Thai Police Are Organized Criminals

[Loaded]

By AWZAR THI

According to the United Nations, the Royal Thai Police are organized criminals.

That, at least, is the inference to be drawn from looking at its Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which was adopted in 2001 and which defines an organized crime group as involving at least three people acting in concert over a period of time "with the aim of committing one or more serious crimes or offences… in order to obtain… a financial or other material benefit."

It would be hard to overstate the extent to which Thailand's police fit this definition. A browse through a few newspapers of recent weeks alone reveals as much.

In February there was the case of the border patrol unit that abducted and tortured people to extract money and force them to confess to narcotics charges. So far over 100 complaints have been lodged against it, the majority from persons serving jail terms, and also one policeman. Although the low-ranking officers involved have surrendered, investigators have reportedly said that there is no evidence to link their wrongdoing to their superiors.

Then was the car scam, which came unstuck when a victim of theft went to police headquarters to file a complaint and found his vehicle sitting in the parking lot: not impounded, being used by personnel.

The police had colluded with rental companies to steal perhaps over 1,000 new automobiles by fraud. So far, only a few of the cars have been recovered. Many will have been sold into Cambodia and Burma. The operation apparently stretched over a wide area and involved police from various units, including Special Branch and cyber crime. Senior officers have already sought to exonerate some, saying that they will face only internal, not criminal, inquiries. The hire company directors have been arrested.

Similarly, 21 police forensics staff accused of taking money for the cost of formalin that was never administered have been let off the hook and three civilian employees blamed in their stead. Joking about this case, cartoonist Chai Rachawat wrote in the Thai Rath newspaper that it is anyhow better for police to steal from the dead than from the living: his picture depicts some skeletons standing in coffins and yelling as a policeman makes off with the loot.

Aside from these incidents, police have been implicated in a number of recent killings: some execution-style, another in which a leading forensic scientist has said that their account of what happened does not match the evidence. Torture and other abuses meanwhile go on as normal.

Thailand's police did not become an organized crime gang by accident. The modern force was from the beginning intended both as a criminal and political agency, monopolizing the drug trade and murdering or detaining opponents, including other police. It quickly became unstoppable as, historian Thak Chaloemtiara notes, while people whispered about its crimes "investigation was impossible, for the crimes were committed by the police themselves."

Its heyday as an unsurpassed crime venture may have been in the 1950s, but until now the police force remains beyond the law and answerable unto itself. The institutional features of its criminality, including the routine use of force and self-financing of individual officers and stations, speak to how incidents of the sort described above are organized, not haphazard.

These conditions present persons interested in improving the work of the police with profound and peculiar difficulties. For some three decades there has been talk of reform, and a few attempts, including one by the interim prime minister of the recent military government. But all have failed, in the same way that attempts to turn any other organized crime group into a legitimate enterprise against the will of its members could not possibly do otherwise.

But had any attempts at reforming the Royal Thai Police succeeded, would it really have made any difference? Wouldn't a reformed organized crime group remain what it is at its roots? How different are reformed organized criminals from their unreformed counterparts?

These questions could be cause for despair. After all, if things are that bad, then why bother? There are indeed many who think in this way, and do not believe that the police in Thailand can ever be significantly changed. Unsurprisingly, when this sort of thinking becomes widespread, it guarantees that things go on as usual. Without hope that anything can be done about the police, nothing can.

On the other hand, pretending that things aren't as bad as they really are also ensures that things go on as usual. It allows people to fool themselves into thinking that a few quick fixes, like decentralizing and better training, may result in improvements. Superficially, they might. But anybody who looks honestly and seriously at the work of the police in Thailand for long enough will be obliged to acknowledge that it will take much more than this.

That's why the U.N. definition is helpful. Let's be honest and describe Thailand's police as they are: organized criminals in uniform. If this much can be admitted, then it might be possible to get down to the business of what to do about them.

--

(Awzar Thi is the pen name of a member of the Asian Human Rights Commission with over 15 years of experience as an advocate of human rights and the rule of law in Thailand and Burma. His Rule of Lords blog can be read at http://ratchasima.net.)

Source: http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2008/0...criminals/2369/

[grantbkk]

Wow this is big news for anyone who has been living on the moon for the past 40 years. Now someone or group at the UN wants to condemn the Thai Police? What exactly does the UN do and does the UN meet its stated goals. At one point in history the UN may have been a force to react to world problems but now it is a "paper tiger", whining and complaining about everything with no coherent action plan. The UN is now legend for spending money and corruption. The UN has a huge administrative overhead and wastes money faster than a Filipino charity.

Thank you United Nations for your insight and assistance to clean up the Royal Thai Police.

[Loaded]

From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok

November 22 2008

Shock as Thai policeman who gunned down Canadians in Thailand is released and case halted.

The Thai policeman who gunned down two Canadian tourists in the Northern Thai village of Pai in January this year has been released without charge by a court in Bangkok.

And the case against the police sergeant who killed Leo Del Pinto, 24, from Calgary, and Carly Reisig, 23, from Chilliwack B.C., has been brought to an abrupt halt because of ‘procedural errors.”

The case against police sergeant Uthai Dechawiwat had earlier been taken out of the hands of local police and placed in the hands of the Department of Special Investigations, Thailand’s FBI, by former Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

The Canadian Ambassador in Bangkok, David Sproule, who has expressed the Canadian government’s ‘serious concern’ was told by SDI officials , that they had been told by the Public Prosecutor that the procedural errors were made in the early stages of the investigation.

But those errors, the DSI claimed, were not by made by them but by colleagues of the policeman, Sergeant Uthai Dechawiwat in Pai Police, whose chief has already been reported to the National Counter Corruption Commission by Commissioner Dr. Surasee Kosolnavin of the Thai National Human Rights Commission.

A DSI official said: “ The clock has stopped, but we can start it again and bring the case to court in Bangkok.”

The case has again raised concerns about the difficulty in Thailand getting police to accept culpability for their own actions.

Leo’s father Ernie Del Pinto said in Calgary: “We all know there was a cover up in Pai. That is why I believe the DSI was ordered to take over the case. They should be above all this. This is very worrying. How long does it take to get any sort of justice in Thailand.”

The latest development is all the more surprising because a another Public Prosecutor was in the National Commission for Human Rights team which investigated the case in the vanguard of DSI officials.

Dr. Surasee Kosolnavin said that he would rather not comment, as it was now a DSI matter, other than that he was disappointed with the development.

After the shootings Pai in January Police claimed that Uthai was shooting upwards in self defence as he fell to the ground. An investigation by Thai forensic expert Pornthip Rojanansund, found the policeman had shot down into Del Pinto’s head.

The local police chief’s claim that Sergeant Uthai (pictured) was attacked by the couple was also disputed by witnesses who are under DSI protection.

Canadian officials were told that it was a prosecutor in the Office of Thailand’s Attorney General, who claimed the investigation had not followed proper procedures. Dechachiwat had to be released under a ruling which required that he go to trial within 84 days or be discharged. If they did not release him ,said the DSI, they would have difficulty recharging him. This could be done after the procedural errors were corrected.

Meanwhile Ernie Del Pinto, whose campaign in Canada includes posters on Calgary city buses reading ‘Canadian Murdered in Thailand. When will justice be served?’, says he is planning to fly to Thailand to push for justice.

In a previous case, that of Police Sergeant Somchai Wisetsingh , who gunned down British backpackers Vanessa Arscott and Adam Lloyd in Kanchanaburi in 2004 , no witnesses would give evidence at his trial to say they saw the shooting, although they would admit as such to newspaper reporters. Wisetsingh was convicted on forensic evidence after the parents of both victims, accompanied by British Embassy officials, who had voiced Britain’s concern, met with officials of the Office of Attorney General, Tourist Authority of Thailand, and the Provincial Court.

[imaneggspurt]

Well if they arent the wages must be good as i know one in Ubon that drives a new Range Rover !

[Ricardo]

Perhaps it might help to achieve much-needed reform, if a senior policeman were to become PM, aware from first-hand of the causes & extent of this long-standing problem ?

Oh no ... they already tried that !

[bravingbangkok]

Whats the point of this thread ?

[Mobi]

The OP's article was the subject of a similar thread some months back. (Or an article very similar).

Yes the Thai police are organised criminals, and everything they do is in one way or another dedicated to criminal acts and the extortion of money from the public at large.

When they carry out normal police duties, (like prosecute some poor guy with no money for murder, robbery etc,) they are just going through the motions for their "public face." Very few Pu Yais, or people with money ever go to jail, but a dirt farmer can be put away for years for just trying to earn a living on public land. If their families protest, as likely as not they will be gunned down.

Their motto "to serve and protect" is the biggest joke on the face of the planet.

The only reason the cop who killed the couple in Kanchanburi was jailed was because of the international outcry and the representations of the British embassy. By all accounts he was persuaded to turn himself in with the assurance that he wouldn't do much 'time'. He is alleged to have told fellow inmates about the deal he made for early release. He'll probably be promoted when he comes out

Sorry to have such a cynical view on this, but anyone who believes the BIB are dedicated to law enforcement are living in cloud cuckoo land.

[UncleFrank]

If there is criminal activity, the Thai Police want a piece of it.

[Samuian]

Wow this is big news for anyone who has been living on the moon for the past 40 years.

so it is... has been written all over the walls, as well as it is a well known 'secret'!

[davyboy]

The problem is that there is nobody to police the police, and that the high ranking officers are the instigators of police crime and corruption.

[parryhandy]

What bugs me is that people on this forum are quick to condemn farang when reportedly arrested by such a police force ?

[ThaiEye]

Ok, we know that some of this is probably straight to the point. But still it's blown out of proportions, no evidence to back most of it up.

I think the UN has been reading to much sensational news from reporters like Andrew Drumond

[OxfordWill]

thank you for posting this very interesting article. I enjoyed it and am glad to learn of this author.

funny how several posters didnt bother to read beyond the title, and now look very silly.

Edited January 11, 2009 by OxfordWill

[JimsKnight]

Ok, we know that some of this is probably straight to the point. But still it's blown out of proportions, no evidence to back most of it up.

I think the UN has been reading to much sensational news from reporters like Andrew Drumond

Agreed, the UN is out and out all about taking over and changing something into its image.

It doesn't rule the roost out in SE Asia so likes to make a song and dance about it instead

Drummond is a bloodhounding leech who sensationalises bs and blasts his trumpet to the highest bidder.

I think people obviously don't realise how corrupt and sinister the British Police force is, the only difference is they get paid a lot better and don't have to resort to bribes.

So yeah, another daft thread on TV goes on.

[GuestHouse]

Ok, we know that some of this is probably straight to the point. But still it's blown out of proportions, no evidence to back most of it up.

I think the UN has been reading to much sensational news from reporters like Andrew Drumond

Agreed, the UN is out and out all about taking over and changing something into its image.

It doesn't rule the roost out in SE Asia so likes to make a song and dance about it instead

Drummond is a bloodhounding leech who sensationalises bs and blasts his trumpet to the highest bidder.

I think people obviously don't realise how corrupt and sinister the British Police force is, the only difference is they get paid a lot better and don't have to resort to bribes.

So yeah, another daft thread on TV goes on.

The evidence we have for these claims is ... well, the claims themself.

[mrtoad]

Wow,so the UN has researched the Royal Thai Police and come uop with a conclusion that they are an organised criminal syndicate. Fascinating.

Just as follow up, the UN are the biggest gravy train passengers in the world, and I don't need to do much research on that, when the come out with dross like this. How much money did that obvious piece use up?

[neverdie]

What bugs me is that people on this forum are quick to condemn farang when reportedly arrested by such a police force ?

And theres also plenty of people on this forum that are quick to condemn 'all thai this, all thai that'. Or havent you noticed?

Edited January 11, 2009 by neverdie

[Scott]

Perhaps they need to set up an Internal Affairs division--good job for all those people in inactive posts.

[patklang]

not big headlines,all the expats here know they are worse than criminals.There are some very nice criminals in pattaya who would serve and protect me much better than the police and i dont pay them a baht.

i just hope and prey that none of us have to deal with some of pattayas nastiest people,exclding my thai friend of course.i have only seena good side of my police friend but maybe he is the same as the rest.

btw he has just bought a brand new 7 seater for his other businesses???

[southerndown]

Ok, we know that some of this is probably straight to the point. But still it's blown out of proportions, no evidence to back most of it up.

I think the UN has been reading to much sensational news from reporters like Andrew Drumond

blown out of all proportion???

no evidence???

actually there is a lot of evidence which is why the un accepts it

it is you who are making unsubstantiated comments

[mrtoad]

Ok, we know that some of this is probably straight to the point. But still it's blown out of proportions, no evidence to back most of it up.

I think the UN has been reading to much sensational news from reporters like Andrew Drumond

Your biased knows no bounds.

[Sabum]

Whats the point of this thread ?

Ok, we know that some of this is probably straight to the point. But still it's blown out of proportions, no evidence to back most of it up.

I think the UN has been reading to much sensational news from reporters like Andrew Drumond

Ok, we know that some of this is probably straight to the point. But still it's blown out of proportions, no evidence to back most of it up.

I think the UN has been reading to much sensational news from reporters like Andrew Drumond

Agreed, the UN is out and out all about taking over and changing something into its image.

It doesn't rule the roost out in SE Asia so likes to make a song and dance about it instead

Drummond is a bloodhounding leech who sensationalises bs and blasts his trumpet to the highest bidder.

I think people obviously don't realise how corrupt and sinister the British Police force is, the only difference is they get paid a lot better and don't have to resort to bribes.

So yeah, another daft thread on TV goes on.

I still can't believe it, there are still people that will put their fingers in their ears and go "BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH" so they don't have to hear about and never have to accept or believe that Thai police are gangsters. Incredible, but sad. Is it that nothing can be found to be wrong with thier new home, no matter how obvious and proven? Just to make themselves feel better about their choice to live here? I simply don't understand.

[12DrinkMore]

and never have to accept or believe that Thai police are gangsters.

I do not believe that all Thai police are gangsters and there are also signs that things are improving.

But I live here and accept the situation. In fact, it saves me money and time, as I can just drop 100 or 200 Baht and smiles all around. Although I am wary of getting involved more than on a smile and passing "sawatdee crap", I, personally, in well over a decade of living here, have never had a problem except when I have been in the wrong.

NOW maybe we should move on to talk about the gangsters in the Western financial institutions and the elected Western politicians? These guys, mostly unaccountable for the damage they do, have cost every single person on the globe a chunk of cash, brought economies to their knees and rung up debts and losses which will not be paid in my, or for that matter, my children's lifetimes.

These guys are the true gangsters of today. In comparison the Royal Thai Police are heroes of law and order.

[Sabum]

Right well the financial gangsters never threatened to kill me so forgive my selfish outlook on what really directly affects me for the worse. Somehow I am not afraid of the financial guys.

[katana]

Another one was the Saudi gems theft where rather than investigate the theft, the Thai police allegedly pocketed the jewels themselves from the thief and bumped off any Saudis trying to trace the whereabouts of the missing gems.

http://www.jckonline.com/article/CA227326.html

[UncleFrank]

Members of Thai Hi Society were photographed wearing the jewels.

I have been told the huge, blue diamond now belongs to the son of the unmentionable one.

[Loaded]

Members of Thai Hi Society were photographed wearing the jewels.

I have been told the huge, blue diamond now belongs to the son of the unmentionable one.

Quite interesting to read some of the replies to the op.

A few people seem to think it's a waste of time to add these sorts of articles to the board but it's not a waste of our time to read their comments saying it's a waste of time.

The Saudi jewels case, I think, is a euphemism for the corruption that exists here. Police chiefs wearing the jewels in public. The huge blue diamond now in the hands of <edited due to the lack of freedom of speech in Thailand>.

The criticism of Andrew Drummond is just silly. The guy is a journalist and he earns his living from selling stories to papers. Of course he adds a sensationalist edge because they are the stories we want to read (I know serious of Surin will now post he never reads these types of papers but he is lying) but his training and connections as a journalist means he can get closer to the truth of stories than middle-aged hippies smoking weed all day (you know who you are). He was one of the few dissenting voices to the brigade of sycophants who supported a certain poster here when he said the murders in Pai were being investigated professionally by the Pai police and we can put our trust in these honourable people - that guy and his sycophants should be ashamed of themselves. Andrew Drummond was kicked off this board because someone has a personal agenda - disgusting behaviour.

Edited January 12, 2009 by Loaded

[Dakhar]

Ok, we know that some of this is probably straight to the point. But still it's blown out of proportions, no evidence to back most of it up.

I think the UN has been reading to much sensational news from reporters like Andrew Drumond

Your biased knows no bounds.

There is a cop in my area that owns the biggest compoun in the area. It is at least 10 rai, beautiful compound, guest house, servant quaters etc etc.

Owned by a cop....

I guess he must pull a lot of over time.

[Sabum]

Members of Thai Hi Society were photographed wearing the jewels.

I have been told the huge, blue diamond now belongs to the son of the unmentionable one.

Quite interesting to read some of the replies to the op.

A few people seem to think it's a waste of time to add these sorts of articles to the board but it's not a waste of our time to read their comments saying it's a waste of time.

The Saudi jewels case, I think, is a euphemism for the corruption that exists here. Police chiefs wearing the jewels in public. The huge blue diamond now in the hands of <edited due to the lack of freedom of speech in Thailand>.

The criticism of Andrew Drummond is just silly. The guy is a journalist and he earns his living from selling stories to papers. Of course he adds a sensationalist edge because they are the stories we want to read (I know serious of Surin will now post he never reads these types of papers but he is lying) but his training and connections as a journalist means he can get closer to the truth of stories than middle-aged hippies smoking weed all day (you know who you are). He was one of the few dissenting voices to the brigade of sycophants who supported a certain poster here when he said the murders in Pai were being investigated professionally by the Pai police and we can put our trust in these honourable people - that guy and his sycophants should be ashamed of themselves. Andrew Drummond was kicked off this board because someone has a personal agenda - disgusting behaviour.

I agree 300%

[parryhandy]

People that defend the police/police system here need to take a long look at themselves in the mirror

http://www.chiangmainews.com/ecmn/viewfa.php?id=2121

When Kietisak was 16 years old, he was charged with motorcycle theft, and despite his claims that he had been tortured and his confession forced, was sentenced to one year in jail. After serving his time, he returned to Kalasin and went to live with his grandmother, Sa, not far from the local police station. On 16th July 2004, when he didn't come home, a neighbour told Sa that he had again been arrested for motorcycle theft. The next day, the police took her to watch Kietisak being interrogated at the public prosecutor's office. That was the last time she saw Kietisak alive. The next day, the police called her to say that his bail had been posted by a municipal official. She went to wait at the police station for her grandson's release, but at around 5 p.m. the police told her to go home and that they would contact her when he was free to go. Roughly an hour later, Kietisak called her and told her in a trembling voice: "They didn't tell the truth to you Grandma. They are going to take me away and kill me. Hurry come and help me, I'm on the second floor." After that the line went dead.

At the police station, Sa was told by a high ranking police officer that Kietisak had already been released. She could hear her grandson crying out from above, but the police refused to allow her up to the second floor.

A few days later, on July 26, a police officer came to tell Sa that Kietisak's body had been found some 30 kilometres away. Witnesses who had seen his body being recovered said that the boy's feet were not dirty, despite the fact that the surrounding area was muddy due to the monsoon weather. Sa took the body to the Central Institute of Forensic Science in Bangkok, who told her that Kietisak had been tortured to death. His body appeared to have been dragged along the ground by the neck and by handcuffs, causing deep cuts on his wrists. His body was covered with wounds and his testicles had been crushed.

On 29th July, the police phoned the witness whose phone Kietisak had borrowed to call his grandmother. They told her that the phone was police property and that she was to tell that to anyone who asked her about it. When she replied, "I'll say whatever I saw," she was told "Go ahead. If you talk, you'll hang like that kid."

Edited January 13, 2009 by parryhandy