Royal Thai Police suspend welfare gun program indefinitely

[webfact]

 

The Royal Thai Police (RTP) has indefinitely suspended its welfare gun program after it was discovered that some unscrupulous police officers, who placed orders for mostly handguns, have used the “Por 3” gun purchase permits to buy guns to resell online, according to Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol, the deputy national police chief.

 

To prevent this malpractice, he said that the RTP is considering introducing new technology to stamp a QR code on each handgun, so it can be tracked.

 

Former president of the Shooting Sports Association of Thailand, Atiprat Kanchanasuwan, told Thai PBS that there is a loophole in the police welfare gun program, which has been exploited by unscrupulous police officers.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/royal-thai-police-suspend-welfare-gun-program-indefinitely/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-10-29

 

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[lujanit]

What is a welfare gun?

13 minutes ago, webfact said:

To prevent this malpractice, he said that the RTP is considering introducing new technology to stamp a QR code on each handgun, so it can be tracked.

They will just grind off the QR code like they do with serial numbers.

[Mutt Daeng]

Unscrupulous police offers? Who would have thought?

[Moonlover]

I find it very difficult to reconcile  the words 'welfare' and 'gun' in the same sentence.

[Artisi]

13 minutes ago, Mutt Daeng said:

Unscrupulous police offers? Who would have thought?

Yes, it really is an unbelievable thought. 

[In Full Agreement]

 

Is there any hope at all??

 

[Lacessit]

31 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

I find it very difficult to reconcile  the words 'welfare' and 'gun' in the same sentence.

Oxymoron and contradiction of terms were my thoughts.

I'm just wondering what schizoid wordsmith came up with the phrase.

[2baht]

Well duhhhh! What did they expect! Absolutely no resistance to temptation or a few quick baht! It's ingrained in the culture!

[ourmanflint]

I'm getting a very strong recurrent theme in much of the recent news. A deeply, deeply flawed Police force is the source of a huge proportion of the countries problems.

Is any country in the world worse?, and just how many times does the RTP need to be reformed to actually get something that works?

 

To answer my own question, there are 23 other countries with worse Police than Thailand.

 Police Corruption

 

 

Edited October 29, 2022 by ourmanflint

[ezzra]

And those are the guys we suppose to put our trust in to serve and protect, more like steal and enrich themselves and their interests...

[Cake Monster]

3 hours ago, Moonlover said:

I find it very difficult to reconcile  the words 'welfare' and 'gun' in the same sentence.

Apparently, this was a scheme whereby Police Officers who were on low pay, would be able to buy their own Firearms at discounted rates and on the knock.

This was always going to be open to abuse from the minute the decision was made Years ago.

Now the real work should begin to retrieve those weapons and prosecute those Officers who are in effect nothing but Arms Dealers in Uniform.

Makes me wonder how many people have been killed, maimed and threatened by these guns, which have been supplied by the Police.

 

[BangkokReady]

1 hour ago, Cake Monster said:

Now the real work should begin to retrieve those weapons and prosecute those Officers who are in effect nothing but Arms Dealers in Uniform.

The problem is that no one is ever held accountable.  It's just the way things are throughout Thailand.  Nothing will ever change until Thai culture has a massive shift.

[BangkokReady]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

there is a loophole in the police welfare gun program

Yes.  It's taking place in Thailand.

 

Issue the weapons, note down make, model and serial number.  Then have a yearly audit.  Any missing guns mean the officers who own them are fired.

[Artisi]

57 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Yes.  It's taking place in Thailand.

 

Issue the weapons, note down make, model and serial number.  Then have a yearly audit.  Any missing guns mean the officers who own them are fired.

A yearly audit is meaningless,  I know a high ranking police guy in charge of a police station, he has random weekly checks as many police guys regularly put their guns into the pawn shops on a temporary basis. 

[herfiehandbag]

5 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Oxymoron and contradiction of terms were my thoughts.

I'm just wondering what schizoid wordsmith came up with the phrase.

However "unscrupulous" and "police officers" go together like strawberries and cream!

[Boyn]

As i am from the UK i am used to hearing about welfare but welfare guns is a new one.

[Enoon]

3 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

The problem is that no one is ever held accountable.  It's just the way things are throughout Thailand.  Nothing will ever change until Thai culture has a massive shift.

There are two prime elements of Thai "culture" that need "shifting" out of the way first.

 

They will not go quietly.

 

"There is no peaceful solution".

 

 

Edited October 29, 2022 by Enoon

[Enoon]

5 hours ago, ezzra said:

And those are the guys we suppose to put our trust in to serve and protect, more like steal and enrich themselves and their interests...

"Serve and protect" is a slogan that originated in the USA.

 

It has not travelled well to underdeveloped countries.

 

It only takes a little research to establish the sheer folly of expecting to find it in places such as Thailand.

 

Amazing to find people still quoting its tenets on these pages.

 

 

[RobU]

Why do police officers have to buy their own guns? Surely they should be issued as tools of the trade and the issue controlled by a police armourer.  Each gun would then be tracked and could be recalled and retrieved when the officer retires, is suspended or sacked then stored and re issued to another serving officer. Such a system might have prevented the massacre of those poor children and their carers. Do soldiers buy their own sub machine guns , grenades and rifles then take them home after work and when they retire? This is a recipe for arming insurgents.

Edited October 29, 2022 by RobU

[jacko45k]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

which has been exploited by unscrupulous police officers.

Spot the redundant word!

[herfiehandbag]

4 hours ago, RobU said:

Do soldiers buy their own sub machine guns , grenades and rifles then take them home after work and when they retire? This is a recipe for arming insurgents.

Since we seem to be seeing the tip of the iceberg with police pistols...

[brianthainess]

21 hours ago, webfact said:

which has been exploited by unscrupulous police officers.

So all of them then. 

[mikebell]

At least RTP is better than Columbia and India!  What an achievement!

[scorecard]

On 10/29/2022 at 11:54 AM, Mutt Daeng said:

Unscrupulous police offers? Who would have thought?

And it seems there's more than a few...

[kwilco]

I find it bizarre that police have to buy their own guns.

Mind you on the pittance they re paid it is no wonder that they are tempted to use their position to generate more money.