Fugitives drawn to Thailand's weak law enforcement

[QuotaMan]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/31/BUBA1KDM8K.DTL&feed=rss.business

 

Give me your drug dealers, your money launderers, your felons on the lam yearning to breathe free.

 

Thailand has never advertised itself as a beacon for fugitives, but the world's wretched refuse - to tweak the noble words inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty - seem to show up here in droves.

 

Millions of tourists, most of them presumably without criminal records, travel to Thailand every year, drawn by the good food, lively nightlife and crystal waters. Fugitives come for the same reasons - plus the prospect, for some, of outliving a statute of limitations.

 

"Thailand has traditionally been one of the top source countries for extradition of criminals to the U.S.," said one March 2009 cable from the American Embassy in Bangkok obtained by WikiLeaks. The cable lists the wide variety of fugitives seized in Thailand over the years: child molesters, narcotics traffickers, money launderers and cybercriminals, among others.

 

The cable counts 135 defendants extradited from Thailand to the United States in the past three decades and dozens more people "directly deported."

 

But a scan of recent headlines in Thailand suggests that fugitives from American justice are but a footnote on a long list of felons on the loose.

 

In the past two years, the news media here have reported the arrests in Thailand of Germans wanted for fraud and tax evasion; a man suspected of being a South Korean mafia boss; Czech bank robbers convicted of stealing several million euros (and who fled to Thailand after jumping bail while their case was under appeal); Pakistani passport forgers; a convicted Filipino murderer who was the most wanted man in the Philippines but worked in Bangkok as a jeweler; a French drug trafficker who thought he could elude the police by using his brother's passport; the leader of Japan's second-largest organized crime syndicate; an Israeli fugitive convicted of a double murder in Belgium and traveling on a forged Maldives passport; an Indian man wanted for sending a bevy of fraudulent spam; an Australian suspected of killing a family of three; and seemingly countless pedophiles.

 

Add to the list Viktor Bout, suspected of being an international arms dealer, who was extradited to the United States in November after a protracted legal battle in Thailand.

 

Many criminals seem to find refuge in Pattaya, the seedy seaside resort southeast of Bangkok known for its vast stretches of go-go bars. A separate American diplomatic cable from 2005 said fugitives from the United States had "taken up residence in Pattaya over the years, along with people who should be getting treatment for mental illness, but are not." Thailand's freewheeling society, its pliant law enforcement and its status as a megamarket for vice at budget prices are powerful draws for criminals from around the globe, said John Burdett, a British author of crime novels set in Thailand that delve into the country's underworld.

 

"There are a number of minor reasons and one very major one why the jet-setting underground would find Thailand irresistible," Burdett said in an e-mail. "The minor ones would include guns, girls, gambling, ganja and gorgeous beaches, especially for those recently released from confinement."

 

But what makes Thailand especially attractive, Burdett said, "is the international reputation, whether deserved or not, of a compliant and bribable police force."

 

Thailand's leaders have long acknowledged that there are bad apples - some would say whole orchards of them - among the police.

[pubstud]

Asia has always been a magnet for all sorts of mischief makers, rakes, and thrill seekers. We're nothing new, decades ago guys like us were hanging out in Saigon and Shanghai, getting laid and smoking opium, running scams and living by their wits. Read books by authors like Somerset Maugham and you'll recognize the same sorts you bump into in Patts and BKK today.

[woundedinlove]

That article is not quite right.

As it states there are extradition treaties that are used to extradite criminals and these have been used when criminals are found.

And in the case of Viktor Bout, he was lured to Thailand so he could be arrested. Hardly a case of "Thailands weak law enforcement"

[td5855]

The Americans seem to have a better rate of success on extraditing crminals from Thailand than the UK.

A one handed, one eyed cleric is staying put in the UK owing to human rights.

 

What does that make the UK in comparison to Thailand.

Illegal immigrants killing people in their car with no insurance, no licence. etc.

 

 

Realise I am being a little pendantic, but, every country seems to have its own fair (unfair) share of undesirables.

[andyaus]

I wonder how many BM's are on the lam...Using PA to send coded message back to their crime boss's..

 

I have my eye on a few.

[TheFoxhat]

If i were hiding away i wouldn't be hiding out in Pattaya, i'd go somewhere less touristy. Somewhere near the Borders for quick get away.

[RedRackam]

If i were hiding away i wouldn't be hiding out in Pattaya, i'd go somewhere less touristy. Somewhere near the Borders for quick get away.

 

True, but most of the criminals are stupid and have little education which is why they're criminals in the first place. That's why they go to Pattaya probably THE worst place to hang out.

[Harry Brown]

Most of the large criminal groups are not stupid and they stay mainly a few jumps ahead of the law, they have more money to spend on technology to help them stay ahead as well as having the right people in their pocket.

 

Pattaya is a worldwide hub for INT criminals

Edited August 23, 2011 by Harry Brown

[dibley69]

For us Brits it's the Marbella of Asia always has been and probably always will be, here you have anonymity and lots of fun, you can be just another customer here in Pattaya or u can go large and get noticed around town the choice is yours. When u do get caught at least you have some good memories to while away the hours at her Majestys pleasure !!

[Premier3]

Girls and criminals. The makings of a Hollywood movie.

[PepeLePew]

I wonder how many BM's are on the lam...Using PA to send coded message back to their crime boss's..

 

I have my eye on a few.

 

 

Sorry boss I don't quite get it. Do you mean the post office on Wednesday or the bank on Thursday?

[Boatman]

Sorry boss I don't quite get it. Do you mean the post office on Wednesday or the bank on Thursday?

 

555555555555555

[0069]

Sorry boss I don't quite get it. Do you mean the post office on Wednesday or the bank on Thursday?

According to my codebook it actually means the bank on Wednesday

[FIGO_0710]

i nicked a coathanger from the hotel last time...do you think i should be brickin" it

[the impaler]

been watching a show on TV tonight about the great train robber Ronnie Biggs, and thought if I'd ve been him I know where I'd've gone but then thoughtno every one knows I like Patts and would therefore be the first place people would look!

[96travel]

Great writeup!!

[Hamlet]

True, but most of the criminals are stupid and have little education which is why they're criminals in the first place. That's why they go to Pattaya probably THE worst place to hang out.

They prob feel they can 'blend in' better as oppossed to Chiag-Rai etc.,

 

Great writeup!!

Yes Indeed !!

[xilef]

If 135 fugitives were extradited to the US in 3 decades as the article says, that's less than 5 per year. Hardly an epidemic. Kind of a ho hum article when looked at in that perspective.

[petesheep]

Hi, I live in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia (home of the convict) and we attract all sorts here too. When Australias Most Wanted comes on tv at the pub, half the pub gets up and leaves lol . But that is where the similarities end The alcohol is bloody expensive, so is P4P. There is stuff all women, and those that are here suffer from KFC Syndrome (Kalgoorlie Fat Chick Syndrome) The sad thing is, even a KFC has blokes fighting over her. Thats why I love Pattaya. So I don't mind mixing it with gentlemen of questionable character :Drink4: , as long as they are not kiddy fiddlers ( sick pricks need a slow death) , after all, your not a criminal until you get caught

[Wolf Cat]

If 135 fugitives were extradited to the US in 3 decades as the article says, that's less than 5 per year. Hardly an epidemic. Kind of a ho hum article when looked at in that perspective.

I was thinking the same thing when reading the article, high profile cases yes; but not a huge amount in numbers. I wonder how many foreign criminals have been arrested in San Franciso during the past 30 years?

[jinners]

well let me tell you Spain was a haven for crooks of all types and nationalities. I would bet there's a few moved over here since Spain saw a dramatic downturn in its fortunes. Crooks just seem to be drawn to areas where there are lots of sometimes naive sometimes pissed sometimes both tourists with lots of discposable. Sunshine and beautiful girls by the sea seems to be a reuquirement too.

I agree totally with td5855 by the way. Even the sentencing after the rioting (shopping with violence) is an anomoly and things will soon get back to normal.

[mickeylo]

True, but most of the criminals are stupid and have little education which is why they're criminals in the first place. That's why they go to Pattaya probably THE worst place to hang out.

ha ha ha

[Raistx]

I thought that any area in the world that sells sex attracts undesirables. Drug dealers, thieves, gangsters etc.

 

And as far as "enforcing the law", lets face it, if they were actually enforcing the law to the letter, the girly bars wouldn't exist as they are today.

 

There are posts about, why don't they enforce the no smoking laws, road rules and anything else that bothers people.

 

If they started those laws, what would happen? where would it stop? Hopefully before enforcing prostitution laws!!

[kineow]

They prob feel they can 'blend in' better as oppossed to Chiag-Rai etc.,

 

You've got to be joking man... We've got some of the scum of the Earth up here in Northern Thailand... They can live real cheap up here & just lay around all day getting stoned & drinking Lao Khow whilst they tell bollocks stories about when they were 'ard & wanted by the fuzz!

 

What you've got in Patts is a high density of vest wearing, illiterate, petty criminals, fotball hooligans & the type of two legged walking filth that would break into your house to do your gas meter or steal your mums purse out of her handbag whilst she's not looking. :02:

 

If you really want to see 'REAL' criminals go to Samui or Phuket, especially Phuket, the place is fuckin' crawling with them... But you'll never actually get to recognise them through the blacked out windows of their Aston Martins!

[Boats]

Sorry boss I don't quite get it. Do you mean the post office on Wednesday or the bank on Thursday?

 

lam... (3dots means Wensday) back (means Bank) sheess thought it was easy