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Unsavory Bikie Gangs 'Spreading to Phuket'
By Phuketwan Reporter Sunday, October 16, 2011
PHUKET: Australian bikies with dubious reputations are now infiltrating Thailand and gang members have opened businesses on Phuket, reports an Australian newspaper.
Hells Angels and Bandidos club members ''own nightspots in Thailand tourist centres that have become popular haunts for bikies worldwide,'' reports the Courier-Mail newspaper, which is based in the northern Australian state of Queensland.
Members of the Bandidos - who acquired four new chapters in Indonesia during ''Bandidos Bali Bike Week'' earlier this year - are looking to set up business as far afield as Japan, a Queensland police source told the newspaper.
Thailand was significant as a source of chemicals for drug manufacture and trafficking and scrutiny of the travels of Gold Coast bikies' travel would show ''a lot of trips'' to the country, the officer said.
''A lot of them are looking into Thailand - it gives them the opportunity to source pharmaceuticals. Hells Angels and Bandidos have got premises in Thailand.
''Of course, the Finks [another prominent bikie club] can't be left behind and they're looking too.''
The newspaper names one bar in Patong and another on Koh Samui as having been purchased by bikies with Hells Angels connections.
The newspaper report on bikie connections on Phuket and in Asia is part of a series on the activities of Australian gangs at home and overseas. It's titled 'Bikie Inc, Organised Crime on the Glitter Strip.'
Some have been involved in alleged property scams on Phuket, the report says.
Danish, British and Norwegian bikie gang members have also been connected to the activities of Australian gang members, the report adds.
Phuket expat motorcycle riders have always distanced themselves from gang activities and drugs and drawn the distinction between bikers and ''bikies.'' An amnesty for Phuket's 429 illegal hotels and resorts is on the table. But those that do not repent and obey are likely to be named and shamed in the near future.
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Comments
Comments have been disabled for this article.
These clubs have been open for a long time, and now people are starting to complain?
People really didn't know about this or just looking the other way?
Posted by
Tbs
on
October 16, 2011 15:41
The Courier Mail has an impressively well presented website. I could not look through the 1701 stories on bikies that my query raised, but the ones I saw the headlines for make them sound "bah", as we say in Thailand.
Posted by
juswunderin
on
October 16, 2011 15:59
Really, what do you expect, when the vast majority of white Australians are descended from convicts deported from England? Criminality is in their genes. Any night spent in an Australian city is a very scary experience once they get some drinks inside them. If you think British city centres are bad at night, suggest you pay a visit to Australia. They're just like savages.
Posted by
Horatio
on
October 16, 2011 16:44
No comment from the island's top cop or the governor on this article even to find out if they are even aware of the situation.
Posted by
Scunner
on
October 16, 2011 18:31
Now the only thing we need is a few collisions between tuk tuk drivers and bike mafia.
Posted by
foobar
on
October 17, 2011 12:35
Having read the comments my plan to relocate in Australia is cancelled.
I'll think twice first. But if not Australia nor Patong, South Afica or the cold northern country, where can one go to... survive in peace and leisure for pleasure. Are we at an end of an era??
Posted by
carle
on
October 21, 2011 23:26
How the hell does the Mod not see that Horatio's comment is 100% racist.
I have seen you moderate racist comments in the past - why is this comment so different?
"Criminality is in their genes. "
"They're just like savages."
Appears the Mod of Phuket Wan is a racist and chooses when his belief should come into play.
Pathetic.. Now the question is, will this comment be published or just edited to suit yourself.
I also note that in many past comments the mod refuses to allow comments with incorrect information, yet you allow - "when the vast majority of white Australians are descended from convicts deported from England?"
That is 100% false. Far more immigrants came to Australia.
Posted by
Joel M
on
October 24, 2011 05:19
Editor Comment:
We can tell the difference between real racism and the ridiculous, Joel. This comment is so over the top that Anglo-Australian readers are unlikely to find it objectionable. These days, many Australians celebrate their convict ancestry. The people usually involved in making comments like this one are of the same race.
You're not making a lot of sense? You tend to do that when you don't have a strong argument.
Are you saying his comment is not racist? Are you saying it's ridiculous? Because I've seen your moderate comments and say its "ridiculous" in the past.
I also note that you chose to just fly past and not worry that his comment regarding the vast majority of white Australians are descended from convicts. I just wonder why some people get moderated when they post completely false information and some people get to keep the comment up?
Side note - I thought you are Australian.. Not 100% sure how I came to think that but as an Australian I can assure you its not celebrated, its not something people think or worry about. I simply wonder why you are so hypocritical in your moderation of comments - what some people do is OK, but others doing the same is not OK...
Posted by
Joel M
on
October 24, 2011 13:20
Editor Comment:
Joel, we don't censor comments unnecessarily. And we can tell the difference between a racist comment and one that is ridiculous. You are poorly informed - people in Australia are extremely proud of their convict backgrounds these days. Given the respective economies and outlooks of Britain and Australia, it's probably about time the favor was returned by Australia exporting its social dregs to Britain.
Racism is not OK, Joel. Ridiculous is OK. When you understand the difference, you will no longer be politically correct.
I note you throw around the tag ''racist'' with ease as in: ''Appears the Mod of Phuket Wan is a racist and chooses when his belief should come into play.''
What you should do, Joel, is learn what the word means. The inappropriate use of the word, especially by someone who doesn't even understand its meaning, is deeply offensive. While you're at it, look up ''hypocrisy,'' too.
Joel M, he didn't censor the comment because it happens to be true. And I'm an Australian too and I agree with Horatio. Far too many "bogan" Aussies here in Phuket who somehow managed to rub together enough money to make it over here, and then seem to blow all their cash on beer and tattoos and can't seem to make it home to Oz again. (Perhaps you're one of them and that's why you're so affronted?) And so many of them 'falling off balconies' too... Need I say more?
Posted by
Greg
on
October 24, 2011 19:42
Editor Comment:
That's a long bow, Greg, to take the debate with Joel M about racism and stretch it to suit your particular point of view. Australia was once a classless society but you prove that there now are some Australians who look down their nose at others. What Phuketwan does and why we do it is certainly not due to your second-guessing. And please, don't say any more.
Greg - If you really are Australian and you agree with Horatio then you must agree that you yourself fit into the "just like savages" category. Oh and sorry Greg - I'm sitting in Australia... It seems you're the one who isn't going home - maybe because you simply can't afford it?
Editor - Given that near (maybe more now) 50% of Australians were not born in Australia I can assure you the fact a small minority of Australians are descended from convicts has no impact today for Australians as a whole.. Perhaps bogan Australians thinks it's great (like Greg), but the majority don't even think about it unless its brought up in a racist tone.
Definition of Racism - The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, esp. so as to distinguish it as...
To read Horatio's comment and try to say that is not Racism is simply laughable. It very clear he considers the vast, vast, majority of Australians as "savages" and that we have Criminality is in our genes.
(moderated)
Posted by
Joel M
on
October 25, 2011 06:49
Editor Comment:
Your education is sadly lacking, Joel. Horatio's comment was clearly based on a long-ago Australia.You lack the wit to laugh and you prove instead that Australians are still capable of being narrow and foolish. Odd that Australia Day is still celebrated by all, given it marks the arrival of the first convicts.
And you still can't tell the difference between racism and being ridiculous. Better bogans than bigots.
Gotta wonder if Greg really is Aussie or just a bigot? I agree with Joel on most but I wouldn't call the editor racist, just hypocritical
Posted by
David
on
October 25, 2011 07:20
Editor Comment:
Thanks, David. What you and Joel fail to understand is that if an Anglo (Horatio) says something about other Anglos, it's not racist. It may be rude, but it's not racist. And his comment - about Australia's convict ancestry - is plainly ridiculous. On the other hand, for Joel to complain about ''racism'' then to call Phuketwan racist is appalling . . . and hypocritical. Both of you lack judgement.
To sum up your reply Editor - "I'm never wrong! Everyone else is always wrong"
Posted by
David W
on
October 25, 2011 08:44
Editor Comment:
Wrong again, David. When we are wrong, we admit it. But we give serious thought to what we report, and to the principles behind our actions. Try it sometime.
I thought with the title of the story, that we were going to read about the gangs of motorbike riding Thai youths that terrorise many neighborhoods on the island. Instead it's about Hells Angels and the like. Most of which do charity work globally and help thousands. Hmmmm
Posted by
agogohome
on
October 25, 2011 18:18
You are correct David. The editor is always correct and anyone who argues a point is always incorrect. It's a well known fact on a number of Internet based Phuket communities.
(moderated)
Posted by
Joel M
on
October 26, 2011 05:04
Editor Comment:
For someone who has shown no indication of apologising for falsely calling the editor a racist, you rabidly abuse others yet expect to be treated as an adult. Try your ''Phuket communities.''
And what are the Thai authorities doing about these thugs taking over patong? Patong is fast becoming a place of despair.
Posted by
titch
on
November 2, 2011 15:01
@editor, These days, many Australians celebrate their convict ancestry... That is very un-true, only 5% off the Australian population have convict ancestry blood.
Posted by
jamie
on
November 3, 2011 12:58
Editor Comment:
Clearly, those that don't have convict ancestry don't celebrate it. But with each generation, more now have convict ancestry than ever before. Where did you get that five percent figure, or are you guessing?
Reading these comments, it's clear to me that many Australians are unaware that their country is perceived worldwide as a nation of convicts (or descendants of convicts) that has an excessively high opinion of itself compared to its relative unimportance on the world stage. Australia, a tiny country (population-wise) in a remote corner of Asia filled with self-important loudmouths who seems to think the world revolves around their little country.
Posted by
Tim Matheson
on
November 4, 2011 20:04
Editor Comment:
And where precisely did you say you were from, Tim? A part of the old world that envies Australia's prosperity and confidence, from the sound of it. A pathetic attempt at starting a fight, really.
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Indeed, those guys are not bikers.
Posted by Jean-Paul Patrick on October 16, 2011 14:47