The protest was supposed to come after an open letter was released at the weekend (November 15-16) in the Patong area, addressed to vendors at the OTOP Market, the Kokeaw Market, the Bangla Market, the Sai Nam Yen Market, and those on Thaweewong Rd.
The letter stated, “We are now in trouble from action by some groups, especially the Patong Association led by “Noom Carcare” or “Noom OTOP” known as Mr Kobchai Truktrongkij, who is assistant to Patong Mayor Chalermluck Kebsup, who send their staff to extort money from us.
“They claim that the money will be handed over to unidentified government offices which are demanding at least B20,000 per shop, depending on the category of goods sold.
“If we do not cooperate, they call the police or some government official to arrest us.
“We cannot stand it anymore, because we cannot afford the money demanded – this will lead us to close our shop very soon,” the letter stated. It then called for all victims of such extortion to go to the Damrongtham Center at Phuket Provincial Hall today at 11am.
The “victims” of this extortion all appear to be people who are breaking the law in one way or another, for example by selling pirated goods or employing illegal workers.
This morning volunteer guards from Kathu District Office were waiting for the protest to start. But it didn’t happen.
The Phuket News noticed a few people from Patong hanging around – these people, confronted by the volunteers, denied being part of any protest.
One woman, who said she sells pirate goods at the OTOP Market, spoke to The Phuket News on condition of anonymity, “No one has shown up to lead the protest, so I don’t want to identify myself as a Patong business operator.
“This situation might contravene martial law. If I put my hand up, they may arrest me,” she said.
“The extortion has been been going on for a long time in Patong. I have paid about B1,000 to B2,000 a month to each of many police and government departments.
“They don’t even bother to come in person now – they just send a representative who collects for all of them. But you know, whether we pay or not, we still get arrested from time to time,” she explained.
She also noted that at the beginning of Chalermluck Kebsup’s tenure as Mayor of Patong the demands stopped for three or four months, but then resumed.
“I thought the system would improve after the mayor was changed. That and martial law, I thought, would make it easier for us to operate. At first, that was the case,” she said.
“However, about four months after that they were back and demanding money at a higher rate.
“Many of us cannot afford these higher rates. I am trying to decide now whether or not I should shut my shop,” she said.
The Phuket News contacted Mr Kobchai this afternoon. He denied emphatically the allegations that he was involved in extorting money and said he thought it might be a case of political dirty tricks.
“We cannot identify the people who wrote the letter, so we do not even know which group published it,” Mr Kobchai said.
“I believe there may be a political motive behind it. If it was because of a personal conflict with me, why would they to mention my political position, and name Patong Mayor Chalermluck in the letter?” he asked. “Someone wants to discredit us.
“At this stage, I don’t know who they are. If they want to debate this with us, they should show their faces,” he added.
The Phuket News showed a copy of the protest letter to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) Phuket Office.
Chaianan, an officer at the NACC (he declined to give his full name), said, “The boss, Tawichart Nilkarn, is in Bangkok at the moment. We expect him back this Friday [November 21]. But we will send him the letter to see whether the NACC Committee wants to investigate the matter.”
He noted, however, “It’s quite hard to investigate anonymous complaints. It will be up to our boss and the Bangkok office to confirm whether or not the NACC will take on this case.”
This is not the first time that law-breaking vendors have protested at excessive extortion by officials. In July 2011 vendors from Kata and Karon complained they were being unfairly targeted for raids, and in 2011 Patong pirate goods vendoes also held a protest at Kathu Police Station after many were raided despite paying bribes to be left alone.