Police deny Pattaya is a crime haven

[kamui]

UK CRIMINALS ON THE RUN: Police deny Pattaya is a crime haven

 

Published on April 13, 2005

The Nation

 

Reject British media claims that resort city is a magnet for low-lifes; admit more international cooperation needed

 

Police yesterday defended Pattaya?s image amid growing concerns that the resort city has become a new hideout for criminals and fugitives from the United Kingdom.

 

Tourist Police commander Maj-General Panya Maman repudiated allegations that Pattaya is a magnet for British criminals and fugitives.

 

?For Pattaya, there is nothing to be worried or afraid of,? he said.

 

British newspaper The Guardian recently published a feature story [see report below] claiming an increasing number of British criminals and fugitives were turning to Pattaya to seek haven and thrive in its underground economy.

 

The article cited four main reasons why British criminals are attracted to Pattaya: an abundance of women, ease of finding accommodation, the chance to get a new identity, and illicit ways to make money.

 

Panya said police had eliminated organised-crime networks in Pattaya over the past six years.

 

He added that many police agencies, such as the Central In-vestigation Bureau and the Immi-gration Bureau, had increased efforts to arrest and extradite foreign criminals and cooperate with police agencies from other countries. Panya said the main problem was working out how to obtain arrest warrants from the authorities abroad.

 

?Information sharing will be the key [to solving the problem],? he said.

 

Colonel Somnuek Chankate, superintendent of Pattaya sub-district police station, also denied Pattaya had become a new playground for British criminals.

 

He said other tourist cities were also vulnerable to similar allegations, as criminals could also find women, hideouts and new identities in those places.

 

Somnuek said police had never condoned organised crime, be it foreign or domestic, in Pattaya.

 

He said British nationals were no threat to Pattaya?s reputation, as their criminal activities in the area were minimal.

 

Thailand has good cooperation with other countries on extradition, he added. ?We will arrest and extradite anyone who is confirmed to be a fugitive,? Somnuek said.

 

He said Britons were not even among the top-three nationalities of foreign criminals in Pattaya, which comprised Germans , Koreans and Chinese.

[SiamIAm]

This from a guy who rules it a suicide when a foreigner is found tied up, bag over his head, knife in his back, lying dead face down in his room with all his money, luggage and passport missing... ::