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Kuwait’s diplomats no longer the most corrupt

Some good news, back in 2006 I posted about how Kuwait had the most corrupt diplomats in New York averaging 246.2 parking tickets per diplomat. Well the new 2009 results are out and Kuwait is no longer first, instead they’re second! The Egyptian diplomats now lead the way with the most unpaid parking tickets while Kuwait is following closely behind owing nearly $1.3 million in unpaid fines. Here is the link to the article. [Link]

On a similar note Marzouq posted about the Kuwaiti embassy thats based in the Ritz Carlton in Singapore. Looks like the best place to be if you want to be a Kuwaiti diplomat. [Link]

Note: Stop emailing me hate mail. I wasn’t the person who wrote the article or call the diplomats corrupt. Since those of you who emailed me are too lazy to click the link here is a quotation from the link that explains how not paying your tickets means you are corrupt:

“In a great paper for the National Bureau for Economic Research, two researchers have found that the number of parking tickets that legally-immune foreign diplomats accumulate in NYC and refuse to pay is a great measure of how corrupt their home countries are.”

Direct all hate mail to the New York Daily News, the National Bureau for Economic Research or your diplomats.

51 replies on “Kuwait’s diplomats no longer the most corrupt”

J..
If diplomats don’t get parking tickets, then why does the authority issue them tickets?
Diplomats are supposed to respect law like every one else, except, if they don’t pay, it’s useless taking that individual to court because he/she will claim diplomatic immunity… So tickets then get sent to embassy, like any complaint the authority or host government has with the diplomats. These complaints are supposed to have channels in which the foreign ministry deals with.

“No obligation to pay it” just like any other diplomats around the world: It becomes a MORAL and ETHICAL decision to 1) commit any offense that is illegal in a host country and 2) pay for any offense committed by those at your embassy.

For those of you who don’t understand the capitalized words above, google them.

the question is :

do americans deplomats pay for parking ticekts in kuwait ?

why respecting the law should be based only in the forigen countries and not here ?

I guess its crap .. and shame on New Yorkers !

May be some body should take a poll and find out how much the US Embassy and Military Civilian Traffic owes Kuwait in unpaid fines or charges; if its more than what Kuwait owes the US then the state department should pay Kuwait the difference and call it even.

Lord knows that cutting it out of aid that US hands out to other countries wont work with Kuwait coz these countries including the US come to Kuwait for a handout in one way or another not the other way around.

May work with Egypt and Nigeria but then again you never know … them rich princes who want to share their millions with us poor folk might just rally togather and save Nigeria. As for Egypt ???? Who knows???

Mark, since when were parking tickets equal to corruption??? and i wonder if u follow the performance of lebanese diplomats as well…as a start, i recommend u going to marina beach every weekend to find the same lebanese diplomat intoxicated…drunk…gone…and i can hook u up with his name and cell phone number if u want too..

toni…where r u from buddy and what does ur country excel in exactly??

“Calls to the Consulates of Egypt, Kuwait and Nigeria about when they plan to pay up were not returned.”
This is just embarrassing ! $1.9 million in unpaid tickets its a huge number, they would have to park in the middle of the street to get this much amount of parking tickets!

Directed at wi-fi response 13…
I’m willing to guess that the tickets from the American Diplomats in Kuwait are nowhere near as much as the Kuwaiti Diplomats tcikets are in The U.S! There are loads of traffic rules that are enforced “key word, enforced over there.” So there is a structure of sorts when coming from the U.S to here…. Over here it is madness on the road and the rules are hardly enforced due to “wasta” regardless of your last name or family status “even celebrities get penalized!” The traffic laws here are a joke! People drive wrecklessly all the time and hardly ever get penalized… The other day a lady in an abaya cut me off “almost hitting me” gave me the F** you hand sign then made an illegal turn “that is wreckless!” Driving is the worst and most dangerous part of my day… Thanks Kuwait

The Kuwaiti embassy in Budapest (Hungary) was stationed at the Four Seasons for at least a year, but they might still be there….they met people coming for like a visa in the lobby :o)

@17: then go back to your civilized American world!!! Quit dissing about a place which is giving you food and money to live a good life back home!!!

1001Nights: As I told Spartan if you have a problem with the word corrupt being linked to unpaid tickets email the article writers. This is taken from the link I posted:

“In a great paper for the National Bureau for Economic Research, two researchers have found that the number of parking tickets that legally-immune foreign diplomats accumulate in NYC and refuse to pay is a great measure of how corrupt their home countries are.”

For those of you getting upset at me for posting this I say don’t shoot the messenger. Again if you have a problem with this email the New York Daily News, the National Bureau for Economic Research or your diplomats. I didn’t write the article.

kyx if you don’t like the fact that the Kuwaiti diplomats are not paying their fines then please contact them instead of telling me to get the fuck out.

You seem touchy today, Mark. First Spartan and now me. Hold it right there dude:
1) I didnt say anything about liking or not liking Kuwaiti or any other nations diplomats not paying their fines.
2) My remark stemmed from post #17’s remarks and I categorically did put it down as @17!!!

As you can see the US is the same!!!!

Diplomats posted in Britain owe more than 27 million pounds ($44 million) in unpaid parking tickets, traffic fines and fees for driving in London’s so-called congestion zone, the government said Thursday.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband issued the figures in a written statement to lawmakers.

They reveal the U.S. owes almost 3 million pounds ($4.9 million) _ more than any other country _ in unpaid congestion charge fees. The charge is a daily tariff of 8 pounds ($13) levied on cars that drive through central London during business hours.

Since 2005 U.S. diplomats have refused to pay the charge, claiming it is a tax, from which diplomats are exempt, rather than a toll.

In 2006, the tiff sparked strong words from then-London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who called Robert Tuttle, the U.S. ambassador at the time, “a chiseling little crook” over his refusal to pay.

Kazakhstan has 528 fines for outstanding parking tickets and other minor traffic violations, more than any other country.

The Foreign Office says 10 crimes were allegedly committed in Britain last year by people with diplomatic immunity. They included drunk driving and shoplifting.

Funny that you delete comments that are directed at Egyptians for example, but let those are more spiteful directed at Kuwait go without a problem.

I agree with the report and the fact that is somewhat of a reflection of the level of corruptness, I already commented above in regards to that. Realize your biases and correct them, and no, don’t get the fuck out. 🙂

Maybe they should start paying for their fines too… not only their diplomats, but also their contractors and soldiers who driving in our highways as if it was their own private highway blocking the lanes, crashing into other cars, and at one incident when they lost their way and ended up on the gulf road they pointed their machine guns at person because of a car accident!

Mark, an advise:

Be VERY careful of such posts. Blogs have been shut down by the government for far lamer things. Stay out of government affairs and stick to non-political issues.

Yousef, I do stay out of politics, this isn’t counted as politics its humor. I don’t know maybe what I find funny other people don’t. Its just parking tickets I don’t know why people make such a fuss.

Mark, not everyone interprets articles the same. As you quoted:

“In a great paper for the National Bureau for Economic Research, two researchers have found that the number of parking tickets that legally-immune foreign diplomats accumulate in NYC and refuse to pay is a great measure of how corrupt their home countries are.”

That quote just turned the whole post to a political issue. Remember the guys who work at a certain Kuwaiti newspaper who were arrested because someone made a comment about the Emir on their blog? It wasn’t even them making the comment, it was a random third person and they got arrested for.

I’m just saying its not worth the fuss or the hassle.

Yousef, no need to threaten anyone.. I personally don’t see anything wrong with his post. If you don’t like him posting thats another topic.

And Mark, dont worry about political posts, as long you’re not pointing out thieves, or calling a corrupt person corrupt then you’re on the safe side. Maybe putting couple pictures of Kuwait’s Sheikhs on your front page will serve as immunity too. lol

3azeez, “Threaten”? No wonder we have a communication problem in the region. Please chose your words carefully before commenting, and more importantly, check previous comments before commenting.

Not that I really care what you think, but as I mentioned earlier, this is an “advice”, not a “threat”. Mark can take the advice or leave it (again, I suggest reading previous comments to get the hint).

Mark,

ok i went back to the article itselt and the title of the article was: “Egypt leads nations whose diplomats are deadbeats on New York parking tickets”….the word “corruption” was never used in the title…in fact, the word “corruption” is nowhere to be found in the entire article..therefore, it would be nice to own up to ur actions and not blame it on the source..right??

toni,

looks like ur too embarrassed to tell us where ur from, probably for a good reason too lol…u have my sympathies…lol

Just because some people breaking them that doesn’t give you the right to disregard them. In your country you’d be too afraid to break the rules… I don’t see why there should be any exception in here. This lack of disrespect of American being shown to us has to stop.

Mark. I’ve been following your blog for sometime now and enjoy reading it on a daily basis. I don’t mind (i don’t mind) when you write these kind of blogs about Kuwait. I for a fact i believe you and so many expatriates in Kuwait are Kuwaitis as much as myself and so many others.

You’ve been doing it for a while now and i must admit that it’s very obvious that you know when you’re typing the blog what kind of responses, comments and emails you’ll be getting back. You are very smart and witty. Stop enticing people to attack you.

Thanks Mubarek for your comments. You are right I do know what kind of responses to expect most of the time when I post but there are also a lot of times when I expect one kind of response and get a completely different one.

Mubarek, i used to say the same things u said..about how some expats are kuwaitis at heart, untill i realized that alot of expats take that comment as an insult..not only expats, people who were expats and now are kuwaiti citizens dont recognize any sort of affiliation to this land at all and they actually cuss it out day and night…i just thought id give u heads up and not leave u completely susceptible to a rude awakening by the reality of the society..

I for one have lived in Kuwait for 30 years and count it more of my home then Lebanon or Canada. Just because I don’t have the Kuwaiti passport doesn’t mean I count Kuwait less of my home.

In any case Keep it Up Mark. I come from a mixed background and understand both sides dilemmas.

For one thing, i don’t like visiting 248am to see clashes.

I go to school in Boston. My friends (besides other Kuwaitis there) pay an average like 2000 dollars worth of parking tickets per month

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