Thai Police urged to tackle issue of missing persons

[webfact]

Police urged to tackle issue of missing persons
Noppadon Sritaweekart,
Waraporn Sangwan,
Ousanee Saensuk
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- ON AVERAGE, three people are reported missing every day in Thailand, and two of them are children. Backed with such statistics, the Mirror Foundation and its supporters yesterday called on police to do more to address the problem.

"Serious efforts must be made to provide tangible solutions. The National Police Office can start by setting up a task force to handle reports directly on missing children and to conduct efficient and thorough investigations based on such reports," the foundation's Ekaluck Lhumchomkhae said yesterday.

He was speaking as he arrived at the National Police Office.

He also submitted a list of more than 28,000 people who agreed with the foundation's call for the establishment of a government-run Centre to Locate Missing Persons. Manee Thongchum, whose daughter went missing in 2011, said her child might still be by her side today had police started efforts to find the girl immediately.

"As soon as I found out that my daughter was missing, I alerted police. But police told me they could not do anything because any investigation would start only after the girl had been missing for at least 24 hours," the distraught mother said.

Ekaluck also attacked the widespread police practice of not acting on missing-persons reports until the subject of the report had been missing for 24 hours.

"Please don't wait. Please adjust your attitudes," he said.

He also encouraged police to provide guidelines about how parents could minimise the risk of losing their children to kidnappers.

Pol General Jarumporn Suramanee, an adviser (Level 10) at the National Police Office, met with Ekaluck yesterday.

"There's no regulation that bars police from accepting reports of missing persons even though said persons may have been missing for less than 24 hours," he said, "We have already notified all police stations about this."

Jarumporn assured Ekaluck that the National Police Office worked diligently when handling reports of missing persons.

"We have summoned investigators to follow up on pending cases every now and then," he said.

Jarumporn added that the National Police Office also had a centre for handling reports on missing persons and discoveries of unidentified dead people.

"Now, we are in the process of seeking additional funds for the centre so that it can function more efficiently. For example, we plan to develop a [software] application featuring photos and information on the missing persons," he said.

He was confident that the app would allow police and members of the public to locate missing persons quickly.


-- The Nation 2013-12-26

[noitom]

These numbers are the tip of the iceberg with missing children and woman in Thailand.

[arthurboy]

...seeking additional funds...

Yep, that about sums it up.

[taony]

Yeah, let's "urge" them to do the things they are supposed to do.

[jaltsc]

"Serious efforts must be made to provide tangible solutions. The National Police Office can start by setting up a task force to handle reports directly on missing children and to conduct efficient and thorough investigations based on such reports,"

Now, all that needs to be done is to find the missing policemen who are supposed to be doing their jobs .

[EricBerg]

Especially the first 24 hours after a person goes missing are the most important of finding that person. Apparently Thai policemen often prefer to wait 24 hours first. Where on earth does that come from? Give the possible kidnapper a headstart?

How ignorant people can be. At the expense and suffering of others.

[ginjag]

Would any of these missing persons be PM and cabinet ????? I wonder how many notables are out of the country already ???? IN CASE OF.

[jaltsc]

Especially the first 24 hours after a person goes missing are the most important of finding that person. Apparently Thai policemen often prefer to wait 24 hours first. Where on earth does that come from? Give the possible kidnapper a headstart?

How ignorant people can be. At the expense and suffering of others.

And....that's just the average policeman. Just remember, half of the police are more ignorant than that .

[davetrout]

l cannot believe two children a day go missing. thats ove 700 a year how can this not be noticed

[Loles]

I wish you dear police a very nice and wonderful GOOD MORNING aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ......

[klauskunkel]

Police urged to tackle issue of missing persons

"Please don't wait. Please adjust your attitudes," he said.

Pol General Jarumporn Suramanee, an adviser (Level 10) at the National Police Office, met with Ekaluck yesterday.

...after the Pol General pulled his finger out of his nasal cavity and had thoroughly inspected his lucky find, he then proceeded to yawn heavily and scratched his behind. Having concluded all these strenuous activities to his satisfaction, he then advised his visitor to adjust his own attitude with the appropriate, traditional and culturally approved brown envelope. Then he counseled Mr. Ekaluck on the importance of not stressing out the police officers who worked so hard and diligently on a daily basis with no time off, or any rest at all until their cases came to a natural conclusion...After that:

Jarumporn assured Ekaluck that the National Police Office worked diligently when handling reports of missing persons

[cooked]

http://www.ceop.police.uk/Media-Centre/Press-releases/2012/A-child-goes-missing-in-the-UK-every-3-minutes/

which means that most get found again I guess. Setting up a website (I thought there already was one) in Thailand as well as an SMS service and facebook page might be one way of getting around police apathy.

[johnlandy]

"Serious efforts must be made to provide tangible solutions. The National Police Office can start by setting up a task force to handle reports directly on missing children and to conduct efficient and thorough investigations based on such reports,"

Now, all that needs to be done is to find the missing policemen who are supposed to be doing their jobs .

Now, all that needs to be done is to find the missing policemen who are supposed to be doing their jobs

Easy just look for where all the television sets.

The most lazy, useless, stupid, ineffective, dishonest, corrupt bunch of a'holes on the planet.

[MMarlow]

These numbers are the tip of the iceberg with missing children and woman in Thailand.

How do you know that? And what "figures", there was only one figure mentioned in the report, on average 3 missing persons reports per day.

[MMarlow]

l cannot believe two children a day go missing. thats ove 700 a year how can this not be noticed

It is noticed, that's what the report is about.

[canman]

l cannot believe two children a day go missing. thats ove 700 a year how can this not be noticed

At the risk of being pedantic; the op says reported missing. How many of those actually are missing would be a good number to know. As a comparison in 1999 800,000 children were reported missing in America

Source: http://www.missingkids.com/KeyFacts

I am sure further google searches could find more up to date figures and the results of the reports.

[Nickymaster]

If only the Thai police would be a little less corrupt Thailand could be so much better. Really sad to see how this department is detroying Thailand.

[Halion]

In my several years in this country diligence is not a word I would use with regard to any and all aspects of the RTP, with the exception of protecting their own rice bowl. From top to bottom it is a laconic, dislocated and pathetic excuse for a constabulary.

[SOTIRIOS]

...and Yingluck wants Thailand taken off the watchlist for human trafficking....

[Ulic]

The whole thing is ridiculous. In the US the police say the first 24 hours are the most important while in Thailand

they don't start looking for 24 hours. Now I understand in most cases the child turns up in under 24 hours

but in the cases were they do not you have a much lower success rate in finding them. So Po Po get of

your asses and start looking at the first notice when someone calls in distress about a missing child.