For Vineet Shah (not his real name), an Indian diamond jewellry exporter in Bangkok, it is indeed a very `chhota' (small) world. Four years ago, when he moved his family and business headquarters out of Mumbai, one major reason for the relocation was to escape the harassment and anxiety of being the target of extortion by the city's underworld. But with Mumbai's gang wars spilling over to the Thai capital, Shah fears it is only a matter of time before they catch up with Indian businessmen overseas also. "This was the last thing I expected to see in Bangkok - Indian gangsters fighting it out," said Shah, referring to the attack on alleged Mumbai mobster Chhota Rajan by the rival Chhota Shakeel gang in a busy Bangkok district last month. ""This is frightening because if they can use Thailand as a base for hiding out, soon they will be looking for Indian companies whom they can milk for money too," he said.Shah is among several dozen Mumbai businessmen, mostly in the jewellry trade, who had moved to Bangkok in the past few years, mainly due to extortion threats. They live with their families here and maintain regular links with business partners in India and find Thailand a safer and more convenient place carry out their export business. With most of their export markets in Western countries, the Indian jewellers here are not worried about losing business and, in fact, claim that their operational costs have gone down after moving to Bangkok.
The rents for both residential and office space are cheaper in Bangkok than Mumbai and even living costs are somewhat cheaper for higher quality of service. "It is not easy to leave a city where we have had business operations, friends and relatives for decades together but we had no choice," says Pradeep Jain, another businessman who moved to Bangkok in 1995. The breaking point for him came when a jeweller cousin of his was forced to shell out over Rs1 million as protection money to a gang which threatened to kidnap his children. Not only businessmen but Indian professionals too are worried about gangs from Mumbai operating here.
Indians worry more about the damage these gangs could do to their reputation among the local population and governments. In Thailand, Indians were never linked to any kind of criminal activity but the Chhota Rajan case, heavily publicised by the Thai media, has changed all that.
The case has consistently made the front pages of Thai newspapers for several days and some have demanded a tighter control on the activities of foreign criminals by making it more difficult for them to get visas to enter the country. In fact, as a direct fallout of the Chhota Rajan incident, the Thai interior ministry is now advocating the denial of "visa on arrival" facilities to Indian nationals. The move is, however, being resisted by the Thai foreign ministry, which is worried about its negative economic impact.
The number of tourists coming from India to Thailand in recent years has been going up steadily and many Indian companies routinely organise conferences in well-known tourist resorts in the country. A very large volume of informal trade also takes place through Indian couriers who buy goods in Thailand to re-sell in India. The Chhota Rajan saga, which has taken several dramatic turns since it started mid-September is not yet fully over.
The alleged mobster, seriously injured in last month's murder bid, is currently being denied exit from Thailand, pending an inquiry into charges that he used a forged passport to enter the country. The Indian government has revoked his passport and it remains to be seen whether or not he will finally be extradited to India to face a string of criminal charges.
-- (India Abroad News Service)
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.