Thai Police Officer Removed After Allegedly Bribing Japanese Youtuber

[webfact]

 

A traffic police officer has been removed from duty after allegations surfaced that he demanded a bribe from a Japanese YouTuber. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Thiti Sangsawang confirmed the officer’s transfer to an "inactive post" following the complaint.

 

The incident allegedly took place several years ago but came to light after a video capturing the encounter went viral on Thai social media platforms. The footage shows a Japanese driver being stopped by a Thai traffic officer, who proceeds to issue him a ticket. 

 

Unable to read the ticket because it was written in Thai, the driver inquired where he could pay the fine or if it could be settled immediately.

 

The officer responded that the fine could be paid on the spot, prompting the driver to pull out a 500 Baht note. In the video, the officer can be heard instructing the driver in English to "put under, put under," prompting the YouTuber to slide the money under the ticket and hand it back. 

 

As the driver drove away, he commented in his video, "This only happens in Thailand, definitely not in Japan." The YouTuber, who was exploring Thailand for his channel, has a significant following and the video quickly gained traction online.

 

Commissioner Thiti stated that the officer involved, now a lieutenant, was a sergeant at the time of the incident, which reportedly happened between 2016 and 2019. Thiti mentioned that he had spoken to the officer, who claimed to have a vague recollection of stopping a vehicle at the Ranong intersection during the stated period.

 

"The officer said he did not remember much about the incident and has requested more time to review the details," Thiti disclosed.

 

The incident has sparked widespread criticism and further scrutiny of police conduct in Thailand, underscoring ongoing concerns about corruption within law enforcement.

 

Picture from Twitter @RedSkullxxx/via Kapook

 

-- 2024-06-21

 

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[Artisi]

So what is new, other than the Police guy being sent o a short holiday?

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Unable to read the ticket because it was written in Thai, the driver inquired where he could pay the fine or if it could be settled immediately.

 

The officer responded that the fine could be paid on the spot, prompting the driver to pull out a 500 Baht note. In the video, the officer can be heard instructing the driver in English to "put under, put under," prompting the YouTuber to slide the money under the ticket and hand it back. 

Common practice, nothing new

[TheFishman1]

If all the traffic cops were put in an active position for taking money at the traffic stop that actually be no traffic cops to issue any tickets TIT

[klauskunkel]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

"The officer said he did not remember much about the incident and has requested more time to review the details,"

The officer will be reinstated once he remembers how much of the 500 baht he had to kickback up the chain...

[soalbundy]

40 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Common practice, nothing new

Which could be stopped if they were paid a living wage as America found out during prohibition where bribery reached such epic proportions that politicians and judges were being bribed, this was brought under control when the police pay was significantly increased.

[lom]

The article doesn't tell why the police officer bribed the Japanese youtuber..

[Poilu]

1 hour ago, klauskunkel said:

The officer will be reinstated once he remembers how much of the 500 baht he had to kickback up the chain...

It happened between 2016 and 2019 and he has been promoted to lieutenant since then.

[lordgrinz]

 

Really?! In Thailand it's the Modus Operandi of the RTP, there is nothing "allegedly" about it.

 

Quote

Thai Police Officer Removed After Allegedly Bribing Japanese Youtuber

 

[Celsius]

Inflation. It used to be 200b

[HaoleBoy]

9 minutes ago, Celsius said:

Inflation. It used to be 200b

You can still negotiate the 500 thb down to 200 thb in BKK ... 

Only at speed traps (outside of BKK) you can't negotiate, but you get a real ticket and have to pay where they stop you - just outside of Phrae, from Lampang to Trak are 2 I run up against all the time.

[Tropicalevo]

6 minutes ago, Celsius said:

Inflation. It used to be 200b

100 baht in 1993.

 

The story does not ring true.

First, the policeman was no 'allegedly bribing the YouTuber', he was requesting a bribe.

OK - bad English maybe.

Why is the event being published now? YouTuber run out of original stuff?

I do not think that any road traffic policeman will remember one particular bribe received approx 7 years ago. As far as I know, they do not keep records of bribes.

The whole thing is a 'wait until it dies down'.

[brianthainess]

The Japanese man should not have said "ah so !"       'Mind your language'   

[ChipButty]

25 minutes ago, Celsius said:

Inflation. It used to be 200b

1000 baht here in Phuket

[klauskunkel]

2 hours ago, klauskunkel said:

The officer will be reinstated once he remembers how much of the 500 baht he had to kickback up the chain...

 

56 minutes ago, Poilu said:

It happened between 2016 and 2019 and he has been promoted to lieutenant since then.

Yes, it did. However, this happened now:

6 hours ago, webfact said:

A traffic police officer has been removed from duty after allegations surfaced

Do you now understand my post?

[Pouatchee]

1 hour ago, lom said:

The article doesn't tell why the police officer bribed the Japanese youtuber..

 

 

totally agree... another bs title

 

Quote

Thai Police Officer Removed After Allegedly Bribing Japanese Youtuber

 

that is exactly what it says... dont know which idiot gave you a confused emoji... 

[Peabody]

2 hours ago, soalbundy said:

Which could be stopped if they were paid a living wage...

Sure. It worked so well with the customs department a few years back.

[OneMoreFarang]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

the officer can be heard instructing the driver in English to "put under, put under," prompting the YouTuber to slide the money under the ticket and hand it back. 

 

I can't count how often something like that happened to me. It's always amazing that it is normal for almost all officers to accept cash and the officers know it, and the traffic participants know it. But then, the police want to hide the money like nobody knows what is happening. Hilarious. 

[IvorBiggun2]

2 hours ago, soalbundy said:

Which could be stopped if they were paid a living wage

What do you see as a living wage? Doesn't matter how badly paid they are doesn't give them the right to take bribes.

[soalbundy]

20 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

What do you see as a living wage? Doesn't matter how badly paid they are doesn't give them the right to take bribes.

Survival is a basic instinct. One of the bar girls on koh Samui told me that during the last week of the month a young police officer would regularly come round to the rooms where the girls lived to ask for food, not money, they would let him join in with their communal meal, this was the only interaction that they had with him. 

[john donson]

filmed and will still deny...

 

unactive post with pay = holiday

[proton]

2 hours ago, Celsius said:

Inflation. It used to be 200b

 

This happened in 2019, probably 1k by now 

[ignore it]

Authorities to issue statement condemning such singular behavior as it makes Thailand look bad and may discourage potential tourists from visiting Thailand...

 

Oh wait a moment, weren't they just complaining about having too many tourists?

 

So just hide him away till something more newsworthy tickles the online community and it fades from memory. 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

4 hours ago, soalbundy said:

Which could be stopped if they were paid a living wage

Anybody who wants to be a police officer in Thailand will know that the salary is bad but it's possible to make a lot of money.

And they know that they have to buy the job, promotions, etc.

I don't think there is anybody naive enough in Thailand to become police officer because they want to restore law and order and do an honest job.

 

So, if anybody wants to be able to live from their salary, then they shouldn't become police officer in Thailand. That is not exactly a secret to anybody. 

[digger70]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

officer’s transfer to an "inactive post" following the complaint.

Why this cr@p  inactive post. ? Kick his @ss out of the Force so he won't do it again and  again.

[OneMoreFarang]

50 minutes ago, digger70 said:

Why this cr@p  inactive post. ? Kick his @ss out of the Force so he won't do it again and  again.

I guess that one reason is that all the other police officers are also corrupt.

Imagine when they would point out one guy who is corrupt, and he should be fired. Fine. And then? The next one. And the next one. All of them are corrupt. And I am sure many of them know many details about the corruption of others.

So what do they do? We pretend to punish you with that inactive post, but don't worry, soon you will make money again.

The police force like it is has no reason to clean up their rotten house. They are all in it together.