In 2012, police end up as their own worst enemies

[sao baht]

In 2012, police end up as their own worst enemies
31/12/2012

A string of high-profile busts of crooked cops does few favours for the reputation of the force
                                                               
 Corrupt policeman have been accused of many of  this year's biggest  murders, robberies and drug crimes, undermining the  reputation of the  police force as an agency which the public can rely on  to dispense  justice in a fair and honest fashion.

     
Five  suspects are brought before a press conference after police  arrested a  gang in June for allegedly assisting applicants to cheat in  police  entrance examinations. Officers also seized 10.5 million baht in  cash  paid by applicants to the suspects.

 
 Uniformed criminals started to hit the headlines this year on March  26  when four armed robbers took more than 2 million baht in cash from a   Kasikornbank cash truck in In Buri district of Sing Buri province in   broad daylight.

About a month after the robbery, police were able to arrest a gunman   who is a follower of an influential figure in Uthai Thani province, and   two suspected robbers.

 The suspects identified the mastermind as Pol Col Phichit Kromprasit,   chief of the Sai Ngam police station in Kamphaeng Phet province, and   another accomplice as Pol Sen Sgt Maj Narai Thippreechathorn of Nakhon   Sawan province police. Pol Col Phichit is a close aide of the   influential person in Uthai Thani and is still at large.

 On Sept 15, Pol Col Dr Supat Laohawattana, a doctor of Police General   Hospital in Bangkok, was named as a key suspect in the murder of a   couple named Samart Noomjui and Orasa Kerdsap, both aged 27, of   Phetchaburi province.

 The couple's pickup truck, which went missing in June 2009, was found   at a house owned by the doctor in Muang district of Nonthaburi   province.

 After digging up Dr Supat's plantation in Phetchaburi for a month,   police were unable to find any remains of the couple, but did find three   skeletons of others who officers suspect had been murdered.

 DNA tests confirmed one skeleton belonged to Ita, a former Myanmar male worker employed by Dr Supat.

 Dr Supat was charged with murder and has been detained pending prosecution. Police have rejected his bail request.

 In October, police in Ngao district of Lampang province arrested  Thiti  Pengsuk, aged 42, with about 1.28 million methamphetamine pills  and  5kg of crystal methamphetamines, or "ice".

 According to police, the trafficker said Pol Sen Sgt Maj Manas Seupho   of the Pracha Chuen police station in Bangkok hired him for 100,000   baht to drive and deliver the drugs to Bangkok.

 Pol Sen Sgt Maj Manas was arrested in Lampang on Oct 24.

 Arrest warrants are out for six accomplices, including another policeman and his wife.

 All executive officers at the Pracha Chuen police station were   transferred to inactive posts early this month after the gang was   exposed.

 On Dec 10, fertiliser trader Pallop Trinprisada, 55, and his lawyer   Sommai Chomngam, 59, were shot dead in tambon Samed of Muang Chon Buri   district, Chon Buri province.

 Mr Pallop had made an appointment with his neighbour, Pol Sen Sgt Maj   Samran Jaengsuk of the Provincial Police Region 2, to discuss their   two-year-long land dispute.

 Police believe the breakdown of negotiations led to the shooting.

 Pol Sen Sgt Maj Samran turned himself in but denied murdering Pallop, saying he had not met the man as agreed.

 On Dec 12, a gang of four non-commissioned officers was arrested for   robbing a Thai man and two Lao siblings of 3.5 million baht in cash   which they had just withdrawn from a branch of Kasikornbank in Muang   Nakhon Phanom district, Nakhon Phanom province.

 The culprits were eventually identified as Pol Sgt Maj Ekachai   Singthongyai, 35, Pol Sen Sgt Maj Chadawut Nonkhamwong, 39, Pol Sen Sgt   Maj Jamnong Raksa, 36, and Pol Sen Sgt Maj Narong Boonsinchai, 39.

 Kasikornbank employee Thonglert Maslooplao, 41, was also arrested for conspiring with the robbers.

 On Dec 13, narcotics suppression police arrested Pol Lt Col  Thammanoon  Nakbua, Pol Sub Lt Jittipong Sochai, Pol Sen Sgt Maj Noltawat  Pansa,  Pol Sen Sgt Maj Atthapol Khamsaen and Pol Sen Sgt Maj Sakkapong   Chiangnoon of the Uan police station in Pua district of Nan province   while they were using a police truck to allegedly deliver 1 million   methamphetamine pills in Ayutthaya province.

 These police-related crimes have damaged the reputation of the force.

 They also pose a big challenge to national police chief Adul   Saengsingkaew, who says he wants to clean up the force by getting rid of  rogue officers.

bangkokpost.com

[nookiebear]

Get rid of all the rogues & there won't be a police force left!

[urleft]

Got stopped by the BIB today at a checkpoint.  They checked my driver's license and waved me through.  What odd behavior not to have them ask for money. 

[Nobby]

Get rid of all the rogues & there won't be a police force left!

 

[nookiebear]

Got stopped by the BIB today at a checkpoint.  They checked my driver's license and waved me through.  What odd behavior not to have them ask for money. 

You don't get out often enough.......I must get stopped at least a dozen times a month at these checkpoints,,,,all they check is your tax,wearing a seatbelt & driving licence.Never any request for T Money

[sao baht]

Got stopped by the BIB today at a checkpoint.  They checked my driver's license and waved me through.  What odd behavior not to have them ask for money. 

You don't get out often enough.......I must get stopped at least a dozen times a month at these checkpoints,,,,all they check is your tax,wearing a seatbelt & driving licence.Never any request for T Money

Yes in 12 years and being stopped many times ( maybe 100 or more ) I have only been asked two times to  pay money when I haven't done something wrong.And one of them I talked my way out of it 

[mike]

Got stopped by the BIB today at a checkpoint.  They checked my driver's license and waved me through.  What odd behavior not to have them ask for money. 

You don't get out often enough.......I must get stopped at least a dozen times a month at these checkpoints,,,,all they check is your tax,wearing a seatbelt & driving licence.Never any request for T Money

Yes in 12 years and being stopped many times ( maybe 100 or more ) I have only been asked two times to  pay money when I haven't done something wrong.And one of them I talked my way out of it 

Same with me - I've been stopped many times at the official checkpoints and never been asked for money.

I have only been asked for money 3 times, each for speeding and each time I was guilty. Only once did I actually pay.

First time was just outside Nang Rong at 1.30 am doing 115. I paid and got an official receipt.
Second Time I got stopped (my offence was very marginal) was between Packham and Non Din Daeng and I did not pay because the MIL knew the BIB.
Third time just south of Non Din Daeng, the BIB asked for 400 Baht and my wife offered the 40 baht she had and we paid nothing.

Of all of the times I had been stopped it was only that last one where I sensed that they were trying to rip me off becuase of who I am. My wife thought so too, which is why she only offered the 40 baht she had even knowing I had money on me.

I must admit everytime I am stopped I smile  , say sawadee khrap and then keep quiet. Luckily I have never been stopped when driving alone 

Mike

[sao baht]

Got stopped by the BIB today at a checkpoint.  They checked my driver's license and waved me through.  What odd behavior not to have them ask for money. 

You don't get out often enough.......I must get stopped at least a dozen times a month at these checkpoints,,,,all they check is your tax,wearing a seatbelt & driving licence.Never any request for T Money

Yes in 12 years and being stopped many times ( maybe 100 or more ) I have only been asked two times to  pay money when I haven't done something wrong.And one of them I talked my way out of it 

Same with me - I've been stopped many times at the official checkpoints and never been asked for money.

I have only been asked for money 3 times, each for speeding and each time I was guilty. Only once did I actually pay.

First time was just outside Nang Rong at 1.30 am doing 115. I paid and got an official receipt.
Second Time I got stopped (my offence was very marginal) was between Packham and Non Din Daeng and I did not pay because the MIL knew the BIB.
Third time just south of Non Din Daeng, the BIB asked for 400 Baht and my wife offered the 40 baht she had and we paid nothing.

Of all of the times I had been stopped it was only that last one where I sensed that they were trying to rip me off becuase of who I am. My wife thought so too, which is why she only offered the 40 baht she had even knowing I had money on me.

I must admit everytime I am stopped I smile  , say sawadee khrap and then keep quiet. Luckily I have never been stopped when driving alone 

Mike

There are many people who believe the stories that are told in the Bar's by bored Ex-pats.
I only speak as I find and have never had a problem with 99.5% of the Police I have come in contact with on a daily/Weekly/monthly basis.
People who have problems normally make them for themselves by being rude or pompous...Som Nom Nar 

[Speros]

although i have not driven around much over in Thailand, i have been stopped quiet a few times..and so for they have always been polite.

[davu]

I have been through  check points maybe a 100 times, stopped twice, showed my license once, was told to learn Lao once. No T-money.

[sao baht]

So the General Consensus is...if your a law abiding citizen the Police on the whole are an OK Bunch   

But if you a big-time drug dealer ,Gambling Den owner .running a Brothel or threading on toe's of  one of there other operations then look-out

[Speros]

So the General Consensus is...if your a law abiding citizen the Police on the whole are an OK Bunch   

But if you a big-time drug dealer ,Gambling Den owner .running a Brothel or threading on toe's of  one of there other operations then look-out

Seems you have summed it up. Same in a lot of countries

[Nobby]

There are many people who believe the stories that are told in the Bar's by bored Ex-pats.
I only speak as I find and have never had a problem with 99.5% of the Police I have come in contact with on a daily/Weekly/monthly basis.
People who have problems normally make them for themselves by being rude or pompous...Som Nom Nar 

All true but when it comes down to it, it entirely depends on how often you drive in Thailand. The more journeys you make, the greater chance of being stopped/bribed. I have done in excess of 60,000 km in the 9 months I spent in LOS last year and probable got stopped, maybe 4 times.

Its great you havn't had problems but how many km's do you drive/ride on a daily/weekly/monthly basis???

[JimNasium]

Driving from Bangkok to Buriram just before Christmas I got stopped 4 times. T'was the season I guess. 1. License check. No problem there. 2. Speeding - guilty. Paid 200 Baht and got a 'get-out-of-jail-free' card 3. Seatbelt check. No problem there either 4. Driving on the righthand side of a two lane highway. Utter BS and the wife thought so too. How am I supposed to pass slow moving traffic? Many words exchanged between her and the cop and we eventualy drove off with no monies changing hands.

Later driving back to Bangkok - not one police checkpoint in site.

[sao baht]

There are many people who believe the stories that are told in the Bar's by bored Ex-pats.
I only speak as I find and have never had a problem with 99.5% of the Police I have come in contact with on a daily/Weekly/monthly basis.
People who have problems normally make them for themselves by being rude or pompous...Som Nom Nar 

All true but when it comes down to it, it entirely depends on how often you drive in Thailand. The more journeys you make, the greater chance of being stopped/bribed. I have done in excess of 60,000 km in the 9 months I spent in LOS last year and probable got stopped, maybe 4 times.

Its great you havn't had problems but how many km's do you drive/ride on a daily/weekly/monthly basis???

Post #5

Yes in 12 years and being stopped many times ( maybe 100 or more ) I have only been asked two times to  pay money when I haven't done something wrong.And one of them I talked my way out of it 

I find the Golden Rule is...make sure your Taxed ,Insured and have a Licence ,your vehicle is road worthy,you don't brake the law ( speeding and hugging the outside lane are to two biggest things to be pulled for ) and you'll be fine 

Things I have been fined for over the years.....Speeding once......No Crash Helmet twice, once in Koh Samui many years ago and once I got stopped in Nong Khai and the wife was on the back with her Crash Helmet in her hand but I paid  and Once for driving out Surin Bus Station on my motorbike using the wrong exit   


I've found being pulled up and being asked for money when you haven't done anything wrong is not as common as some people like to make out.
The other old story that always grinds my gears that expats talk about is " it's always the farangs fault when there is an accident with a Thai " which is utter bollocks.In all the years I have lived in Thailand I have  never met anybody that has gone to court and paid for an accident when it wasn't their fault. Yes many people pay because they can't be bothered to go through the rigmarole of going down the Police station and sorting thing out but that's their choice !!!!

One last thing you must remember about Thai culture, it is normal for a social superior to pay for everything. Superiors are supposed to show that they are superior at every social opportunity. This means if you go out to dinner with someone older than you they will pay for it. It also means that if a rich guy and a poor guy get into a car accident, the rich guy will pay for both cars.
But as I'm not Thai this doesn't affect me