A simple lesson in how to end smuggling

Sometimes lessons about things pop up in odd places, and here's today's such lesson from MCOT (Thailand):

Thailand's problem of fuel smuggling in the Andaman Sea has almost completely disappeared, the chief of the Marine Police revealed today, attributing the disappearance to the convergence of oil prices in Thailand and neighbouring countries.

Speaking in the country's southern resort province of Phuket, where he was visiting the local marine police force, Pol. Maj. Gen. Suraphol Thuanthong said that while some smuggling might still be going on, it was on an extremely small scale.

While oil smuggling is a major problem when the prices of fuel in Thailand are significantly higher than that in Singapore, this difference has been ironed out, while the government has provided financial compensation to fishermen to help cushion the blow of fuel price rises.

As a result, the chief of the marine police said, oil smuggling is no longer a worthwhile proposition.

Wait, you mean people won't go to the trouble of breaking the law if there's no profit in it? Wow.