Two more civilians arrested in connection with major bribery scam

[Nuddy]

It is sad that the "higher ups" never seem to get caught.

As well there seems to be two economies in this country

The graft economy and the other.

I have never understood how a Thai man earning 9000 baht per month (300 baht per day ) can possibly feed his family?

Sure I am a falang but I spend ten times that per month and I don't pay rent as my Thai wife owns our house.

There must be some scams that look after the poor folk but I cannot see it.

How can any one live on US$ 300 per month in this country?

[Jim walker]

I am sure he will have a Baht or two set aside in a safety deposit box to bribe his way out of a prison sentence most crooks have a fall back plan, but any one getting caught in big time corruption is a good start and surely there are more than one rotten apple in the barrel of bad cops.

[tx22cb]

1 billion Baht, 10 people collared - no big deal, merely the tip of the iceberg.

What I want to see are the ledgers with the dates, the names of the "donors", the crimes being hushed up, and the amounts paid.

Then go after these people too - those who can afford to pay millions to pervert the c of j.

[LazarusRising]

There is a frustrating desire by some posters to give this story a "political" slant, I personally see it as something much more simple.

After years of corrupt indifference we now see some real action, some serious investigation with some real results. Yes it is one case but it most definitely is a start, maybe now the cynical nay sayers can take a back seat and wait to see what else transpires.

This present government may not be perfect but would any one of you prefer to go back to what we had?

I'll take my chances with this present government, on the face of it an excellent result, lets wait and see where it goes from here!

It's all politics. Hopefully this is the dam wall bursting. Let the military round up all the corrupt Thaksinites and throw them in jail or off buildings. Then when Thaksin is back in charge his backers demand equal treatment for their foes and they round up all of the millionaire generals and their co-conspirators and throw them in jail or off buildings. Hey presto clean slate.

[powerkick]

So where's the usual 'theatre' in all this?

Where are the photos of the police looking shameful with details spelled out using the actual haul?

That's right, where's the picture of the finger pointing ritual + re-enactment of the crime(s) (Mm, that could take awhile since its been going on for years).

[Acharn]

Has to be said - Prayuth has put his own personal safety on the line here.

He is in charge and these guys would not have been charged without him.

I hope his security is good as I'd like to see a lot more of this.

Oh, come on. "...put his own personal safety on the line." Poppycock. He's no more in danger than Field Marshall Sarit was when he took down Police Chief Phao Sarasin, who also ran the lottery and the opium concession in Thailand at the time. Less, really. This Police General wasn't even the Chief.

Edited November 24, 2014 by Acharn

[Artisi]

It is sad that the "higher ups" never seem to get caught.

As well there seems to be two economies in this country

The graft economy and the other.

I have never understood how a Thai man earning 9000 baht per month (300 baht per day ) can possibly feed his family?

Sure I am a falang but I spend ten times that per month and I don't pay rent as my Thai wife owns our house.

There must be some scams that look after the poor folk but I cannot see it.

How can any one live on US$ 300 per month in this country?

Well, you could get off your arse and go and have a look how many of these people actually survive and count yourself lucky you are able to spend 10 times that these people can spend. You then just might appreciate the hopeless predicament they are in, and bear in mind these are the ones targeted in many cases by the corrupt BIB for their B200 tea money collections for no helmets etc.

[Tboy928]

Did i read right, 1 billion bath corruption , and released ??

[surangw]

it takes two to tango

[jaywalker]

"However the officer committed suicide later, may be from stress after he was engaged with the accused officers, the spokesman said.

He said he was told that the officer had tried to commit suicide three times before he jumped to his death."

Must've been a 2 story building to have to jump 4 times (= jumping from the 8th floor).

[wilcopops]

Commerce post # 11

Disagree. The present government is a wolf in sheeps clothing. It could be worse than ever imagined. And no, I don't like the Shin clan..... but utter irresponsible people are making decisions they have no experience of and contributing to the financial losses this country can no longer endure..... and for personal gain, I SHALL add.

Government moves against corruption . Wrong

Government ignores corruption. Wrong.

Commerce can you will you reveal to we, the great unknowing illiterate posters on T.V.F. your grand master plan to sanitise the system here then?

Personally having been here for some 23 years + I among many others too I am sure would love to see your wisdom and theories explained and acted upon.

Perhaps a mass debate might be a good opening gambit for you so as to start things moving.

It would be nice if tie had a theory or two as well - apparently not.

[wilcopops]

There is a frustrating desire by some posters to give this story a "political" slant, I personally see it as something much more simple.

After years of corrupt indifference we now see some real action, some serious investigation with some real results. Yes it is one case but it most definitely is a start, maybe now the cynical nay sayers can take a back seat and wait to see what else transpires.

This present government may not be perfect but would any one of you prefer to go back to what we had?

I'll take my chances with this present government, on the face of it an excellent result, lets wait and see where it goes from here!

Disagree. The present government is a wolf in sheeps clothing. It could be worse than ever imagined. And no, I don't like the Shin clan..... but utter irresponsible people are making decisions they have no experience of and contributing to the financial losses this country can no longer endure..... and for personal gain, I SHALL add.

Ding ! Another one !

.........................And no, I don't like the Shin clan..... but............................

A comment like that seems to suggest you like to dichotomise and have the football match perspective and don't actually see the whole picture?

"Thaksin bad so Prayuth good" - if only life were that simple........

Edited November 24, 2014 by wilcopops

[rickirs]

Thereis a lot of focus on the bribes, and money laundering charges, probably with good cause. But how does the charge of lese majeste come about? It's almost like an "accelerant" charge designed to increase the potential sentencing so that a confession can be encouraged to mitigate the additional sentencing.

[MJP]

A post and a reply to that post has been removed.

Please be careful how you phrase descriptions of the present administration in Thailand.

Thank you.

[HerbalEd]

How can corruption even begin to be seriously addressed when a massive majority of Thais see absolutely nothing wrong with it ?

I remember a few years back when Mr T. was in power, a front page article in the Bangkok Post gave a list of high ranked people whose assets had increased dramatically since the (then) Thai Rak Thai party had taken over. Guess who was first on the list, with figures that showed his wealth had been multiplied by more than 5 ?

Well, when I talked to my Thai friends and asked them if they found the fact shocking, they almost all said "that's what you do in this country when you reach the top. If I was in his place, I would do the very same thing". And then... they giggled. Mai pen rai. End of conversation.

Thais do complain about corruption in the police, but it's nothing other than 'lip service', so to speak, because every single Thai person has a family member or close friend in the force and when they have a problem they call him to make it disappear. And they see this as being perfectly normal.

Sociology is not like technology. You can't change a system that doesn't want to be changed. On the other hand when a group of people does want to change, things can move incredibly fast.

Lip service indeed. They'll complain about the corruption and then gladly give a bribe to avoid a traffic violation fine or to expedite government permits, etc.

BTW, if you've ever given a bribe in Thailand ... you're part of the corruption problem and you don't get to bitch about the corruption.

[Dogmatix]

It's getting just a little bit harder to argue that police would never dare to take bribes to cover up a murder just because the victims are foreigners.

Everything is for sale at a price and the revenue is humungous. Thais who study at expensive schools overseas often find that that some of their classmates are offspring of Thai police generals.

This case is just the tip of the iceberg in a highly selective purge.

[SteveFong]

most Thai's are happy to be able to live their lives in an expanding economy and hope thier soceity improves for the next generation

as in most countries,

if you arent in the power structure, you live in a diferent soceity,

same everywhere

[cookee68]

"However the officer committed suicide later, may be from stress after he was engaged with the accused officers, the spokesman said."

After he "engaged" with them anyway.

So he was thrown off the building then, after he told them he had grassed them all up,

[Ulic]

A start even if it is barely scratching the surface. A log and difficult process to end corruption when

70% of Thais believe corruption is OK as long as it benefits them.

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

There is a frustrating desire by some posters to give this story a "political" slant, I personally see it as something much more simple.

After years of corrupt indifference we now see some real action, some serious investigation with some real results. Yes it is one case but it most definitely is a start, maybe now the cynical nay sayers can take a back seat and wait to see what else transpires.

This present government may not be perfect but would any one of you prefer to go back to what we had?

I'll take my chances with this present government, on the face of it an excellent result, lets wait and see where it goes from here!

First of all pilgrim, what you have now is a not a government. It is one man show acquired through a coup. Doesn't matter if corrupt police catch corrupt police or fall from a high place because they guilty. Those crooks in high positions always will take the easy way out even if there is not a high place to fall from. The billions of baht is a good incentive. If there are billions of baht for the "real" killers of David and Hannah the police would have miraculously rounded them up by now. There is only one problem with taking a "back seat aporoach"and that is its hard to reach the steering wheel. There is such a thing as being too late.

[SteveFong]

this is a pretty big corruption bust as,

it involves several top people and even more at the lower end of the feeding chains

will it seep all the way to the bottom?

if it is mostly drug money,

this could be a windfall to the government, and not the last shoe to drop

[englishoak]

Show piece case,

Nice someone got fingered in a uniform but its not a big fish just mid level. Nice show piece news item.

[IMA_FARANG]

After years of corrupt indifference we now see some blah blah..

This present government may not be perfect but would any one of you prefer to go back to what we had?

I'll take my chances with this present government, on the face of it an excellent result, lets wait and see where it goes from here!

Smoke and mirrors. I miss the old thailand and would gladly go back. And you say you will take your chances with this government.. Opposed to what? Gonna go hold up your 3 fingers lol.

--------------------

Hopefully, the current cases are only the tip of the iceberg.

What would be nice is to see some high so Bankers going to jail.

That would really shake them up. (the "old".high-so elite)

You can't get the "new" until you tear down the "old".

Edited November 24, 2014 by IMA_FARANG

[FangFerang]

Nobody in Thailand cares about any of the charges.....except lese majesty. That is the most abused charge in the arsenal.

[FangFerang]

What about the futsal scandal ------well, they are connected people. Justice is unequal here. Everyone knows it. The favorite color of the week is immune.

[FangFerang]

Yay! The junta has done their duty. It does not matter that no one that the General knows is in line for roasting. It does not matter that law is unimportant. It only matters that the people who are in charge have power. Yay! I love pretend politics.

Edited November 24, 2014 by FangFerang

[retarius]

So the key witness is dead? Doesn't this mean that he can't make his testimony and any depositions he made will be ineligible as evidence? I wonder what this does to the likelihood of convictions if 'confessions' are retracted?

[joebrown]

The proceeds of corruption.....cash, houses, cars, gold and jewelry. What will happen to all these seized assets?? A rhetorical question methinks.

[jaywalker]

Remember the poll ran sometime earlier this year, yes here in Thailand, that said

68+% of those polled found nothing wrong with corruption, as long as you could get something out of it...... I found that extra shocking...

How do you fix something that is wrong, if the majority doesn't see anything wrong???

Your last line/question really is quite the quandary. Not having a go at you, but democracy IS majority rule, is it not?

I'm from Florida, so cannot help but compare what many see as flaws in Thailand, to what happens in the USA, where the exact same things happen every day.

The commonality I see, is that ALL governments are corrupt the world over. The locals embrace it, the world over. I recall seeing Thaksin passing out 1K baht bills in Isaan once

Tell me this is not "Vote Buying"???

============

Now, popping the top police thug in Thailand is pretty much unheard of, yet somebody made Nixon resign, and let's not forget he was pardoned by the next guy in charge (Ford).

Corruption is EVERYWHERE (I would guess every government in the world).

What I hate is the sheep that come out spouting "But it's the Law!!!!" every time some benign Thailand visa over-stayer or marijuana smoker comes to light, when both are victim-less "crimes".

I read over and over again here, "Their country! Their rules! Respect them or LEAVE!", in a country where it's blatantly obvious that most cops can be bribed, bribes are expected & the majority of the populace believe it's OK, maniacs drive like maniacs, one can barely walk 10 feet in Pattaya without coming across an illegal activity (usually victim-less - Beach Rd girls)...And the next article one reads is about where there was a victim of murder or mugging, yet the local cops were either inept or asleep or both.

Their country! Their rules!

Bars stay open past the appointed time (again victim-less unless they are disturbing the peace), Mom & Pop stores sell beer at the [aghast] unheard of hours between 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM, as well as on "no booze can be sold" holidays, and on and on and on.

The never-ending "Crack-Downs" that last between 2 days and 2 weeks etc...

Yet some member here will scream bloody murder "IT"S AGAINST THE LAW!" if somebody asks how to take care of a visa overstay, on, of all places, a website named after visas in Thailand.

Sorry...Rant over.

Edited November 25, 2014 by jaywalker

[Si Thea01]

"Maj-Gen Kowit Wongrungroj"

Was this guy at one stage the head of the Ko Tao investigation?

Can't help yourself can you? No relevance to the post. We read many negatives about the Police in Thailand, and many may well be justified but when it appears they are doing something positive they still get bagged. This may be the time when the pendulum stops, so lets wait until the matters are dealt with.

If they have been dismissed, as stated in the initial post and then face criminal charges, it's a big step forward to just being transferred to an inactive post, where they can possibly continue with the nefarious activities and are still being paid from the public purse.

Even though many offer fair criticism of the RTP, the actions of these investigators, on the surface, given the media reports are correct, tend to indicate there are good and competent members who are able to investigate and arrest, not only some upper echelons of the police but also the civilians involved. Many times we read how it is only the minnows who are arrested and the money trial is never followed so Mr Big never faces prosecution.

Lets give credit where credit is due and when something positive happens, acknowledge it. They have got to the Mr Bigs so let's wait and see if justice is served through successful prosecutions.