mafia ?

[kevars]

hi , i dont consider myself an expert on thai culture people etc , but lately been picking up a few vibes regarding " mafia " in tourists hotspots , is this restricted to say Pattaya which i can understand esp hearing about Russian involvement , what do the locals think or feel about this and is there a thai " mafia " ? is it spreading to other areas ?

[buksida]

Its pretty much everywhere just in different forms. The term "mafia" is used quite loosely here but it all means the same thing.

A few examples I have witnessed recently:

Taxis - definite territorial control, most of them belonging to some kind of syndicate and paying someone higher to do it. Try and start up your own taxi/tuk tuk service and see how long you last.

Beach vendors - the people who run the chairs on the beach dont actually own the beach land but pay someone to use it.

Ferrys - recently returned from Koh Lanta where plans to bridge the small crossing were scrapped as the ferry mafia (who make a wad of money) came down heavy.

In a way the plod are a kind of mafia by extorting bribes to stay open late, its almost like protection money ... pay us and we'll leave you alone.

[lomuamart]

It was always described to me as "little mafia".
Heaven forbid you piss the politicans off.

[Norseman]

I would claim that the police force is as close to the word mafia as you can get. Swindle put in system by dubious men in brown shirts.
If they read this you'll find me in a ditch in a few days!!

[tuktukmike]

I was at one time thinking of renting out European standard Tuk-Tuks in Hua Hin to Farangs on holiday out here.

But the thought of parting company with my head made me realise it may not be such a good idea.

Strange really as you can rent motorbikes and cars but look out if you even think of self drive Tuk-Tuks.

Mike.

[Guess]

I would claim that the police force is as close to the word mafia as you can get. Swindle put in system by dubious men in brown shirts.
If they read this you'll find me in a ditch in a few days!!

Mafia is an Italian word that has become common in many parlances. The original Mafia (and I deliberately spell with an upper case M) were from Scicily. They needed to form organizations to protect their Olive Oil business just at the time that the US was developing as a major market.

The reason it developed in Sicily was, for centuries, that area had been the poorest part of Italy. All of a sudden great wealth appeared on the horizon and jealousy prevailed which in turn resulted in violence. Later, rolling on the crest of a wave, some mebers of the successful families moved to the US and extended their tactics into other areas of business such as, prosititution, drug dealing, protection, and during the prohibition,
bootlegging.

The point I am making here is that they were organized. The FBI refused, for a while to mention the word Mafia, and coined the term organized crime.

As for Thailand and the rest of the world there is nothing that vaguely resembles the Mafia.

Nothing here or in anywhere in Asia, South America or Sub-Saharan Africa is remotely similar to the Italian Mafia organization.

There is no organization. It is every man for himself and if need be, bring a couple of mates along. If one of your mates has a uniform, so well and good. It may promote your chances.

Why can not we all be honest and forget all this bullshit about Mafia.

Honestly should and will prevail.

I hope nobody is going to shoot me down in flames on this one before having a long think about it.

But, in direct reply to Norseman's statement, I remember, in England as a boy, my father keeping a ten pound note in his drivers license so as to bribe the traffic cop if he got pulled over.

Things move forward..

Corruption has to be stamped out all over the world. I believe that Thailand is moving on the right direction but the economy is growing rapidly but many of the people are still Cha CHa.

[Jaime]

Strangely enough I was discussing the history of the Sicilian mafia recently. Its origins are much older than the 20th century and date back to the Spanish rule of Sicily from 13th to 17th Century, by the end of which time the place was essentially a lawless outpost of a decaying and corrupt empire. Protection was indeed part of the equation but during this time was more to do with the citrus fruit plantations of absentee landlords than with olive exports to the US. Far from the reach of the Spanish state, Sicily became effectively ruled by a clannish hierarchy of rural gangsters used as muscle by corrupt, absentee grandees. It was during the 16th century that the code of 'omerta' or silence is thought to have been established in order to prevent prosecution of perpetrators of various crimes. When Garibaldi landed in the 19th century to absorb the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies into the fledgeling Italian state the new administration he set up was left to the locals. It was immediately infiltrated by the existing clans, making them even more powerful and thus paving the way for 'organised crime,' which was eventually exported to the US.

[Jaime]

As for 'Mafia' in Thailand I would have to assume that most of what Guess writes is accurate but Thai gangsters are not my strong point. I suppose that the day to day bribes etc are just institutionalised opportunism. However, I would think that gangsters in Japan (Yakuza) and the various Chinese groups involved in people trafficking, identity fraud etc are highly organised and, like the Italian mafia, enjoy centuries of continuous existence although whether they operate in Thailand and what influence they have is debatable.

[johnnyk]

Organized crime and professional criminals exist in every society in the world. Nothing new here.
They all have one overriding characteristic: annoy them sufficiently and you will be killed. Nothing new there.

[Burger]

Having lived in Hong Kong for a few years a while back, I would say that the 'Triads' are as close to the 'Mafia' as you're going to find in Asia. They have levels of organisation etc. I saw their 'foot soldiers' in action once in a nightclub, not pretty.

I think as someone mentioned earlier, in Thailand its a bit of a free-for-all, but then there is the Old Bill ...............

[Guess]

Yes very true, the Jakuza and the Triads are the closest thing in Asia to the Mafia. I do not know too much about the former but with regars to the latter parallels with the Cripps and the Bloods in LA have been made.

I have read certain articles that have written of the Union Corse and even the, almost global, Freemasons in the same context.

I do not believe (or at least have seen no evidence of) such an organization here in Thailand.

I have seen much evidence though of corruption on an individual basis whilst abusing the power that has been given to them. This abuse extends way past uniforned officialdom.

[johnnyk]

I don't think Crips and Bloods merit mention.
They are much smaller-time neighbourhood thugs. A million-dollar dope deal would be big stuff for them.
They don't control hundreds/thousands of millions of $ worth of narcotics growth, processing, shipping, smuggling, sales and distribution like the
Yakuza, Triads, Union Corse ("French Connection"), Ruskies (most ruthless of all, perhaps) and the Colombians who basically control a country.

[Burger]

When I was young I was in a vicious gang. There was two of us in it, one time during the height of our reign, we broke out of our bedroom and run amok through the house. I remember seeing the leader of our gang (my big brother) kick a balloon into the air and I looted a bag of pickled onion Monster Munch from the kitchen.
We were quickly apprehended though, and served a further 2 days at Her Majestys Pleasure.
This pretty much bought an end to our 'activities'.

Our Mother used to describe us as 'OC' (FBI abbreviation for Organised Crime), only I think she meant 'Orrible C****s'

As the judge said to John Gotti ..... "It’s not big and its not clever John"

[larry70dj]

is this restricted to say Pattaya which i can understand esp hearing about Russian involvement

I've been runnung a gogo bar in Pattaya for 6 months and I've yet to run into any Russian "maffia" or anything resembleing them. Its a mith.

[Guess]

I've been runnung a gogo bar in Pattaya for 6 months and I've yet to run into any Russian "maffia" or anything resembleing them. Its a mith.

Agree. In three years in Patpong on Sea I only ever met two Russians. One was an almost honest business man selling diving trips and eqipment and the other was on the run from Russian criminals who he managed to get on the wrong side of. He was in Pattay because he found it to be a safe haven.

BTW which GoGo bar is it.