Chidchai yesterday chaired the meeting, which was held in preparation for the third Asean Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime to be held in Singapore in November. Other issues to be included in the workshops are cyber-crimes, violations of intellectual property rights, illegal trafficking in drugs and precursor chemicals, weapons smuggling, transnational criminal organisations and terrorism, money laundering and sea piracy. Asean is made up of Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The establishment of such a centre was agreed upon in principle in 1997, but it has not yet been created. The source said Manila also raised the matter yesterday, but that many countries expressed reservations.
Countries hit by the financial crisis also have reservations about paying for the centre.
To have such centre, each country has to contribute financially and provide officers. This would cost a large sum of money. Panel spokesman Kobsak Chutikul said officials accepted small bribes to ignore illegal activities, such as drug and contraband smuggling and illegal gambling dens in border areas. The Chart Thai MP also said officials accepted bribes from undocumented aliens, whose number had increased to three million. Most illegal immigrants from Burma, Laos and Cambodia were employed as underpaid workers in factories or hired as domestic helpers.