Arab Motorcycle Racing Business as Usual

[Jun]

What I do expect is for this to continue, essentially unabated - as usual.

I do too.

Also, since there is no longer any reason to visit the area at night, I expect most board members can simply avoid the problem. Unless any have the misfortune to live there ?
So I'm not entirely sure why we discuss it every year (myself included).

As for the bribes, well lets look at bars.
Some of them might employ foreign staff, have foreign management, facilitate prostitution, permit smoking and stay open beyond the legal closing time. As long as they pay enough tea money all this is overlooked.

Why would it be any different for motorcycle rental shops ?

[Gaybutton]

Why would it be any different for motorcycle rental shops ?

What the bars are paying for, if they are paying tea money, is to get the BiB to look the other way about things not harming anyone (except the smoking) and shouldn't be illegal in the first place.

If the motorbike shops are paying, it seems to me it would have to be substantially more than just tea money and they would be paying to permit goings-on that are definitely illegal, should be illegal, and are harming people.

I suppose it is possible, but to me highly unlikely tea money is the answer. I could see tea money being part of the answer, but goings-on to this extreme, permitted due to tea money?

"That dog don't hunt."
- Walter Matthau (Senator Long), 'JFK'

[Jun]

I could see tea money being part of the answer, but goings-on to this extreme, permitted due to tea money?

I imagine most of us have read of worse events than this being overlooked, allegedly due to tea money.
Hit & run incidents involving high profile people etc.

[Undaunted]

YouTube report:

It's too bad the ambulance didn't just leave the asshole on the street and leave empty.

[SP55]

If you thought the motorbike racing wasn't bad enough - I just witnessed an arabic riot right in the center of Sunee plaza Tuesday night the 15th of July...

I was having a nice drink in Winner boy bar when there was loud commotion outside. Customers and staff from the few surviving bars rushed out to see what was going on, about where the old Double shot bar used to be.

A full on fistfight between about 15 male Arabs, shouting, pushing, running around, fighting. Total chaos.

However it ended in just about 2 minutes or so, and the crowd scattered in all directions.
At least this brought the attention of the police and soi Yensabai was swarmed with uniformed cops I saw when I left in a taxi about half an hour after the incident.

[Gaybutton]

I imagine most of us have read of worse events than this being overlooked, allegedly due to tea money.
Hit & run incidents involving high profile people etc.

Yes, you're right. That is true. But at least regarding those incidents it's rather obvious who is paying the tea money, but no so obvious as to who is receiving it.

As for the motorbike maniacs, the only thing I can think of that would involve tea money would be for all the motorbike rental shops catering to them, get together, pool money, and pay off whoever to look the other way.

But that, to me, also makes no sense. First, could the motorbike shops even afford to pay enough to permit these goings-on? And who would they be paying? Also, they want to get their motorbikes rented out, but why would they care how the renters behave after the shops have been paid?

It would make better sense to me, if payoffs are involved, for the local residents to get together and make their own payoff, which easily could be far more than the rental shops could afford, to whoever can put a stop to the madness. But obviously no such thing is or has been happening.

So, again - who would be paying off who? Why? Who would have something substantial enough to gain by sponsoring this annual chaos - and what would that something be?

At least this brought the attention of the police and soi Yensabai was swarmed with uniformed cops

Too little, too late. Just another example of Thailand's tremendously successful efforts to attract high quality tourists who would be contributing to Pattaya's "good image" . . .

[Dodger]

It's too bad the ambulance didn't just leave the asshole on the street and leave empty.

[Dodger]

The reason the BIB are allowing this to continue (for years now) is obvious: There's money to be made...plain and simple.

If the Arabs (Kuwaiti's) were causing these problems in the Sunee area back when the Plaza was in its hayday the mafia, working hand-in-hand with the BIB (as always), would have put an immediate stop to this. Sunee used to generate millions, if not billions of baht in tea money from foreign tourists - but now it's a ghost town - and the only dribbling's of tea money in that area is coming from the Arabs and the motorbike rental shops.

My guess is that they (the BIB) will continue showing passive enforcement until the school break ends next month.

If I were a visiting tourist I'd just avoid the area entirely until the end of August when these assholes ride off into the sunset on their camels.

[Gaybutton]

It's too bad the ambulance didn't just leave the asshole on the street and leave empty.

Next question - why would the motorbike maniacs want to prevent their compatriot from being taken to the hospital when he had been injured?

Everything about this annual insanity is on my "I Don't Get It" list.

[Dodger]

Next question - why would the motorbike maniacs want to prevent their compatriot from being taken to the hospital when he had been injured?

My guess...

He could have been high on yaba and his friends didn't want this detected at the hospital.

The price of yaba has apparently plummeted this past year from 300 baht a tab to 40-50 baht...so literally anyone can afford it. This would also account for the elevated state-of-craziness displayed by the Kuwaiti's this season.

Pure speculation of course.