PHUKET: Patong's bars and nightclubs are appealing to stay open until 4am as the Phuket west coast holiday capital ties itself in political knots over bribery claims.
While Rihanna and What the Pop Star Saw remains a talking point, it's the cash flowing into the Phuket corruption network that is raising eyebrows and tempers.
Today, fresh intrigue brought to centre stage again a man who says he remains in touch with fugitive former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Dressed all in white, perhaps having forgotten to change after the Vegetarian Festival concluded on Sunday, Chart Jindapol says he is not the bag man for the corruption ''mafia'' - but he does know the identity of the real Big Collector.
According to Khun Chart, the Big Collector who takes charge of all the corrupt money that flows from Patong's establishments is a special branch policeman named Wit.
Wit, says Khun Chart, acts on behalf of the 17 government groups and organisation that each take a cut from the bending of laws in Patong.
But Khun Chart is now at Wit's end, so to speak.
Last week he sent a letter to the present Prime Minister, Thaksin's sister Yingluick Shinawatra, copied to the Tourism and Sport department, the Royal Thai Police and the Interior Ministry, calling for an investigation of Mr Wit and his activities.
Khun Chart says his influence with Thaksin Shinawatra led to the former PM of Thailand recently posting on his Facebook page a call for Thai police to ''clean up'' Pattaya and Phuket.
The whole corruption circus in Patong surfaced soon after the campaign by the Tourism and Sport Ministry to end corruption on Phuket was announced on August 9.
Soon after, Khun Chart was anonymously denounced as the ''Mr Big'' collector for Patong, the person who allegedly collects all the bribe money and passes it on to many government officials.
Others, including the now-electorally-suspended Mayor of Patong, Pian Keesin, and his son Prab, have questioned who is really corrupt: the people who pay the money or the people who take it.
Both were named in a list of suspects released by the Department of Special Investigation as the anti-corruption campaign began in August.
Since then, the plot has grown a whole lot thicker.
Seated with Khun Chart today was Weerawit Kuresombut, President of the Entertainment Association of Patong.
''What more do the police want from us?'' he asked. ''We pay every month. We even organise a roster of people who are arrested to order so that the officers look as though they are doing their jobs.''
The ''tea money'' from nightclubs and restaurants amounted to 10 million baht a month, he said, with nightclubs paying as much as 100,000 baht while a small bar might pay 2000 or 3000 baht.
''The point is that the asking price has gone up 100 percent to 120 percent in the space of two years, and nobody can afford this,'' he said.
Some of the Patong nightclub venues have even resorted to becoming restaurants to avoid paying the cash demanded to allow them to open after legal trading hours end.
''I don't believe the local Phuket administration can fix this problem,'' he said. ''We need the national government's help.''
Such is the general unhappiness that many of the paying businesses are considering closing down for a night together in a formal protest, he said.
And of course, the corrupt bribes are another secret ''commission'' that all tourists pay for, unknowingly.
Prices are being boosted so high that tourists are having difficulty paying, said Khun Weerawit.
The dramatic increase in the cost of corruption was threatening Phuket's long-term future as a tourist destination, he said.
Today's media conference took place at the Public Complaints Centre of the Andaman in Phuket City, where Khun Chart is a director.
He is also an adviser to Thailand's trade representative and has recently returned from a trip to China.
While Rihanna and What the Pop Star Saw remains a talking point, it's the cash flowing into the Phuket corruption network that is raising eyebrows and tempers.
Today, fresh intrigue brought to centre stage again a man who says he remains in touch with fugitive former Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Dressed all in white, perhaps having forgotten to change after the Vegetarian Festival concluded on Sunday, Chart Jindapol says he is not the bag man for the corruption ''mafia'' - but he does know the identity of the real Big Collector.
According to Khun Chart, the Big Collector who takes charge of all the corrupt money that flows from Patong's establishments is a special branch policeman named Wit.
Wit, says Khun Chart, acts on behalf of the 17 government groups and organisation that each take a cut from the bending of laws in Patong.
But Khun Chart is now at Wit's end, so to speak.
Last week he sent a letter to the present Prime Minister, Thaksin's sister Yingluick Shinawatra, copied to the Tourism and Sport department, the Royal Thai Police and the Interior Ministry, calling for an investigation of Mr Wit and his activities.
Khun Chart says his influence with Thaksin Shinawatra led to the former PM of Thailand recently posting on his Facebook page a call for Thai police to ''clean up'' Pattaya and Phuket.
The whole corruption circus in Patong surfaced soon after the campaign by the Tourism and Sport Ministry to end corruption on Phuket was announced on August 9.
Soon after, Khun Chart was anonymously denounced as the ''Mr Big'' collector for Patong, the person who allegedly collects all the bribe money and passes it on to many government officials.
Others, including the now-electorally-suspended Mayor of Patong, Pian Keesin, and his son Prab, have questioned who is really corrupt: the people who pay the money or the people who take it.
Both were named in a list of suspects released by the Department of Special Investigation as the anti-corruption campaign began in August.
Since then, the plot has grown a whole lot thicker.
Seated with Khun Chart today was Weerawit Kuresombut, President of the Entertainment Association of Patong.
''What more do the police want from us?'' he asked. ''We pay every month. We even organise a roster of people who are arrested to order so that the officers look as though they are doing their jobs.''
The ''tea money'' from nightclubs and restaurants amounted to 10 million baht a month, he said, with nightclubs paying as much as 100,000 baht while a small bar might pay 2000 or 3000 baht.
''The point is that the asking price has gone up 100 percent to 120 percent in the space of two years, and nobody can afford this,'' he said.
Some of the Patong nightclub venues have even resorted to becoming restaurants to avoid paying the cash demanded to allow them to open after legal trading hours end.
''I don't believe the local Phuket administration can fix this problem,'' he said. ''We need the national government's help.''
Such is the general unhappiness that many of the paying businesses are considering closing down for a night together in a formal protest, he said.
And of course, the corrupt bribes are another secret ''commission'' that all tourists pay for, unknowingly.
Prices are being boosted so high that tourists are having difficulty paying, said Khun Weerawit.
The dramatic increase in the cost of corruption was threatening Phuket's long-term future as a tourist destination, he said.
Today's media conference took place at the Public Complaints Centre of the Andaman in Phuket City, where Khun Chart is a director.
He is also an adviser to Thailand's trade representative and has recently returned from a trip to China.
In August the claim was 60 million THB paid per month, I doubted and suggested a mixup of numbers, common in Thailand. The new number is 10 million per month, might be wrong as well...instead of pointing fingers at people then produce some evidence and get the people charged and convicted. DSI is in town hand over the information to them.
Link to same story in August http://phuketwan.com/tourism/phuket-corruption-accused-patong-man-says-big-collector-takes-million-baht-month-18684/
I would like to help with an answer to Khun Pian's question, the correct answer is both.
Posted by Sailor on October 15, 2013 15:43
Editor Comment:
10 million baht is just the entertainment component, Sailor.