"Somchai the Terrible" - "Unusually rich" cop stripped of assets has colorful history

[webfact]

Daily News Thai Cap: Cop's history revealed

 

Daily News reported on the colorful history of a former top Thai policeman who has just been stripped of 136 million baht in assets by the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases.

 

This followed an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

 

They found that Pol Lt-Gen Somchai Nitayabowornkul, former deputy commissioner of Region 8 police, was "ruay pit pokati" - unusually wealthy.

 

Somchai is known as "Big Uam" in the Thai press - it's a word that means 'terrible'.

 

His assets were in his wife and daughter's names and include large amounts of land and vehicles and cash savings in police cooperative accounts. The court ordered 136 million baht of ownership documents be surrendered to the state. 

 

Somchai graduated from the police academy in the "Class of 34" and had some high profile friends in the form of Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) secretary Gen Chaya Siriamphankul as well as other Lt-Gens. 

 

He went from being called "Phee Uam" by reporters to the more respectful "Big Uam" for bigwigs in the force.

 

From Samphran, Nakhon Pathom, Somchai started his career at Pak Phanang police station in Nakhon Sri Thammarat where he was involved in dealing with many acts of tour buses being held up for robbery in the early 1980s. 

 

He also rose to prominence as a police captain leading a patrol to resolve a bombing incident in 1986.

 

By 1999 he was chief of police in Muang Ranong in the south and later a Maj-Gen in Chumphon in 2011 finally becoming deputy of Region 8 in 2013.

 

He was instrumental in developing police use of firearms in Region 8 then was given a deputy commissioner role in Bangkok's met police before a stint in the legal office before retirement. 

 

Now following the court's decision he will be stripped of his assets in his wife's and daughter's names. 

 

ASEAN NOW notes that the Thai police are commonly referred to as a quasi-mafia organisation by many commentators though the Thai press - needful of their cooperation - usually show respect by publishing great reams of police names and ranks when cases get solved. 

 

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[ezzra]

Oh that's has to hurt and hurt a lot, loss the ill gotten money and worse, loss of face for the whole family, but if he had some brain, he would have stashed some of the loot overseas, far from praying eyes...

[worgeordie]

19 minutes ago, webfact said:

Now following the court's decision he will be stripped of his assets in his wife's and daughter's names. 

Report back when the ill gotten assets have been seized and are actually out of his control .......

regards worgeordie 

[Boyn]

I suspect it could take many years before the assets are actually taken, brown envelopes will be flying thick and fast.

[BKKTRAVELER]

I don't know which school cops attend, but it should be highly ranked worldwide. So many alumni manage to make millions/billions while on basic salaries. Well done fellas, well done...

[Almer]

3 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Report back when the ill gotten assets have been seized and are actually out of his control .......

regards worgeordie 

And where will the ill gotten gains end up dare i ask

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, ezzra said:

Oh that's has to hurt and hurt a lot, loss the ill gotten money and worse, loss of face for the whole family, but if he had some brain, he would have stashed some of the loot overseas, far from praying eyes...

Sure. But why has he been 'stripped' after retirement - the list of his 'events' goes back decades, why wasn't he stripped decades back?

[zaZa9]

First they're revoking aggressive Tuk Tuk and minibus drivers  licenses ( for 6 months ) down here in Phuket , and now they're actually saying they will  confiscate corrupt cops ill gotten gains ? Wonders will never cease ! Im definitely voting for this government next time ! 

 

[huangnon]

16 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Sure. But why has he been 'stripped' after retirement - the list of his 'events' goes back decades, why wasn't he stripped decades back?

He is now out of power and favour. Someone settling a score, maybe?

[jvs]

28 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Sure. But why has he been 'stripped' after retirement - the list of his 'events' goes back decades, why wasn't he stripped decades back?

He stepped on someones toes?

 

[spidermike007]

Good job. Now, they just have to find the other billions of baht. It is likely a police chief here makes hundreds of millions a year, since the entire thing is a pyramid scheme. And does anyone think Big Joke or the current chief are not taking in hundreds of millions? How about the so called leaders? 

[sammieuk1]

They are all either Big Uam's or Little Uam's from top to bottom ????

[Hugh Jarse]

Ship him off to North Korea for a sabbatical.

[Pdavies99]

5 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Report back when the ill gotten assets have been seized and are actually out of his control .......

regards worgeordie 

Pretty much guaranteed he has more assets available!

 

[Liverpool Lou]

36 minutes ago, Pdavies99 said:

Pretty much guaranteed he has more assets available!

 

Of course, they can only seize those that he can't account for or those that are proven to be acquired illegally.

[klauskunkel]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

He was instrumental in developing police use of firearms in Region 8

Before Terribly Big: sling shots

after Terribly Big: Glocks

[mikeymike100]

6 hours ago, ezzra said:

Oh that's has to hurt and hurt a lot, loss the ill gotten money and worse, loss of face for the whole family, but if he had some brain, he would have stashed some of the loot overseas, far from praying eyes...

Quote

Maybe he did? Maybe he has Swiss bank accounts?

 

[tandor]

6 hours ago, Boyn said:

I suspect it could take many years before the assets are actually taken, brown envelopes will be flying thick and fast.

..maybe its just the tip of the goldberg.

[RichardColeman]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Daily News reported on the colorful history of a former top Thai policeman who has just been stripped of 136 million baht in assets by the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases

Leaving him with exactly how much 'unusually high assets' ? 

[bristolgeoff]

That is alot of cash or assets taken away.How long did they look into his case  for it to be taken away.

[Flink]

3 hours ago, scorecard said:

Sure. But why has he been 'stripped' after retirement - the list of his 'events' goes back decades, why wasn't he stripped decades back?

Maybe because he was sending envelopes the right way but now he's retired he decided to pack up and leave LOS with his millions and the powers that be haven't finished milking him?

[sambum]

7 hours ago, ezzra said:

Oh that's has to hurt and hurt a lot, loss the ill gotten money and worse, loss of face for the whole family, but if he had some brain, he would have stashed some of the loot overseas, far from praying eyes...

...."praying eyes..."

 

Obvious typo, but I like it!

[Mavideol]

they are going after small fish to show off and pretending they are doing a good job, much much bigger fish in the Thai ocean of corruption that keep going unpunished and keep filling their deep pockets on a daily basis but maybe they are "untouchable"

[DTL2014]

it's not enough to just say he was unusually rich...i think the public is right to ask how he acquired this money...and whether the same structure still exists for his replacements ? it's worth noting that the koh tao murders would have taken place during his tenure of region 8.

Without knowing where the money came from, further charges have been avoided.That doesn't sound right to me...if he is guilty of being unusually rich - it stands to reason that many laws would have had to be broken to get to that point.

[Canuckluck]

Joe Farrari Part Duex

[rudi49jr]

I wonder if this is an example of a ‘token bust’? Because I would be very surprised if he didn’t have a little something something stashed away somewhere safe for a rainy day. And by a little something something I mean enough to live on for a long time, so millions and millions of baht.

It’s no wonder Thai men want to join the RTP: guys like this show that if you apply yourself and work hard at being the meanest and dirtiest of the mess that is the RTP, you can work your way up and become filthy rich. Joining the army and becoming a general is, of course, another way to go to reach that same goal.

[brucegoniners]

That just shows how incredibly corrupt the system is here.

[brucegoniners]

Funny, I didn't see anything about an arrest in this case.

[rudi49jr]

4 minutes ago, brucegoniners said:

That just shows how incredibly corrupt the system is here.

That’s how it works here: pick some unlucky guy (probably someone who refused to pay off those higher up in the chain) and go after him, to show the public that they are really doing something against corruption. But at the same there are thousands (if not tens of thousands) of other corrupt cops and government officials who are left untouched and they can enjoy the fruits of their corruption in peace.

[wombat]

with such a stellar record I find it hard to believe he had time to be corrupt.

surely its a mistake?