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Vancouver Jay
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Massage tycoon `missing'
Police sceptical of bribery claim link
Bangkok Post reporters
Suratchada Waewsri arrives at Huay Khwang police station yesterday to report the disappearrance of her partner, massage parlour tycoon Chuwit Kamolvisit. - Sarot Meksophawannakul
Massage parlour tycoon Chuwit Kamolvisit, who shook police with his claim he paid them 12 million baht a month in bribes, is missing, according to his common-law wife Suratchada Waewsri.
Ms Suratchada said she last saw her husband on Wednesday morning.
He had gone to iTV on Vibhavadi-Rangsit road for a television interview.
She picked him up afterward and was driving him home when he received a call on his mobile phone. He then asked to be dropped off near Lat Phrao intersection, saying he had another interview to attend but did not say where.
Ms Suratchada said she saw Mr Chuwit hop on a motorcycle taxi.
His lawyer and close friend, Chaiwat Krairirk, called her up later to ask if Mr Chuwit was with her. He said Mr Chuwit had missed an appointment at a restaurant on Sukhumvit.
Ms Suratchada told police Mr Chaiwat said he phoned her husband on Wednesday evening to check on him. Mr Chuwit answered the call, said he was ``being detained,'' and hung up.
Ms Suratchada said her husband received numerous phone calls from police after he revealed the extent of the bribes he was paying.
Mr Chuwit, who runs a chain of up-scale massage parlours in Bangkok, earlier claimed he made payments totalling 12 million baht month to various police precincts to ensure his business was not troubled by the law.
He has been charged in connection with the January demolition of shops and bars at Sukhumvit Square nightstrip _ he had bought the land_ and with operating a prostitution business.
Ms Suratchada said she decided to report her husband missing yesterday morning. He had been unusually tense since going public about the bribery, she added.
Pol Col Pramote Pathumwong, deputy chief of metropolitan police division 1, said it was too early to conclude that Mr Chuwit had disappeared. The suspect was under police watch and it was unlikely anyone would take him hostage because of his claims about bribery.
However, Pol Lt-Gen Damrongsak Nilkuha, the city police commissioner, said Mr Chuwit could have been kidnapped and his life may be in danger.
He had ordered a searching for the man, including inquiries into whether he had any conflicts outside the massage parlour business.
National police chief Sant Sarutanont said it was hardly credible that Mr Chuwit had been kidnapped. If he was, his abductor would not have allowed him to answer the phone to say that he was being detained in the first place. Immigration police were keeping watch in case he tried to flee overseas.
Investigators were also running a check on the tax records of Mr Chuwit's massage parlour business. If he managed to pay 12 million baht a month to police, it could be inferred that he had income of at least a billion baht a year, and this should have been reflected in his income tax statements.
If not, Mr Chuwit would land another charge of tax evasion.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said it was very likely Mr Chuwit had gone into hiding. The man would have found it very hard to prove his bribery allegations without evidence.
Kidnapping Mr Chuwit while the media and the government were on his case would have been very unwise
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Nation:
MASSAGE-PARLOUR KING: Chuwit missing, wife says
Published on Jul 11, 2003
Suspects 'rogue policemen may have abducted him to sort out bribery allegations'
The wife of embattled commercial-sex kingpin Chuwit Kamolvisit yesterday filed a missing-person report with police, saying her husband disappeared after his sensational revelations to the media on Wednesday that he paid Bt12 million in police bribes every month.
"Chuwit did not come home last night [Wednesday] and I haven't been able to contact him since around noon [that same day]," his wife Suratchatha Waewsri said yesterday.
Suratchatha said she decided to alert police before the standard 24-hour waiting period was up because she feared for her husband's safety.
"I suspected that some rogue policemen might try and abduct him in order to sort out the bribery allegation," she said.
Family friend Chaiwat Kririrk said the last time he heard from Chuwit was during a phone conversation at 9pm on Wednesday. He said Chuwit sounded stressed.
"I tried all day [yesterday] but failed to reach him. Chuwit briefly answered his cell-phone last night and told me that he was being detained. The line was suddenly disconnected," Chaiwat said.
He said he had requested Padung Limcharoenrat, private secretary to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, to intervene in the matter.
Before his sudden "disappearance'', Chuwit claimed police had framed him over the demolition of a strip of beer bars and tourist shops on Sukhumvit Road, even though he paid them kickbacks.
Pol Maj-General Theparat Rata-nawanit, who is heading the demolition investigation, said investigators were trying to confirm Chuwit's whereabouts. Theparat expressed concern that Chuwit might try to jump bail and played down Suratchatha's abduction fears.
He said investigators could not verify Chuwit's call to Chaiwat.
National police chief General Sant Sarutanond said he remained sceptical as to whether his subordinates would abduct Chuwit.
"The bribery allegation is clearly a ploy. The tax officials should have audited Chuwit's earnings if he could really afford to pay police Bt12 million a month," he said.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shina-watra said Chuwit might want to lay low for a while after kicking up a storm with the bribery allegation and not having the proof to back it up.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 11:33 pm on July 10, 2003
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DrLove
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I think ex-bar owners at Soi 10 couldn't care less .....
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 5:11 am on July 11, 2003
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caronte
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Vancouver Jay, you forget to mention the comment of Taksin about this matter.....no way any massage Tycoon can dare to blaim the police to take bribes without having some strong evidences in his hands.........
IMHO, the massage Tycoon has taken the right decision to hide from the revenge of some police officer......also this is thailand!
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 5:36 am on July 11, 2003
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Vancouver Jay
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Massage boy screwed up. He played his hand totally wrong.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 6:52 am on July 11, 2003
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ducksnutz
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VJ,
but don't you think the classic TIT is that instead of them being concerned about the cops getting 12mill and the amount of corruption that must be associated with this, they instead decide to hit up the guy with tax evasion as well, because if he could afford 12 mill in bribes he must be making around a billion and he ain't reporting 'that' on his tax returns.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 7:33 am on July 11, 2003
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JackRabbit
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JackRabbit present...
I think this dude has made crocs burp... or :
(Exhibitor voice) "Ladies and Gentlemen , the hottest swimsuit fashion for this summer is "Diver's Coverall".
It's fashioned from concrete and as the name tells, it covers the diver from head to toe. Persons using this suit will NEVER need another beachfashion item..."
JR
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Bangkok Women : Meet Beautiful Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:15 am on July 11, 2003
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Vancouver Jay
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Thre's lots of shady characters
Lots of dirty deals
Every name's an alias
In case somebody squeals
It's the lure of easy money
It's gotta very strong appeal
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 8:44 am on July 11, 2003
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texasfarang
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There was an old ex-pat hanging out in Tahitian Queen telling stories about missing/dead people in Pattaya. ÝOne in particular was a farang bar owner who was thrown off the top floor of Pattaya Centre Hotel and his death was reported as a hit and run.
Ý
The group I was with ate up his stories with a spoon, he kept telling 'em as long as they/we bought the beer. ÝThe more he drank the wilder the wilder the Ýstories...Russian Mob versus Thai Mob etc.. ÝIt made for an interesting evening, besides talking about sex and TG's gets old after the second day.
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:26 am on July 11, 2003
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MickyK1971
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Just read this on-line in the Bangkok Post;
Chuwit Kamolvisit resurfaced early yesterday claiming to have been kidnapped, drugged and abandoned on the roadside.
The drowsy-looking massage parlour tycoon spoke from Bamrungrad hospital after a truck driver found him on the motorway in Lat Krabang and drove him to the local police station.
Mr Chuwit appeared semi-conscious and went into intermittent convulsions when he arrived at the station. His common-law wife Suratchada Waesri rushed him to hospital.
The businessman went missing for two nights after claiming that he paid city police 12 million baht a month in bribes to turn a blind eye to his massage business.
He has been charged in connection with the January demolition of shops and bars at Sukhumvit Square nightstrip _ he had bought the land _ and with operating a prostitution business.
Mr Chuwit claimed he had been intercepted in a taxi by four men after having dinner with friends and Chaiwat Krairirk, his lawyer.
The men, whom he believed were state officials, dragged him from the taxi, blind-folded him, and detained him at an unknown location for two nights.
His abductors intoxicated and drugged him. He was put in a car before being ditched on the motorway.
``I heard one man calling their boss asking for permission to kill me,'' Mr Chuwit said.
He tried to hitch a ride but no one would pick him up. He stood in the middle of the motorway to attract attention. Thongkam Kamsaen, a truck driver, stopped and gave him a ride to Lat Krabang police station.
Mr Thongkam said his wife, who was with him in the truck, had seen Mr Chuwit in the news and recognised him.
He said Mr Chuwit smelled of alcohol and could hardly pull himself together. He introduced himself and kept repeating he had been abducted.
By the time he reached hospital, the seizures had worsened and Mr Chuwit had passed out. He was taken to the intensive care unit and doctors gave him injections to revive him.
Bamrungrad hospital director Chatree Duangnet said Mr Chuwit experienced seizures and fatigue but was in a safe condition. However, the doctor refused to say whether he was drugged.
Pol Col Pramotch Pathumwongse, deputy commander of city police division 1, said Mr Chuwit was too tired to be interrogated about the kidnapping.
Doctors, however, had taken his blood and urine samples.
Pol Col Pramotch promised a full and fair probe to establish whether Mr Chuwit had been taken hostage.
National police chief Sant Sarutanont was quick to rule out abduction, saying Mr Chuwit had been so tense and anxiety-stricken that he gave accounts which were ``inconsistent with the facts''. Had he been kidnapped, his captors could not have freed him so easily, said Pol Gen Sant.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra found the kidnapping claim unconvincing. But he promised to be fair to Mr Chuwit.
Mr Chuwit said he was disappointed the premier and the police chief thought he invented the story.
Before his disappearance, Mr Chuwit said the bribery claim had put his life in danger. One senior officer regularly pocketing tea money was an influential deputy commander of a city police precinct, he claimed.
``I never said police were sleazy. In our society, it's a norm to pay your way,'' said the owner of the Davis Group, one of Bangkok's biggest chains of upscale massage parlours. He was not prepared to be a sitting duck and had to dig up the dirt to defend himself.
``But when I finally came out with the truth, I was labelled a liar. How can you be so hypocritical,'' Mr Chuwit asked.
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 6:15 pm on July 11, 2003
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Vancouver Jay
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I'd pay good money to read the toxicology report on Chuwit.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 9:49 pm on July 11, 2003
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