Why it's not easy being a Thai police officer

[webfact]

Why it's not easy being a Thai police officer
By Maxmilian Wechsler

Thai police often come in for massive criticism, but investigate a bit deeper and it turns out they work long hours doing a difficult job in dangerous circumstances for scant reward. All they want is a little appreciation from the public


Police Colonel Dr Pullop Aramhla

BANGKOK: -- SCARCELY a day goes by that doesn’t see allegations of corruption, laziness, incompetence or other criticism levelled by the media at the Royal Thai Police (RTP), especially in local and international English-language outlets.

While Thai-language newspapers, television, magazines and websites are somewhat more balanced, the overall negative coverage contributes to a prevailing opinion that Thai police have a soft job and are mainly occupied with feathering their own nests. But anyone who takes the time to sit down and talk to some of them soon realizes this is unfair.

No other government agency has to contend with anything like the barrage of negative press that descends on the police on an almost daily basis. We are constantly reminded of bribe-taking by police, but it’s worth remembering that for the average cop this amounts to small sums from motorists in lieu of a traffic ticket. And often it is the motorists who are most eager to make a cash deal on the spot to avoid the inconvenience of having their driving license confiscated and going to the police station to pay a fine.

Contrast this to corruption in the private sector. Graft perpetrated by big corporations is believed to siphon off hundreds of millions of baht from the country’s GDP. We hear precious little in the media about so-called white collar crimes like insider trading, fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion. Corruption in sports on a tremendous scale is also overlooked. Reports of match fixing, doping, gambling and other illegal activities plague sports all around the world, but in general the athletes remain admired and emulated. While some criticism of the police is certainly valid, there is little appreciation of the risks they take and the long, hard hours they work.

Full story: http://www.thebigchilli.com/features/why-its-not-easy-being-a-thai-police-officer


-- (c) Big Chilli 2016-04-12

[NCC1701A]

[Johnniey]

They are the mafia in Thailand and people have good reason to detest them. They don't care about justice unless there is money in it for them.

[davehowden]

If it's so terrible don't take the job in the first place ?

[lkv]

High quality soap journalism from a well established media empire that you may have heard of, Big Chilli.

[leeneeds]

How true, over worked underpaid

aren't we all?

we all would like more,

i give the police credit for the

many drug busts that have been made this year.

when you get undermined from within, it must be a

very dangerous place to speak out of turn,

or push incidents of graft,

follow the line or get pushed / removed from service,

Changing the society attitudes towards police has to start

with joe public,

only way to do that is to lobotomise every one in one day.

[jamesbrock]

While your average Officer Somchai may be a decent, hardworking person, there is little doubt that, alongside the RTA, the RTP is one of the largest criminal organisations in the nation. One only need to look at the vast levels of unusual wealth in the upper ranks (a snippet of this can be seen in the declared assets of the 11 RTP officers handpicked to form the NLA), and the the conspicuous purchase of positions within the agency, with the asking price for each position being revealed openly.

Thailand will never be a safe country, it will never reduce the horrific road toll, nor ever attain status of developed nation unless a complete top-to-bottom restructure of the RTP is undertaken, decentralising its command structure, and transferring its reporting to the Ministry of Justice, recruiting overseas advisors/trainers, imposing strict ethical guidelines, sacking every single one of the tens of thousands (140,000?) of criminals currently sitting in inactive posts, and providing a living wage to officers.

[Plutojames88]

Right

Edited April 11, 2016 by Plutojames88

[lkv]

"Why it's not easy to be a police officer" Episode 1 ( stay tuned)

[bdenner]

If this so called "Big Chill" is to be believed Police Colonel Dr Pullop Aramhla justifies the poice position by ranting about White Collar and HiSo crime. How many times do we hear the BiB doing a good job in arresting perpetrators only to see em released for any number of reasons. The good colonel is high up the food chain, any wonder he is trying to cover for the minions who bring him the gravy.

[Bluespunk]

"We are constantly reminded of bribe-taking by police, but its worth remembering that for the average cop this amounts to small sums from motorists in lieu of a traffic ticket. And often it is the motorists who are most eager to make a cash deal on the spot to avoid the inconvenience of having their driving license confiscated and going to the police station to pay a fine."

Oh, well that's ok then. It's only a small bribe to avoid paying the proper price for illegal driving behaviour.

It's only breaking the law.

It only leads to extortion for non existent offences.

It's only a symptom of a corrupt, inept, gangster police force, a sign that corruption pervades all the way to the grass roots off the organisation.

Utterly appealing article. The writer should be gaoled.

Or at least "fined".

Edited April 11, 2016 by Bluespunk

[Bluespunk]

"Corruption in sports on a tremendous scale is also overlooked. Reports of match fixing, doping, gambling and other illegal activities plague sports all around the world, but in general the athletes remain admired and emulated."

Not true. Those cheating are reviled as the scum they are.

Edited April 11, 2016 by Bluespunk

[jamesbrock]

"Why it's not easy being a Thai police officer

By Maxmilian Wechsler

Thai police often come in for massive criticism, but investigate a bit deeper and it turns out they work long hours doing a difficult job in dangerous circumstances for scant reward. All they want is a little appreciation from the public

Police Colonel Dr Pullop Aramhla

BANGKOK: -- SCARCELY a day goes by that doesnt see allegations of corruption, laziness, incompetence or other criticism levelled by the media at the Royal Thai Police (RTP), especially in local and international English-language outlets.

While Thai-language newspapers, television, magazines and websites are somewhat more balanced, the overall negative coverage contributes to a prevailing opinion that Thai police have a soft job and are mainly occupied with feathering their own nests. But anyone who takes the time to sit down and talk to some of them soon realizes this is unfair.

No other government agency has to contend with anything like the barrage of negative press that descends on the police on an almost daily basis. We are constantly reminded of bribe-taking by police, but its worth remembering that for the average cop this amounts to small sums from motorists in lieu of a traffic ticket. And often it is the motorists who are most eager to make a cash deal on the spot to avoid the inconvenience of having their driving license confiscated and going to the police station to pay a fine."

Oh, well that's ok then. It's only a small bribe to avoid paying the proper price for illegal driving behaviour.

It's only breaking the law.

It only leads to extortion for non existent offences.

It's only a symptom of a corrupt, inept, gangster police force, a sign that corruption pervades all the way to the grass roots off the organisation.

Utterly appealing article. The writer should be gaoled.

Or at least "fined".

Apologistics at its very best.

Profess blind faith in the official myths, pretend problems don’t exist at all, defend the indefensible, accuse those who question the official story of being "Thai-bashers" or "Thai-haters," ask them why they're here.

Edit: comment directed at the suckhole writer of the article, not you Bluespunk

Edited April 11, 2016 by jamesbrock

[Bluespunk]

"Contrast this to corruption in the private sector. Graft perpetrated by big corporations is believed to siphon off hundreds of millions of baht from the countrys GDP. We hear precious little in the media about so-called white collar crimes like insider trading, fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion. "

We hear little about this corruption because the perpetrators pay bribes to buy their way out of the charges.

See where condoning small traffic fine bribes leads to now, mr journalist?

See why they are the symptoms of a diseased body?

[lkv]

"Contrast this to corruption in the private sector. Graft perpetrated by big corporations is believed to siphon off hundreds of millions of baht from the countrys GDP. We hear precious little in the media about so-called white collar crimes like insider trading, fraud, embezzlement and tax evasion. "

We hear little about this corruption because the perpetrators pay bribes to buy their way out of the charges.

See where condoning small traffic fine bribes leads to now, mr journalist?

See why they are the symptoms of a diseased body?

No, it makes it sound like we are encouraging it, when in fact they purchase their jobs from day one.

People that would bribe Thai police would not dare to do that in civilized countries. Not for traffic violations at least.

Edited April 11, 2016 by lkv

[canuckamuck]

They are the good guys, because they only take a little.

[Bluespunk]

On reflection, this a satire piece right?

[FourAces]

"they work long hours doing a difficult job"

"SCARCELY a day goes by that doesn’t see allegations of corruption, laziness, incompetence or other criticism" here is another fun fact- THE TRUTH HURTS

[FourAces]

Right

Thats his sister, they got married last week, he is her 10th husband this month

[apetley]

Whoever wrote that crap should be ashamed to call themselves a journalist.

[Laughing Gravy]

"We are constantly reminded of bribe-taking by police, but its worth remembering that for the average cop this amounts to small sums from motorists in lieu of a traffic ticket. And often it is the motorists who are most eager to make a cash deal on the spot to avoid the inconvenience of having their driving license confiscated and going to the police station to pay a fine."

Oh, well that's ok then. It's only a small bribe to avoid paying the proper price for illegal driving behaviour.

It's only breaking the law.

It only leads to extortion for non existent offences.

It's only a symptom of a corrupt, inept, gangster police force, a sign that corruption pervades all the way to the grass roots off the organisation.

Utterly appealing article. The writer should be gaoled.

Or at least "fined".

Also from my experience when stopped by the police the charges are made up like not enough air in your tyres, not signalling (in the same lane for 2 miles) and speeding (which I was not). It is extortion and the article is trying to justify taking money from people. A disgrace.

[LannaGuy]

[thaiduncankk]

If it is so badly paid, how come most of them borrow money, to pay to get the job in the first place ?

[aussieinthailand]

"But anyone who takes the time to sit down and talk to some of them soon realizes this is unfair."

A brilliant fiction with a smattering of truth, quite a masterpiece.

My brother in-law is a reasonably high ranking cop and I have "taken the time and sat down and talked" with him and the simple fact is they are all corrupt...

There are levels of the corruption though, eg; the traffic stop 200 baht scam, the drugs found in your pocket or car 30,000 baht scam, or the brown envelopes for selected businesses paid each month to keep the doors open and their Lao/Burmese workers employed at slave wages and onwards and upwards.

Now there are actually cops that do not do the traffic 200 baht scam etc,etc, and are not active in the taking of tea money but they don't report it either which in itself is complicate in the corruption.

Also every cop know the wages of speaking out against his fellow partners in crime, which starts with transfer followed by trumped up criminal charges then family harassment and finally they will wake up dead.

Perfect example , The Thai cops that is currently in Australia requesting Asylum due to his reporting on the human trafficking that is reported as almost cleaned up and finished.

So yeah the reputation of the BIB is well and truly deserved and no amount of apologist's can cover it up.

Every station should have at least 2 separate and undercover internal affairs cops investigating and reporting on corruption for Thailand to have any chance of being some what cleaned up.

[FourAces]

"But anyone who takes the time to sit down and talk to some of them soon realizes this is unfair."

A brilliant fiction with a smattering of truth, quite a masterpiece.

My brother in-law is a reasonably high ranking cop and I have "taken the time and sat down and talked" with him and the simple fact is they are all corrupt...

There are levels of the corruption though, eg; the traffic stop 200 baht scam, the drugs found in your pocket or car 30,000 baht scam, or the brown envelopes for selected businesses paid each month to keep the doors open and their Lao/Burmese workers employed at slave wages and onwards and upwards.

Now there are actually cops that do not do the traffic 200 baht scam etc,etc, and are not active in the taking of tea money but they don't report it either which in itself is complicate in the corruption.

Also every cop know the wages of speaking out against his fellow partners in crime, which starts with transfer followed by trumped up criminal charges then family harassment and finally they will wake up dead.

Perfect example , The Thai cops that is currently in Australia requesting Asylum due to his reporting on the human trafficking that is reported as almost cleaned up and finished.

So yeah the reputation of the BIB is well and truly deserved and no amount of apologist's can cover it up.

Every station should have at least 2 separate and undercover internal affairs cops investigating and reporting on corruption for Thailand to have any chance of being some what cleaned up.

Every station should have at least 2 separate and undercover internal affairs cops investigating and reporting on corruption for Thailand to have any chance of being some what cleaned up.

The only problem with that is that they will be in Australia seeking asylum before their first week on the job

[marko kok prong]

Got to say i would rather pay 200b bribe,then drive all the way to a police station,pay the fine and then find my way back to retrieve my licence.

[sweatalot]

Well, well, well

what about the good policemen in Koh Tao

doing their hard job to serve and help

[jamesbrock]

"But anyone who takes the time to sit down and talk to some of them soon realizes this is unfair."

A brilliant fiction with a smattering of truth, quite a masterpiece.

My brother in-law is a reasonably high ranking cop and I have "taken the time and sat down and talked" with him and the simple fact is they are all corrupt...

There are levels of the corruption though, eg; the traffic stop 200 baht scam, the drugs found in your pocket or car 30,000 baht scam, or the brown envelopes for selected businesses paid each month to keep the doors open and their Lao/Burmese workers employed at slave wages and onwards and upwards.

Now there are actually cops that do not do the traffic 200 baht scam etc,etc, and are not active in the taking of tea money but they don't report it either which in itself is complicate in the corruption.

Also every cop know the wages of speaking out against his fellow partners in crime, which starts with transfer followed by trumped up criminal charges then family harassment and finally they will wake up dead.

Perfect example , The Thai cops that is currently in Australia requesting Asylum due to his reporting on the human trafficking that is reported as almost cleaned up and finished.

So yeah the reputation of the BIB is well and truly deserved and no amount of apologist's can cover it up.

Every station should have at least 2 separate and undercover internal affairs cops investigating and reporting on corruption for Thailand to have any chance of being some what cleaned up.

I agree with everything you wrote right up to the last line: the root cause of the corruption problem in the RTP is too deep to be resolved without a complete top-to-bottom restructure of the entire RTP.

The primary problem of the RTP, the primary cause of its endemic corruption, lies with its structure. The RTP is a state agency with a juristic person status under the prime minister’s command. The agency is divided into central and regional offices, all of which are under the responsibility of a single commander-in-chief, the Commissioner-General. The chain of command descends downwards to the police station level. The organisational structure is centralised, with a 230,000-strong force nationwide.

This organisational structure brings with it several problems, most of which contribute to corruption. The first problem, as mentioned is the salary scale for police officers, which is very low compared with that of their foreign counterparts and even with the salaries paid to officials in similar Thai organisations such as the Department of Special Investigation, court prosecutors, or other officials involved in the criminal justice process. RTP officers holding a bachelor’s degree or better receiving an initial salary of only 8,340 baht (260 USD), compared with 17,560 baht (548 USD) earned by justice officials. Moreover, the entry-level salary of police officers with a sub-bachelor education is a mere 6,800 baht (212 USD). It's no wonder most police resort to petty corruption, coercing bribes from the public or extorting money from traffic law violators, in order to make ends meet.

Part of the stated reason why the average salary of Thai policemen is so low is the sheer size of personnel at 230,000, making it difficult to initiate a wholesale pay rise to ensure all earn enough to meet rising living expenses. For example, if all policemen in the agency were to receive a 5,000 baht increase in monthly salary, the government would have to pay an additional 15 billion baht (420 million USD) annually. Of course if they sacked every one of the tens-of-thousands (140,000?) of officers sitting in 'inactive posts' that figure could be cut significantly.

Another problem with the centralised structure of the police force is that high-level officials in the central office can appoint officers at the regional level. Moreover, since there are more officers at the commissioned level than at lower levels, with the former being granted power to hire or fire the latter, the reasons for promotions or demotions are unrelated to work performance, but rather to the personal relationships of officers with higher-ranking officials. In addition, since the Royal Thai Police changed its name from the Police Department and came under the control Prime Minister’s Office in 2004, politicians have become much more involved in the appointment process of policemen.

The worst problem of all is the conspicuous purchase of positions within the agency, as mentioned above, with the asking price for each position being revealed openly. Once those who bought their way up start working in their new positions, they will undergo a ‘payback’ period during which they extract bribes and protection money from illegal business operators to make up for the money ‘invested’ in buying their higher positions.

Structural reform of the Royal Thai Police toward a more decentralised system would not only cut the line of command and reduce widespread corruption among officers, but would allow for recruitment and postings to be awarded on merit, not based on nepotism. Such reform will be able to alleviate corruption problems since they are inextricably linked to a centralised police system that results in high-level officers having too much power. The unfortunate consequences of this are embezzlement of government funds, since the funds are allocated to a single agency; bribery from citizens at a high frequency and amounts, since the bribes are passed up to higher-ranked officials along the chain of command; and collection of protection money, which is also passed up the chain of command, from illegal business operators.

The distribution or separation of police power would be effective in partially severing the chain of command that in turn can discourage the passing of bribes. It would also reduce the power of high-level officials, making them unable to intervene in the appointment process of lower-ranked policemen, which in turn can prevent the purchases of positions that are one of the causes of bribery and protection money collection. Most importantly, the decentralisation of police power or the downsizing of the agency would result in a general increase in police salaries, weakening the oft-mentioned reason for corruption.

Even though such reform would change Royal Thai Police for the better, the agency still lacks commanders willing to sacrifice their personal benefits for the greater good.

[thaiduncankk]

Got to say i would rather pay 200b bribe,then drive all the way to a police station,pay the fine and then find my way back to retrieve my licence.

Because it is more convenient for you does not mean it is right.

It is still corruption.

[JAG]

Brilliant, quite made my morning.

This country does so often lend itself to Gilbert and Sullivan doesn't it!