> Most third world countries don’t allow organized crime

Depending on whether you mean de jure or de facto when you say “allow”, this is either not a difference or not true.

> organized crime and persistent retail theft the way SF does

Those were in a single grouping.

I’m currently in SE Asia: factually, they don’t allow organized retail theft akin to what I’ve seen in Seattle or SF.

Their downtowns also aren’t littered with drug zombies.

I love SE Asia, spend a lot of time there. Your characterization is incredibly misleading.

There's different tradeoffs between, say, Bangkok and San Francisco in terms of what is tolerated (i.e, drugs) and what isn't.

Yes — my point was the narrow one:

That it’s very strange that SF (and Seattle) are so much wealthier and developed, but I routinely see organized retail crime in those cities — but not in much poorer countries, who maintain a stricter social order.

To add some nuance, third world countries can be very different. Crime isn’t just a matter of “3rd world” or not (I don’t even think that’s a meaningful term). Guatemala City felt extremely dangerous even during the day. In contrast, Fez felt very safe from crime. In contrast, Singapore might be considered “3rd world” by some definitions but it is by far the safest place I’ve lived.