Bangkok was similarly the killing ground of choice for Macau's 14K triad. Last year it was locked in a bitter turf war with the Shui Fong mob over casinos in Macau and Cambodia. The conflict spilled over into Thailand when 14K gunmen executed three Shui Fong members gangland-style on Bangkok's airport expressway. Since the harsh 1950s suppression of Chinese secret societies in Bangkok's Chinatown by military strongman Phibun Songkram, the triads have never enjoyed a power base in Thailand. But that has not prevented a recent influx of Hong Kong and Taiwanese gangsters looking to diversify business into Thailand, and bringing their squabbles with them.
Thai authorities are increasingly worried about the pummeling their country's image is taking.
But easy visa regulations are just one part of the problem. Take the case of Akbar Shah, the 35-year old Pakistani gang boss shot dead by police on Sept. 13. He first came to Bangkok in the early '90s and quickly found his feet in Bangkok's South Asian underworld. By 1995 Akbar Shah had set up the Seven Stars tour agency, a front for both fake passport production and people-smuggling. In October that year his men beat up two Bangladeshis from another travel agency, ostensibly in a hard-knuckle protection racket.