Corruption scandal – The big cleanup continues
Two suspects from the criminal network of Pongpat Chayaphan, former head of the Central Investigation Bureau, turned themselves in on Saturday evening. They are suspected of deprivation of liberty, lèse majesté, extortion and illegal collection of debts.
The two plus three suspects arrested on Wednesday tried to force a lender to reduce a debt of 120 million baht to 20 million baht in June. The debtor would have hired them and promised a 10 percent commission. According to the police, the suspects would have fenced with the monarchy to put pressure on the creditor, but the suspects deny that. In the end, the operation failed.
Meanwhile, the Great Cleanup continues. This afternoon, two suspects from a group of five, against whom the court issued arrest warrants on Friday, will report. One man is still a fugitive.
A total of nineteen suspects have now been arrested, two of whom have been released on bail. The others are all sweating behind bars.
The broom also goes through at the Crime Suppression Division. Six officers were suspected of ties to Pongpat. Five have since turned out to be spotless, one is a fugitive. He failed to report after a working visit to the US.
This man is said to be aware of Pongpat's money flows. If he doesn't show up in two weeks, he'll be fired.
Push for police reform
Members of the emergency parliament (NLA, National Legislative Assembly) and the reform council (NRC, National Reform Council) say they want to hurry up with proposals to restructure the police force, but the newspaper report is not very concrete about it. These include: cutting the ties between politicians and the police, giving the population more power to hold officers accountable and decentralizing the police.
One of the practices that Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon (Security Affairs) wants to end is paid promotions and transfers. Angkhana Neelapaijit, president of the Justice for Peace Foundation, wonders how he intends to achieve this. She advocates an increase in the salaries and allowances of junior police personnel. This should discourage officers from asking for bribes or committing crimes themselves.
The population is firmly behind the reorganization of the police. In a poll by Suan Dusit, 95,5 percent of the 1.229 respondents said it's about time to get the broom through the police force.
(Source: bangkok mail, December 1, 2014)
Earlier messages:
Corruption scandal – Boontje comes for his wages
Corruption scandal – Another five arrests
Corruption scandal – Bangkok Post: Start reorganizing police now
Corruption scandal: More mud comes to the surface
Corruption scandal: More arrests ahead
Seven senior police officers and five civilians implicated in corruption scandal
Large-scale corruption: Eight senior police officers arrested