September, 2014:

"Thailand’s military junta has vowed to launch a major anti-vice campaign on the tourist island of Koh Tao following the horrific murders of two British backpackers."

"General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the country’s Prime Minister, has ordered an immediate offensive against “influential rackets and illegitimate businesses on the tourist island,

and pledged to punish soldiers or police patronizing these people or their activities"

"The crackdown would target “mafia-type influential people,”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/thailand/11120311/Thai-military-launches-anti-vice-crackdown-on-island-where-Britons-died.html

Still waiting Uncle Too...

a bid to clean up the country and improve the country’s image.

Nothing like going for the BIG challenges.

​I assume that it is a 99% focus on the latter by achieving a 1% effect on the former

I have always said that if you see a Thai in an expensive car, somewhere in that family, there is a thief, whether in the past or currently thieving

Unless the education and business levels are so highly tuned, that most of these Thai people are in actual fact very sharp business people....

The weird thing is in my personal observation, since the talk and presence of a crackdown, I have seen less expensive cars on the street...

That' total bullshit. I live in a building where the car park has more exotics than the bankok motorshow. (Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini, Porsche, Aston Martin, Lotus, Maserati....)

I doubt most of them are corrupt or have any gang affiliation. Of course the 25y old in his Ferrari 458 is funded by family money, but all of the ones - I have met (due to bangkok supercar club) are well educated thai people.

Are their parents crooks? I doubt it, did they cut a few corners? Probably, but who doesn't in life.

Edited March 14, 201610 yr by PomRakBKK

Another day anther crackdown. These crackdowns are getting out of hand. There should be a crackdown on the number of crackdowns.

Oh please...in Chiang Mai province 20 people have been told to refrain etc..that's going to work isn't it !!

If they have done wrong charge them and lock them up...Till that happens these crackdowns!! are not going to

Make any difference sadly

No wonder they want to close the media Gateway to the outside world. Keep the humor in house.

Edited March 14, 201610 yr by elgordo38

So here it is. This massive purge on the mafia....

Some small fly with some illegal wood and a few illegal workers...

KNOWN criminal elements in Chiang Mai politely being told to be good boys and girls.

Are there any of you left here willing to claim the junta are "cleaning" up the country?

Many of the so called ' influential figures ' are police people, past and current serving....

so this would be a good place to start, close to home.....

And you know this how?

You're just kidding eh??

I'll believe when the 'crackdown' targets some of the robber barons, monopolists and cronies, the insider trading artists, those rich beyond measure on slave labour, the connected with their sinecures, those escaping justice by feigning illness, the corporate scammers and shysters, the senior officials and politicians appointing relatives to positions for which they are not qualified, those seeking to browbeat airline staff into free tickets and upgrades, those inflating invoices for the provision of govt goods and services( and paying kickbacks in the process), dodgy characters scamming the poor out of land, real mafia types running entire islands if not provinces, etc, etc.

I'll just make another coffee and wait for that to happen. Meanwhile it will be "round up the usual suspects"

WOW -- that is sure a mouthful. If I felt any of the above directly affected me in my daily life here in Thailand I probably wouldn't be here, coffee or otherwise.

Edited March 14, 201610 yr by JLCrab

WOW -- that is sure a mouthful. If I felt any of the above directly affected me in my daily life here in Thailand I probably wouldn't be here, coffee or otherwise.

It will affect you fractionally. Your average Thai gets poo'd on daily by the actions of the real crooks here.

Many of the so called ' influential figures ' are police people, past and current serving....

so this would be a good place to start, close to home.....

Not to much of a crackdown when they only get transferred to an inactive post though.

WOW -- that is sure a mouthful. If I felt any of the above directly affected me in my daily life here in Thailand I probably wouldn't be here, coffee or otherwise.

It will affect you fractionally. Your average Thai gets poo'd on daily by the actions of the real crooks here.

The word I used was d-i-r-e-c-t-l-y

An underground lottery kingpin I know DID

Terminate his activities after ruling for more than 25 years. He retired and went into local politics.

normally, if you, like the police, have indications that a person engages in criminal activities, then gather your evidence and arrest them. If you warn these people, then you corrumpeer the police investigation. Conclusion. they do not want them to arrest, they want to protect them and also give the public the impression that they do seriously investigating. How bad can corruption be.

Have they gone after the mafia in patpong? The 100 baht beer pingpong show etc...

Then they charge you 800 baht a bottle ...

Every government says it is cracking down on influential figures, but nothing ever changes because the influential figures are loaded with cash.

More nonsense from the gasbags in khaki.

Is there another country where the police routinely announce they have not been doing their job?

they have all been told to refrain from being involved with crime, how farcical can it get .