Thailand News

Why is Thailand heaven for foreign criminals? Thai media talk to immigration

Published

4 years ago

05/08/2018

Why is Thailand heaven for foreign criminals? Thai media talk to immigration | Samui Times

In what they called an all bases covered exclusive influential Thai media posed a question to a leading figure at Thai immigration:

Why do foreign fugitives and criminals love to come and settle and hide out in Thailand.

Many of the responses of Pol Col Thatchapong Sarawanangkoon would read as a list why anyone would want to come and live in Thailand.

Thai Rath started in their preamble saying that especially in the last ten years or so there have been many cases of high profile criminals hiding out in Thailand.

They printed pictures and profiles of some of the ones that the Thais with the help of foreign agencies have managed to track down and return to justice.

These included Japan’s number one wanted Yakuza 72 year old Chigeharu Shirai who was in the kingdom for years. There was also former KGB agent Victor Anatoljevitch and the Filipino kidnapper Patrick Philip Gutierrez.

But the list went on and on of those who saw Thailand as the perfect haven

Pol Col Thatchapong outlined why.

He said that one reason was ease of entry to Thailand, ease of leaving and the fact that there are lots of natural unmanned borders.

High up on the list was also the ease of movement in the country itself – province to province travel was unrestricted and simple.

Then he explained the other reasons: There is plenty of everything.

He spoke of internet everywhere, lots of food to eat, a cheap cost of living especially when compared to many parts of the world.

“Everything is easy” he said and the Thai people are lovely”.

Asked if foreign criminals take into consideration the ability of the Thai cops to arrest them he demurred saying that that was not high up on their thinking. They were more likely to consider the other factors that he had already mentioned related to the ease of living in Thailand.

Thai Visa / Thai Rath