Bangkok bombing: 24 officers 'transferred' over misconduct

[cookee68]

Thailand loves the transfere card to be played when they <deleted> up, Lately it has been played more than the famous racist card

[whaleboneman]

Good to see some steps to promote accountability.

Do you really think the police could have searched every apartment in their area?

[Praematura]

Every time the police catch someone they photo themselves with the suspect and all the evidence. They have that big Somchai grin and look like they are doing their job. But not here, something is fishy. Most likely these officers are being offered up to show the RTP is serious about not being seen as totally incompetent.

[evadgib]

If anyone deserves a posting to the Ministry of inactive posts it's the idiot who knocked out the....

Edited September 1, 2015 by evadgib

[coulson]

Good to see some steps to promote accountability.

Do you really think the police could have searched every apartment in their area?

No. But they didn't have to pretend they did

[coulson]

Good to see some steps to promote accountability.

Rubbish!

Were they given a tip-off from a landlord? Were they expected to search how many hundred thousand homes?

They are scapegoats. In this instance, I sympathise with the police that have been transferred. And the Immigration officers!!? Really...they think a suspect may have gone through that border... Utter rubbish.

Accountability is going beyond your means. Getting fired because you didn't perform as if your country depended on it goes against the mai bpen rai attitude, it's an acknowledgement of internal failure, and the blame will always start in the trenches.

The message undoubtedly needs to go through the ranks. I listened to excuses of being tired and working as much as we can. There is an element of hypocrisy, but a step in the right direction.

The border guys could have been paid off. The local cops said they had searched everywhere.

It's plausible in Thailand.

Edited September 1, 2015 by coulson

[Jonmarleesco]

Is it safe, I wonder, to assume they didn't share in the 'reward' money?

[balo]

Ok lets just carry on, more Thai bashing is good for your brain .

[dundee48]

The good part about being transferred to an "inactive" posts would be they can sit on their freckles all day. The not so good

part for them is that they will probably be removed from any tea money distribution lists.

I thin that's the whole point. Inactive posts have no access to tea money. They sit at a desk in an empty office all day and play with paper.

Yes,as opposed to sitting at a desk in an empty office all day,playing with paper AND getting some tea money.

[Travelman868]

So do they still get some of the reward money?

Why transfer them. They are/were incompitent so sack them

[springheeled jack]

inertia and ineptitude go hand in hand in the police force this will be a wake up call which I hope will have an effect on the entire force.

[steffi]

So do they still get some of the reward money?

This is probably moving them out of the way so that the remaining slices are much bigger.

[scorecard]

Good to see some steps to promote accountability.

Rubbish!

Were they given a tip-off from a landlord? Were they expected to search how many hundred thousand homes?

They are scapegoats. In this instance, I sympathise with the police that have been transferred. And the Immigration officers!!? Really...they think a suspect may have gone through that border... Utter rubbish.

Perhaps not that simple.

Maybe this is a geographical area / command of police which in the longer past has not toed the line or has been strongly under the influence of a rogue senior or a nasty politician. Plenty of these situations seen many times over the long term.

Perhaps it's therefore a strong reminder to get in line.

[sambum]

"transferred to inactive posts for alleged wrongdoing"

I know it's never going to happen, because it would be impossible to get a true figure as the facts would have to be verified by the RTP, but wouldn't this be a wonderful tie breaker quiz question:-

"How many police officers in Thailand are currently transferred to inactive posts?"

Edited September 2, 2015 by sambum

[sambum]

Forget transfer sack fire dismiss

You need a whole new force from good education not Isan cowboys set only to rob motorists and Prayuth you need to non privatize this cowboy show soon they will open discount shops for membership on traffic fine discounts

Isann Cowboys

If you pay a livable wage and benefits, you will get educated responsible officers.

When they are underpaid and required to supply their own equipment and supplies, they can not do it without the tea money.

It is a system set up to fail set up to require corruption to survive.

I do not blame the officers.

Enforcing traffic laws and issuing citations with reasonable fines alone, would finance an honest police force.

Your post contains a lot of sense, but unfortunately is a bit naive in parts:-

"If you pay a livable wage and benefits, you will get educated responsible officers."

You will not get educated responsible officers until a proper training regime is in place, and a proper disciplinary code in place which is not applied by senior officers that have bought their promotions, rather than earning them. This is a big part of the problem - in essence, the more money an officer makes, the higher up the ladder he can climb - the more money he makes from corruption,(" tea money", bribes, extortion - call it what you want) the better the prospects are of him/her achieving/buying a promotion.

"When they are underpaid and required to supply their own equipment and supplies, they can not do it without the tea money"

I agree with you 100% on that. A ridiculous situation that should be addressed by the powers that be immediately. When a newly "qualified" police officer earns such a low wage, how can he afford to buy his own equipment and supplies, and possibly support a family as well?

"Enforcing traffic laws and issuing citations with reasonable fines alone, would finance an honest police force."

A step in the right direction, certainly, but not enough to "finance an honest police force" As I have already stated, the "honesty" is not even there in senior officers, so how can you expect it from the lower ranks? This is also possibly the reason for so many "bungled" investigations (e.g Koh Tao). When the people in charge have bought their way to the top, how can they even be expected to conduct a proper investigation, when they have no experience in doing so?

Edited September 2, 2015 by sambum

[willyumiii]

Forget transfer sack fire dismiss

You need a whole new force from good education not Isan cowboys set only to rob motorists and Prayuth you need to non privatize this cowboy show soon they will open discount shops for membership on traffic fine discounts

Isann Cowboys

If you pay a livable wage and benefits, you will get educated responsible officers.

When they are underpaid and required to supply their own equipment and supplies, they can not do it without the tea money.

It is a system set up to fail set up to require corruption to survive.

I do not blame the officers.

Enforcing traffic laws and issuing citations with reasonable fines alone, would finance an honest police force.

Your post contains a lot of sense, but unfortunately is a bit naive in parts:-

"If you pay a livable wage and benefits, you will get educated responsible officers."

You will not get educated responsible officers until a proper training regime is in place, and a proper disciplinary code in place which is not applied by senior officers that have bought their promotions, rather than earning them. This is a big part of the problem - in essence, the more money an officer makes, the higher up the ladder he can climb - the more money he makes from corruption,(" tea money", bribes, extortion - call it what you want) the better the prospects are of him/her achieving/buying a promotion.

"When they are underpaid and required to supply their own equipment and supplies, they can not do it without the tea money"

I agree with you 100% on that. A ridiculous situation that should be addressed by the powers that be immediately. When a newly "qualified" police officer earns such a low wage, how can he afford to buy his own equipment and supplies, and possibly support a family as well?

"Enforcing traffic laws and issuing citations with reasonable fines alone, would finance an honest police force."

A step in the right direction, certainly, but not enough to "finance an honest police force" As I have already stated, the "honesty" is not even there in senior officers, so how can you expect it from the lower ranks? This is also possibly the reason for so many "bungled" investigations (e.g Koh Tao). When the people in charge have bought their way to the top, how can they even be expected to conduct a proper investigation, when they have no experience in doing so?

Once you have established a system to pay the wage needed to attract qualified, honest people, you systematically dismiss and replace all officers starting at the top and working your way down.

People currently in the police force can reapply for their positions, but if when investigated they are found to have corrupt in the past, they are out.

I imagine many of the young men in the military now would be qualified and if the pay and benefits were decent, they should be interested.

It would be a huge change for Thailand, but it would be a huge improvement.

[sambum]

Forget transfer sack fire dismiss

You need a whole new force from good education not Isan cowboys set only to rob motorists and Prayuth you need to non privatize this cowboy show soon they will open discount shops for membership on traffic fine discounts

Isann Cowboys

If you pay a livable wage and benefits, you will get educated responsible officers.

When they are underpaid and required to supply their own equipment and supplies, they can not do it without the tea money.

It is a system set up to fail set up to require corruption to survive.

I do not blame the officers.

Enforcing traffic laws and issuing citations with reasonable fines alone, would finance an honest police force.

Your post contains a lot of sense, but unfortunately is a bit naive in parts:-

"If you pay a livable wage and benefits, you will get educated responsible officers."

You will not get educated responsible officers until a proper training regime is in place, and a proper disciplinary code in place which is not applied by senior officers that have bought their promotions, rather than earning them. This is a big part of the problem - in essence, the more money an officer makes, the higher up the ladder he can climb - the more money he makes from corruption,(" tea money", bribes, extortion - call it what you want) the better the prospects are of him/her achieving/buying a promotion.

"When they are underpaid and required to supply their own equipment and supplies, they can not do it without the tea money"

I agree with you 100% on that. A ridiculous situation that should be addressed by the powers that be immediately. When a newly "qualified" police officer earns such a low wage, how can he afford to buy his own equipment and supplies, and possibly support a family as well?

"Enforcing traffic laws and issuing citations with reasonable fines alone, would finance an honest police force."

A step in the right direction, certainly, but not enough to "finance an honest police force" As I have already stated, the "honesty" is not even there in senior officers, so how can you expect it from the lower ranks? This is also possibly the reason for so many "bungled" investigations (e.g Koh Tao). When the people in charge have bought their way to the top, how can they even be expected to conduct a proper investigation, when they have no experience in doing so?

Once you have established a system to pay the wage needed to attract qualified, honest people, you systematically dismiss and replace all officers starting at the top and working your way down.

People currently in the police force can reapply for their positions, but if when investigated they are found to have corrupt in the past, they are out.

I imagine many of the young men in the military now would be qualified and if the pay and benefits were decent, they should be interested.

It would be a huge change for Thailand, but it would be a huge improvement.

"you systematically dismiss and replace all officers starting at the top and working your way down."

Sorry - dream on - never going to happen!

[ddavidovsky]

This 'transfered to inactive posts' business is interesting. I've never heard an explanation of exactly what it involves. It happens so often there must be a sociological explanation for it.

I'm thinking that actual dismissal and loss of income in Thailand must be so unacceptable that it raises signifcant risk of violent reprisals (like the reporter at that American TV station recently). It seems they are actually afraid to fire people. Presumably, 'transferring' them means they still get their salary, and therefore they'll toe the line until such time as they are quietly brought back into the fold. (Does anyone know how long that 'rehabilitation' takes?)