Graft busters get serious about Phuket dive industry extortion

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Graft busters get serious about Phuket dive industry extortion
Anthika Muangrod


Prayong Preeyachitt, the PACC’s Deputy Secretary-General (left) with Pol Lt Col Wannop Somchintanakul, pictured during the PACC’s initial visit to Phuket at the beginning of April.

PHUKET: -- The Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) is to conduct a full-blown investigation into police extortion of Phuket’s dive industry, starting next Monday.

Pol Lt Col Wannop Somchintanakul, Director of Suppression of Corruption in Public Sector 4, told The Phuket News, “We will be there with the team of many officers. We have set up a complaints inquiry committee to investigate the case and to prosecute the police who are alleged to have been involved in extortion.”

The investigation will begin by hearing evidence and allegations from foreign members of the dive community who were victims of the extortion. The timing and venue where the investigators will listen to complaints will be announced soon.

The PACC investigation team will be led by Pol Col Prawet Munpramuk, assistant to Prayong Preeyachitt, the PACC’s Deputy Secretary-General, who visited the offices of the Association of Thailand Underwater Sports (ATUS) in Phuket at the beginning of April, and promised to consider an inquiry.

“We already have some evidence,” Col Wannop told The Phuket News today, “but I don’t want to go into detail at this stage. We will reveal more after the investigation begins on April 28.”

Col Wannop said that his team would have no problem prosecuting the alleged police extortionists, even though they were not in uniform at the time.

“That’s not relevant. It’s wrong-doing whether they wear uniform or not – they are police officers,” he said.

The ATUS board is currently contacting eight diving instructors to get them to meet with the PACC investigators. Another 17 appear to have left Phuket already as the high season winds down and work is no longer available, but ATUS will contact them, too, to try to get them to testify.

The rogue police officers arrested dozens of dive industry staff, principally dive instructors, for allegedly contravening the terms of their work permits and “acting as tour guides”.

The offenders were taken to Chalong Police Station where they were told they could spend a couple of nights in the cells, followed by a court hearing and possibly a jail sentence or expulsion from Thailand – or could pay B30,000 to have the charges dropped.

Some were told they must pay a further B3,000 a month to avoid being caught again. Most paid.

Since then the Phuket Employment Office (PEO), which issues work permits, has been going round dive companies explaining the fine line over which foreign dive instructors must not step.

The most common infringement allowing the rogue cops to extort money appears to have been that foreign dive instructors picked up and carried bags belonging to customers.

By doing this, the PEO said, the instructors were acting as “tour guides” – a function restricted to Thais alone. This rendered them vulnerable to extortion, the PEO said.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/graft-busters-get-serious-about-phuket-dive-industry-extortion-45797.php


-- Phuket News 2014-04-21

[GeorgeO]

Well ... it's a start...!! If anything does come of this, can there be some hope on the horizon of a sign of good things to come, perhaps even here in Bangkok....??!!

[LivinginKata]

It sure is a very good start, so long as it's not just a 'show' ' case.

[NamKangMan]

Why haven't "the rouge police officers" been arrested????????

[steelepulse]

Most I see happening is a transfer to an inactive post. I don't recall ever seeing anyone ( in a uniform) brought up on criminal charges for blatant extortion/bribery.

[eezergood]

I understand the need to protect Thai workers & certain jobs, to an extent, but when a dive instructor cant help a customer with a bag - this is plain ridiculous!

[liddelljohn]

In Thailand as in most countries like USA and UK the rule is '' follow the money'' the dive industry is fundemental to Phuket tourism and screwing it is bad so the cops have upset vested interests in the pocket book that are more powerful ....in the end the tourists will pay more ,,,

[soalbundy]

I see revenge coming,close down all foreign owned diving schools.

[ggt]

Foreign members of the dive community...need to watch their backs...could get dicey...as this goes forward...

[rickirs]

"The most common infringement allowing the rogue cops to extort money appears to have been that foreign dive instructors picked up and carried bags belonging to customers."

When an industry is burdened with daconian, one-size-fits-all regulations that encourages extortion and punishment of businessmen, it is the regulations that need to be changed for any kind of permanent solution to police extortion. Remove the incentive, remove the opportunity.

Thus far, the police have not disputed that dive instructors do violate Thailand work laws by picking up and carrying customer bags; it's just police extorting dive instructions for doing so instead of fining dive instructors and perhaps shutting down their business as a consequence. Until regulations provide clarification that allows dive instructors to provide "residual" personal services for which there is no separate charge but rather is part of the overall customer service experience, dive instructors need to comply with the literal reading of the current law. It would be hypocrtical to punish police extortion while allowing businesses to violate the law.

[KarenBravo]

Next, police extortion of the bar industry, restaurant industry, hotel industry etc. etc. etc. (yeah......right).

[Thai at Heart]

The most serious crime is that someone carried the luggage?

Is that some kind of restricted business? Bag carrying? Are tourists working if they carry each others bags?

Do they realise how idiotic they sound?

[mrtoad]

These officials are making the whole thing look ridiculous. I will remember next time I help a client with a bag, that I might be in breech of my work permit. What a joke.

[eezergood]

These officials are making the whole thing look ridiculous. I will remember next time I help a client with a bag, that I might be in breech of my work permit. What a joke.

Exactly! If i help an elderly guest to carry a plate from a buffet, could I then also be in breech? If i didnt help said gust, I would be in breech of my own sense of common curtousy!

[bangon04]

Why haven't "the rouge police officers" been arrested????????

" I don’t want to go into detail at this stage. We will reveal more after the investigation begins on April 28.”

the answer is that the corrupt police have been given until 28th April to tidy up and get their stories straight and intimidate anyone who needs to be intimidated. SOP

[stevenl]

The most serious crime is that someone carried the luggage?<snip>

No, it is not.

[belg]

the bad coppie coppies will be transfered IF found guilty

if a big brown envelope exchange hands first, no-one will be found guilty