How ‘influential figures’ thrive in Thailand

Influential figures, in general, make fortunes from 16 illegal or dubious methods:

1. Granting informal loans

2. Bid-rigging for government projects

3. Bribing transport operators

4. Exploiting entrepreneurs

5. Smuggling goods to evade taxes

6. Running gambling dens

7. Prostitution

8. Human trafficking

9. Cheating workers seeking overseas jobs

10. Ripping off tourists

11. Arranging hits

12. Using force to collect debts

13. Smuggling military-grade weapons or illegal guns

14. Encroaching public land or destroying natural resources

15. Imposing tolls on public highways

16. Smuggling or selling narcotics.