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Former Mayor Pian Keesin surrenders today with lawyers

List of Payments for Patong Stalls, Vendors, Touts Found With Cash

Monday, September 1, 2014
PHUKET: A list of Patong street vendors, touts and stallholders with amounts to be paid each month has been discovered at the home of the former mayor of the holiday hub by police investigating corruption claims.

The list, containing 31 items, has been obtained by Phuketwan.

Police are believed to have uncovered other documents of interest in a task force raid on former mayor Pian Keesin's large Patong home on Thursday at the start of a tax and corruption probe.

Among the items were three boxes, one containing 370,000 baht in cash.

Investigators are holding scores of taxi and tuk-tuk drivers and plan to arrest more than 80 people over alleged ''mafia'' links with a lengthy and illegal street blockade in Patong's main roads in March.

Developments are expected to come speedily because Thursday's raids were carried out by police with tax and anti-corruption officials. The Bureau of Central Audit Operations is also involved.

The list from Khun Pian's could be a document merely recording the introduction of legal monthly rents to be paid to the Patong council.

Phuketwan has confirmed with street vendors that the fees suggested in the list are what they paid to Patong council officers for the right to be on the street. Auditors are likely to follow a money trail.

There is no heading on the list.

Footpath outside Paradise (40 shops) Council takes money monthly [no figure given]

Wheeled stalls at Soi Bangla 3000-4000 baht a month

Sam laew food stalls Soi Bangla, mobile sellers (toys, cigarettes etc) 500-1000 baht

Mobile vendors Soi Bangla (wrist bans, souvenirs etc) 500-1000 baht person a month

Flower selling children, old people 500-1000 baht a month

Beer in icebox sellers, Soi Bangla, beachfront 3000 baht a month

Bar Beer with chairs in footpath (20-25 shops) 1200 baht a month

Nepal/Burmese workers Soi Bangla, beachfront [no price listed]

Sam laew food stalls beach road, Graceland, football field (about 40 vehicles) 3000-4500 a month

Hand push fruit stall (daytime) 3000 baht a month

Vendors on Patong beach [sunglasses sales etc] (100-120 people) 500-1000 baht each

Thai massage at Patong beaches (50 people) 25,000-30,0000 baht

Massage shops all Patong area (about 300) Each permit, 10,000 baht plus

Street shop touts [no figure given]

Thai massage without certificate (more than 1000 people)

Nepalese working as touts (more than 1000 people)

Footpath near beaches, shops, soi Bangla (several hundred) 500-1500 baht per month

Foodstalls near Soi Hollywood, stores at Ocean, stores in Soi Mor Wattana, inside Soi Wattana [no figure]

Beach sales plots, Soi Bangla, end of soi

Cnr Hard Rock, cnr Bangla Soi

Six pubs Soi Sansabai, Soi Bangla

Motorcycle taxi rank, football field, Graceland queue

Seafood restaurant project in front of Aroonson

Seafood restaurant project at Paradise

Sam Laew food sellers

Permission for sales

Comments

Comments have been disabled for this article.

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NCPO, please no bail for those influential people who made a real mess in Patong and Phuket Province.

Posted by Whistle-Blower on September 1, 2014 13:35

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Phuketwan has confirmed with street vendors that the fees suggested in the list are what they paid to Patong council officers for the right to be on the street.

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Thanks for taking efforts to check it.

This is obviously and back-bone why any efforts to change anything in the area failed, as by the mean of procedure described in the article, all these - vendors itself, vendors blocking pathways etc,and so on, have been legalized in accordance to rules of local "customary law"

One aspect is unclear , are these procedures are sustained up to date? And what is a trail then?

Posted by Sue on September 1, 2014 13:51

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"The list from Khun Pian's could be a document merely recording the introduction of legal monthly rents to be paid to the Patong council."

How can you legally collect money from flower children?

Posted by NomadJoe on September 1, 2014 13:59

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Great story PW..looking forward to the followups

Posted by sky on September 1, 2014 14:11

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Khun Pian is not the brightest bulb at the chandalier right?
To keep a list like this home.
In a situation like this.
Priceless.

Posted by Georg The Viking on September 1, 2014 15:10

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That is a lot of revenue for the City, now I would like to know how much was actually recorded on the books ???

Posted by Leigh on September 1, 2014 17:44

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very substantial pay off list I can imagine the type of people whom are on the collection detail.

Posted by slickmelb on September 1, 2014 17:46

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The list points to what everybody suspected. The only ones not being asked for payments were the Soi dogs.

Posted by Arun Muruga on September 1, 2014 18:59

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Flower selling children, old people 500-1000 baht a month

This is ILLEGAL so how would the council allow money for this?

Posted by Tbs on September 1, 2014 21:27

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Wow. A true smoking gun. The tax authorities have a golden gift. I hope they use it to recoup the hundreds of millions of baht in unpaid taxes. It would be wonderful to see some seizures of assets purchased by those ill gotten gains.

Posted by Ryan on September 1, 2014 23:37

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Does this mean that the 40 shops on the footpath outside Paradise are illegal, and will be removed soon?

Posted by Kurt on September 5, 2014 08:30

Editor Comment:

Prab Keesin has said the list is merely an academic exercise. But all footpaths are public space and in other parts of Thailand footpaths have been cleared.


Thursday December 5, 2024
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