The Gangster Province

[dcfc2007]

Nakhon Sri Thammarat, on the eastern coast of the Thai peninsula, has sometimes been referred to as Thailand’s “gangster province,” known in some circles for its crime families and corruption.  In 2002, the province was one of several in the south that the government targeted for campaigns to crack down on organized crime. The Interior Minister at that time said local police were part of the problem, working for mafia-like figures rather than against them.

http://www.thailandtoday.in.th/culture-and-society/elibrary/article/841

It's an old article but I have seen the southern province of Nakhon Sri Thammarat referred to as Thailand's gangster province many times before. Apparently that's where many of the hitmen in Thailand originate from. Has anyone ever been?

[Aqualung]

Yes I've been. Spent a couple of days there and enjoyed it. 

[Horizondave]

Flew there from Bangkok in December 2018, was just transiting off an Air Asia flight by coach to the port near Surat Thani and over to Koh Samui.

Can't imagine they have any more gangsters than Pattaya although some of those may have come from Nakhon Si Thammarat.

[coxyhog]

We were driving through Petchaburi province once on the way to Hua Hin from Korat & my missus said to stay away from there as it's full of gangsters.

[Horizondave]

1 hour ago, coxyhog said:

We were driving through Petchaburi province once on the way to Hua Hin from Korat & my missus said to stay away from there as it's full of gangsters.

Don't think Cha Am dwellers would agree. Must admit I lived in Hua Hin for 5 years and traveled through and to Petchaburi numerous times but never heard that rumour.

I bought a motor from Toyota Petchaburi and saved loads on various discounts, must be Robin Hood style gangsters operating there lol

[dcfc2007]

Just now, Horizondave said:

Don't think Cha Am dwellers would agree. Must admit I lived in Hua Hin for 5 years and traveled through and to Petchaburi numerous times but never heard that rumour.

I bought a motor from Toyota Petchaburi and saved loads on various discounts, must be Robin Hood style gangsters operating there lol

A lot of crime goes unreported in the news media in Thailand Dave. Certainly English language news media.

Particularly Thai on Thai crime.

[JPK]

Loads of stuff in the papers up here years ago about a young Scottish girl who got gang raped there, it was in the paper for months here. I think the big kick up was because the police were blaming her saying she was pissed and acting aggressive in bars, as if thats a excuse for getting raped,  we all know that a group of Thai guys would never rape a drunk young tourist. 🙄

[dcfc2007]

7 minutes ago, JPK said:

Loads of stuff in the papers up here years ago about a young Scottish girl who got gang raped there, it was in the paper for months here. I think the big kick up was because the police were blaming her saying she was pissed and acting aggressive in bars, as if thats a excuse for getting raped,  we all know that a group of Thai guys would never rape a drunk young tourist. 🙄

I remember reading about that case.

Not only did they rape her, but they drove around with her in the back of the pick-up truck after the attack, as if they were parading a trophy.

There was another case of a young farang girl that got raped on a soi off Khao San Road a number of years back. The Police refused to investigate it and said she was drunk and fell asleep in an alleyway, the Bangkok Post published CCTV stills of her being pulled down an alleyway by some bloke with a motorbike helmet on.

Very little makes the English language news in Thailand.

[code_slayer_bkk]

11 hours ago, Horizondave said:

Don't think Cha Am dwellers would agree. Must admit I lived in Hua Hin for 5 years and traveled through and to Petchaburi numerous times but never heard that rumour.

I bought a motor from Toyota Petchaburi and saved loads on various discounts, must be Robin Hood style gangsters operating there lol

Yea, I have been through there a number of times when I lived further north in Ban Krut .... never heard that rumor either ...

[coxyhog]

13 hours ago, Horizondave said:

Don't think Cha Am dwellers would agree. Must admit I lived in Hua Hin for 5 years and traveled through and to Petchaburi numerous times but never heard that rumour.

I bought a motor from Toyota Petchaburi and saved loads on various discounts, must be Robin Hood style gangsters operating there lol

Who knows where the missus heard it,but I just asked her again & she's adamant.

[Horizondave]

1 hour ago, coxyhog said:

Who knows where the missus heard it,but I just asked her again & she's adamant.

My missus believes everything she hears from fellow Thais and family despite never checking the details herself.

Even if I come up with facts I am always still wrong and if I pursue the issue it is not going to be pretty lol

[dcfc2007]

It must be between Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phuket.

https://thethaiger.com/news/phuket/Special-Report-gangs-Phuket

“There is a gang for nearly every village in Phuket. However, there are eight gangs that are known to be very criminally active,” Col Khunnadet said.

Gangs are usually identified by their Facebook group name or their home base location, Col Khunnadet explained.

The eight major gangs on the island are: Baan Don (Thalang); Wan Wai (Patong); Sab Soon Mafia Phuket (Wichit); Harm Chaow Lol Kheng (Koh Kaew); Adoi Soi King Kaew, also known as KingKaew (Rassada); Sai Lang Sapan Hin (Sapan Hin, Phuket Town); La Taem (Talad Yai, Phuket Town); and Soom Thai Look (Sapan Ruam, Phuket Town).

[coxyhog]

4 hours ago, Horizondave said:

My missus believes everything she hears from fellow Thais and family despite never checking the details herself.

Even if I come up with facts I am always still wrong and if I pursue the issue it is not going to be pretty lol

Mate I know the feeling exactly!

[roomark]

5 hours ago, dcfc2007 said:

It must be between Nakhon Si Thammarat and Phuket.

https://thethaiger.com/news/phuket/Special-Report-gangs-Phuket

“There is a gang for nearly every village in Phuket. However, there are eight gangs that are known to be very criminally active,” Col Khunnadet said.

Gangs are usually identified by their Facebook group name or their home base location, Col Khunnadet explained.

The eight major gangs on the island are: Baan Don (Thalang); Wan Wai (Patong); Sab Soon Mafia Phuket (Wichit); Harm Chaow Lol Kheng (Koh Kaew); Adoi Soi King Kaew, also known as KingKaew (Rassada); Sai Lang Sapan Hin (Sapan Hin, Phuket Town); La Taem (Talad Yai, Phuket Town); and Soom Thai Look (Sapan Ruam, Phuket Town).

Most of those gangs you mention on there are no different to kids gangs (runners) here they aren't gangsters but wannabee's

The real deal down there are Police and a few of the bike gangs together.

Some serious money on Phuket.

 

 

[dcfc2007]

6 minutes ago, roomark said:

Most of those gangs you mention on there are no different to kids gangs (runners) here they aren't gangsters but wannabee's

The real deal down there are Police and a few of the bike gangs together.

Some serious money on Phuket.

 

 

Maj-Gen Chawanwiwat, who was announcing new crime figures for Phuket, called for 5,000 more police officers to help in the fight against serious crime, much of which is directed at visitors. According to the figures, seven expatriates have been murdered on the island since 2010, and in 2012 alone, foreign visitors were the victims of two rapes, 13 violent crimes, 13 attempted robberies and 46 cases of fraud, while 193 foreigners were arrested for offences related to drink, drugs and drink-driving.

https://www.itij.com/latest/news/phuket-crime-mafia-style-levels

Phuket has a serious problem with mafia gangs pal.

I spoke to a Thai guy who served in the Thai Navy, he did fairly well, actually went on to become Thailand's military attaché to France. He told me that the mafia ran the navy off the island back in the 70/80's.

 

[roomark]

25 minutes ago, dcfc2007 said:

 

Phuket has a serious problem with mafia gangs pal.

 

 

I know that...

I lived there, still have family there and longtime friends living there too.

 

[lazarus]

When I lived down in the south -- Krabi & Trang -- you just assumed every pick-up had a gun. 
Whether it was gang related or not...didn't really matter. Bullets don't have affiliations.

There were shootings...mostly revenge or jealousy or business.

You heard about it through the local "grapevine"...

[karon steve]

I lived there for about 6 months.

Most evenings there would be men walking their fighting bulls up and down the road outside of my house. One evening I made a joke that in England we eat the bulls and walk the dogs whereupon my brother in law told me to shut up as the guy parading past was known to have killed at least 5 people for money.

I was never allowed to go to the bull fights or Muay Thai as they knew I would end up with people wanting to fight me.

One of the men who lived in the house behind ours was a known yaa baa dealer. During the crackdown on drugs a crew of policemen showed up and shot him dead.No warning or attempt at arrest just bang, bang, bang.

Drunk in a karaoke bar I went to the toilet and with the dim lighting I sat back down at the wrong table. I had a hand gun at my temple before I could apologise and the feeling of a gun being cocked whilst pressed to my temple is not one I will ever forget.

[dcfc2007]

20 minutes ago, karon steve said:

I lived there for about 6 months.

Most evenings there would be men walking their fighting bulls up and down the road outside of my house. One evening I made a joke that in England we eat the bulls and walk the dogs whereupon my brother in law told me to shut up as the guy parading past was known to have killed at least 5 people for money.

I was never allowed to go to the bull fights or Muay Thai as they knew I would end up with people wanting to fight me.

One of the men who lived in the house behind ours was a known yaa baa dealer. During the crackdown on drugs a crew of policemen showed up and shot him dead.No warning or attempt at arrest just bang, bang, bang.

Drunk in a karaoke bar I went to the toilet and with the dim lighting I sat back down at the wrong table. I had a hand gun at my temple before I could apologise and the feeling of a gun being cocked whilst pressed to my temple is not one I will ever forget.

I sponsor a boy at the Pattaya Orphanage. He was fighting in a muay thai fight just outside Chonburi. I went to go watch him alongside a member of the orphanage staff.

The entrance fee was up on a the wall as 50b for Thais, this was a small local event which consisted of a ring surrounded by a hundred or so chairs and some tarpaulin.

When I got up to pay they wanted to charge me 500b, I told them no chance. I was prepared to pay 200b but 500b was taking the piss. The orphanage staff member tried to explain the situation to them.

They refused to budge, I then said I'll just pay the 500b as I didn't want to let the kid down. The orphanage member refused to let me pay. She said the organisers were being rude and it wasn't safe for me to be there.

As we were walking away a couple of toothless old pricks started to flash the middle finger at me as I walked away. It's not always 'sabai sabai' in the land of smiles.

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by dcfc2007

[mixxer]

NST nice beaches not been f***d up yet.

[mixxer]

oh I like this auto edit feature f**k 555