ABSTRACT
According to a study published by the great Thai specialist on corruption, Sungsidh Piriyarangsan, from Chulalongkorn University, laundering has reached major dimensions in the economy of Thailand. Six illegal activities, namely prostitution, gun running, smuggling of hydrocarbons, illegal gambling and trafficking in labour and drugs, produce the equivalent of 11-18 billion US$ annually, or 8-13 per cent of the GDP from 1993 to 1995. The most creative sector for parallel jobs is illegal gambling, involving four million people and about eight per cent of the GDP. Prostitution involves between 150 000 and 200 000 women, and produces at least four billion dollars annually, or two per cent of the GDP. By comparison, the overall drug traffic represents scarcely more than one billion dollars. 1 This figure is no doubt underestimated, since it concerns only the domestic market (comprised of 200 000 heroin addicts, 250 000 amphetamine users, and over 300 000 marijuana users) and wholesale heroin exports. The work of Sungsidh Piriyarangsan,2 based on nwnerous field studies throughout the country, rejects the received idea that the drug traffic is the principal source of illicit money in Thailand, and it highlights the considerable dimensions of organized crime and local money laundering. To get a better idea of the systemic relations that have grown
up between the legal and illegal spheres, it may be useful to review the local political institutions.
