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Thailand's acting police chief on Saturday vowed to wipe out mafia gangs operating in Pattaya beach resort in the aftermath of the brutal slaying of two Russian tourists.
'It's about time for me to wipe out mafia gangs operating in Pattaya because they've created a lot of problems for tourists in the past,' said Acting Police Chief Seripisut Temiyaves while on an inspection tour of the somewhat notorious resort over the weekend, as reported by the state-owned Thai News Agency (TNA). Last Saturday a gunman shot dead Russian tourists Tatiana Tsimfer, 30, and Liubov Svirkova, 25, as they sat in deckchairs on Jomtien beach, adjacent to Pattaya, awaiting the sunrise. Although police on Thursday night arrested a prime suspect in the murder, Anuchit Lamlert, 24, a Thai national with a long cirminal record, Police General Seripisut is still skeptical about the suspect's motive in the dual slaying. Anuchit confessed to killing the two women in what he claimed was a botched robbery. But nothing was stolen from the Russians whom Anuchit pumped ten bullets into with a Chinese pistol. Police suspect someone hired Anuchit to kill the two women, with suspicions falling on Russian mafia types working in the resort and their Thai girlfriends. Pattaya, best known for its booming sex industry, has attracted criminal types from all over the world during its three-four decades as Thailand's most popular beach resort. The foreign gangs tend to prey on their own nationals, with Russians being the latest newcomers to the resort. Russians were the most popular market for Pattaya last year, when an estimated 4 million foreigners visited the resort, situated 105 kilometres southeast of Bangkok. The Pattaya police force is notorious for ignoring the criminal activities of these foreign gangs, as long as Thais are not affected. 'There's a need to lay out preventive measures aimed at protecting lives and property of the people and tourists. I'll personally restructure police suppression measures if they fail to restore order in the area,' said Seripisut, known as Thailand's 'Mr Clean' in the police force. Seirpisut was appointed acting police chief less than two months ago.
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