Probe into sidewalk vendors extortion ordered

[gemguy]

And what became of the Vendors?

Did they have to pay another or "Fee" or "Fine" for not paying off the correct police officers.

You would think , after all these years they would have a simple enough process where small revenue entrepreneurs could register their small business with the city administration or district administration and pay a say 500 baht licensing fee and a 1000 baht a month operating fee for operating their small business on the sidewalks.

Of course, That would not stop the police from coming around and telling the street vendors : This is our jurisdiction so pay us a protection fee or an "Acceptance to Operate Here Fee"

In most places where the vendors are located, daily or nightly on the sidewalks, they are located illegally which allows the police to collect money from them to remain there as the sidewalks are considered city or district property...I believe... and they would need permission from the relevant authorities...which I am certain they are not officially granted.

Meantime you have always seen the sidewalks in all too many places develop into a side walk market affair with hundreds or sometimes thousands of vendors selling their wares...up and down the streets....with Silom road being a perfect example

I can only surmise they did not get any permission from the city or district authorities to set up a small enterprise in that particular part of city and specifically that particular small piece of the sidewalk property that each vendor occupies...sometimes for decades.

That being the case I have always wondered how much they have to pay someone???.... to be there and be there in that particular place every day or evening.

And if they give up the business and the space then how is it arranged so that another person can take over that spot and sell their products in that now vacant spot.

In my area, over the last 2 years now, the street has seen the development of mostly food vendors and some clothing vendors now occupying the sidewalks.

One guy and his GF sells Hamburgers ( and does a good job of it also... ) and I was asking him how he can operate here while he told me: A Guy??? organizes this and he pays that guy and that guy pays the police.....and that is all he knows ....he just pays The Guy and he is allowed to operate there.

So naturally I asked if all the other vendors that are selling whatever up and down the same street pay the same guy and he said: I do not know...but I know I pay one man and I am allowed to operate here but now I have to be up on the sidewalk and not on the street and same for everyone else...on the sidewalk ...not on the street.

When I asked how much he has to pay he just smiled at me with no answer so I answered for him: A secret, correct?

I am thinking maybe 2000 to maybe 3000 a month ...possibly up to 5000 baht per month.

What I wonder is: Does some of the pay off money get back to some of the administrators of the district authorities as they must know what is going on and in theory they are supposed to maintain the sidewalks and streets and keep them clear of any obstructions and in this case, illegal street vendors and illegal businesses or unregistered businesses etc.

I am surmising the police trump the district administrators and the police allow it to happen because of the lucrative revenues to be generated for the local police....while at the entrance to the street and the main intersection there is a police box....so I wonder how much they get from approximately 50 or more vendors operating that were not there 2 years ago.

So questions is: How does all of this evolve and sustain itself ..??

Cheers

[Barnet]

Not the police.......No, never is.....

[Winniedapu]

It's so obvious and apparent what goes on.... It's not even hidden from the public...

The denials and lies are juvenile and tiresome - Its like reading about children at times...

Anyone trying to solve any of Thailand's corruption issues are simply beaten into submission through sheer exasperation....

Oh for a government of any hue or inclination, that will have balls big enough to fix the police and the armed forces. They are both a huge millstone around the neck of ordinary Thais. They've both been afforded protection for far, far too long. Knock it all down and start again, starting with Education, Law, Justice and Defence. Do that now and in 2 generations, 'Thainess' as it is today will just be a very bad memory. If they start now. But we all know they're just not serious about being a modern nation. Not at all.

W

A few years ago I was having a good 'Political Chat' with a Thai Taxi driver... He pointed out that it will take at least 3 generations to fix the issues, I pretty much agreed....

The real issue of course is that with each new generation it may still take a further 3 generations to fix the issues !!!

I think 2, though I wouldn't put money on it, it could easily be 3 given Thai effectiveness.

The first generation (if they start right away) would produce better teachers and a more aware populace.

The second generation would allow the better teachers to educate better people.

But you're looking at 50 years at least - IF they start now, which they won't. All this BS about Thailand being in the first world in 10 years is just that, BS for a gullible (by design) population - soporific. Any talk of 'transforming Thailand' or making Thailand a 'hub' of anything is just a masturbatory fantasy of the Chairman and his coterie of boot-lickers.

Hoodwinking the people into thinking they have a mascot and are therefore the best in the world at everything despite what life should already have taught them about being the best at anything except thieving and cheating - they're pretty good at that, and that's an education issue as well.

IMHO, any talk by any interloper or elected politician that does not include re-building the education. justice, law-enforcement and defence systems just can't be taken seriously; these are the sine qua non of dragging Thailand into the present.

W.