krommakan from well-to-do n in the locality, or from the local The did not have to pay these men regular stipends. Beyond their official duties, kron would exploit the people in the locality for their private gain. They made the people work on their rice land in return for protection from robbers. Some krommakan were leaders of robber gangs They shared in the loot from cattle and buffalo robbery. The governor and his men could then live comfortably The people were supposed to receive protection, but were likely to be exploited by paying excess taxes and also providing various unpaid goods and services. system: first, the There are two major aspects of the gin muang contractual arrangement between the central government and the governor to divide up the proceeds of tax collection: second, the systems which krommakan used to extract taxes from the people and pass them on to the governor. These principles continue to underlie operations of the police force. It is alleged that police officers pay their superiors in order to advance up to more important positions. Subordinates are then held to extort money from the people on behalf of the officer. To ensure cooperation within the organization, the proceeds of venality are widely redistributed through the police hierarchy Such a system is similar to profit maximization, with men in the low ranks supplying the corruption money to the people higher up, going right up to the top, and in some periods in the past, to the minister. This became so well established that there is a popular saying: In the military, the superior gives money to the subordinates, but in the police, subordinates give money to the superior According to one police officer: "The system works as a redistribution mechanism. Money extorted from capitalists is redistributed to poor, low-ranking policemen.' ln fact, those who provide the extortion money include many poor underprivileged people, as well as modern-day slaves such as addition, the major recipients of this money are top people in the police who may not be poor at all. Such a system