Police Lieutenant Colonel Jailed 5 Years For Demanding Tea Money

[Guest Reimar]

Police lieutenant colonel jailed 5 years for demanding tea money

A police lieutenant colonel was jailed five years for demanding money from a man claiming it was cost for processing a dud cheque case.

The Criminal Court found Pol Lt-Col Sorasak Butsuwan of Lak Song police station guilty of demanding tea money from Chalerm Tanthinthong and sentenced him to five years in jail.

Following an investigation by the National Counter Corruption Commission, public prosecutors filed charges against Sorasak on May 22 2007.

He was charged with demanding money from Chalerm three times for Bt2,000 each after Chalerm filed a dud cheque complaint against a suspect.

Chalerm gave the money to him during March 30 to April 6 2001 and later decided to lodge a complaint against Sorasak with his superiors, leading to an NCCC investigation.

The court convicted Sorasak for abusing his authority to demand money from another person, which violated Article 201 of the Criminal Code.

The Nation HERE

[waza]

Good to hear

[dumball]

Could this possibly mean this could set a precedent for cleaning up the corruption in the BiB at large ? That will be the day !!!!!!! The whole herd on a mass trial ?

WOW

[phaethon]

[ThaiAdventure]

You have to give the courts credit. They are really kicking butt at all levels. Lets hope this isn't a flash in the pan.

[tattoodrob]

im flabbergasted.......................this poor cop must be very unpopular with his colleagues or someone high up......5 years for doing same as what nearly every cop does.

i wonder if the nccc ever visit pattaya apart from a holiday that is,or maybe they know they aint got the resources to cope with that

[cclub75]

You have to give the courts credit. They are really kicking butt at all levels. Lets hope this isn't a flash in the pan.

This news is indeed striking... Because bribes are everywhere in Thailand, from the top to the bottom of society. Widespread. On a daily basis.

But :

-april 2001... charges in 2007 !

-and what about the sentence : 5 years of jail for a few thousands THB of tea money ? When murderers get less ?

It's important that the justice system doesn't go to the other extreme (from doing nothing, to giving 5 years of jail for a bribe)

Is it a "judiciary accident" (the judge was under amphetamines and very angry) ?

It is an official sign sent to civil servants and police officers ? The party is over, watch out ?

We'll have to wait to know the answer. But it would be... a revolution. A real one.

This is why I don't believe it.

Edited November 10, 2008 by cclub75

[pumpuiman]

My guess is Chalerm (the "victim") paid a few more people along the line to get to this point. He probably got pissed off about not getting his money back on the bum check, and found Pol Lt-Col Sorasak Butsuwan was leading him on.

Sorasak screwed with the wrong guy.

I would love to believe otherwise, but we all know there is much more to this story.

[Robski]

^ yup sounds about right pumpuiman..

and there's me thinking ''it's too early for April fools'' when I saw the headline.

[geriatrickid]

So pigs really do fly????

[Who, me ?]

:D Certainly not the brightest one of the bunch !!

[coconutmonkey]

Hi,

The OP said it breaks article 201.....

anyone know where I can find a copy of that in Thai? (and English too if possible?)

Cheers

[animatic]

Well it is good news.

If this makes even a few think twice before demanding teamoney it is a good thing.

If it means several will get nailed for demanding large amounts

for what should normally be publicly offered government services;

good too.

If they would just nail a few electric company people for demanding 200,000 baht teamoney,

plus 250k bt costs, to install transformer/ capaciter banks to even off / control electric supply here,

the world would bow down for sure.

In all countries I have been in, the electric company puts in T/C banks to even power loads off,

so electricity doesn't dip below normal, or to far into the high range, as standard operating procedure,

it's their JOB to maintain proper power regulation.

But here they think it's the home owners job to pay them to do their job, physics be damned..

I'd dearly love to see these wingnuts get nailed.

Edited November 11, 2008 by animatic

[jamesjdaly]

I really do hope that this is the start of a witch hunt against corrupt officials.

But I don't think so.

[jitagon]

You have to give the courts credit. They are really kicking butt at all levels. Lets hope this isn't a flash in the pan.

This news is indeed striking... Because bribes are everywhere in Thailand, from the top to the bottom of society. Widespread. On a daily basis.

But :

-april 2001... charges in 2007 !

-and what about the sentence : 5 years of jail for a few thousands THB of tea money ? When murderers get less ?

It's important that the justice system doesn't go to the other extreme (from doing nothing, to giving 5 years of jail for a bribe)

Is it a "judiciary accident" (the judge was under amphetamines and very angry) ?

It is an official sign sent to civil servants and police officers ? The party is over, watch out ?

We'll have to wait to know the answer. But it would be... a revolution. A real one.

This is why I don't believe it.

I believe it is. The Vehicle Registration Department here on Phuket WILL NOT under any circumstances accept bribes of any kind, including the usual 500 baht for 'passing' the driving test, on pain of dismissal. If it works for them, it will work for the police force, and we have the PAD to thank for bringing corruption and it's elimination to the fore each and every day on it's stage, above which are the words 'make Thailand better'. Good. Now let's go after bloody Rawai OrBorJor ...

[Scott]

The whole problem could be solved if they just passed a law that makes it illegal to drink tea!

[animatic]

The whole problem could be solved if they just passed a law that makes it illegal to drink tea!

Yeah,

but 20 baht to the local police officer would get you a nice cuppa.

[Scott]

It is certainly true that Courts sometimes act inconsistently, but they are the ones responsible for hearing all the evidence and deciding on the consequences. Murder cases can often be quite 'messy' with a whole lot of reasons why a police officer used his gun. There is maybe no doubt about that in some cases there may have been a lot of influence on what a wonderful man the policeman was and what a horrible person that the victim was.

In the case of corruption like this one, it's pretty hard for anyone to explain asking for a bribe. 'My kids need new school uniforms' or 'my Mercedes is in the shop', just won't quite cut it. And it's not just the bribe that is the problem, it's the failure to do his job as well without the bribe.

The final thing to remember is that we have to wait and see if this sentence sticks or does the guy somehow evade serving time.

[12DrinkMore]

The final thing to remember is that we have to wait and see if this sentence sticks or does the guy somehow evade serving time.

We'll probably never know, because these things tend to just disappear under the radar.

He will probably turn up with a promotion somewhere, ala Chalerm's brats.

[Seneque]

He probably wanted to keep it all for himself .... and therefore got no support from the higher echelon .... 5 years to meditate about greed ... hope this news become publicized in ALL public servant offices !!

[Richie1971]

Am I the only one who would rather give 200bht to a traffic cop for a minor offence rather than go down to the Police station and pay 500bht?

[onnut]

Am I the only one who would rather give 200bht to a traffic cop for a minor offence rather than go down to the Police station and pay 500bht?

oh no, it is ok to pay a couple of hundred when you get stopped for speeding, its just having to give tea money to coppers to get them to do there job that I do not like.

[Richie1971]

I really do hope that this is the start of a witch hunt against corrupt officials.

But I don't think so.

Lets not hope so, imagine a Thailand where:

1. Every bar closed on time all the time and no beer available anywhere after hours

2. They no longer overlook what a sizeable amount of young country girls are doing here and there

3. You will end up banned from driving after a few minor offences

This wouldn't be Thailand it would be the UK.

[Richie1971]

Am I the only one who would rather give 200bht to a traffic cop for a minor offence rather than go down to the Police station and pay 500bht?

oh no, it is ok to pay a couple of hundred when you get stopped for speeding, its just having to give tea money to coppers to get them to do there job that I do not like.

judging by some of the comments from of the more righteous TV members surely corrupt officials are corrupt officials? Abusing their position

[jamesjdaly]

Lets not hope so, imagine a Thailand where:

1. Every bar closed on time all the time and no beer available anywhere after hours

2. They no longer overlook what a sizeable amount of young country girls are doing here and there

3. You will end up banned from driving after a few minor offences

Yes, yes and yes again. Then this country might be a bit more law abiding.

Edited November 11, 2008 by jamesjdaly

[dumball]

I really do hope that this is the start of a witch hunt against corrupt officials.

But I don't think so.

Lets not hope so, imagine a Thailand where:

1. Every bar closed on time all the time and no beer available anywhere after hours

2. They no longer overlook what a sizeable amount of young country girls are doing here and there

3. You will end up banned from driving after a few minor offences

This wouldn't be Thailand it would be the UK.

Why don't you just come up honest and admit , you are in Thailand partialy because you enjoy the corruption because it suits your lifestyle , which also tells me you find it hard to abide by the law . As long as people like you keep paying 'Tea money' because you save a few baht , Thailand will continue to be the overly corrupt and degenerate country that it is , so be it !!!!!!!

[FatherF]

I really do hope that this is the start of a witch hunt against corrupt officials.

But I don't think so.

Lets not hope so, imagine a Thailand where:

1. Every bar closed on time all the time and no beer available anywhere after hours

2. They no longer overlook what a sizeable amount of young country girls are doing here and there

3. You will end up banned from driving after a few minor offences

This wouldn't be Thailand it would be the UK.

Why don't you just come up honest and admit , you are in Thailand partialy because you enjoy the corruption because it suits your lifestyle , which also tells me you find it hard to abide by the law . As long as people like you keep paying 'Tea money' because you save a few baht , Thailand will continue to be the overly corrupt and degenerate country that it is , so be it !!!!!!!

Just a couple of points there,

1) the UK has 24Hr Licensing act, so you can drink all day & all night if you like!

2) the number of "Pay Per" women is in decline as there are so many willing amatures......

3) most minor motoring offences are now "on the spot fines" only the more serious ones attract points added to your licence.

have fun.

Edited November 11, 2008 by FatherF

[Richie1971]

I really do hope that this is the start of a witch hunt against corrupt officials.

But I don't think so.

Lets not hope so, imagine a Thailand where:

1. Every bar closed on time all the time and no beer available anywhere after hours

2. They no longer overlook what a sizeable amount of young country girls are doing here and there

3. You will end up banned from driving after a few minor offences

This wouldn't be Thailand it would be the UK.

Why don't you just come up honest and admit , you are in Thailand partialy because you enjoy the corruption because it suits your lifestyle , which also tells me you find it hard to abide by the law . As long as people like you keep paying 'Tea money' because you save a few baht , Thailand will continue to be the overly corrupt and degenerate country that it is , so be it !!!!!!!

I like to watch the late premiership matches in a bar - Lock me up your honour for I am a criminal, like a few farangs spouting off on a forum is going to change the whole fabric of Asia.

Please keep me up to date on the next Yoga n Temples tour.

[Richie1971]

I really do hope that this is the start of a witch hunt against corrupt officials.

But I don't think so.

Lets not hope so, imagine a Thailand where:

1. Every bar closed on time all the time and no beer available anywhere after hours

2. They no longer overlook what a sizeable amount of young country girls are doing here and there

3. You will end up banned from driving after a few minor offences

This wouldn't be Thailand it would be the UK.

Why don't you just come up honest and admit , you are in Thailand partialy because you enjoy the corruption because it suits your lifestyle , which also tells me you find it hard to abide by the law . As long as people like you keep paying 'Tea money' because you save a few baht , Thailand will continue to be the overly corrupt and degenerate country that it is , so be it !!!!!!!

Just a couple of points there,

1) the UK has 24Hr Licensing act, so you can drink all day & all night if you like!

2) the number of "Pay Per" women is in decline as there are so many willing amatures......

3) most minor motoring offences are now "on the spot fines" only the more serious ones attract points added to your licence.

have fun.

Like speed cameras? Minor?

Drinking 24hrs a day - if you can find a landlord willing to do it - besides who would want to drink for 24hrs a day in the UK?

[dumball]

I really do hope that this is the start of a witch hunt against corrupt officials.

But I don't think so.

Lets not hope so, imagine a Thailand where:

1. Every bar closed on time all the time and no beer available anywhere after hours

2. They no longer overlook what a sizeable amount of young country girls are doing here and there

3. You will end up banned from driving after a few minor offences

This wouldn't be Thailand it would be the UK.

Why don't you just come up honest and admit , you are in Thailand partialy because you enjoy the corruption because it suits your lifestyle , which also tells me you find it hard to abide by the law . As long as people like you keep paying 'Tea money' because you save a few baht , Thailand will continue to be the overly corrupt and degenerate country that it is , so be it !!!!!!!

Just a couple of points there,

1) the UK has 24Hr Licensing act, so you can drink all day & all night if you like!

2) the number of "Pay Per" women is in decline as there are so many willing amatures......

3) most minor motoring offences are now "on the spot fines" only the more serious ones attract points added to your licence.

have fun.

Like speed cameras? Minor?

Drinking 24hrs a day - if you can find a landlord willing to do it - besides who would want to drink for 24hrs a day in the UK?

Speed cameras minor ? Think of some of the consequences or chasing speeders to apprehend them for breaking the law .

Can you not drink in the comfort of your own home and watch TV sports ? How can you justify keeping a landlord up all night just to satisfy your urges in ANY country ?

What has the UK got to do with Thailand ? What would any sane person have as a reason to drink 24 hours a day where ever he may choose to drink , shorten his life ? Fall off a balcony ? I imagine you could give a zillion reasons , but then_______it obviously takes all kinds and this world certainly has them .

-__