Guns, Girls, Gambling, Ganja: Thailand's Illegal Economy and Public Policy

By Pasuk Phongpaichit, Sungsidh Piriyarangsan and Nualnoi Treerat

Gambling, prostitution, drugs, arms trading, oil smuggling, and trafficking in people—these six illegal businesses are large and getting larger. They distort the economy and victimize people. They are increasingly linked together through networks of protection and organized crime. They help to fund Thailand’s corrosive ‘money politics’ and to sustain corruption in the police. In this sequel to Corruption and Democracy in Thailand, the authors argue that control of the illegal economy, especially through reform of the police, is vital for the development of a modern economy and functioning democracy.

Pasuk Phongpaichit, Sungsidh Piriyarangsan, and Nualnoi Treerat all teach at the Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, and are associated with the Faculty’s Political Economy Centre.