Deputy National Police Chief General Surachate Hakparn met with German prosecutors this week on his trip to the European Union country. At length, the 55-year-old German accused Jens Kirch retracted the sensational claims made on a DW TV exposé broadcast on German TV. Previously, he said he paid ฿ 1 million in bribes to be able to leave Thailand after being charged with underage sex abuse in Pattaya.

Police investigation finds that the Deutsche Welles TV exposé on Pattaya underage sex arrests was unethical. No substance was found in the claims made in the documentary that officials in Pattaya were bribed to let a German businessman fly home after being arrested in an underage sex crackdown. 

Big Joke or General Surachate Hakparn heralded his trip to Germany as a success this week. It came after a written statement by a 55-year-old German businessman arrested in Pattaya in September 2022 for underage sex, absolved police in the city of complicity in his escape from justice in Thailand. The letter was handed over by German police. Afterwards, General Surachate blamed the media outlet Deutsche Welles TV and unethical behaviour by journalists for the controversy raised in December when an explosive TV exposé was aired in Germany and worldwide online.

 

Deputy National Police Chief General Surachate Hakparn, on a visit to Germany, has blamed journalists working with Deutsche Welle (DW) for explosive claims in a controversial TV documentary which was banned in Thailand and led to a high-level investigation led by the top cop.

 

by Carla Boonkong & Pranee O' Connor

 

Full story: Thai Examiner 2024-01-29

 

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11 minutes ago, webfact said:

Big Joke or General Surachate Hakparn heralded his trip to Germany as a success this week.

As always, Big Joke to the rescue!!!!

So if he didn't pay a bribe why was he allowed to fly to Germany?

11 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

So if he didn't pay a bribe why was he allowed to fly to Germany?

Please don't ask difficult questions, you'll upset the well established  smooth running system. 

I read the linked article several times.

 

All of the narrative comes from Hapkarn.

 

The effort to paper over Thailand's lax enforcement of underage prostitution, and police bribes is admirable, I guess.

 

 

How else did he get out of the country? unless he had more than one passport

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Deputy National Police Chief General Surachate Hakparn, on a visit to Germany,

I thought Octoberfest in Bavaria was September? 

 

You know, where they unload last year's old beer onto drunk consumers who will then proceed to mix Sprite into the beer "so they won't get so drunk". 🤪

So it was all a 'misunderstanding'.

The Squeaky Clean, Pristine Image is still intact, thanks heaven's for that!

Another photo op jaunt at the taxpayers expense to prove absolutely nothing about how he got out of the country after being arrested.

The usual Thai police whitewash.

 

grrr, the journalism here is terrible. Ask questions, they don't have to answer, but be on record asking the questions.

1) Respected media outlet does a report indicating police corruption

 

2) Police decide that police did nothing wrong

 

3) Police conclude that the problem is the pesky media outlet

 

Done!

All they really wanted was that statement stating they were not bribed, a trip to the motherland for that.

Bail, Bond, Bribe, these are just words, and they allow for the same result: after being arrested and facing prosecution you may pay the (insert your favorite b-word) and subsequently leave the country. Either there is no legal mechanic (confiscation of passport, Immigration flag, etc.) to ensure a suspect can't leave the country, or there is, and paying that b-word removes that obstacle - the result is the same no matter what you call it.

So, Big Joke (another b-word), fix your system and maybe you won't be so embarrassed by it in the future. 

hahaha, there is no prostitution or corruption.. case closed

Hogwash.

2 hours ago, ChipButty said:

How else did he get out of the country? unless he had more than one passport

Wasn't there a large bag of money mentioned. What was that for, to wedge a door open for the guy to escape?

42 minutes ago, fondue zoo said:

grrr, the journalism here is terrible. Ask questions, they don't have to answer, but be on record asking the questions.

 

Thais are taught from the day they begin school not to ask questions (that the teacher might not be able to answer and so will lose face). Hardly the best training for a journalist. How often have we seen on tv news a crowd of 'journalists' surrounding whoever who talking, but never asking them a question. And when one did ask the former PM a question he was told by the PM he would have his mouth taped shut.

A simple question to clear all this up, how did he leave the country when he was under suspicion, with that answered we can all go back to bed and the taxpayer could have been saved a baht or two.

24 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Wasn't there a large bag of money mentioned. What was that for, to wedge a door open for the guy to escape?

 

I think that was in the video?

3 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

I read the linked article several times.

 

All of the narrative comes from Hapkarn.

 

The effort to paper over Thailand's lax enforcement of underage prostitution, and police bribes is admirable, I guess.

 

 

Indeed. All this from the same ‘news’ outlet that ‘planted’ a story claiming that girl was actually seventeen: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2023/12/11/german-faces-pattaya-sex-charge-at-home-jens-kirch/

 

Whilst today’s article states that the girl was fourteen. 
 

Furthermore they blame DW, when the original documentary was aired nine months before DW aired it. Even Al Jazeera showed it beforehand. 

 

 

Did the German get his 1 million back in exchange for retracting his earlier comments?

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

So if he didn't pay a bribe why was he allowed to fly to Germany?

It was a donation... not a bribe.

Always about the customer of the bar, never about the pimps providing underage kids in that Pattaya bar. Why has the owner of the bar, not the manager, been arrested and taken to court? I 'wish' they had been.

2 hours ago, proton said:

Always about the customer of the bar, never about the pimps providing underage kids in that Pattaya bar. Why has the owner of the bar, not the manager, been arrested and taken to court? I 'wish' they had been.

Why, because the owner is more than likely a member of or a realitve of an upstanding member of RTP. 

55 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Why, because the owner is more than likely a member of or a realitve of an upstanding member of RTP. 

 

No it's not it's a British owner of multiple bars

This goon will say anything to try to fool the masses into believing and untruth. It is a very well-known reality here that you can buy your way out of most crimes, including underage sex crimes, for the right amount of money. So no matter what he says, most of us will continue believing that, and will ignore his foolishness, his arrogance and his utter silliness.

 

1 million baht sounds about right, it's the number that I've heard on previous occasions, with regard to this crime. 

 

When I was living on Samui many years ago I knew a guy who was arrested for possession of one kilo of ganja, and the police gave him a choice to come up with 1 million Baht within 48 hours or face arrest and jail. He could not come up with the money, and he went to Samui prison for 17 months, until his sentence was finally pardoned. 

 

I know this for a fact as I visited him at the jail several times. 

The RTP's reputation is beyond saving, the only answer is to abolish the whole organization and start over again.

Yeah, right.

The moral of the story is... Just make sure you've got enough ready cash to be given a free pass to exit the country. The police will then cover their ass and you'll be scot free. Problem solved :(