Senior Thai Police Orders Strict New Checkpoint Rules in Response to Extortion Cases

[webfact]

PHOTO: Siamrath

 

By Tanakorn Panyadee

National — Thai checkpoint police have been ordered by the national police chief to store their body cam recordings for at least 20 days, following viral extortion cases against visiting tourists.

National police chief Pol. Gen. Damrongsak Kittiprapas issued an order on Saturday, February 4th, requiring all checkpoint police officers to store their body cam footage of their conduct at the checkpoint for at least 20 days.

 

The order was presumably motivated by the two recent cases of police shakedowns against a Taiwanese actress, Charlene An, in Bangkok, and an unnamed Chinese tourist in Pattaya.

 

The two visiting tourists were reportedly extorted out of money for carrying vaping devices by Thai police officers.

 

In Charlene An’s case, the concerned policemen claimed that their body cam recordings had automatically been deleted, but according to the senior investigator, the memory cards that were used to store the recordings were not deleted or overwritten but were destroyed.

 

Full story: https://thepattayanews.com/2023/02/05/senior-thai-police-orders-strict-new-checkpoint-rules-in-response-to-extortion-cases/

 

-- © Copyright The Pattaya News 2023-02-06

 

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[kwilco]

Again the big problem is that checkpoints are not effective even if they are "transparent" - it just shows how clueless the authorities are on road safety.

[TheFishman1]

Yeah, I don’t know about that. It’s one of the moneymaking campaigns they have here TIT 

[Elkski]

First I heard the memory cards were destroyed.   That should add 5 years at least to their prison term.  

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

issued an order on Saturday, February 4th, requiring all checkpoint police officers to store their body cam footage of their conduct at the checkpoint for at least 20 days.

So it's up to them to follow orders?

What is the fine of "accidently" deleting something? Is it worse than being fired and prosecuted for a crime which was recorded?

 

Police officers should not be able to do any deleting themselves. Maybe the cameras should automatically transmit everything in real time and it should be stored in the cloud. And nobody should be able to delete any of this. Read only access. Technically this should be no problem.

Just do it! 

[Orinoco]

The Monday morning goon show. Nice.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

In Charlene An’s case, the concerned policemen claimed that their body cam recordings had automatically been deleted, but according to the senior investigator, the memory cards that were used to store the recordings were not deleted or overwritten but were destroyed.

Rotten to the core.

[Pique Dard]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

requiring all checkpoint police officers to store their body cam footage of their conduct at the checkpoint for at least 20 days.

...so what will happen after 20 days?

[hotchilli]

15 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

So it's up to them to follow orders?

Apparently the "shake-downs" at check points were orders from above to keep the revenue stream coming in for the monthly share-out.

[IamNoone88]

They do not need a shakedown for traffic violations in Phuket. The number reckless tourists on motorbikes without helmets and or a Thai motorbike license or International motorbike license presents easy bonafide revenue. Personally, when you see the dangerous driving by a large majority of these people I am thankful they get stopped.

[Kenchamp]

42 minutes ago, IamNoone88 said:

They do not need a shakedown for traffic violations in Phuket. The number reckless tourists on motorbikes without helmets and or a Thai motorbike license or International motorbike license presents easy bonafide revenue. Personally, when you see the dangerous driving by a large majority of these people I am thankful they get stopped.

Easy solution to that would be to go after the rental shops who rent bikes to people who don't produce a valid license. The cops use checkpoints as an income stream and not for road safety purposes and with the increase in fines there has been an increase in checkpoints

[jacko45k]

2 minutes ago, Kenchamp said:

Easy solution to that would be to go after the rental shops who rent bikes to people who don't produce a valid license. The cops use checkpoints as an income stream and not for road safety purposes and with the increase in fines there has been an increase in checkpoints

Your post is rather optimistic.. let me see, you want to restrict the income of those who rent out motorcycles, and at the same time that of the police? The incentive being?

[MRToMRT]

It will be a for a month in tourist zones then back to normal graft and thuggery.

[internationalism]

police know well how to temper with them

 

[Salerno]

4 minutes ago, internationalism said:

police know well how to temper with them

I don't think they do, if they did, the footage wouldn't be recoverable as stated in the article you linked to.

[RandiRona]

Any country keeping random checkpoints on roads is all about corruption and nothing about security. Nothing will change as it’s part of culture and normal Thai feel nothing wrong with shakedown since they have not lived their life without it ever. Even Thai apologist Falangs brings absurd arguments like cops are not paid well here or 100-200 baht bribe is nothing to whine about.

[nigelforbes]

1 minute ago, RandiRona said:

Any country keeping random checkpoints on roads is all about corruption and nothing about security. Nothing will change as it’s part of culture and normal Thai feel nothing wrong with shakedown since they have not lived their life without it ever. Even Thai apologist Falangs brings absurd arguments like cops are not paid well here or 100-200 baht bribe is nothing to whine about.

Nonsense! Thailand is at the heart of the illegal drugs industry in SE Asia, that and people smuggling make checkpoints and stops essential. I used to drive from San Diego to Irvine every day and get stopped around Oceanside at the border patrol checkpoint and my car searched, almost every day for drugs or illegals, exactly the same thing..

[RandiRona]

5 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

Nonsense! Thailand is at the heart of the illegal drugs industry in SE Asia, that and people smuggling make checkpoints and stops essential. I used to drive from San Diego to Irvine every day and get stopped around Oceanside at the border patrol checkpoint and my car searched, almost every day for drugs or illegals, exactly the same thing..

 But that is not what this check points checks for? They are nothing but corrupt shakedowns but let me not interrupt you from your morning stroll!!

[nigelforbes]

Just now, RandiRona said:

 But that is not what this check points checks for? They are nothing but corrupt shakedowns but let me not interrupt you from your morning stroll!!

You don't know what the purpose of the checkpoint was for, you can only speculate.

[wwest5829]

"Knock on wood", check points here in Chiang Mai I am usually waved through. Figure they do not want to deal with English ... or maybe it is my aura ... or maybe they note my Thai wife. Ha! I usually get a smile and wave through, after 12 years and on the motorbike every other day perhaps the face is familiar.

[KhunLA]

To the title of thread ... don't need any more rules, as they are strict already, simply not followed.

[ozz1]

What are they going to do for money now they will have to think of another scheme to extract money out of tourists maybe smoking or vaping we will see  but after a few months it will be all back to normal don't worry

[nigelforbes]

6 minutes ago, ozz1 said:

What are they going to do for money now they will have to think of another scheme to extract money out of tourists maybe smoking or vaping we will see  but after a few months it will be all back to normal don't worry

A useful one might be going after and fining those posters on social media who slag them off and call them all crooks .....just a thought. ????

[FolkGuitar]

The worst part of corruption is that it keeps the system moving so well!  Perhaps that's why the Chinese nickname for it is 'fragrant grease.'   Pay it, and everything moves smoothly. 5,000 years ago it ceased to be an issue of 'legally right or wrong,' in favor of 'effective or not effective.'  And unfortunately, it is very effective.

[4MyEgo]

As I've said before, they are not addressing the issue.

 

Remove the police from collecting the money at checkpoints and the problem is solved.

 

Police issue the tickets only and the person receiving the fine pays it within 21 days or elects on the reverse side of the ticket to have the matter heard in a court of law if challenging the fine.

 

Problem solved, but won't happen because it takes the gravy off the gravy train, doesn't it.

[khunjeff]

52 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

Nonsense! Thailand is at the heart of the illegal drugs industry in SE Asia, that and people smuggling make checkpoints and stops essential. I used to drive from San Diego to Irvine every day and get stopped around Oceanside at the border patrol checkpoint and my car searched, almost every day for drugs or illegals, exactly the same thing..

The fact that you were dealing with the Border Patrol and not state or local police tells us that it is not "exactly the same thing". The random searches you experienced were only allowed because you were within 100 miles of an international border - they would be forbidden anywhere in the interior of the US. 

[nigelforbes]

10 minutes ago, khunjeff said:

The fact that you were dealing with the Border Patrol and not state or local police tells us that it is not "exactly the same thing". The random searches you experienced were only allowed because you were within 100 miles of an international border - they would be forbidden anywhere in the interior of the US. 

That's there, this is here.

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, Pique Dard said:

...so what will happen after 20 days?

My guess ... nothing.

 

The cops concerned will just create delays so that nothing is resolved for 20 days. Probably not difficult, 'delays' seem to regularly mentioned. 

[Mad mick]

????????????

[RandiRona]

1 hour ago, nigelforbes said:

You don't know what the purpose of the checkpoint was for, you can only speculate.

Yes we can, similar to how you know what San Diego to Irvine check points are for , we know what these Thai shakedowns checkpoints are for. Specially in all touristy areas!