Chuwit, from 'lifeguard' to politician

A woman is a thousand men too bad, is an ancient saying and stems from the poem 'Huigh de Groots redemption'. In that poem, Joost van den Vondel describes the well-known story of how Hugo de Groot's wife allowed her husband to escape from Slot Loevestein in the well-known book chest.

But what about a man who has to deal with a few thousand women?

The Thai sex industry

The Godfather of Thailand's sex industry is the flamboyant Chuvit Kamolvisit. For many years he operated a number of large luxurious massage houses in Bangkok. Because sex houses are officially banned in Thailand, he hid behind the guise that his 'Soapies' only offered massages and absolutely no sex. As many as twenty thousand ladies worked in his houses with the 'massage king'.

Chuvit owned the so-called Davis Group, which included the luxury massage houses Copacabana, Victoria's Secret, Honolulu, Hi Class, Emmanuelle and Juliana. All located on or near Bangkok's Ratchadaphisek Road. Chuvit's massage parlors mainly catered to the needs of well-to-do Thai people and considerably less so to foreigners.

Chuvit Kamolvisit

Chuvit was born on August 29, 1961 to a Thai mother and a Hong Kong Chinese father. He studied business and accountancy at one of Thailand's oldest universities (Thammasat) and obtained his MBA in San Diego – California. So he is definitely not illiterate.

Chuvit Garden

On Sukhumvit Road at Soi 10 there is a very nice park called 'Chuvit Garden'. A park that is privately owned on such an A-1 location must undoubtedly have an immensely wealthy owner. And that conclusion is correct, because you already understand: that owner is Chuvit Kamolvisit.

However, the way in which the park was created is less attractive. At the time called Sukhumvit Square, this place used to house a number of bars, shops, internet cafes and a travel agency. On an early Sunday morning in January 2003, the entire complex was razed to the ground by a number of bulldozers. Chuvit had bought the location and wanted to build a luxury massage house. However, the leases provided by the former owner continued for a number of years.

Chuvit was suspected and arrested, then disappeared in prison. However, he denied all responsibility and was released on bail after a month. In July 2006, more than three years later, he and 130 employees were acquitted of the charge of complicity in the destruction of the complex. The only one to bleed was the company lawyer who was serving an eight-month prison sentence for paying members of the Army Corps of Engineers for the utter destruction. And so Chuvit washed his hands in innocence.

revenge

Exasperated by the fact that the police had arrested him and held him captive for a month, he retaliated in no uncertain terms. He released the names of all senior officials and police officers to whom he had regularly paid bribes. Not afraid of reprisals, he also mentioned the amounts that had been paid to each of them. Thousands of police officers are on that list, he says.

He also claimed that senior police officers used the services in his salons free of charge, a claim later confirmed by some of the masseuses during interrogations.

In retaliation, Chuvit's massage parlors were raided and he was charged with finding three masseuses under the age of 18 in one of his parlors. However, in June 2004, Chuvit was acquitted because the girls had used counterfeit ID cards. Immediately afterwards he sold three of his massage parlors.

Over a decade, Chuvit paid more than 200 million baht in bribes. More than four and a half million euros at the current exchange rate. He approached Prime Minister Thaksin to show him the list, but he declined. In retrospect, very understandable because Thaksin was certainly not spotless either. With an annual turnover of one billion baht (about 23 million euros), Chuvit will certainly not have suffered poverty.

Chuvit the politician

In September 2003 Chuvit founded his political party First Thai Nation on. He then ran for governor of Bangkok in 2004 on the campaign topic of police and government corruption. Chuvit garnered 300.000 votes and finished in third place.

A year later, in 2005, he was elected to a four-year term in the Thai House of Representatives, the legislative arm of the government. He started a weekly radio column where listeners could express their complaints.

However, in January 2006, the Constitutional Court withdrew his appointment because he had not been a member of the party for which he was a candidate for 90 days, according to the applicable rules. The lawsuit was initiated by the Thai Rak Thai party, led by Thaksin at the time.

Undeterred, Chuvit ran for governor of Bangkok again in 2008. Also this time without success. His new opposition party won the 2011 elections Rak Prathet Thai (Love for Thailand) with the election slogan 'anti-corruption watchdog' four seats in the House of Representatives.

In 2010, Chuvit told in an interview with the American Global Post: “I studied at university in the United States. There I met my ex-wife, with whom I have two children who live in the US. In the media I'm portrayed as a sex tycoon or something like that. But they are massage parlors that cannot be considered immoral.

However, when I go to the US embassy for a visa, I don't get it. In my opinion it is a right to see your own children. I left that business and entered the 'family friendly' hotel world. In addition, I want to make politics democratic and run it the way I think it should.”

Davis hotel and Emporium

Three years ago I stayed overnight at 'The Davis' on Sukhumvit Soi 24, unaware that the owner was Chuvit, who I had never heard of at the time. I didn't notice anything at all about his former business there. Neat hotel. And if I am well informed, the beautiful shopping center 'Emporium' also belongs to Chuvit's real estate. However, I am not sure about this, because figures like Chuvit never show the back of their tongue.

Currently, Chuvit is still politically active as leader of the Rak Thailand Party. On May 27th, reported the Bangkok Post, he and fourteen other political luminaries had a conversation with the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).

Video: From pimp to politician – Chuvit Kamolvisit's Story

Watch the video here:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/Y-3q_rznyLw[/youtube]