Bathtub Tycoon falls out with Barnharn

[Yappofloyd]

Although I am all for extended coverage for those non-conformist and colourful political characters (being an Australian , we have our fair share), I am perplexed as to why Khun Chuwit, Sia Ang , receives so much media coverage unless it is because he epitomises the contradictions inherent in buisness and politics here. He does after all make fro better photo-shoots and quotes than most.....

Here is a man who by his own admission made himself rich by running massage parlours for many years and maintained his illegal activities by paying off the police and local officials, of course a usual practice in such buisnesses in this and many countries.

Whilst I have no moral judgement on the sex trade, it is still an illegal activity in the Kingdom, although hopefully soon to be codified as legal in order to protect sex-workers. And last I remember, although it is as common as Phad Thai, the payment of bribes to public officials/police is unlawful. Especially, in such a prolonged, widespread and systematic manner.

I know that Khun Chuwit's public admissions and naming caused much 'shame' to certain public officials/police who would prefer to remain away from the limelight of potential prosecution but with his admissions this would not, prima facie , be a difficult case to prosecute. Even for a corrupt prosecutor!

Undoubtedly, we should distinguish Khun Chuwit from the other big sex-buisness, sleaze bags who exploit sex-workers in this country as he probably gave his staff many holidays, good pay, a health plan and pensions for their retirement! However, somehow I doubt it.

And what of the credibility for holding public office of a man who has by his own very public admissions engaged in significant and prolonged bribery and corruption? Well, we should of course give him the benefit of the doubt as I have no problems with people turning over a 'new leaf' especially when it is purportedly to highlight the hyprocrasy of politics and a wish to fight for justice for all. However, when Khun Chuwit uses a sledgehammer to symbolise his drive for justice against corruption it seems to me that he is upset that he didn't gain access to a bigger slice of the corruption cake.

Waiting to sell his 3 massage parlours until he knew he was definately elected seems a bit strange for a man of new principals and I wonder about his credibility given a previous high-profile promise;

...Mr Chuwit, who pledged to transform his six-rai plot of land at the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 10 into a park equipped with a library during his recent campaign for Bangkok governor, said he intended to open the park to the public before the Feb 13 general election... Although the park is privately owned, Mr Chuwit said he would not take the land back and turn it into a commercial complex ``at least during my lifetime''... (Bangkok Post, November 21, 2004)

I am not saying that Khun Chuwit is potentially better or worse than other pollies. But matters of fraud and corruption, especially involving public officials, if convicted, will usually get one barred from being elected to public office in most countries.

Really, does anyone, beyond the scapegoats, get prosecuted for corruption in this country or do they all end up as pollies or serving in inactive posts?

I don't want to be cynical but.....

[GWR]

If he'd had a genuine desire for a completely fresh start, he wouldn't have got into bed with Barnharn.

[The Enforcer!]

If he'd had a genuine desire for a completely fresh start, he wouldn't have got into bed with Barnharn.
I'll drink to that!!

Although it was probably his best bet at getting a Parliamentary seat as First Nation (his old party) was unlikely to win 5% of national vote or win one Constituency.

The Enforcer!

[Yappofloyd]

and I wonder about his credibility given a previous high-profile promise;

"...Mr Chuwit, who pledged to transform his six-rai plot of land at the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 10 into a park equipped with a library during his recent campaign for Bangkok governor, said he intended to open the park to the public before the Feb 13 general election... Although the park is privately owned, Mr Chuwit said he would not take the land back and turn it into a commercial complex ``at least during my lifetime''... (Bangkok Post, November 21, 2004) "

I don't want to be cynical but.....
In Khun Chuwits defence he did announce in late Feb the plan for the park and that it will be completed by later this year, see here (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=3433836#post3433836) .

[Yappofloyd]

Another update in the colourful saga of Khun Chuwit. Of course had the case gone ahead it would have been very interesting indeed.

Court throws out Sant's suit against Chuwit Bkk 27/01/06 Post

The Criminal Court yesterday threw out defamation charges filed by a former police chief against Chart Thai deputy leader Chuwit Kamolvisit on the grounds of expiry of the statute of limitations. The court said Sant Sarutanont filed a complaint in Nov 2003 over alleged defamatory remarks made by Mr Chuwit against him. Mr Chuwit, who at the time still owned several upscale massage parlours, made the comments at a press conference on July 23 of the same year. He claimed to have made massive bribe payments to ''a tall police general who is an executive of the Royal Thai Police '' in return for the police general turning a blind eye to his illegal businesses.

Mr Chuwit also produced a receipt showing he had paid 880,000 baht for 20 boxes of wine which he gave out as gifts. The comments were published in local newspapers the next day and were followed by several interviews given by Mr Chuwit. The tycoon later claimed that Pol Gen Sant held shares, given to him for free, in a number of massage parlours. The court said that although Mr Chuwit did not name names, facts from similar cases against Mr Chuwit confirmed ''a tall police general'' referred to Pol Gen Sant. However, a defamation case must be filed within three months from the date the damaged party learns of an act of defamation against him or her.

The court said Pol Gen Sant, then national police chief, must have been aware of Mr Chuwit's remarks since July 24. Therefore, it was impossible that the issue had only come to Pol Gen Sant's attention in August, as stated in his lawsuit. The court also pointed out Pol Gen Sant had testified to a House committee about the bribe allegations against him in late July. The court ruled that Pol Gen Sant was not empowered to sue Mr Chuwit and therefore could not consider whether any defamation had taken place.

[GWR]

Chuwit told to pay up
Court says he, four others must pay Bt5.7m for Sukhumvit raid
Published on August 16, 2007

The South Bangkok Civil Court yesterday ordered Chat Thai Party deputy leader Chuwit Kamolwisit and four other defendants to pay Bt5.7 million to vendors for destroying their stalls and shops located at Sukhumvit Soi 10 four years ago.

The judges ruled out damages payments demanded by the plaintiffs from 30 defendants including two influential military officers on the grounds of insufficient evidence against them.

The court-ordered payment also included 7.5 per cent interest on the Bt5.7 million until the full amount is paid.

The 30 defendants include military NCO officers, private security guards and Lt Colonel Himali Phewphan and Major Thanyathep Thammathorn. The plaintiffs have not yet decided whether they will appeal against the ruling to include the 30 men.

According to facts verified in the verdict, Chuwit and three business entities paid the military officers to level 135 beer bars, souvenir stalls and gift shops located on the plot on the night of January 26, 2003 in order to repossess the expensive land plot.

During the overnight operation, which made news headlines, heavy machinery and trucks were mobilised as the 30 defendants destroyed the stalls with jackhammers and various hand-tools before erecting barbed-wire fences and barricades around the plot.

Two other defendants were Chalee Kan-ngern and Thawatchai Rungrawee, who represented two companies that reportedly planned to build a massage parlour on the plot. The other defendant was Sukhumvit Silver Star Co Ltd, which is owned by Chuwit.

The Bt5.7 million is to be paid in scattered amounts to eight of 25 original plaintiffs for property damage. It is possible that other plaintiffs may soon file individual civil lawsuits against any or all defendants.

Chuwit, the two officers and another 127 people that conducted the operation, including the military officers sued in the civil lawsuit, were acquitted by the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court on July 13, 2006 on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

Kesinee Tangkiew
The Nation


http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/08/16/national/national_30045189.php

[mdechgan]

Was Chuwit ever convicted or did he ever admit to it?

Who's plot of land was it? Was it his in the first place?

Let's say you have a piece of land, but lots of people have been living on it and setting up stalls on it. How do you kick them off the land if you were the rightful owner?

I heard all one had to do was live on a plot of land and the owners could not kick you out without fair compensation.

[GWR]

This report calls Chuwit the landowner. It also suggests he was attempting something rather underhand;although to be fair it is really difficult to remove people occupying or squatting on land. That said, these can hardly be construed as suitable actions for a man who has some pretensions to be the voice of ordinary folks in their struggle against bureaucracy.

http://2bangkok.com/chuwit03.jpg
(Photo: 2Bangkok.com)
Chuwit and sledgehammer - January 3, 2005
Latest Chuwit billboard: Quash the cheating people, expose the evil people, do not fear the influential!

http://2bangkok.com/chuwit.shtml

Chuwit ordered to cough up Bt5.7 mln
[Photo: 2bangkok.com - Chuwit and sledgehammer - January 3, 2005
Latest Chuwit billboard: Quash the cheating people, expose the evil people, do not fear the influential!]

http://2bangkok.com/chuwit.shtml

(BangkokPost.com) – The Civil Court ordered Sukhumvit Silver Star Co., Ltd, of which former massage parlour tycoon-cum-Chart Thai party deputy leader Chuwit Kamolwisit is director, to pay financial compensation to business owners affected by the demolition of Sukhumvit Square four and a half years ago.

The strip served as a watering hole for throngs of beer punters before it was demolished in the early hours of January 26, 2003 by a group of anonymous men.

The court ordered Sukhumvit Silver Star Co, Ltd. to pay 5.7 million baht to six business operators affected by the razing of Sukhumvit Square with an annual interest rate of 7.5 percent until the required amount has been fully disbursed.

Mr Chuwit was arrested in the parking lot of a massage parlour shortly after the incident in January 2003. He was a director of Sukhumvit Silver Star Co, ran many massage parlours in Bangkok and owned the six-rai piece of land at the corner of Sukhumvit soi 10 where Sukhumvit Square stood before it was abruptly razed.

Mr Chuwit denied he had ordered the strip's demolition, saying he had leased the land to Nickel Co for commercial development.

Police believe Nickel Co was set up especially for the demolition of lessees' properties at Soi 10, in particular beer bars, as the operators had a long-standing dispute with the landowner.
May expire:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=120902

[mdechgan]

Does anyone know how to get rid of squatters? That's just unfair. I would be really pissed if someone squatted on my land.

So all people have to do to get land is call up a bunch of friends and family, built some shelter on somone's land and they can't kick you off without compensation? That's like free money to the squatters. While the landowners are stressed out having to pay huge interest for the land they bought with loans.

[Yappofloyd]

I wonder if he will now take back the park 'donated' to the BMA and build a new massage complex to pay the compensation?

Massage tycoon ordered to pay up Bkk Post breaking news 16/08/07
(BangkokPost.com) – The Civil Court ordered Sukhumvit Silver Star Co., Ltd. - of which former massage parlour tycoon-cum-Chart Thai party deputy leader Chuwit Kamolwisit is director - to pay financial compensation to business owners affected by the demolition of Sukhumvit Square four and a half years ago.

The strip served as a watering hole for throngs of beer punters before it was demolished in the early hours of January 26, 2003 by a group of anonymous men.

The court ordered Sukhumvit Silver Star to pay 5.7 million baht to six business operators affected by the razing of Sukhumvit Square with an annual interest rate of 7.5 percent until the required amount has been fully disbursed. Mr Chuwit was arrested in the parking lot of a massage parlour shortly after the incident in January 2003. He was a director of Sukhumvit Silver Star, which ran many massage parlours in Bangkok and owned the six-rai piece of land at the corner of Sukhumvit soi 10 where Sukhumvit Square stood before it was abruptly razed.

Mr Chuwit denied he had ordered the strip's demolition, saying he had leased the land to Nickel Co. for commercial development.

Police believe Nickel Co. was set up especially for the demolition of lessees' properties at Soi 10, in particular the beer bars, as the operators had a long-standing dispute with the landowner.

[mdechgan]

I wonder if he will now take back the park 'donated' to the BMA and build a new massage complex to pay the compensation?


Well he could do that and get some money back from the government after paying the fines.

We all know many police officers and politicians that would eagerly visit the place. Unless Chuwit was extorted by them for protection therefore he will have to give those lovely services for free.

[Scuba22]

While I am not an expert in Thai law, my understanding is that the legalities surrounding Chuwit's colorful history are fairly complex.

Start with the massage parlor business. Technically, the owner is renting out the room for you to get a massage from a girl. Nothing illegal about that. What goes on behind closed doors is between the man and woman. Similar to the gogo bars, the patron pays the bar a fee to take the girl out of the bar, compensating for lost revenue; what happens outside the bar is between the man and the woman. Lots of "wink winks" here obviously, but the system is designed to protect the business owner against a prostitution charge.

So, according to Chuwit, the only laws he broke were bribery laws - in other words, laws the police forced him to break; therefore the police are total hypocrites in charging him with violations they themselves had previously demanded of him.

The property case is more convoluted. Before the 1997 crisis, property owners routinely pledged their assets to multiple debts to multiple banks, leading to multiple claims once the debtor defaulted. If someone wanted to buy the land, they would have to wade through this mess of claims, for years in the courts until it settled. In the meantime, people would move in, various mafia types would collect money from them, and life would go on. Whoever asks to see the title from a landlord? Usually, you assume the landlord actually owns the property when you pay him - but in this case, the rent-collecting landlord and the actual owner were not the same people.

IMO the just resolution would have been for the police to find the mafia guys collecting rent and force them to pay to relocate all those people, but that's probably not practical in Thailand.

There is plenty of vacant land around Bangkok, and there's a strong case to be made that land becomes property through mixing labor with it - that is, people who are not using land should not be able to withhold it from people who are using it. Different countries have different levels of squatters rights, but if someone has been living somewhere for a long time, it does make sense that this fact should entitle them to some rights.

Of course the demolition was a poor way of handling the situation, and Chuwit is an odd character (I saw him at midnight Christmas mass one year!), it's not entirely clear to me what his game is besides staying alive. But I do think that he's playing a game, and having fun at it too.

Scuba

[BangkokPundit]

Squatters in Thailand can obtain rights to property through adverse possession (http://www.bia.co.th/011.html):

Ownership to immovable property can be obtained by adverse possession for a period of ten years. Ownership so obtained is superior to the ownership shown on a title deed or other similar document. The court may order that a new title deed be issued to the adverse possessor subject to adequate proof. Ownership, however, cannot be obtained by adverse possession to state property within the public domain.

This is an uninterrupted 10 year period.

[mdechgan]

Lets say you buy some land about 400 square meters. You plan to build a house 1 day but haven't got around to it. So you just leave the property for a couple years becaue you are too busy to check up on the land which is quite far away from your current home. You bought the land legally with your hard earned cash. Have the title deeds, bank documents everything.

While not knowing, some family builds a small shack or small immovable house on your land. They never pay rent, they have no contract. They start to farm it, dig up soil and sell it.

So one day you finally decide to build that house. But there is a family living on your land saying they won't move because they have been living and farming on the land for a couple years now and your land now has a big fish pond because they dug up the soil and sold it. They won't leave with you paying compensation for all their troubles and to move. So what do you do?
You need to get them off your land and need to fill up that fish pond.

[BangkokPundit]

Lets say you buy some land about 400 square meters. You plan to build a house 1 day but haven't got around to it. So you just leave the property for a couple years becaue you are too busy to check up on the land which is quite far away from your current home. You bought the land legally with your hard earned cash. Have the title deeds, bank documents everything.

While not knowing, some family builds a small shack or small immovable house on your land. They never pay rent, they have no contract. They start to farm it, dig up soil and sell it.

So one day you finally decide to build that house. But there is a family living on your land saying they won't move because they have been living and farming on the land for a couple years now and your land now has a big fish pond because they dug up the soil and sold it. They won't leave with you paying compensation for all their troubles and to move. So what do you do?
You need to get them off your land and need to fill up that fish pond.

You evict them the same way you kick off someone who starts camping on your land or rents and won't leave. It is 10 years. If they haven't been there 10 years they can't claim title of the land. One you start some form of action to evict them, the 10 year period is suspended - it would be reset as well.

The issue of compensation varies because if you were aware that they were building the house and in someway encouraged them, they could claim estoppel or perhaps unjust enrichment. There are so many other factors involved here, perhaps they owned the land next door and were under a mistaken assumption that part of your land formed party of their land - not that uncommon actually. If you have no knowledge and they knew it was your land and acted anyway, it is likely they would get nothing.

[GWR]

Oh the perils of belonging to a privately-owned party! Wonder if Chuwit ever wonders why he didn't stick to running his own party:

Former massage tycoon won’t run for MP

(BangkokPost.com) - Chuwit Kamolvisit declared Friday that he will not contest the role of MP under the Chart Thai party.

His announcement came after Deputy party leader Kanchana Silpa-archa turned down Mr Chuwit's demand that he take the top spot on the party list.

Mr Chuwait said he will not change his mind even if the party resolves to meet his demand.

He also called on party leader Banharn Silpa-archa to adapt his outlook and listen more to opinions of party executives.

Mr Chuwit claimed that Mr Banharn only listened to opinions of the Silpa-archa family.
Link may expire soon:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=123001

[Yappofloyd]

Thanks to Ron for finding this and posting it on the front page

The people’s guard dog, THAI TAKES By PHILIP GOLINGAI Saturday January 26, 2008 The Star

ALONG a hectic Bangkok highway there’s a billboard showing the angry face of Chuvit Kamolvisit, his left eyebrow raised and his right index finger pointing accusingly. The message, in Thai, proclaims: “This country doesn’t want people like you who don’t keep your word and are unclear with your moves.”

“The message is for a person who lies to the people. Most people – 80% to 90% – know who this person is,” says a smiling Chuvit, who is famous outside Thailand as the massage parlour king who unsuccessfully ran for Bangkok governor in 2004.

His billboards, Chuvit says, reflect the public’s thoughts. “I am the middleman to bring out that message,” he explains. Last week, Chuvit put up three billboards in the Thai capital after he got wind that Banharn Silapa-archa, the leader of Chart Thai Party, would ditch the Democrat Party to join the coalition government of People Power Party.

“Banharn keeps on reminding society he’s as slippery as an eel,” laments the 46-year-old politician, who resigned as Chart Thai deputy leader just before the Dec 23 Thai polls as he disagreed with Banharn’s decision to place him second on Chart Thai’s party list for Bangkok constituency. The first time the maverick politician used billboards – each costing RM20,000 to RM30,000 a month, to advertise his political messages – was in 2004.

His 2004 billboard showed a less angry Chuvit. Through the years, the politician said, his facial expression on his billboards have gotten more and more angry. At that time, his message, in Thai, read: “Choose Chuvit to be governor of Bangkok,” with word “governor” marked out and the word “servant” written underneath.

That year, the owner of massage parlours such as Emmanuelle and Victoria’s Secret plunged into politics after going public about having to repeatedly bribe hundreds of police officers in order to protect his business. The billboards idea came from a friend who told him that a picture spoke louder than 1,000 words.

Chuvit’s facial expression on his billboard is atypical of Thai political posters – a smiling politician surrounded by smiling children. His trademark is an aggressive expression. “People have told me to smile. But I want to show I’m angry. I want them to know that my message is serious, and that I’m not kidding,” he explains with a cheeky smile.

Since 2004, the Chuvit billboard has been a much-awaited event in Bangkok. There’s even an English-language, Thailand-based blog, www.2bangkok.com, keeping track of them. In June 2006, there he was with his arms stretched out and saying: “I love you. Let’s love each other. We are all born in Thailand.”

In November 2007, although he was not contesting in the Thai election because of Banharn, he installed a billboard featuring a fierce German Shepherd facing an equally fierce Chuvit. His message read: “I’m a guard dog for the country. When you cheat, I’ll bark. When you’re involved in corruption, I’ll bite you.”

His favourite is a January 2005 billboard showing a fuming Chuvit clutching a sledgehammer with the message: “Quash the cheating people, expose the evil people, and do not fear the influential!” “At that time nobody could do anything against Thaksin (Shinawatra, the then Thai prime minister). My message was we would not compromise just because of his money,” recalls Chuvit, who later won an MP seat for Chart Thai in the 2005 Thai polls.

Contrary to speculation that his latest billboard is inspired by a desire to run in the 2008 Bangkok governor's race, the man who was born in the city’s Chinatown says: “No, the last time I ran, I used 25 million baht (RM2.6mil) and that does not include expenses that I paid for without receipts.” On the accusation from some people that he bankrolled the billboards because he sought fame, the politician says: “But I am famous enough. Everybody knows me.”

What Chuvit wants is a little bit of respect. “People respect me for paying for something (billboards) without asking for their votes,” he says. “People are bored with politicians who lie just to get their votes.” His next billboard? “Wait and see!” growls Chuvit.

[Yappofloyd]

This would be an interesting one both in court and in public as Chuwit would milk it for all it's worth.

Banharn threatens to sue Chuwit for B100m - Bkk Post 29/01/08
Chart Thai party leader Banharn Silpa-archa has threatened to file both civil and criminal lawsuits demanding 100 million baht from former party deputy leader Chuwit Kamolvisit for allegedly defaming him.

Kasem Sorasakkasem, the chairman of the Chart Thai party's legal advisory team, said Mr Chuwit's press conference in front of party headquarters on Jan 18 when Mr Chuwit showed Mr Banharn's image would be a clear piece of evidence to substantiate the defamation charges.

Mr Chuwit hit out at Mr Banharn for going back on his word to not be a part of a government led by the People Power party. The party's legal team will also look into Mr Chuwit's press conference in front of parliament yesterday to see whether it contained any defamatory remarks against the party leader.

Moderator: Chuwit's latest antics involve helping the Din Daeng Flats residents to get substantial compensation. 18/02/08:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showpost.php?p=19917&postcount=21