mafia ?

[theword1]

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

would have to disagree with that statement , both the Yakusa in Japan and the Triads in China , are both thousands of year old crime organizations , the triads in particualar have hundreds of 'families' spread thoughout the world basically anywhere that there is a chinese community , the only difference is they tend to keep themselves to themselves running the business just within the chinese community

[kevars]

just returned to uk after 4 weeks in los , on our way from koh samet up through rayong we stopped in pattaya for 2 nights catch up with some friends , i noticed how busy pattaya had become and i was surprised by how many Russians were in town , nothing wrong there we are all free to travel where ever we choose , but in walking street i noticed at least 3 Russian working ladies just standing around looking for customers , i was shocked to see this so harsh and in yer face like , also there has to be some kind of arrangement between local " gangs or mafia " and Russian pimps , anyone can enlighten whats happening , is this spreading ? the ruskies are comin !!!

[ozuncle]

Have a look at
http://www.asiarecipe.com/cgi/CM/webbbs ... s/read/326


ozuncle

ps. Driving past Cha Am one day my brother in law said "this is where the Thai Mafia come from.????

[Mack111]

Mafia is just criminal word for organized crime which Guess rightly states come from Sicily.

The Asian (mostly Chinese) use the name “secret society’sâ€

[Farang]

'
Again I refer to Sterling Seagrave's excellent book "Lords of the Rim".

Chinese triads are very much present in Thailand, very little in evidence. Seagrave even
reveals the ignoble lineage of the two major banks in Thailand. Read the book, it is dynamite.

Read more, assume less.
,

[dane48]

Mafia is just criminal word

Be aware board members, don't use above word as you could face a criminal charge for using it

[Heart&Soul]

Watching too much TV I think.

[vincent chang]

the word is so over used here in thailand. there are probably protected unions for tuk tuks, and taxis, just like anywhere else. but here we call it mafia. The real mafia, the sicilians are much more organized, have a world wide reach, and can be much more brutal. The chinese have their own triad style mafia which extends to almost every chinese enclave in the world. even hua hin has a little chinatown, but most tourists never visit it. over here, the chinese tend to blend in with the thai population., speak thai and act thai, but they are definitely chinese. Everyone thinks Chinese traffic people, and other illegal things all over the world. Until recently, things were pretty bad in china and even now there are a billion chinese, some who want to leave and go elsewhere. so you end up with a huge diaspora all over the world who have to network with each other in order to survive.