Probe of Bangkok bombing recalls bad reputation of police

[webfact]

Probe of Bangkok bombing recalls bad reputation of police
By GRANT PECK

BANGKOK (AP) — Investigating a crime with little forensic evidence, no clear motive and no claim of responsibility — like the Bangkok bombing that killed 20 people — would challenge anyone. Yet the Royal Thai Police department is handicapped even in the best of circumstances by a legacy of corruption, brutality and political influence.

The absence of a suspect identified by name — or even nationality — has fueled criticism of the investigation into the Aug. 17 attack at a popular central Bangkok shrine. Police are accused of failing to secure forensic evidence and issuing wrong or misleading information to the public. Some question their competence, or speculate that the military government that seized power last year may not want the real culprits to be found.

Faith in the police has never run deep in Thailand, where street cops earn scandalously low pay and officials in the upper ranks continually joust for power and influence.

A 2013 survey by the anti-corruption group Transparency International found that 71% of respondents judged the police as corrupt or extremely corrupt, edging out political parties with 68% as the most corrupt institution.

An Executive Opinion Survey published in the latest Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum likewise ranked Thailand 113th out of 144 economies in a ranking of the perceived reliability of police services — the extent to which they can be relied upon to enforce law and order.

"In Thailand's most sensational crimes, the prime suspects are often the police," was the pithy judgment of The Economist magazine in 2008.

Answering questions about the bombing probe, police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said Monday: "To investigate a bombing anywhere in the world is difficult. In some cases in the world they spent five years. In some cases they never found a suspect, even though 20 years passed. But we will keep trying."

Making an arrest may create another avenue of criticism. Thai police have frequently been accused of using coercion and torture to extract confessions from suspects, who are commonly made to participate in re-enactments of their alleged crimes.

This year, police were accused of torturing two migrant workers from Myanmar into making false confessions to the murders of two British tourists on a resort island in the Gulf of Thailand. As in the bombing case, there is suspicion that the authorities simply are looking for a quick fix to ease tourists' worries.

A case known as the "Blue Diamond Affair," involving the 1989 theft of jewelry by a Thai overseas worker from the palace of a Saudi prince, cast a harsh spotlight on Thai police and has roiled diplomatic relations with Riyadh ever since. Much of the loot went unrecovered, and a police general was ultimately convicted of kidnapping and killing relatives of a witness in the case.

The police force's reputation was further damaged by in 2003 when the government declared a "War on Drugs" to deal with a massive influx of methamphetamine. Homicide rates more than doubled at the peak of the campaign, and while authorities blamed infighting among traffickers, some high-profile incidents where innocent people were killed in view of witnesses made clear that police were operating under shoot-to-kill rules.

Yet much of Thais' dim view of police stems from more mundane experiences. Police often extract bribes from motorists and others, a form of corruption that is exacerbated by low pay.

The military-led government has promised to clean up the police force, but in the bombing case it may be steering investigators away from one potentially damaging theory, said Jomdet Trimek, a professor of criminology at Bangkok's Rangsit University and a former police officer.

Early leaks from the police suggested that militant Muslims from China's Uighur minority were suspects, seeking to avenge Thailand's forced repatriation in July of more than a hundred Uighurs who had fled their homeland. Thai authorities later discounted possible international terrorism links, though the arrest warrant for the still-unidentified main suspect describes him as a "foreign man" and the police chief said Monday that no theory has been ruled out.

The shrine where the bomb exploded is a magnet for Chinese tourists, and at least six of the dead were from mainland China and Hong Kong. If the attack was payback for Thailand's handling of Uighur migrants, it would cast blame on the junta for providing a pretext for the bombing and would scare away Chinese visitors, now a major component of the country's lucrative tourism industry.

"If the real motive of this act of terrorism is a matter relating to Uighurs," Jomdet said in an email interview, "I believe the government will not disclose it."

Jomdet said the haste with which the crime scene was cleaned up suggests a rush to restore public confidence, possibly at the expense of collecting more evidence. The area was hosed down less than 24 hours after the blast, and the bomb crater was patched over in less than 48.

While police have yet to find any suspects linked to the attack, they have arrested two people for allegedly spreading false information online.

Nattapong Thongpakde, a professor at Thailand's National Institute of Development Administration who wrote a newspaper column last week comparing the blast to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, said authorities seem to be seeking to curtail public discussion of the bombing for the same purpose of promoting an impression of normalcy.

"The focus in Boston's case was public security," he told The Associated Press in an email interview. "Therefore all resources were allocated to find the suspect and the motive, to make sure that it would not happen again, or at least to know what was going on. The authorities followed the evidence without giving unfounded speculation."

Some of these criticisms are unfair, said a veteran Thai police officer who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media. A commissioned officer for 12 years, he said the Office of Police Forensic Science and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams were quickly on the scene and collected much evidence, which has been followed up by the country's best detectives.

He also noted that Thai police have the advantage of having in Bangkok one of the four International Law Enforcement Academies established worldwide in cooperation with the U.S. State Department to train law enforcement personnel, and whose curriculum this year started off with a "Post Blast Investigations Course."

The officer added that while the bombing reveal police problems in gathering intelligence, law-enforcement agencies in the U.S. and around the world have the same challenges.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-08-26

[NongKhaiKid]

Saying the BIB have a bad reputation is being kind, to say the least.

They are, oh well don't want to get suspended.

[Reigntax]

Nobody questions their competence. We are fully aware of their lack of it!

[davehowden]

"The authorities followed the evidence without giving unfounded speculation."

​Unlike Thailand where everybody and his dog wants to proclaim their lack of knowledge at every opportunity.

[BSJ]

"An Executive Opinion Survey published in the latest Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum likewise ranked Thailand 113th out of 144 economies in a ranking of the perceived reliability of police services — the extent to which they can be relied upon to enforce law and order."

So, it's not just expats on TVF that think the RTP are something akin to the Keystone Cops!

[jaywalker]

Saying the BIB have a bad reputation is being kind, to say the least.

Kind of like saying the sky is blue and water is wet isn't it?

Edited August 25, 2015 by jaywalker

[Pattaya28]

Crime-scene hosed down within 24 hours ? Says it all !

75% of CCTV not working.

25% of CCTV working produced blurred unrecognizable images. Unbelievable !

[CMguy]

Any survey results concerning the police will likely be skewed in the police's favor, because respondents fear retribution. It kinda makes you wonder if only 71% would say the police were corrupt, without that fear.

[craigt3365]

In the country of Georgia, the new president fired the entire police force. And guess what? Crime went down! Because the police were involved in every aspect of crime, one way or another, either directly or indirectly.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19489_5-terrible-ideas-that-solved-huge-global-problems.html

They were without police for three freaking months. And it was fine. Saakashvili's administration quickly realized this was because it had been the cops causing most of the trouble all along. A remnant from the Soviet era, they'd treated the roads as their personal piggy bank, administering their very own brand of expensive justice at will and causing mob-style chaos as they did. When they were taken out of the equation, not even a hint of disorder was left because they had been the disorder.

[noitom]

Thai crime investigation at its best. Immediately blame political opposition. Then blame foreigners. Don't focus on marshaling resources to examine scene, CCTV, witnesses, all forensics, consult with independent expertise on bombings. Just thrash around and lay blame on others trying to harm Thailand.

[ikurauni]

Thailand is known as a corrupted country. It is not only Thailand but also other south east Asia countries are very much the same.

I don't think that they can fix this problem as long as the corrupted people are running the show. It will be the same for a long time.

[Nick167]

Hub of arrogant, xenophobic buffoons!

[Laughing Gravy]

The article is trying in a poor way, to say that the RTP are not incompetent but police forces worldwide would be having the same problems. Face saving actions again. Well I don't agree and as this thread and many others have mentioned the poor policy and procedures that followed after the bombing substantiate it. Lets be honest the RTP have a very poor reputation amongst Thais and foreigners. This case and countless others such as the Ko Tao murders clearly show this. As craigt3365 has hinted, scrapping the RTP and starting again just might be a good way forward.

[dotpoom]

I'm surprised reference in this article was made about police torture in the Kao Tao case while the trial is still ongoing...any such comments would normally be subjudesay?

[Lukecan]

BİB is the best police force in the world, and prayuth chan o chan is the sexiest prime minister

[Katipo]

"Investigating a crime with little forensic evidence, no clear motive".... I suspect a more competent police force would have found plenty of forensic evidence and a motive by now. The lack of either says more about the crime solvers than the crime itself.

[worgeordie]

Headless chickens,comes to mind.

regards Worgeordie

[Always18]

".which has been followed up by the country's best detectives."

This must be the little known Thai branch of the Clouseau family..................

[bamnutsak]

There's a difference between "bad" (evil/corrupt) and "incompetent". In this case the latter is more appropriate.

Although I suspect that they know who 'ordered' this incident, and have been told to make it look like they're doing something, but not really do anything.

The cause(s) are being addressed behind closed doors. A message was sent, heard, hopefully acted upon?

[EnglishJohn]

"If the real motive of this act of terrorism is a matter relating to Uighurs," Jomdet said in an email interview, "I believe the government will not disclose it."

err .. if the Uighurs did it, they would have claimed responsibility. The whole point of those kind of terrorist attacks is deter anyone else from doing the same thing. If they allow everyone to think it was internal politics, it would be a waste of all that effort.

".. it may be steering investigators away from one potentially damaging theory, said Jomdet "

Same one again ?. Does he think the government are inside the police steering them this way and that ?. I know Chalerm made stipulations that certain things were to be ignored and never mentioned in reports again (like the MIB) but I don't believe Prayuth will allow that to happen here.

I think it all is just plain incompetence and Mr Jomdet has some agenda of his own.

Mr Jomdet : I'm sorry but you haven't got the job. NEXT.

[allan michaud]

After the PM’s great idea for the RTP to watch episodes of Blue Bloods to help their investigation into the Erawan bombing, the RTP have proudly deployed a method long used across America by law enforcement. The “Selleck” as it’s better know, has been in use across America since the 1970’s and despite the development of more modern investigative techniques, the Selleck is now a well established and reliable law enforcement tool.

Pol General Watthefekaporn was quoted as saying “We need to be equipped like US law enforcement if we are going to solve cases like this. We have studied the US police and have identified certain vital areas we need to address. Firstly what we need most of all is some Hummers to drive around in, like that ginger bloke in CSI. Everyone knows that all the US police have them, so why not us? Also those glass walled labs are really cool, we don’t have offices like that.”

Pol Gen Wongindahead said “When the initial tests of the “Selleck” are completed we will be seeking assistance from the top law enforcement specialist in America, Jerry Bruckheimer, to see if he can help us set up a CSI lab in Bangkok.”

[craigt3365]

Read the Bangkok Post article about the cabbie and the foreigner bomber. The police general says they don't want to admit it was an act by a terrorist organization. It would hurt tourism. Sick.

No links here, please.

[klauskunkel]

He also noted that Thai police have the advantage of having in Bangkok one of the four International Law Enforcement Academies established worldwide in cooperation with the U.S. State Department to train law enforcement personnel, and whose curriculum this year started off with a "Post Blast Investigations Course."

How perfect! ...and did anyone relevant attend the course, or did they send some traffic cops? Was the course held in Thai language, and did whoever attended understand the material? The officers who attended the course, were they part of the bomb investigation and were they able to apply what they learned?

...just asking what Grant Peck should have asked

[Muirton]

Thai Police have a reputation to maintain -- and that they are doing.

[petermik]

The report only confirms what every TVF member (and his dog) allready knows

[Muirton]

I'm surprised reference in this article was made about police torture in the Kao Tao case while the trial is still ongoing...any such comments would normally be subjudesay?

"sub judice" is what you intend to write, yes? as one lawyer to another, or maybe not, you're babbling.

[fred Kubasa]

"An Executive Opinion Survey published in the latest Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum likewise ranked Thailand 113th out of 144 economies in a ranking of the perceived reliability of police services the extent to which they can be relied upon to enforce law and order."

So, it's not just expats on TVF that think the RTP are something akin to the Keystone Cops!

You owe the Keystone Kops an apology !

[jimstar1]

Headless chickens,comes to mind.

regards Worgeordie

Yes but headless chickens still move around at a good pace

[outsider]

Yeah, the reputation for being the most useless, incompetent and corrupted bunch of clown shoes and they're doing a sterling job at keeping it up. When in Thailand, stay away from trouble to stay away from these scums.

[NCC1701A]

Thailand just got their a** kicked. Dressed up clowns versus trained international terrorists.

wonder what will happen to Thailand when they have a real problem?

Hold another press conference in front of a gogo bar in Nana plaza?

http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1440401187

Edited August 26, 2015 by NCC1701A