be careful in visiting thailand: Do

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Subject: be careful in visiting thailand: Don Muang is a hotbed of crime




June 11, 1999  

Editorial

Don Muang is a hotbed of crime
The murders of six tourists just after their arrival at Don Muang
International
Airport is indeed a disturbing occurrence. But worse still is the fact that it
is not the first time this has happened. Tourists have long been preyed on by
criminal gangs operating at Don Muang. And it is obvious that the concerned
authorities have abysmally failed to improve security.
Police have arrested Ghanam Elsayed Muhamed, an illegal Egyptian tour guide,
and charged him with killing six tourists; two French, a German, an Austrian,
an Iraqi and a United Arab Emirates citizen; over the past 10 months. He
allegedly approached the tourists at the arrival lounge and took them in his
"black plate taxi", a private car illegally serving as a taxi, robbed and
killed them before dumping their bodies along the road side. Don Muang, the
country's gateway to the world, has become a den for crimes ranging from
simple
contraband sumggling to hard drugs and even human trafficking. For the most
part they do not affect tourists. What does, are the black plate taxi
operators, the airport mafia, the illegal tour guides, unlicensed money
changers and common thieves ready to snatch the belongings of weary
travellers.
The more serious crimes-robbery, mugging and murder-have invariably been
linked
to black plate taxi operators and illegal tour guides. Though they do not
often
murder their victims, the authorities' apparent willingness to tolerate their
presence is only begging for trouble. Several years ago a Japanese couple on
their honeymoon were lured by a black plate taxi to Nonthaburi, where they
were
robbed and killed.
Until recently most of the criminal gangs were Thai. But with the Amazing
Thailand campaign to promote the country as a tourist destination for 1998 and
1999, foreign gangs have jumped into the frey. With visa controls having been
relaxed, just about any foreign national is automatically given a 15-day visa.
While this is good for tourism, it has opened the way for foreign gangs to
gain
easy access to the kingdom. Over the last two years there has been a rise in
crime perpetrated by foreign nationals at the airport. Foreign gangs, often
cooperating with local ones, have smuggled illegal immigrants and women to

feed
the flesh trade from China, Burma, Cambodia and even Russia and Uzbekistan.
Gangs of Filipino conmen swindled people here before returning home and a
string of other crimes have been committed by gangs from Japan, Hong Kong
Taiwan and Pakistan.
This is not to put the blame on foreign criminal elements but to point out the
more complicated and wholly unsatisfactory situation that Don Muang has found
itself in. In such a situation crime is rife and security and safety take a
nosedive. And it will continue to do so if nothing is done. Ghanam Elsayed
Muhamed is just the latest suspected foreign criminal alleged to have hunted
victims at Don Muang. Since he is married to a Thai, he has picked up the
local
disguise of a tour guide and a black plate taxi operator.
Inspite of being illegal these operators and unlicensed guides, both locals
and
foreign, can be found any day hassling tourists at the overseas terminal. They
have been doing so for so long and causing so much problems it is a wonder why
the airport authority, the tourist police, the immigration police, Thai
International and the Air Force, who are in charge of Don Muang, have not put
an end to the problem.
It is easy enough to identify the illegal operators. But those who have tried,
invariably failed. They charged that the so-called "airport mafia", shadowy
figures who control the illegal taxis and guides, share vested interests with
airport bosses. It is high time that the government looks into the problem.
Leaving things to the concerned authorities clearly hasn't worked. Continuing
to do so could see Thailand facing the situation Florida did several years ago
where the murders of tourists made it a non-destination for people thinking of
a holiday.

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© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 1999
Last Modified: Fri, Jun 11, 1999
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