresponding loser somewhere, just out of the immediate picture. Shifting the attention from the immigration desk bribery to the loss of 20 lives tends to sharpen the focus!

[BwindiBoy]

You reap what you sew. Backward nation run by backward people who only think of themselves.

If we are so backward why are you here ? I am not born Thai but consider myself Thai as this is the land I have chosen to stay and as such I take acception to your comment.

I am not there and am very unlikely to ever be there again, wholly due to how lawless and corrupt Thailand is. P.s. You are not Thai; you are a foreigner in a xenophobic country!

[Traveller45]

...and what miserly sums, too. The low amount of bribes reflects the fact that there is hardly any risk involved for the bribetakers. Were this not so, and their employment seriously threatened, the amounts would have to be much higher. This is what needs to be done: At the very least, fire them from service and make them unemployable in the future. The bribe would then have to be the equivalent of the compound earnings they would have taken in their position from that date and until pensioning. A whole different category

[Skygod2000]

Transferred to an inactive border?

[Paul944]

^{There was no corruption at all, the $600 was just the first deposit for his elite card.}

[EnglishJohn]

“I cannot ignore this problem because I feel ashamed,” he told reporters yesterday

This quote made me cringe. Anyone who knows Thailand knows this is not true. He has been instructed to do this by Prayuth as a result of the bomb.

The corruption in all of these forces is based on a flow from the officers on the ground right up to the top. That's how they get promoted. We can be quite sure he took his own share of the proceeds along the way.

Sometimes I am sick to death of the lies in this place.

[tajtom]

Are these characters they all cry saint at any chance possible............. You are all corrupt and border line crim and I wonder how you go to Temple

Do you wear a mask ?

[Sviss Geez]

"Indeed, we plan to revamp the Immigration Department, but lack budget."

Got enough for 3 crappy Chinese submarines though mate!!

The Immigration Department is not buying any submarines.

[TBWG]

Thailand's answer will be a purge on all foreigners rather than clear out of immigration officials.

TBWG

[SOTIRIOS]

...par for the course..everything for a price...

...that seems to be the only objective in anything that happens here...'extra money'....

...the honest way is the last way....for honest idiots...that get screwed in the end.....

...now will anything be done about it....it is so rampant.....

...last year over 80% of teachers(?) students (?) said 'It's okay to cheat on a test'...so where do you find ANY honest people....

[alocacoc]

At least they ask for money from the Terrorist. Entry to the EU is for free now. No Visa, no Money needed. For everyone The more the better.

[toooa]

"PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha has special powers" like invisibility, liquification, sonic scream... just to name a few. If immigration officials had powers like x-ray vision, pathfinding and reality warping we'd all be safe

[Nemesis7]

For some people it's always money that comes first than anything else. The entire process is corrupted. How the selection process takes place in Thailand ?? You need to know some one and pay for the job to get it and then of course your aim is to first get the money you spent and earn back through fastest possible means . Which of course through corruption

[thaitakeaway]

Thailand is an utterly shameless country for having the most corrupt government officials on this planet.

Not sure that they top the list of the worst for such in the region. From China down through to the Philippines and Indonesia, it's endemic.

Even neighboring religious Malaysia doesn't seem too shameless either. During the week a thai woman working in a massage joint in KL told me that every 3 days the boss gets visited by the cops for tea money, knowing there are up to 8 thais there working without a permit. Oh, and the icing on the cake? - the owner is a policewoman herself. Go figure.

[Scott]

Numerous pedantic posts about grammar and spelling have been removed.

[nithisa78]

BANGKOK: A key suspect in last monthʼs deadly Bangkok blast paid a $600 (B21,679) bribe to illegally enter Thailand, police said today (Sept 10), highlighting widespread corruption at the kingdomʼs borders. in the Kingdom.

Just makeing a correction to the Headline

next move , make a correction to your head.

[oldsailor35]

Its not only at Border crossings , but from what i hear, the whole immigration department needs looking into. Especially at Koh Samui where money commonly changes hands through the auspeces of one certain gentleman.

[oldsailor35]

Hope Somyot cleans up the police force while he's having a go at immigration police. Things are going to get tougher for illegals and those on wrong visas, at least in the short term.

I say in the short term, as corruption is a way of live here and the economy would probably grind to a halt here without it

He's not even Barking up the right tree

He said the immigration general may be fired....

That will probably be the last we hear of this

Best way would actually be to cut out All the dead wood but like usually, a few from the bottom will be enough

We should all stand together and boycott Thailand until their immigration standards are in order. This is completely unacceptable behavior that can't be tolerated anymore.

Boycott Thailand !! you goose, many of us live here

[oldsailor35]

You reap what you sew. Backward nation run by backward people who only think of themselves.

If we are so backward why are you here ? I am not born Thai but consider myself Thai as this is the land I have chosen to stay and as such I take acception to your comment.

Aw c'mon SS. We all know that Thailand is a backward nation, general population uneducated, controlled by corrupt officials all the way up.

[gigman]

He he...

They need serious blood of innocent people to realized that while border system works like corrupted country in the country.....

Those who realy love this country have problems with visa but for the right money killers can come in any time. ....

Just wake up those who are above those who are on every border like a "kings"

still doing same bull...t job.

[padthia]

Thailand is an utterly shameless country for having the most corrupt government officials on this planet.

Not sure that they top the list of the worst for such in the region. From China down through to the Philippines and Indonesia, it's endemic.

Even neighboring religious Malaysia doesn't seem too shameless either. During the week a thai woman working in a massage joint in KL told me that every 3 days the boss gets visited by the cops for tea money, knowing there are up to 8 thais there working without a permit. Oh, and the icing on the cake? - the owner is a policewoman herself. Go figure.

If by 'region' you mean Eastern Asia. Then Vietnam would take the crown for most corrupt.

http://www.asiarisk.com/subscribe/exsum1.pdf

[dennis123]

I once went to Cambodia but forgot my phone in my car on the Thai border and asked the guy working at the resort where I stayed if it was possible to cross the border quickly just to pick up my phone, he said yeah no problem come with me. Only costed 400 baht and I could just pass through the middle of the road, not stopping at Thai or Cambodian immigration. Took my laptop bag with me just in case and could've stuffed it full of drugs, zero checks.

[speedtripler]

I once went to Cambodia but forgot my phone in my car on the Thai border and asked the guy working at the resort where I stayed if it was possible to cross the border quickly just to pick up my phone, he said yeah no problem come with me. Only costed 400 baht and I could just pass through the middle of the road, not stopping at Thai or Cambodian immigration. Took my laptop bag with me just in case and could've stuffed it full of drugs, zero checks.

Now that you mention it, it reminds me of a time a few years back

I accidentally walked over the border through the vehicle lane

Nobody said a word and I got my van back to Bkk without issue, I had a 90 litre backpack and a smaller one too

Could have contained maybe 30kg of drugs or bombs etc but II walked past the officers and nobody said a word etc

Maybe they assumed I paid someone upstream for the "express passage" but I didn't, I just ended up by accident walking in the wrong Lane and I was not challenged..

Probably, not much has changed

Luckily I only had some whisky and a couple of packs of cuts but.... It could have been anything for all they knew ...

[tropo]

My local border hop involves a short minibus ride across 'no mans land' between check points. Before crossing the border the minibus stopped and a young girl, I guess 10-12 years old got into the bus. The driver was paid 500 bht by the guy who handed the girl over. The girl was told to lie down on the floor in the back of the bus. Just before we got to Thai Immigration the bus stopped, the girl got out and was picked up by a guy on a motorbike who took a track that bypassed the checkpoint. All this was witnessed by Immigration Officers and soldiers who patrol the border. I was horrified at what was going on and the blind eyes being turned.

I passed on what I saw to a Policeman I know and trust.

Heart wrenching story and pity the girl, hope she is not a victim of trafficking and just crossing over to be with her parents.

Only "heart wrenching" if you imagine the worst. There could be any number of explanations for such activity.

[edwinchester]

My local border hop involves a short minibus ride across 'no mans land' between check points. Before crossing the border the minibus stopped and a young girl, I guess 10-12 years old got into the bus. The driver was paid 500 bht by the guy who handed the girl over. The girl was told to lie down on the floor in the back of the bus. Just before we got to Thai Immigration the bus stopped, the girl got out and was picked up by a guy on a motorbike who took a track that bypassed the checkpoint. All this was witnessed by Immigration Officers and soldiers who patrol the border. I was horrified at what was going on and the blind eyes being turned.

I passed on what I saw to a Policeman I know and trust.

Heart wrenching story and pity the girl, hope she is not a victim of trafficking and just crossing over to be with her parents.

Only "heart wrenching" if you imagine the worst. There could be any number of explanations for such activity.

Anything is possible I guess but........avoided Burmese Immigration, paid 500bht for a 2km bus ride across nomansland, hidden on the floor in the back of the bus, avoided Thai Immigration.

As I said, passed what I saw to a Policeman I trust.