Gambling, prositution, drugs, arms trading, oil smuggling, and trafficking in people-these six illegel businesses are large and getting larger. They distort the economy and victimize people. They are increasingly linked together through networks of protection and orgainzed crime. They help to fund Thailand's corrosive 'money politics' and to sustain corruption in the police. In this sequel to Corruption and Democracy in Thailand, the authors argue that control of the illegal economy, especially through reform of the police, is vital for the development of a modern economy and fuctioning democracy.

Pasuk Phongpaichit, Sungsidh Priryarangsan,  and Nualnoi Treerat all teach at the Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, and are associated with the Faculty's Political Economy Centre.