Local corruption linked to the police under the spotlight after officer’s murder in Nakhon Pathom

[webfact]

Deputy National Police Chief General Surachate Hakparn (centre) briefed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Sunday on the probe into the murder of a senior police officer believed to have been directed by Nakhon Pathom Kamnan Praween Chankhlai (left) on Wednesday, 6th September which was followed the next day by the suspected suicide of his superior, Police Colonel Vachira Yaothaisong on Monday afternoon (right).

Events on the night of September 6th last and developments since have brought home the scale and extent of the corruption problem in Thailand with both the Royal Thai Police and local provincial authorities now being brought under the microscope.

An attempt by a powerful kamnan or local boss in Nakhon Pathom on Wednesday, September 6th to coerce an honest police officer into preferring a relative for promotion within the Royal Thai Police set in motion the murder of 32-year-old Police Lieutenant Colonel Siwakorn Saibua and the wounding of a colleague, Police Lieutenant Colonel Wasin Panpee. The gunman who fired the shots Thananchai Manmak or Non Thapha died two days later in a gunfight with Crime Suppression Division (CSD) officers while, on Monday, the body of the dead policeman’s commanding officer, Police Colonel Vachira Yaothaisong, was found at his home. He was suspected of committing suicide. The case has now given rise to a massive criminal probe directed by Deputy National Police Chief General Surachate Hakparn, the Inspectorate of the Royal Thai Police and inquiries into corruption linked with local officials ordered by the Ministry of the Interior.

 

An outrageous incident at a celebratory event at the local headquarters of Mr Praween Chankhlai or Kamnan Nok in Ta Kong, Nakhon Pathom on Wednesday last, the 6th of September, during which a senior police officer was murdered and an associate seriously injured, has sparked a firestorm within the ranks of the Royal Thai Police, which has already led to two further deaths as a result.

 

by James Morris and Son Nguyen

 

Full story: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2023/09/14/local-corruption-linked-to-the-police-probed-senior-officer-suicide-murder/

 

-- Thai Examiner 2023-09-14

 

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[2baht]

Just now, webfact said:

The case has now given rise to a massive criminal probe directed by Deputy National Police Chief General Surachate Hakparn

Is he the only cop who can actually get things done??? Are the rest inactive??? Incompetent??? Useless??? Corrupt??? ????

[stoner]

5 minutes ago, webfact said:

the scale and extent of the corruption problem in Thailand with both the Royal Thai Police and local provincial authorities now being brought under the microscope.

a telescope might work better. you going need a pretty big mirror regardless. 

[jacko45k]

7 minutes ago, 2baht said:

Is he the only cop who can actually get things done??? Are the rest inactive??? Incompetent??? Useless??? Corrupt??? ????

That is the impression I get......

[ChrisY1]

Isn't corruption the RTP' main business tactic?

They try to make is sound surprising:)

[mikebell]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

have brought home the scale and extent of the corruption problem in Thailand with both the Royal Thai Police and local provincial authorities

It's barely scratched the surface.  Most Thais' first view of corruption is at the hands of the local policeman & it progresses up the ladder from there.

[impulse]

1 hour ago, 2baht said:

Is he the only cop who can actually get things done??? Are the rest inactive??? Incompetent??? Useless??? Corrupt??? 

Perhaps they enjoy breathing, and they've learned a lesson from the guy who got taken out.

 

[2baht]

9 minutes ago, impulse said:

Perhaps they enjoy breathing, and they've learned a lesson from the guy who got taken out.

 

This goes way beyond that! That was a few days ago, Big Joke has been solving crimes for years! Big Joke is no less bullet proof than officer Ngop!

 

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by 2baht

[impulse]

3 minutes ago, 2baht said:

This goes way beyond that! That was a few days ago, Big Joke has been solving crimes for years!

I'm just positing an explanation for why most Thai cops don't go after corruption.  They enjoy breathing.

 

[2baht]

1 minute ago, impulse said:

I'm just positing an explanation for why most Thai cops don't go after corruption.  They enjoy breathing.

 

.....................and the profits! ????

[impulse]

2 minutes ago, 2baht said:

.....................and the profits! 

No doubt.

 

But I have a little less jaded view of Thai cops, believing that a lot of them would prefer not to participate in the corruption, but are forced to- out of fear for themselves and their families.  Not to mention pitiful salaries, and having to pay for their own uniforms, guns, etc.

 

[gt162]

Corruption is way of life in Thailand including Thai Police Department. And if you interfere with that corruption, it can cost your life. 

 

Thais all know this.

[ezzra]

Without  daily articles of Thai police and government corruptions cases this website will be one boring website.

[bamnutsak]

Nice spin on this one...limited corruption to just a handful of "influential people" and one bad cop, and one honest cop.

 

 

Weird that the PM and Anutin have called for rooting out the mafia in every province.

 

Seems to be a recent problem that just popped up?

 

 

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

The funny part about all these articles and interviews and comments is that it seems everybody pretends that this was a unique case. Like: Now we investigate this guy and his companies and after we found them guilty everybody will live happily ever after. Yeah, sure.

 

Or in other words: Is there any construction and/or truck company in Thailand which is not corrupt? Could any such company exist with all the people who want get part of the money?

 

The only surprising thing about this case is that it was published and now everybody has to do something so that it looks like they do something. 

In Captain Renault words (Casablanca): I'm shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.

[Gottfrid]

3 hours ago, 2baht said:

Is he the only cop who can actually get things done??? Are the rest inactive??? Incompetent??? Useless??? Corrupt??? ????

Or dead!

[lordgrinz]

Are they trying to pretend that this is the only corruption and set of bad cops? These are just the dumbest participants, what about all the RTP who are doing a better job at hiding their corruption and illegal enterprises? They need to investigate all RTP members, and keep track of unusual wealth within their ranks, because this is just the beginning.

[klauskunkel]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Events on the night of September 6th last and developments since have brought home the scale and extent of the corruption problem

I believe the extent of corruption within the police has been known for decades, just look at the antics of former Police Chief Somyot and pretty much all PMs who either ignored or enabled it.

[TheFishman1]

No surprise here the police corruption in the businesses they own with shock. Many people I was on one of those ferry boats to the islands, and they told me one of the police. His family member really owns the boat. I was recently had a really nice hotel and the owner turned out to be a high-level policeman corruption from the top to the bottom whether be with the police department or the school districts, it runs wild here TIT

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The case has now given rise to a massive criminal probe directed by Deputy National Police Chief General Surachate Hakparn, the Inspectorate of the Royal Thai Police and inquiries into corruption linked with local officials ordered by the Ministry of the Interior.

It runs very deep.

[RichardColeman]

If I as the cop I'd make a deal with him - help me convict all the dirty cops for 50 years each and I'll reduce your sentence to 20 years.

 

I still think this mafia type guy will have a accident soon

[Nicholas Paul KNIGHT]

Headline should read the Endemic corruption in the RTP and local agencies is now under the spotlight and so it should be , every problem with Nightclubs, restaurants etc involve the RTP in some way or another. Wake up Thai GOVERNMENT >>at least you are now acting. 

[trainman34014]

''Under The Spotlight '' ?   More like under a 60W Bulb that is about to blow !

 

Much ado about something that will go on forever until they start shooting participants in the back of the head Chinese style.