Foreign Affairs Unit Of The Police Liaising On Cases With Locals

[ChiangMaiMail]

Foreign Affairs Unit of the police liaising on cases with locals

Supoj Thaimyoj

The Foreign Affairs Unit at The Provincial Police Bureau, Region 5 was launched September of 2009 to work closely with the Provincial Police Headquarters nationwide and is working coordinate cases that involve foreigners, according to Pol. Col. Chuchwarin Bunnag, the superintendent. Previously the unit was located at the Royal Thai National Police Bureau.

Pol. Col. Chuchwarin Bunnag, Superintendent of the Foreign Affairs Unit here at Provincial Police Bureau, Region 5

“If there are any cases that concern foreigners then the Foreign Affairs Unit will be the one coordinates so as to help local police deal with cases involving foreigners in a more efficient manner because there are not enough local police offices and staff that can communicate clearly and directly with foreigners,” he said in an interview with Chiang Mai Mail on July 8.

Pol. Col. Chuchwarin Bunnag, Superintendent of the Foreign Affairs Unit was first attached in Region 5 and is accompanied by Pol. Lt. Col. Adoon Sijanta, Deputy-Superintendent of the Foreign Affairs Unit and more than 10 staff to help create good relationships between foreign agencies organizations located in the area and local police in the 8 northern provinces, as well as tourist police and immigration police.

He said that this Foreign Affairs Unit would be involved in handling cases with the Embassies and consulates, “In case of requests from embassies and consulates who are having problems, we would get involved with concerned working agencies to manage the issue.”

Pol. Col. Chuchwarin added that there are several Thai and foreign delegations visiting the Unit, while some have contacted the Unit for working in cooperation on helping find Thai and foreign criminals or deal with transnational crimes.

“At present, the main job is to work in cooperation with tourism organizations in the North, where criminals usually pretend to be tourists or visitors to the border areas near China, Laos, and Myanmar. There are many drug trafficking cases and illegal immigrants crossing the borders into Thailand,” he remarked.

“In the near future, we hope to have close cooperation with other government agencies in the Upper North, as well as from private and tourism organizations and the mass media for the exchange of information,” he concluded.

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[chiangmaimail]2010/07/13[/chiangmaimail]