Working unit set up to help Thai govt solve mafia problem

[webfact]

Working unit set up to help Govt solve mafia problem

BANGKOK, 6 November 2015 (NNT) – Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon has established a working committee in charge of data integration to assist the government in dealing with influential figures in each locality.

Gen Prawit has convened a meeting of the committee responsible for tackling the mafia issue in the country. Members of the committee consist of officials from the National Council for Peace and Order, the Internal Security Operations Command, the Defense Ministry, the Interior Ministry, the National Intelligence Agency, the Royal Thai Police and the Royal Thai Armed Forces.

During the meeting, the Defense Minister assigned the committee to set up a working group to integrate information with other state agencies in a bid to increase the intensity and effectiveness of the committee’s operations.

Gen Prawit affirmed the government’s determination to eliminate mafia influences while calling on the public to share related information with state officials in order for the latter to successfully stamp out the problem and ensure the safety of people’s lives and properties.


-- NNT 2015-11-06

[FireMedic]

This is very easy.....just set a reward for turning in plain and clear video evidence of mafia activities. Videos should be released to the government and Youtube the same day so the video can't disappear or some sort of "misunderstanding".

[Hayduke]

Uncanny how you can substitute the word 'police' for mafia' in nearly every one of these crime stories.

Seems the main difference is one wears uniforms and the other doesn't.

[EnglishJohn]

This is very easy.....just set a reward for turning in plain and clear video evidence of mafia activities. Videos should be released to the government and Youtube the same day so the video can't disappear or some sort of "misunderstanding".

Do you trust Thai law and order as far as that ?.

Don't forget the Army are only here for a while. After that it will be business as usual.

My advice is keep out of everything here. Bring in just the money you need, spend it wisely and try to ignore the crooks all around. I would say you cannot trust anybody in the police and just a few in the courts.

And if they got to you, it would simply be brushed under the carpet like we have seen so many times.

[eldragon]

In other words, a committee to begin drafting election procedures.

[eldragon]

This is very easy.....just set a reward for turning in plain and clear video evidence of mafia activities. Videos should be released to the government and Youtube the same day so the video can't disappear or some sort of "misunderstanding".

This seems like a sure way to get people killed. Gotta be honest, I've seen some pretty shady, dangerous stuff here over the years, but I was afraid to report it for fear that too many people were in on it. I mean, it's very possible the person you report something to is getting a cut of the action.

[trainman34014]

So; the biggest Mafia is setting up a 'Working Unit' to help solve the problem of the next Mafia down the pecking order !

[Tatsujin]

Uncanny how you can substitute the word 'police' for mafia' in nearly every one of these crime stories.

Seems the main difference is one wears uniforms and the other doesn't.

As the Thai's will tell you, there are civilian "mafia" of course, but they are working hand-in-hand with the Police and Military, and are well protected by Politicians, businessmen, Military etc etc

I don't see that way of working changing any time soon here.

[Lupatria]

So now do we have two kinds of untouchables here- those in power and the bad ones?

[Travel Dude]

We Thai all know who the biggest Maffia is in Thailand. It's those ones who are supposed to combat the Maffia; we call them Tamluad

[lujanit]

A suggestion would be for Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon to start in Phuket. If he can eliminate the military, police and general population mafia, e.g., taxi mafia there he might just gain some respect from ordinary Thais and foreigners. I really cannot see it happening, too much baht at stake.

[Nowisee]

Its not an impossible task and it's not going to happen in a year, but you need to start somewhere sometime if you want to end it.
A journey of a 1,000 miles begins with a single step.

NYC took a big bite out of police and mafia corruption...so it can be done.

What this country does is up to them, not my concern as I don't expect to stay that long or get that involved. The thai people are the ones that need (if they want change) to take up this battle.
Personally, I think what these people say is big wind no rain. As others have said, too many people, too much money involved. Corruption is a way of life here... from the smallest govt employee taking 300 baht to expedite a form to the big guys pulling in millions of baht... good luck thailand.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Nowisee

[NongKhaiKid]

So will this unit simply have a vetting function to ensure some names are a must to be listed and others most definitely not ?

[deckape]

Working unit set up to help Govt solve mafia problem

Keep em coming for Christ's sake.

[candide]

A suggestion would be for Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon to start in Phuket. If he can eliminate the military, police and general population mafia, e.g., taxi mafia there he might just gain some respect from ordinary Thais and foreigners. I really cannot see it happening, too much baht at stake.

Phuket, Koh tao, etc.. That would be great. Why do I doubt it will ever happen there?

[phoenixdoglover]

If there is to be reform (and I question the seriousness of the present-day "reformers" in Thailand), then these efforts to "crack down" or "eliminate" must be coupled with systemic changes, so the problems don't just resurface a few years later.

The system changes required in the case of eliminating the "mafia" have all to do with the police and prosecutors. There can be no hope unless they do their jobs in the long run.

But Police Reform is completely off the table; the current Junta government has said they will not attempt it. Nor is there even a hint of the need for reform of the military, but that is to be expected.

Thus, we are left with high level committees, and a whole lot of blah blah blah.

[thaiturkey]

THE BIGGEST MAFIA IS THE LAWYERS

They truly are "Organised Crime", nationwide. There is a crook in Bangplee who lost his license over 20 years ago, still running a busy law office.

His close friend touts for work on this website!

[dhream]

We Thai all know who the biggest Maffia is in Thailand. It's those ones who are supposed to combat the Maffia; we call them Tamluad

Agree with you, my thai girlfriend, laughed derisively when I told her about this latest announcement.

She supports neither Red or Yellow as a small business person, she just wants the place to straighten up and fly right. I think a lot of Thais with an education wish the same, but there's no particular 'middle' group to follow, unless they decide to support the Junta, which many of the same group also treat with a healthy scepticism.

We both agree that the only way this anti-mafia drive can happen is if the Government do what the current Chinese President is doing, as he makes a real example of the highest figureheads in the CPC. It seems to have got the message across in China clearly enough. Whether even that degree of ruthlessness is going to be effective in the long term, or is not even a smokescreen for darker machinations to cement the power of one (likely) remains to be seen.

Edited November 7, 2015 by dhream

[candide]

We Thai all know who the biggest Maffia is in Thailand. It's those ones who are supposed to combat the Maffia; we call them Tamluad

Agree with you, my thai girlfriend, laughed derisively when I told her about this latest announcement.

She supports neither Red or Yellow as a small business person, she just wants the place to straighten up and fly right. I think a lot of Thais with an education wish the same, but there's no particular 'middle' group to follow, unless they decide to support the Junta, which many of the same group also treat with a healthy scepticism.

We both agree that the only way this anti-mafia drive can happen is if the Government do what the current Chinese President is doing, as he makes a real example of the highest figureheads in the CPC. It seems to have got the message across in China clearly enough. Whether even that degree of ruthlessness is going to be effective in the long term, or is not even a smokescreen for darker machinations to cement the power of one (likely) remains to be seen.

Well China is a bit different from Thailand as the high figureheads are usually from the faction opposed to the current leaders. Oops! I said nothing!