As the management of the Chatuchak weekend market moves from Bangkok City Hall to the State Railway of Thailand, organised criminal gangs are busy extorting money from vendors - who must pay if they want to continue doing business there.
Chatuchak market (Photo by Sarot Meksophawannakul)
Every square inch of Chatuchak weekend market and its surrounding footpaths is a gold mine as far as these extortionists, this Thai mafia, are concerned.
There are three criminal gangs operating there, two of them led by men in green uniforms. They have been running the market on the dark and behind the backs of city officials for decades. They demand under-the-table rental fees - protection money - from almost every trader in the market. Not even the hawkers working the sidewalk outside the market, or the motorcycle-taxis that pick up passengers outside the market, escape these predators.
This underground racket is said to generate more revenue for the mafia gangs than the 420 million baht in official rent the State Railway of Thailand earlier demanded from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in exchange for a renewal of the right to manage the market when the lease contract expired on Jan 1.
It was reported that even before the expiry of the lease contract, these criminals had already approached many traders in the market demanding that each of them pay under-the-table rent of between 10,000 and 30,000 baht, depending on where their stalls are located, if they want to stay in business there.
When asked about these racketeers on Wednesday, Deputy Transport Minister Chat Kuldilok ironically gave the assurance that the problem could be dealt with easily, because there were policemen in the market to maintain peace and order.
Chatuchak market (Photo by Sarot Meksophawannakul)
Did the minister’s assurance sound familiar? I believe many honest vendors would find it hardly convincing.
Remember the Democrat Party’s promise to regulate motorcycle taxi operations and to get rid of the gangs which have been extracting protection fees from the drivers by forcing them to buy their sleeveless vests? Just go and ask any motorcycle taxi-driver at the entrance of a soi whether he is still paying for protection.
Or the promise by a new metropolitan police chief that all entertainment nightspots will have to close by 2am. Just take a stroll along Silom Road, or through Patpong, and you will find out the truth.
As a former high-ranking police officer, Deputy Transport Minister Chat surely knows even better than most of us that to curb this criminal underground -- which is run by men in uniform, either green or brown -- is easier said than done.
Thanks to the State Railway of Thailand for its generosity in deciding to waive rental payments for the existing vendors for two months.
But in the end, the vendors will have to accept the harsh facts of life – that they have little choice and will have to pay under-the-table if they want to stay in business.