Has it become too easy for criminals from outside to enter and leave the country?
Many cases have been reported in tourist cities like Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket.
These are in addition to drug trafficking and Mafia-type acts committed by foreigners that target their compatriots as well as Thais, such as extortion rings and gangs of beggars.
Also, criminals who escape the hand of the law in their countries - bank robbers, fraudsters, murderers, swindlers and paedophiles - find a new haven somewhere in Thailand. Fortunately, many of them have been arrested, in most cases at the intervention of authorities in their country or Interpol, because Thai police do not have their criminal records.
Police inevitably become the first target of blame for the frequent crimes by foreigners, although arrests of suspects have been made recently.
Some critics accuse the police of getting into neutral gear, hinting at intentional inaction, and they link the surge in crimes by foreigners to decreased spirits within the police force as a result of "political intervention" over the appointment of a new national police chief.
However, it is intriguing that more and more foreigners are committing criminal acts, particularly larceny, here.
Do they see more affluent Thais as easy targets? Do they see flaws in the country's justice system? Do they find it easy to enter the country and leave after committing crimes? Is it because of the government's policy of welcoming as many visitors as possible into the country to boost tourism revenue? Or is it a combination of all those reasons?
Recent larcenies involving foreigners targeted victims who operate jewellery shops. They carried away a large amount of gold ornaments. The value of the stolen jewels in each case ranged from less than Bt1 million to more than Bt50 million. In most cases the perpetrators did not use weapons and, working as teams, simply confused or deflected the attention of their victims before taking away the valuables.
There appears to be a perception among many arrested foreign suspects that they can bribe their way to freedom. There were many cases in which Thai authorities rejected such offers and instead added the charge of bribery against the suspects. But critics say many successful cases of bribery go unreported.
It is perhaps a matter of national pride. Police are unlikely to accept bribes from foreign suspects, especially if the offers are done too obviously, such as in front of other officers at a police station. That was exactly what two Vietnamese pickpockets did after their arrests near Bangkok's Victory Monument.
Judging from accounts given by many of the arrested suspects of larceny from neighbouring countries, it is easy for them to travel from the border areas to Bangkok. Suspects from neighbouring countries in the East said they simply sneaked across the porous borders and took a train to the capital, where they could find plenty of possible victims. After they got their money, they just left the country. Criminals from faraway countries often rushed to the nearest airport and flew away. It would be days, if not weeks, before the police could find out about their identities.
Many foreign criminals find the policy of promoting tourism favourable to them. They can apply for visas on arrival to stay in the country for at least 15 days, in addition to tourist visas that allow visitors a maximum 60-day stay.
The government policy of promoting tourism has been so successful that visitor arrivals topped 14 million last year. And despite an economic downturn, the number of arrivals is 9.8 million in the first half of this year, according to records from the Immigration Police Bureau.