PHUKET: The Anti-Money Laundering Office has confiscated cash from the bank accounts of a taxi and tuk-tuk co-op and 16 individuals it says were profiting from intimidating and extorting Phuket resorts, a senior Phuket policeman has told Phuketwan.
About 200,000 baht was in the account of the KT Tuk Tuk Taxi Service, which operated in Phuket's Kata-Karon district, said Phuket police commander Major General Praveen Pongsirin.
The names of the 16 individuals have yet to be revealed.
Resort managers and owners have told police that taxi and tuk-tuk drivers in the west coast holiday district threatened to blockade businesses and demanded 20,000 baht or 30,000 baht payments to allow minivans and buses to pick up guests.
The alternative was to use taxis or tuk-tuks, the major general said.
He and a small team of Region 8 police conducted a secret investigation of the Karon taxi and tuk-tuk racket over four months in advance of the arrest of scores of drivers when police began their purge of the ''mafia.''
At that stage, taxi and tuk tuk drivers were planning to expand their ''business'' to act as guides for tour groups, squeezing more out of the pockets of tourists and resorts through intimidation and extortion.
Back in 2009, Phuketwan interviewed the then head of the KT co-operative in an article that began like this: ''So you want to talk to me?'' the deep voice on the other end of the telephone said. ''Aren't you afraid of me? I am the tuk-tuk Mafia.''
Porntep Chamkawn, who has since moved on from his role, was just joking, of course. In real life, he has a masters degree in political science and had been president of the KT for a year, trying to introduce some changes.
He told us then that minivans, buses, taxis and other forms of tourist transport were all part of the association's 511 vehicles.
''Only local people in the Karon area can become members,'' Khun Porntep told Phuketwan.
Yellow KT signs and yellow paint on the roadway then marked 54 spots where tuk-tuks and other members could park. People who want tuk-tuks had to go to those signs to find transport.
Tuk-tuk drivers from other parts of Phuket were not permitted to make pickups in the Karon district, Khun Porntep said, and that could at times lead to harsh words with outside tuk-tuk drivers.
If a driver happened to offend not once, but twice, then three times, Khun Porntep said: ''Please don't ask what happens next.''
Police and the Army are now dismantling the old Phuket taxi and tuk-tuk cartels and replacing them with metered cabs and a call-in system that will clear the roads of masses of parked tuk-tuks and taxis.
The sweep through Karon by Phuket's taxi task force team is expected to be followed by sweeps through Patong and at Phuket International Airport in August.
The Mayor of Kata-Karon and four council officials face six counts each for allegedly aiding the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers to act unlawfully.
About 200,000 baht was in the account of the KT Tuk Tuk Taxi Service, which operated in Phuket's Kata-Karon district, said Phuket police commander Major General Praveen Pongsirin.
The names of the 16 individuals have yet to be revealed.
Resort managers and owners have told police that taxi and tuk-tuk drivers in the west coast holiday district threatened to blockade businesses and demanded 20,000 baht or 30,000 baht payments to allow minivans and buses to pick up guests.
The alternative was to use taxis or tuk-tuks, the major general said.
He and a small team of Region 8 police conducted a secret investigation of the Karon taxi and tuk-tuk racket over four months in advance of the arrest of scores of drivers when police began their purge of the ''mafia.''
At that stage, taxi and tuk tuk drivers were planning to expand their ''business'' to act as guides for tour groups, squeezing more out of the pockets of tourists and resorts through intimidation and extortion.
Back in 2009, Phuketwan interviewed the then head of the KT co-operative in an article that began like this: ''So you want to talk to me?'' the deep voice on the other end of the telephone said. ''Aren't you afraid of me? I am the tuk-tuk Mafia.''
Porntep Chamkawn, who has since moved on from his role, was just joking, of course. In real life, he has a masters degree in political science and had been president of the KT for a year, trying to introduce some changes.
He told us then that minivans, buses, taxis and other forms of tourist transport were all part of the association's 511 vehicles.
''Only local people in the Karon area can become members,'' Khun Porntep told Phuketwan.
Yellow KT signs and yellow paint on the roadway then marked 54 spots where tuk-tuks and other members could park. People who want tuk-tuks had to go to those signs to find transport.
Tuk-tuk drivers from other parts of Phuket were not permitted to make pickups in the Karon district, Khun Porntep said, and that could at times lead to harsh words with outside tuk-tuk drivers.
If a driver happened to offend not once, but twice, then three times, Khun Porntep said: ''Please don't ask what happens next.''
Police and the Army are now dismantling the old Phuket taxi and tuk-tuk cartels and replacing them with metered cabs and a call-in system that will clear the roads of masses of parked tuk-tuks and taxis.
The sweep through Karon by Phuket's taxi task force team is expected to be followed by sweeps through Patong and at Phuket International Airport in August.
The Mayor of Kata-Karon and four council officials face six counts each for allegedly aiding the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers to act unlawfully.
.....and the 100 million Baht plus found in the account of one of these taxi drivers?
Posted by sir burr on July 28, 2014 10:34
Editor Comment:
He may well be one of the 16. We can't say.