Koh Phangan tourist businesses furious as warrant issued for arrest of policeman who robbed two Russian holidaymakers

 

 

Tourist operators on the holiday island of Koh Phangan are up in arms after an abduction/robbery of two Russian tourists was allegedly committed by a policeman and four underlings.

 

They demanded decisive action to protect the island from gaining a "Wild West" image.

 

But decisive action is what they got. Following the incident on Tuesday four men were arrested on warrants while the policeman in charge of the gang is expected to be in custody shortly.

 

The alleged ringleader - Suriyan Ranjuan, 50, better known as "Ja Jiap" - is a policeman attached to the Don Sak station on the Surat Thani mainland. He is believed to have fled to Nakorn Sri Thammarat.

 

A warrant is out for his arrest on a variety of charges including robbery, abduction and false imprisonment.

 

The same charges were also leveled at four members of the public who made up the gang that bundled the male and female Russian tourists into a car at Hat Rin beach on Tuesday afternoon.

 

Apidech Khongman, 31, Narin Srikaew, 46, Suriya Reuangthong, 47, and Taweesin Khongnark, 34, were arrested on a warrant at their lodgings on the island yesterday.

 

A team of 20 officers had taken pat in their arrest after the tourists had reported the incident to Koh Phangan police immediately after their ordeal.

 

Daily News reported that tourism operators on the island demanded immediate action to arrest all those responsible for making the island look like the "wild west" in the eyes of foreign tourists.

 

The hunt for the policeman ringleader is now underway with Koh Phangan police saying they expect a quick arrest.

 

Source: https://www.dailynews.co.th/regional/558922

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-3-1

Yet again, the 'tourist image' thing seems a bigger priority than the severity of the crime !

Shocking or what.....

 

how many times has this been done and innocent tourists have been charged or imprisoned,,,

 

This kind of stuff needs to go Viral....

47 minutes ago, Thaiwrath said:

Yet again, the 'tourist image' thing seems a bigger priority than the severity of the crime !

Considering that tourism under the current government is nudging to generating 12% of GDP and more than 10% of the population is directly or indirectly generating an income from provision of services - what's your problem?

1 hour ago, Thaiwrath said:

Yet again, the 'tourist image' thing seems a bigger priority than the severity of the crime !

 

Same as a farmer - when their pigs are threatened to get sick.

This gives a tool to make them do the right thing.

 

They seem to move only when their income is threatened. 

So make everything bad that happens to tourists known to the world. 

In particular let the world know what Thai police are doing to foreigners

 

Come to Westworld and get your groove on in the Wild West -thai style!

Police (Mastermind/Third Hand)...gone....underlings arrested.

 

Please feel free to copy and paste this to any crime story as required.

 

By the way "underlings" is from the OP, not my words.

Nice to see the people rise up and demanding something. Has been waiting long time to see that happen. It´s the only thing that will change something.

Well, we all know the outcome - Transferred to inactive duty. Case closed!

 

Crime really does pay when your in the Royal Thai Police.

No matter how shocked and outraged readers are in this forum, there will be a similar or worse story tomorrow and the day after that and so on. What the western world views as disgraceful, shocking and surreal is simply an accepted way of life with little desire for change. 

This happens everyday somewhere in Thailand. Nothing will ever change. No one will be put in prison where they all belong. If the penalties here were the same as any western country things might change. Maybe. But that will never happen.

10 hours ago, BKKBrit said:

Considering that tourism under the current government is nudging to generating 12% of GDP and more than 10% of the population is directly or indirectly generating an income from provision of services - what's your problem?

 

Might want to check your figures :-)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand

 

https://knoema.com/atlas/thailand/topics/tourism/travel-and-tourism-total-contribution-to-gdp/total-contribution-to-gdp-percent-share

" Ja Jiap "'s sun glasses speaks all!

 

Wants lavish lifestyle, with police life is not possible with salary. So, rather than beg for kickbacks, just rob someone.

 

Low life thugs to be dismissed and put in jail, before someone is get robbed again.

28 minutes ago, Toshiba66 said:

This happens everyday somewhere in Thailand. Nothing will ever change. No one will be put in prison where they all belong. If the penalties here were the same as any western country things might change. Maybe. But that will never happen.

"no one will be put in prison"

Of course they will!

The law must be change to send all corruptors Police to prison and not transfer them...

Russian tabloids must be having a field day with Thailand stories. First the woman treated like a serial killer for feeding fish, now this. 

 

I hope these cases persuade a a lot of Russians not to come to Thailand. Thais only take action to protect their god of money.

This is sad all the way around ... the fugitive cop was shot in the line of duty about a year ago. Wonder if that was related to his loss of good judgement. Many careers ruined too ... and for what? Petty, petty, petty ... what a pity!

5 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

Russian tabloids must be having a field day with Thailand stories. First the woman treated like a serial killer for feeding fish, now this. 

 

I hope these cases persuade a a lot of Russians not to come to Thailand. Thais only take action to protect their god of money.

Chinese too please 

11 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Yet again, the 'tourist image' thing seems a bigger priority than the severity of the crime !

gaining a "Wild West" image.

 

Where's he been for 7-9 years then 

11 hours ago, BKKBrit said:

Considering that tourism under the current government is nudging to generating 12% of GDP and more than 10% of the population is directly or indirectly generating an income from provision of services - what's your problem?

it should not matter about the revenue generated but the seriousness of the crime should matter and that should be the reason for the investigation and if the evidence points to it the prosecution but TIT

12 hours ago, Thaiwrath said:

Yet again, the 'tourist image' thing seems a bigger priority than the severity of the crime !

I wonder if the tourist operators on Koh Tao could be as upstanding or are they more terrified by control.

Oh dear.I dunno.There was I soooo naively thinking that a policeman's job was to protect the public.

59 minutes ago, foxteen said:

The law must be change to send all corruptors Police to prison and not transfer them...

They move them to an inactive post because they cannot fire them 'they know where all the bodies are buried' and could bring the whole system crashing down. Moving to an inactive post is not for the crimes it's for being stupid and getting caught.

I am not a soccer/football fan by any stretch, but reading so many of these stories on TV and elsewhere the phrase "own goal" always springs to mind!!

When this policeman is caught, he should be arrested, face court time, be charged with robbery, given public shaming, by being stripped of his rank, and kicked right out of the police force, then sentensed to a jail term in prison. If all of this does not happen then the Thai Government has not changed a bit from the last one. If Thailand wants to quit being corrupt, then it has to charge thses criminals properly, and make them pay for their crimes.

Geezer

11 hours ago, BKKBrit said:

Considering that tourism under the current government is nudging to generating 12% of GDP and more than 10% of the population is directly or indirectly generating an income from provision of services - what's your problem?

And how much of gdp is lost/wasted due to corruption?

When caught he will say sorry and offer the Russians a wai. If the Russian man has any balls he would kick him in the teeth while the hypocrite is kneeling in front of him,show the Thai public what we think of their stupid wai's. In many places in the world kidnapping alone would get him a life sentence,let's see how many months he gets here.

1 hour ago, Itsnottheplaceitwas said:

Chinese too please 

Chinese are okay. Better than the lowlife farangs.

I know its not right to generalize. However, when it comes to Thailand the lyrics of "Sympathy for the Devil" are pointing it out:

"Just as every cop is a criminal. And all the sinners saints. As heads is tails."  

I believe he will face court and prison.

He has fled because he knows he will and that is because influential people are pursuing this.