July 16, 201510 yr BKK Traffic Cops Told to Respect Bosses' PrivilegeBy Khaosod EnglishA police officer giving away free mango at a traffic checkpoint in Nakhon Sawan province, 15 April 2012.BANGKOK — Traffic police have been ordered to memorize the license plates and faces of their superiors after Bangkok's police chief complained that he was asked to take a breathalyzer test despite his insistence that he was not intoxicated.Pol.Lt.Gen. Sriwarah Rangsipramkul, the commander of the city’s police force, told reporters yesterday that volunteer traffic cops failed to recognize him when he was flagged down at a road checkpoint – he was off-duty and not wearing a uniform at the time – and insisted that he take a breathalyzer test even though he told them he was sober "five times."“Eventually, I had to tell them who I was and get out of my car and criticize them,” he told reporters yesterday.Today, Pol.Maj.Gen. Thanapon Techatanon, a senior officer at Traffic Police Division, said he has asked all traffic officers to familiarize themselves with their superiors to avoid similar incidents in the future."I have instructed all volunteers and police officers to memorize faces, names, and license plates of their commanders well, so that this mistake will not happen again," Pol.Maj.Gen. Thanapon said.He added that volunteer traffic officers will need to go through "a short orientation to see if they are qualified.""They must speak politely,” he said. "They have to be gentle with people. As for selecting which car for alcohol test, we will judge by the clothes, manner, and the way they talk. For example, some people use too much perfume to hide alcohol smell, this will a factor that will merit an alcohol test."Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1437029021 -- Khaosod English 2015-07-16
July 16, 201510 yr This sums up - in a nutshell - why the Thai police are considered by many to be totally corrupted I also want to add that I asked my Thai family if this news story had featured on Thai language TV news reports. They had not seen any news reports about this, (although maybe the cartoon channels don't run news stories...)
July 16, 201510 yr In other words, you don't dare stop someone with the right license plate number, or face, even if they are stinking, falling down drunk, if you want to keep your job. Just how much more ignorant can this country get?
July 16, 201510 yr Why are we surprised at this? Elite class still reigns free. Sanctioned government corruption blatant. Sad state of affairs.
July 16, 201510 yr Crazy to the extreme I bet everyone agrees.. pro junta .. pro Thaksin.. everyone with half a brain agrees that this is stupid.
July 16, 201510 yr The whole "Kon Yai" culture isn't very pretty when translated into English for newspaper articles. My guess is that this kind of story doesn't raise too many eyebrows in the Thai press.
July 16, 201510 yr Peter Drucker says that “rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility.” I think he’s never been to Thailand.
July 16, 201510 yr "As for selecting which car for alcohol test, we will judge by the clothes, manner, and the way they talk." I'm surprised he didn't also tell them to consult a blue book on the price of the car. It seems implied, but the fact they were stupid enough to pull over a superior officer seems to show that they need it spelled out for them.
July 16, 201510 yr This sums up - in a nutshell - why the Thai police are considered by many to be totally corrupted I also want to add that I asked my Thai family if this news story had featured on Thai language TV news reports. They had not seen any news reports about this, (although maybe the cartoon channels don't run news stories...) The cartoon channels are the news,it's the only thing they can relate to plus the soaps.
July 16, 201510 yr Other extraordinary quotes from a truly unbelievable story: "As for selecting which car for alcohol test, we will judge by the clothes, manner, and the way they talk." "After talking to someone who is sober for one to two minutes, you should be able to tell that they don’t smell of alcohol," he said. "Those people shouldn't be called to take the test. You have to look. Don't just randomly inspect people." "After I identified myself to [the volunteer cops], they turned pale," Pol.Lt.Gen. Sriwarah said, according to Matichon. "If ordinary people have this experience, what would they think? "
July 16, 201510 yr People already know this is the way the police work but what's shocking is that they so openly admit to it.
July 16, 201510 yr Privilege in every sense and use of the word, disgusting. Don't expect any response from higher up because it's the same for them too.
July 16, 201510 yr "As for selecting which car for alcohol test, we will judge by the clothes, manner, and the way they talk." Will an upper class English accent be ok?
July 16, 201510 yr The title of this article should read... Bangkok traffic cops told bosses' are above the law... This is quite a disgusting example of what is wrong with Thailand... Those in positions of power are not of the belief that they are serving the country, rather they believe country should serve them because of their power... The mentality displayed is a polar opposite of any civilised understanding of how those in positions of power should be behaving.
July 16, 201510 yr Respect privileges of being above the law? But really, why is this a surprise here.
July 16, 201510 yr People already know this is the way the police work but what's shocking is that they so openly admit to it. Poor lost souls....they know not what they are
July 16, 201510 yr This country has so much further to go than I thought...maybe even a distance equal to infinity.
July 16, 201510 yr "As for selecting which car for alcohol test, we will judge by the clothes, manner, and the way they talk." Will an upper class English accent be ok? Don't think so, it will make matters worse...... they'll smell extra money
July 16, 201510 yr Personally if I were a Thai cop with an ounce of integrity I would search for this prick and breathalyze him as many times a possible.
July 16, 201510 yr Respect them if they are drunk or have drugs on them just respect them and let them go. Where else in the world can a cop let a law breaking boss go because he is above the law. Another step down for Thailand,s reputation!
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