Twenty million tourists arrive in Thailand each year. Most are just for the beaches. Other taste its other specialty crime.

- A Thai beach. REUTERS / Chaiwat Subprasom -

"Beach, girls, gambling, ganja and gorgeous beaches " * , the 5 G described by the British author John Burdett summarize quite well the depraved atmosphere prevailing in the City of Angels, Bangkok, and especially for his little sister Pattaya , the "Disneyland of ass" described by some , where we find all the ingredients of good American thrillers.

In an article in The New York Times in June 2011, Thomas Fuller asked about the reasons for the appeal. He sees essentially one:corruption . He quotes Lieutenant Colonel Wiboon Bangthamai, the head of the Thai immigration police who, undaunted, tells how the customs of some border crossings are aware of weird computer problems when rich foreigners entering the country illegally .

Yet some are caught. They are rare, less than five per year. These are the big fish or more unconscious.

As the head of the Sicilian Mafia who was arrested March 30, 2012 at Bangkok airport . Vito Roberto Palazzol had perhaps live the good life in sunny Thailand? It should be extradited to Italy ... Or this Russian musician accused of pedophilia , or the arms dealer Viktor Boutextradited from Thailand to the United States. Even these three Iranian terrorists photographed with prostitutes in Pattaya a few hours before committing an attack in Bangkok in February.

In 2011, the arrest of Peter Andras Sakardi had contributed a little to burnish the image of the Thai police. The Hungarians wanted by Interpol and ran quiet days at his villa in Pattaya with its comfortable nest egg : 10 million euros, the fruit of his crimes in Europe.

Arrests very very exceptional

And then there are the settling of scores, as in 2007, two young Russian women shot on Jomtien beach in Pattaya and that the picturesgo around the world. Strangely, no one was arrested.  

Matters which are so common, but arrests are exceptional. Most often, the thugs quietly enjoy their retirement, sometimes investing in a gogo bar or tourist traps. Marguery Robert , 58, a former gang Hairpieces, and lives in Thailand since 1988 and visitors stroll on some elephants it is offered. It would have also invested in a few bars of Patpong whores, red light district of Bangkok.

Twenty million tourists arrive in Thailand each year. Most of them, fortunately, are just for the beaches. Europeans, Americans, Australians and Japanese did not need a visa. A rubber stamp at the airport fast and they are able to spend a few months or years on site.  

Crossing the border a few hours to Malaysia, Laos and Cambodia (another paradise for criminals) and is the assurance of a new rubber stamp and an extension of stay. "Forget" to leave the Kingdom, flow of quiet days in Pattaya and you will have little chance of landing one day the immigration police.

Even so, one manages to often tune of hundreds of baht . Bout Sakardi cases and therefore remain outstanding. Thai police wanted to look good vis-à-vis the FBI and Interpol. "Only international pressure can bend the Thais. They do not act with great zeal , said a police employee in a Western embassy in Bangkok. Here, with their nest eggs, they can buy a quiet life, a visa, a new passport and invest in restaurants or bars . " Thailand is the rear base of the mafia world.

Corruption is one of the greatest scourges of the country. A recent poll published in the daily Bangkok Post, 84% of Thais accept corruption in business and 51% politics. So do not expect much of the Thai authorities in this field.

The Kingdom is however the third country of extradition of criminals to the United States, the FBI has much more influence in Thailand that European police forces. France in particular happens only very occasionally to obtain the extradition of these criminals refugees in Thailand.

The diplomatic cables revealed by Wikileaks thus underlining the U.S. concerns , as in a cable, dated 2009:

"The borders of Thailand are extremely porous. And the country is highly vulnerable to international criminals of all kinds. Most of them have the knowledge and equipment beyond the means used by the secret services in Thailand. The courts do not have the facilities of a modern judiciary and the police, prosecutors and the judicial system do not work together effectively. The system still relies on confessions rather than on evidence. "

Thai authorities promise each year to clean house in the Kingdom. No avail. The 5 G of Thailand may attract much longer criminals around the world.