Missing Police Officer Convicted Over Missing Tsunami Funds, Ambassadors Press Charges

[taxexile]

Officer charged over tsunami funds misappropriation

BANGKOK (Kom Chad Luek): The Royal Thai Police Disciplinary Division has charged a high-ranking officer in the Foreign Affairs Division over alleged improprieties in the use of funds for the Thailand Tsunami Victims Identification (TTVI) center.

Col Chaiyaporn Wannaprapa, Deputy Commander of the Disciplinary Division of the Royal Thai Police, on February 12 announced that Col Pornprasert Karnjanarin was formally notified of the investigation against him just two days before a resignation letter he had tendered was set to take effect, on February 10.

Col Pornprasert, Deputy Commander of the Royal Thai Police Foreign Affairs Division, will have his pension benefits seized unless he is able to prove himself innocent, Col Chaiyaporn said.

"The investigating panel has issued Col Pornprasert a two-part summons ordering him to appear and hear the charges against him and also notifying him that if he fails to appear within 15 days a decision will be rendered and punishment imposed based solely on the facts already collected by the panel," Col Chaiyaporn said.

"From our investigation, we believe that Col Pornprasert cannot prove his innocence and had thus been trying to avoid the consequences by reporting in sick until his resignation took effect," he added.

Col Pornprasert said that it was important that justice be proved in the case because the image of the Royal Thai Police was at stake.

The Disciplinary Division will have one year to conclude the case before the statute of limitations runs out, he said.

It was also reported that since the alleged impropriety, which first came to light in 2006, Col Pornprasert had changed his first name to Paramate.

The case made international headlines after the ambassadors of seven countries that donated funds to the TTVI requested then-Police Commissioner Kowit Wattana to launch an independent audit of how 88 million baht in donated funds were used.

Phuket Gazette

Edited March 2, 2009 by PeaceBlondie
Moved to active forum, title changed

[Andiamo]

I am at a complete loss for words..... How on earth could he have done this and thought he could have ever got away with it?

His picture should be plastered all over the Thai media to shame him. This money was donated to help and assist his fellow Thais.....

Terrible.

Thank goodness, the Ambassadors of those countries raised this. If they hadn't, somehow I doubt this would have ever come to light.

Unbelievable.

[pumpuiman]

Image of the Royal Thai Police at stake

Their image is already that of a band of corrupt murdering thieves.

All Thai police are criminals....either by directly being corrupt, or knowing someone who is and looking the other way.

There may be an honest Thai cop, but he would have to be blind,deaf,dumb and mentally retarded.

[Robski]

It is a shame and wholly predictable, but it is good that justice is being served.

[skippybangkok]

Image of the Royal Thai Police at stake

Their image is already that of a band of corrupt murdering thieves.

All Thai police are criminals....either by directly being corrupt, or knowing someone who is and looking the other way.

There may be an honest Thai cop, but he would have to be blind,deaf,dumb and mentally retarded.

Bit over. There are nice ones, have met them. But, plenty of these around too.

[pumpuiman]

Image of the Royal Thai Police at stake

Their image is already that of a band of corrupt murdering thieves.

All Thai police are criminals....either by directly being corrupt, or knowing someone who is and looking the other way.

There may be an honest Thai cop, but he would have to be blind,deaf,dumb and mentally retarded.

Bit over. There are nice ones, have met them. But, plenty of these around too.

Sure they are nice guys...but still break the law. EVERY SINGLE ONE. By knowing corruption exists, and doing nothing...they are guilty of breaking the law.

[lazeeboy]

they think being a policeman is going to put them above the law

[taxexile]

will have his pension benefits seized

robski

but it is good that justice is being served.

with 88 million hidden away , losing his pension benefits shouldnt cause him much hardship.

[skippybangkok]

Sure they are nice guys...but still break the law. EVERY SINGLE ONE. By knowing corruption exists, and doing nothing...they are guilty of breaking the law.

I know where your coming from. Go see the movie "American Gangster" ( 75% of DSI cops were put in jail ) ( but it does not happen now )

Its accepted here, and most people think its normal at the cop level, corporate, etc . ( from what I have seen )

[bulmercke]

Image of the Royal Thai Police at stake

Their image is already that of a band of corrupt murdering thieves.

All Thai police are criminals....either by directly being corrupt, or knowing someone who is and looking the other way.

There may be an honest Thai cop, but he would have to be blind,deaf,dumb and mentally retarded.

[Robski]

will have his pension benefits seized

robski

but it is good that justice is being served.

with 88 million hidden away , losing his pension benefits shouldnt cause him much hardship.

With 88 million baht missing I doubt if he was the only one involved, do you?

Perhaps it has been made worth it for him to take the rap over this.

No word over the money being recovered then?

[phuketsub]

Officer charged over tsunami funds misappropriation

The Kom Chad Luek reporter, whoever he or she is, deserves a great deal of credit fro being the only one to follow up and keep the pressure on in this case...

[jasreeve17]

I don't know how much total money was donated, but always worked on the assumption that 75-90% would be stolen by Thai police / gvt officials.

I agree that so many of them have been filling their boots there's no one left to uphold the law... as usual.

[makavelithedon]

I don't know how much total money was donated, but always worked on the assumption that 75-90% would be stolen by Thai police / gvt officials.

I agree that so many of them have been filling their boots there's no one left to uphold the law... as usual.

It's the same as everything else here in regard graft,corruption, vote buying and deceit. Until normal Thais make the effort to care about these things rather than just accept it or sell out, they won't ever go anywhere as a nation but continue spiralling downwards.

Edited March 7, 2008 by makavelithedon

[sriracha john]

I am at a complete loss for words..... How on earth could he have done this and thought he could have ever got away with it?

His picture should be plastered all over the Thai media to shame him. This money was donated to help and assist his fellow Thais.....

Terrible.

Unbelievable.

UPDATE....I'll do what I can...especially after he's NOW be found GUILTY...

Pornprasert Kanjanarin

TTVI Joint Chief of Staff Pornprasert Kanjanarin (left) at an event in November 2005 to mark the signing of US$1.5m in funding from the US for the TTVI.

TSUNAMI FUND

Police colonel found guilty of misappropriating Tsunami funds

The conclusion of the one-year investigation of the police investigation panel that Col Pornprasert Karnjanarin guilty of the charge was released recently.

The panel will now move to have him dismissed.

Charges of malfeasance were filed against Col Pornprasert in early February last year, just two days before his resignation letter was scheduled to take effect.

The charges followed a formal request by 13 foreign ambassadors representing countries that collectively donated 88 Million Baht to help pay for the TTVI's work in identifying and repatriating the bodies of tsunami victims.

The center, since renamed the Thai Disaster Victim Identification (TDVI) center, was later relocated from Phuket to Bangkok.

Pol Col Chaiyaporn Wannaprapa of the RTP's Disciplinary Division told the Phuket Gazette that the investigation committee called on Col Pornprasert several times for questioning, but was unable to contact him.

His current whereabouts remain unknown.

It was reported a year ago that Col Pornprasert changed his first name to "Paramate."

Col Chaiyaporn declined to give specific details about the investigation panel's findings, except to say that Col Pornprasert was deemed guilty of a serious disciplinary breach because he was unable to account for funds under his control and responsibility.

Chaiyaporn declined to reveal on how much money had gone missing, how many people had been questioned, or what efforts had been made to track down Col Pornprasert, who was Deputy Commander of the Royal Thai Police Foreign Affairs Division during his work at the TTVI.

As punishment, Col Pornprasert will be dismissed from the force and be stripped of his rank, he said.

The loss of one's police rank is considered very serious in the Royal Thai Police; even former prime Thaksin Shinawatra still formally maintains his rank as a police lieutenant colonel, despite having been convicted in absentia of abuse of power while in office.

Other punitive measures against Col Pornprasert, and the decision on whether to charge him with criminal offenses, rest with the RTP board. The committee is expected to make a decision within two or three months, Col Chaiyaporn said.

- The Nation / 2009-03-02

Edited March 2, 2009 by sriracha john

[jumnien]

What a shame! This 88 million baht could have been used to buy 20 Land Rovers for foreign NGO workers to park in their 5-star hotels whilst typing away reports back to their home countries and sipping cocktails. Instead, it was completely lost to a local cop!

[sriracha john]

*For proper dissemination of this updated news, consideration should be given to moving this thread to the News Clippings Forum rather than the outdated and under-visited Tsunami Forum.

Additionally, consideration should be further given to modifying the thread title of this relevant update, eg.

Missing Police Officer Convicted Over Missing Tsunami Funds, Ambassadors Press Charges

[sriracha john]

[taxexile]

As punishment, Col Pornprasert will be dismissed from the force and be stripped of his rank, he said.

The loss of one's police rank is considered very serious in the Royal Thai Police; even former prime Thaksin Shinawatra still formally maintains his rank as a police lieutenant colonel, despite having been convicted in absentia of abuse of power while in office.

Other punitive measures against Col Pornprasert, and the decision on whether to charge him with criminal offenses, rest with the RTP board. The committee is expected to make a decision within two or three months, Col Chaiyaporn said.

why they need 2 or 3 months to reach a decision about a criminal prosecution is beyond me.

[sunsamourai]

What a shame! This 88 million baht could have been used to buy 20 Land Rovers for foreign NGO workers to park in their 5-star hotels whilst typing away reports back to their home countries and sipping cocktails. Instead, it was completely lost to a local cop!

Let's noy forget that there would still be enough for their usual hobbies :

:jerk:

[justanothercybertosser]

What a shame! This 88 million baht could have been used to buy 20 Land Rovers for foreign NGO workers to park in their 5-star hotels whilst typing away reports back to their home countries and sipping cocktails. Instead, it was completely lost to a local cop!

Exactly!

It would have been anyhow more useful to throw that money out of a chopper and let the locals do with it as they wish. The Tsunami was one of the biggest NGO clusterfuc_ks in the already sad history of international relief operations.

[sriracha john]

< NGO bashing snipped >

< further NGO bashing snipped >

and at the end of the day, a Thai cop has absconded with 88 million baht ...

[Ricardo]

why they need 2 or 3 months to reach a decision about a criminal prosecution is beyond me.

Because it was fast-tracked ?

[samgrowth]

Common. TiT. Thai police is not going to work for free. 88 million is just a small token.

[PeaceBlondie]

I was in Nicaragua during Hurricane Mitch, a disaster very high on the international relief scale. The largest amount of relief funds - roughly 100 million US DOLLARS - was most likely stolen not by any NGO, but by the president of the republic, Arnoldo Aleman - apparently. However, the Supreme Court this year set him free. Don't blame NGO's for corruption in extremely corrupt countries. I recall being in the house where a webmaster reported that a civil servant had warned not to give money through the government of Nicaragua, which would steal all the disaster relief money. They were right.

So sad. All that tragedy, and no relief.

[animatic]

Of course this is the same crew trying to lambast Khunying Portip

for not getting the job done fast enough.

Let's see;

take the funds to speed the job ahead and then blame the actual workers

for not doing a proper job... there's some nice face made there.

Glad they nailed his fuzzy butt.

Edited March 3, 2009 by animatic

[johnefallis]

Image of the Royal Thai Police at stake

Their image is already that of a band of corrupt murdering thieves.

All Thai police are criminals....either by directly being corrupt, or knowing someone who is and looking the other way.

There may be an honest Thai cop, but he would have to be blind,deaf,dumb and mentally retarded.

....Did I come in here last night, and spend 10,000 baht? I did? Oh thank God.....I thought I'd lost it !!

-Hahahahahahahahahahahaha, was I at the same place???

[bungy007]

Image of the Royal Thai Police at stake

Their image is already that of a band of corrupt murdering thieves.

All Thai police are criminals....either by directly being corrupt, or knowing someone who is and looking the other way.

There may be an honest Thai cop, but he would have to be blind,deaf,dumb and mentally retarded.

Harsh but fair! Harsh but fair! How many of these mafia politicians are ex-cops? Yumbamrung, Shinawatra the list just goes on...

[DaleBlue]

How could the Thai Police do such a thing to the dead people. How insensitive they are.

Edited March 20, 2009 by DaleBlue

[Oberkommando]

Image of the Royal Thai Police at stake

Their image is already that of a band of corrupt murdering thieves.

All Thai police are criminals....either by directly being corrupt, or knowing someone who is and looking the other way.

There may be an honest Thai cop, but he would have to be blind,deaf,dumb and mentally retarded.

UN - Thailand’s most organized criminals are police

Says it all really.