Six Bangkok cops transferred in probe of alleged extortion attempt

By Jessada Chantharak 
The Nation

 

 

Six Bangkok policemen were yesterday transferred to inactive posts and are the subjects of a fact-finding probe over allegations that they raided the home of a 49-year-old food vendor and allegedly imposed a bogus Bt50,000 charge in exchange for his freedom on the night of August 10.

 

Somtam spicy salad vendor Sakchai Naen-udon had on August 13 initially filed a report, but not an official complaint, about the incident with the police. On September 10, he filed a complaint, along with additional information, at the Phayathai precinct.

 

Sakchai said that while he was selling somtam at his stall on the night of August 10, his 30-year-old daughter came crying to tell him that some 10 plain-clothes policemen had raided their house.

 

He rushed to his rented home and asked to see a search warrant, but the officers refused to show it to him, he said. Instead, they claimed to have found an unspecified amount of crystal methamphetamine or “ice” – which they also did not show him – and escorted his daughter away.

 

Sakchai said he followed the police to their office and found his daughter sitting in a dark corner of the building’s ground floor without handcuffs, with one plain-clothes officer standing guard over her, and so he took her home.

 

The police who later came to his house accused him of helping a fugitive flee and escorted him back to their office, where they told him that he was wanted in an extortion case and must pay a Bt50,000 bail – which he at the time did for fear of jail and out of ignorance about the law, he said.

 

Feeling he had been subjected to injustice, Sakchai filed a report at the Phayathai precinct about this incident, which he claimed involved a police Sergeant-Major who had a dispute with his son years ago. The arresting team’s Inspector showed up to return the Bt50,000 and asked him to let this be a bygone, he said.

 

Sakchai said he initially wanted to let the incident go quietly, but changed his mind after a later getting a phone call from a policeman asking him if he wasn’t afraid to die. He said he was now determined to press charges.

 

Metropolitan Police Division 1 chief Pol Maj-General Zenith Samransamruadkit initially signed a September 10 order for the immediate transfer of seven accused officers to inactive positions at the Metropolitan Police Division 1 operations centre pending the results of a 15-day probe. Initially accused were three commissioned officers (one police Major and two police Captains) and four constable officers (three police Sergeant-Majors and one police Corporal).

 

However Zenith on Wednesday cancelled the transfer of the accused police Corporal on grounds of misidentification after determining he had not been involved despite the food vendor identifying him.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30354299

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-09-12

Should suppress this article and send the publishers of it to prison for bringing Thailand into disrepute. The RTP officers using extortion ? Whatever next ? Soon they will be publishing that the Junta is an illegal government and then what would foreigners think ?   TAT should take the lead on this and deny everything in its entirety to ensure visitor numbers are not impacted

Edited September 12, 20187 yr by Esso49

Transferred? They should be suspended and send home without income!

Instead of the use of laws its the abuse of laws. A never ending list of devious and illegal ways to collect payments from lawful citizens. The situation is completely hopeless, and the leaders of these 'officers' sit in parliament (NLA).

Inactive posts become very crowded these days !!!

Herein lies the scourge of Thailand.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Somtam spicy salad vendor

I knew it, i knew that there's good money to be made selling somtam and that those somtam sellers are so rich that they're worthy of extortion, and silly me i have studied for years for some degrees...

"Some day a real rain is going to come and wash all the scum off the streets."

 

Travis Bickle

 

 

1 minute ago, NCC1701A said:

"Some day a real rain is going to come and wash all the scum off the streets."

 

Travis Bickle

 

 

Unfortunately there are so many the drains will become blocked

Does anyone know where all these inactive post are?

8 minutes ago, fakename said:

Does anyone know where all these inactive post are?

 

You can bid for various inactive posts and for locations.

 

For big money you could buy an active post which is in reality a prime seat at Wimbledon with all accommodations and travel paid. 

 

The downside is that your not allowed to call / contact your old work colleagues or mafia contacts. But...

 

 

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Six Bangkok policemen were yesterday transferred to inactive posts

Dog bites man.........

Man bites dog.......

 

News

Pffff

13 hours ago, fakename said:

Does anyone know where all these inactive post are?

In England we call it "The House Of Lords"......

If you see a cop sitting by the roadside crying his heart out, screaming: "I'm such a failure" take a picture of him. He must be the last one on an active post.

15 hours ago, fakename said:

Does anyone know where all these inactive post are?

 whenits off to inactivity land....

inactive posts but sees no jail time....

This is what happens when your nation's 'Royal Police Force' ? are in fact a bunch of gangsters with total impunity. Indeed the 'scourge of Thailand'. Let's hope karma catches up with them sooner rather than later. 

18 hours ago, RotMahKid said:

Transferred? They should be suspended and send home without income!

Transferred to an inactive post means that they will be in an office (that office must be very large now) with no direct action with the public thus they will only receive their "real" pay and can not partake in the dividing of the moneys that is received in VERY LARGE brown envelops from the extortion of businesses (in the old Mafia in the US called insurance) in their areas.So there will not be any big bonus this new years for their wives new Benz.

Whats an inactive post?

20 hours ago, RotMahKid said:

Transferred? They should be suspended and send home without income!

 

Translated, transferring them to an inactive post means that they have been removed from the chain of money donated by the grateful public in exchange for not having to suffer dire consequences if they don't pay into the fund. This somtam vendor complained and got his money back and his life was threatened.

If Thailand disbanded its police force it would probably cut crime by over 50 per cent.

On 9/12/2018 at 5:40 PM, RotMahKid said:

Transferred? They should be suspended and send home without income!

Don't you mean incarcerated and charged for extortion as an officer of the law? Jailed and dismissed with no pension or benefits like in most developed democracies? 

This will most likely be the last we ever hear of this story,and what

happened to the cops,it's always the same.

regards worgeordie

On 9/12/2018 at 5:40 AM, RotMahKid said:

Transferred? They should be suspended and send home without income!

I'm shocked! That there were only six.

This is why Thailand will never be more than a third world country,,,

I always thought the role of police was to "serve and protect" maybe I'm miss-understanding something?

....yikes...  sadly these scum are going to work the system and still intimidate this man and family.  sad

off road pat - Not sent home but charged, then dealt with by a court of law then imprisoned if found guilty. There is nothing more heinous than 'Corrupt Law Enforcers'