In a disturbing revelation, a 47-year-old Thai man hailing from Lamphun, named Wongsaphat, has raised serious accusations against 11 police officers in his local region. Following an alleged illegal raid at his home, Wongsaphat has moved to Bangkok seeking help from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB). He contends that these police officers not only conducted an unauthorised search of his premises but also attempted to extort 3,000 baht per month from him, leveraging his employment of migrant construction workers.

 

On November 6, around 4pm, Wongsaphat reported that his home was raided by 11 individuals who identified themselves as police officers. They failed to adhere to procedural norms, neither displaying any badges that prove their identity nor presenting a formal search warrant. Despite the absence of legality and presence of intimidation, Wongsaphat allowed the police to search his house, to prove his innocence.

 

The raid yielded nothing criminal. However, the focus supposedly shifted to his property - under renovation by three migrant construction workers. The officers pinned the contractor, appointed by Wongsaphat, for illegal employment of these workers and linked Wongsaphat to potential legal repercussions due to this claim. An illicit demand followed - the officers proposed that Wongsaphat could evade any legal trouble by paying them a sum of 1,000 baht per migrant worker each month, amounting to a total of 3,000 baht.

 

 

Wongsaphat bravely defied this extortion attempt, assuring that his employees carried valid working permits, a fact verified by the contractor in question. Although he initially intended to take up this matter with the Provincial Police Region 5, an informal approach by the senior authorities led him to reconsider his trust in local law enforcement.

 

Further fear was stoked when Wongsaphat noticed one of these raiding officers clandestinely photographing his car and registration details. Having considered the safety of his family and himself, the tormented man escalated his complaint to the Central Investigation Bureau in Bangkok.

 

As details continue to unfold, this case exposes stark allegations against the integrity of the 11 police officers. The incident puts a spotlight on possible police corruption in Lamphun, and the effectiveness of the Central Investigation Bureau's intervention is eagerly awaited by Wongsaphat and the broader public. Investigations are ongoing, with more elusive details expected to come to light soon.

 

File photo for reference only

 

-- 2024-11-22

 

 

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Wongsaphat bravely defied this extortion attempt, assuring that his employees carried valid working permits, a fact verified by the contractor in question. Although he initially intended to take up this matter with the Provincial Police Region 5, an informal approach by the senior authorities led him to reconsider his trust in local law enforcement.

I get where he's coming from....

Troll post and replies removed.

If true hopefully they actually do something about it other than moving them to new posts.

 

This is definitely the kind of stuff that needs to be stopped.

 

Perhaps they need to raise the starting salary of ฿8,610/month to stop some of this.

 

https://www.moneybuffalo.in.th/economy/thai-police-salary

8 minutes ago, rwill said:

If true hopefully they actually do something about it other than moving them to new posts.

 

This is definitely the kind of stuff that needs to be stopped.

 

Perhaps they need to raise the starting salary of ฿8,610/month to stop some of this.

 

https://www.moneybuffalo.in.th/economy/thai-police-salary

Correct, this is the root cause of police corruption 

18 minutes ago, rwill said:

Perhaps they need to raise the starting salary of ฿8,610/month to stop some of this.

Perhaps, or likely, the reason that police do very little in the way of law enforcement. 
They only work as hard as what they get paid and other means of sourcing a living wage are sought. 

No surprise here corruption from the very top to the very bottom TIT

 Pleasing to see a Thai person making a legally correct formal complaint against police corruption and to the correct authorities. 

I hope he is rewarded for his brave stance against police extortion. 

9 minutes ago, jippytum said:

 Pleasing to see a Thai person making a legally correct formal complaint against police corruption and to the correct authorities. 

I hope he is rewarded for his brave stance against police extortion. 

 

Totally agree.

Hopefully his reward will not be a motor 'accident'.

44 minutes ago, Zack61 said:

Perhaps, or likely, the reason that police do very little in the way of law enforcement. 
They only work as hard as what they get paid and other means of sourcing a living wage are sought. 

Hard to pay more, when they have 1 police officer per 20 citizens. 😂

Paying bribes is complicit. Give that nice man a shiny badge

11 officers. lol

I dont have any doubt that Wongsaphat is telling the truth and that this kind of intimidation and extortion by the Thai Police happens daily.

1 hour ago, Zack61 said:

Perhaps, or likely, the reason that police do very little in the way of law enforcement. 
They only work as hard as what they get paid and other means of sourcing a living wage are sought. 

 

does the security guard of your place try to extort you monthly? they paid even less, to sleep on the job

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

Totally agree.

Hopefully his reward will not be a motor 'accident'.

The guy shows not to be afraid, but he might en danger his family.

You could double their salaries and still the corruption is so embedded in the RTP that nothing would change. 

1 hour ago, Gottfrid said:

Hard to pay more, when they have 1 police officer per 20 citizens. 😂

Actually it’s about 1 police to 300 people then if you take into account how many actually work ( do what they are supposed to )it’s probably 1 to 300,000

3 hours ago, kiwikeith said:

Perhaps they need to raise the starting salary of ฿8,610/month to stop some of this.

I think the corrupt ones within the BiB are so entrenched in their behavior and resulting lifestyle that a salary raise just looks like a reward to them.

2 hours ago, kiwikeith said:

Correct, this is the root cause of police corruption 

 

Unfortunately, the root cause is deeply set, and increasing the salaries, while a good thing, will do nothing to stop the corruption.

 

There seems to be an "unwritten law" whereby for the most part any wrongdoers merely get moved to an inactive post for a while, and then resume their normal duties, or are transferred to another post/area.

 

Another dubious procedure is that promotion seems to be bought rather than on merit or performance.

 

I would like to see a situation where honest 🙂 policemen get rewarded with a decent salary, but wrongdoers, if found guilty should be immediately sacked - no inactive posts or transfers - sacked!

 

You might then eventually get a police force that does not need to supplement their income by extortion/corruption, will do the job they are paid to do, and achieve promotion by virtue of their results, not by paying for a step up the ladder with money that has obviously been acquired through dubious practices. (You will obviously have situations where some officers families are wealthy enough to buy their offspring a step up (Big Joke?), but I would imagine these to be in the minority.

 

 

 

The incident puts a spotlight on possible police corruption in Lamphun. 

 

Ha. This one is funny. I love how they always try to make it appear as if the RTP is clean and free of corruption. The big surprise is not when they find signs of corruption. The big surprise is when they find signs of good police work, without corruption. 

 

The RTP at it's inception seems to have been created with a status quo from the government. We will NOT pay you a living wage, but you have a franchise, and the limit of your income is based solely on your own creativity and initiative, and you will always be protected. Is that not the case? 

 

 

This happens all over the country it’s nothing new lady bars paying money every month to the local plod all credit to the guy for complaining only problem is his card is marked !

Hope he has videos of the raid on his phone.

For money you can get almost anything from the RTP. For example, in certain cities, if you have a motorbike rental, you can park it in public parking spaces for a monthly "fee", payable monthly! But no, this is not extortion

7 minutes ago, Purdey said:

Hope he has videos of the raid on his phone.

Why, do you really think it will make any difference? 

The only time there is any kick-back is if the BIB step on the toes of other BIB, as a normal citizen you don't rate. 

6 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

 

Totally agree.

Hopefully his reward will not be a motor 'accident'.

or perhaps leap from a balcony 😛

Not much, 3000 between 11 of them.