Corrupt cops

Almost no one would flinch if told that senior cops in Thailand are at the top of a corruption vacuum cleaner that sucks huge amounts of money to the top. The stories of police corruption have been especially numerous over the past couple of years. This is probably because the junta disrupted the system by tipping out those they identified as pro-Thaksin Shinawatra officers and because the palace has a serial police meddler in place.

Interestingly, The Nation has done a little research on the wealth of some recent top cops. The amounts of money they list are not at all surprising but their choice of cops to list is somewhat hit-and-miss,

They do mention the unabashedly corrupt former national police chief Pol Gen Somyos Pumpanmuang. PPT has had several posts over many years regarding his unexplained wealth.

It was back in 2014, following the appointment of scores of police and military to junta committees and other rubber stamp institutions, that a reader put together a list of unexplained wealth. That reader used official data.

Back then we observed:

The top money secretes to the top police. We acknowledge that there are a couple of low ranks listed, who probably report a rank having departed the cops early, but even so, the average for the top brass in the police is a whopping 258 million baht.

Nothing has probably changed, although we’d guess the top cops rake in more these days.

Regime flavor

Somehow we missed Education Minister Pol Gen Permpoon Chidchob’s comments on North Korea a couple of weeks ago. The Bangkok Post reports that he’s been getting a stream on abuse on social media.

Police General Permpoon said “during a meeting with North Korean ambassador Kim Je Bong on Jan 19 that he admired North Korea for imposing discipline on young people.” We’d expect that from a former top cop. They are a pretty dim-witted breed, accustomed to hierarchy, discipline, and massive corruption.

He apparently also praised North Korean “patriotism and loyalty to its leader.” Again, these police higher-ups, like gangsters, tycoons, and the military, see such values as necessary.

Just like Thailand? From http://www.gychua.com/north-korea/

More surprisingly, as the head of a pretty rudimentary public education system that has been in decline for the past decade, reckoned that the “Education Ministry hoped to learn from this if Thailand received education support from North Korea…”.

WTF? might be your response. But it is not the first time. In November 2014, Admiral Narong Pipatanasai, the Education Minister under the junta, agreed with the North Korean Ambassador to Thailand “that the education systems of both countries are rather similar and plan to develop ties by educational exchanges.” At the time, the junta was grasping at any diplomatic straw that blew its way. China was also big on its agenda.

The former police general said he hoped “for an opportunity to visit North Korea to study the culture, and other exchanges that would be beneficial to education…”.

Of course, as the Post points out,

Pol Gen Permpoon is a young brother of Newin Chidchob, the political mastermind of the Bhumjaithai Party. It was widely believed he took the top job at the ministry because his younger brother Saksayam,  faced an allegation of concealing a major shareholding in a construction company….

In September, the opposition Move Forward Party called for Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to reconsider the appointment of Pol Gen Permpoon to the education portfolio becuse of an allegation that he helped Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, the scion of the family behind the Red Bull empire, escape prosecution for running over and killing a motorcycle policeman in 2012.

Pol Gen Permpoon was at the time an assistant to then-national police chief [and corrupt to boot] Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung.

But this story is more than about a dope heading the Ministry of Education.

It seems the Puea Thai-led coalition is seeking support from anywhere it can get it, and in this manner that gives the government the flavor of a junta throwback.

Its efforts to have hoards of Chinese tourists, business people, and gangsters in Thailand knows no end. And it has warmly welcomed high praise from a Cambodian dictator Hun Manet, expressing “gratitude to his Thai counterpart Srettha Thavisin for not allowing Thailand to be used as a base for people to “interfere” with his country’s affairs.” That praise came just “days after Thai authorities arrested two Cambodian human rights campaigners and a former political prisoner, prompting condemnation from activists, who have repeatedly accused Cambodia of persecuting political opponents.”Apparently this arrest comes despite the three having refugee status.

Clearly this is an “elected” government prefers to operate like a military-backed regime. Perhaps it is just that.

 

The swamp protects the rich and powerful

Like all agencies involved, the the National Anti-Corruption Commission Thailand (NACC) has not been particulalry active in seeking to resolve the murder case involving Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, the fugitive Red Bull heir.

After all these years it has issued a press release.

That release is as revealing of the deep corruption and rottenness in the legal system as the Kamnan Nok case. In that case, a policeman was ordered assassinated and then the murder covered up. The “party” where this happened was organized by Praween Chankhlai or Kamnan Nok, an “influential person,” with huge wealth born of corrupt connections.

The NACC’s press release lists a few of the dozens of crooked official involved in assisting the rich Boss evade justice in “alter[ing] the primary evidence concerning the vehicle’s speed.”

An AFP photo clipped from ChannelNews Asia

In total, 15 people are listed, including retired senior police officers, current police personnel, case investigators, public prosecutors, and others:

Those who have been officially identified by the NACC as having committed legal violations include Police General Somyod Pumpanmuang, former President of the Football Association of Thailand. He also served as a commissioner in the National Legislative Assembly’s (NLA) Committee on Law, Justice Process, and Police Affairs, and was the former Commander of the National Police Office.

Others include Nate Narksuk, former Deputy Chief Prosecutor; Chainarong Saengthongaram, former Senior Prosecutor; Pichai (Chuchai) Lertpongadisorn, currently serving as the Chiang Mai Provincial Administrative Organization Chief; Saiprasit Kerdniyom, and some investigative officers.

It is a swamp, but it produces great wealth and protects the rich and powerful.

The hierarchy of (in)justice

Thai Enquirer has an op-ed titled “Impunity for the rich and powerful undermines Thailand’s democracy.” We guess that, prompted by Thaksin Shinawatra’s grand deal for a conservative regime for his freedom, the focus is on “unequal justice.”

While the article focuses on individual cases like the infamous case of Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, the Red Bull scion accused of an array of crimes from a fatal 2012 hit-and-run incident,* The article also points out that:

Nowhere is this impunity more glaring than in the lack of justice for those who have overturned Thailand’s democratic institutions. Over the years, Thailand has witnessed multiple coups, with the military taking power and overthrowing elected governments. Figures, like General Prayuth Chan-o-cha who led the 2014 coup and later became the Prime Minister, have not only escaped repercussions but have been rewarded. When coup-makers walk free, it sends a message that the ultimate crime against a democratic society goes unpunished. This devalues the very concept of democracy and makes a mockery of the rule of law.

It is a good point.

On the double standards that skewer rule of law, consider the surprise when an arrest warrant was issued for former culture minister Itthiphol Khunpluem for “failing to appear in court to defend himself against accusations of malfeasance from when he was the mayor of Pattaya’ in 2008.”

He’s rumored to have “flown to a neighbouring country.” He reportedly flew to Phnom Penh on the day of the court’s order.

Now we learn what’s going on. It took the the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Attorney-General years and years to pursue the case. Why? Probably because the case “has 15 years statute of limitations, the case will expire on 10 September.”

Yes, that’s Sunday. It is claimed that “Itthiphol intended to delay the case until it expired so that he would not face any legal proceedings.”

He’ll return and remain even freer than Thaksin.

In a piece of better legal news on the Red Bull killer case, while the perpetrator stays on the run, those who worked for his impunity may face some sanction:

National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has found 15 individuals, including former national police chief Somyot Poompanmuang and former deputy attorney-general Nate Naksuk, guilty of involvement in changing the speed of the car driven by Red Bull heir Vorayuth Yoovidhya, to help him avoid speeding charges in the infamous hit-and-run incident in 2012.

Yet there are still ways for these former senior officials to escape justice….

Football and politics II

Khaosod reported a couple of days ago that Gen Prawit Wongsuwan had ordered Pol Gen Somyos Pumpanmuang to “resign as President of the Thai Football Association in response to Thailand’s failure to win the SEA Games 2023 gold medal and the humiliating incident” where a Thai team and its staff attacked the Indonesian team.

Somyos, who owes his position to Gen Prawit announced his resignation.

Gen Prawit is also president of the Thai Olympic Committee.

The Nation has now reported that Gen Somyos is fighting back.

Football is big business in Thailand and it has long been dominated by generals, as have most other sports, via official sports associations.

Football is even bigger business with so much illegal gambling involved. And, as is well known, the police are especially well-entrenched in corrupt gambling.

For background, go back to our earlier posts on football and politics, here and here.

For more on Gen Somyos and his corruption, look here.

Former top cop and corruption

It was just a few days ago that we mentioned former police chief Somyos Pumpanmuang as a cop not afraid to display his huge wealth that came from dubious sources.

Interestingly, it is reported in the Bangkok Post that “Sutthisan police have raided one of two unregistered massage parlours in the Ratchadaphisek area linked to Kampol Wirathepsuporn, a suspect who fled the country after his massage parlour was shut down over a human trafficking case…. Mr Kampol was the owner of Victoria Secret massage parlour in Bangkok, which was closed in 2018.”

Back then, a significant element of the tale was was the link to top cops. Indeed, it was junta-appointed police chief Gen  Somyos Pumpanmuang who was close to Kampol.

Under pressure at the time, Somyos revealed that he had borrowed a huge sum of money from Kampol. Gen Somyos “explained” that he and the massage parlor owner were “friends and of course friends do help each other. I was in trouble and asked him for help several times.” One of those bits of “help” was a 300 million baht “loan” from the flesh trader.

Clearly the “help” was useful, for when he retired as Thailand’s top cop, he was one of the country’s wealthiest policemen.  He reported assets of 375 million baht back in 2014 when he joined one of the junta’s sham legislatures.

So when it is again Chuvit Kamolvisit who reveals details and he “wonders how Mr Kampol can manage the massage parlours while being on the run,” the answer seems pretty obvious.

That corruption also accounts for the fact that the very wealthy seem easily able to flee but stay active.

 

Managing the corruption system

As often happens when authoritarian governments are in place for a long time, corruption becomes embedded, systemic, and necessary for keeping the corrupt together and supportive.

Of late, reports of corruption have been legion. Yet the Bangkok Post has a jubilant headline, “Thailand improves in corruption survey.” Seriously? It turns out that Transparency International has ranked Thailand 101 out of 180 in its ranking. The Post says the country’s score went up one point and adds:

In 2014, the year Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha staged a military coup, the country was ranked 85th, an improvement from 102nd in 2013. Its ranking rose to 76th in 2015 but plunged to 101st place the following year. It recovered to 96th in 2017 but then began a downward move to 99th in 2018, 101st place in 2019, 104th in 2020 and 110th in 2021.

Let’s be realistic. This is a ranking that puts Thailand among a bunch of dubious places. We’d guess that if perceptions were surveyed today, they’d plummet, largely thanks to the mafia gang known as the Royal Thai Police and the mammoth horse trading by the coalition parties.

Rotten to the core

While on the corrupt cops, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha has mumbled something about a few bad apples in the police. He has “insisted that any police officers involved in extorting money from a Taiwanese actress during her trip to Thailand early this month must face legal action.” He added: “Don’t let the issue ruin the reputation of the whole police organisation.”

We are not sure which reputation he refers to. As far as we can tell, the organization is rotten to the core.

Gen Prayuth reckons “we must get rid of rogue ones…”. Our guess is that if he was serious – he isn’t – just about every senior officer would be gotten rid of. The corruption system siphons money up to the top. There’s been little effort to follow up on data revealed when the regime established its post-coup assembly. Back then, the average declared assets for the top brass in the police was a whopping 258 million baht.

Even when senior police display their loot, nothing is done. Who remembers former police chief Somyos Pumpanmuang? He stacked loot in public! He’s still wealthy.

The Post has another headline: “Court lets ‘Pinky’ remove electronic tag.” It reports:

Actress Savika “Pinky” Chaiyadej on Tuesday won approval from the Criminal Court to remove an electronic monitoring (EM) device she was required to wear after her release from jail on Nov 30 last year.

She is on bail, accused of defrauding millions in the Forex-3D ponzi scheme.How did her lawyers convince the judge?

Her lawyer lodged a request for the court’s permission to remove the EM device, saying it was an impediment to her show business career.

Of course, there’s no such leniency for lese majeste and other political prisoners when they eventually get bail (some, of course, never do). Double standards? You bet!

Double standards and corruption are a feature of the monarchy-military regime. Part of the reason for this is mutual back-scratching. Much that the regime does makes the bureaucrats more or less untouchable. The judiciary is always there in support on the important issues.

We note that another junta and Prayuth supporter, former charter writer Udom Rathamarit, has been appointed to the Constitutional Court. That is an important part of the whole corrupt system.

Old guard is the new guard

Earlier this month, along with North Korea and Indonesia, Thailand’s National Anti-Doping Organization was declared non-compliant by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) meaning it was “ineligible to be awarded the right to host regional, continental or world championships during the suspension.” In addition, no representative from Thailand could “sit as members of the boards on committees …[the country was] reinstated or for a period of one year, whichever is longer.”

Importantly, the ban also means that athletes from Thailand can only compete in regional, continental and world championships without their national flags.

WADA said “Thailand’s non-compliance stems from a failure to fully implement the 2021 Anti-Doping Code.”

Thailand’s peak body, the Sports Authority of Thailand, rushed to cover its exposed posterior. As far as we can tell, no one took responsibility for this failure.

The Sports Authority of Thailand is a state enterprise under the Ministry of Tourism and Sport and, like many state bodies, has long been something of a sinecure for military types, senior bureaucrats and their cronies. It provides meeting fees and lots of travel and other freebies.

Gen Prawit Wongsuwan is the deputy prime minister responsible for the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) and sits on its board. He’s also president of the Thailand Swimming Association, although we are unsure that he floats in water even if his power means he floats above all manner of troubles.

Of course, such higher ups can never be held responsible for major cock-ups like this one with WADA.

Indeed, under the military-backed regime dumb-asses are rewarded. As the Bangkok Post recently reported, Gen Prawit Wongsuwan “was re-elected unopposed as president of the National Olympic Committee of Thailand (NOCT)…”. The aged Prawit “will be in office for a second term which ends after the 2024 Olympics in Paris.”

At the same meeting, other near-dead and equally useless tools were rewarded for loyalty, with “secretary-general Charouck Arirachakaran, 89, and former president Gen Yutthasak Sasiprabha … appointed as honorary presidents for life.”

Nepotism is never far away when Gen Prawit is waddling about, and “Gen Wit Devahastin na Ayudhya, Prawit’s close aide, succeeds Maj Gen Charouck as secretary-general.” Gen Wit is also chairman of Prawit’s Palang Pracharat Party’s strategic committee.

Like all elections, the NOCT “election” of Gen Prawit and 24 other people to the NOCT executive was rigged: “Eligible voters unanimously agreed to their nominations without casting ballots. The 25 elected executive members then selected Prawit as the NOCT president.”

Other executive members included the fabulously wealthy former police boss Pol. Gen Somyos Pumpanmuang – accused in several corruption cases – and well-connected billionaire Harald Link.

In no are of administration is a “new guard” permitted. It is all the old guys grabbing all they can get.

Slithering through money and corruption

PPT has had several posts over almost a decade regarding the unexplained wealth of former national police chief Pol Gen Somyos Pumpanmuang. Thinking about this great wealth and his tenure, it is little surprise that he’s now caught up in the long cover-up of Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya’s crime.

Along with Vorayuth’s lawyer,Thanit Buakhiew, The Nation reports that Gen Somyos “will be investigated by a Royal Thai Police special committee for their alleged involvement in altering the actual car speed at which Vorayuth was driving in the 2012 hit-and-run case that killed a motorcycle police officer.”

Gen Somyos, who has never been shy in flaunting his wealth and his connections, has prospered and his wealth has grown over the years and despite several “investigations” that have never been reported as finished or found little wrong with a junta ally being corrupt.

This latest “investigation” after the “Royal Thai Police … appointed a special committee to investigate the case…”:

Police Internal Affairs chief Pol General Wisanu Prasatthong-Osot, who chaired the committee, said on Wednesday that Pol Colonel Thanasit Daengjan, the investigation officer in Vorayuth’s case, had presented an audio clip indicating that Somyos and Thanit had allegedly told him to change the speed of Vorayuth’s car from 177 km per hour to just 76 km per hour.

“The reported reduction in car speed was the reason why the public prosecutor decided to drop the charge of reckless driving against Vorayuth,” Wisanu said.

As the Bangkok Post recalls:

A speeding charge against him [Vorayuth] was dropped after its one-year statute of limitations expired in 2013. A second charge — failing to stop to help a crash victim — expired on Sept 3, 2017. His drug and reckless driving charges remain active until Sept 3 next year and 2027, respectively.

The Office of the Attorney General initially dropped the last charge but later decided to reinstate it after a public outcry.

It may be that Gen Somyos slithers out of another “investigation,” but it is worthwhile considering the obvious: Why would the country’s top cop intervene in such a manner? Look at the photo above. Look at the record. Think of the way the rich “enjoy” the so-called justice system.

The rotten system I

In a recent post we wrote about how a rotten system operates in Thailand, allowing corruption, disappearance, torture, and murder in the interest of the “good people,” the loyalists.

Strikingly, a report in the Bangkok Post further illustrates how this decayed system operates. The story is about Pol Maj Gen Phumin Pumpanmuang and the Special Operations Police he commands.

Our studied cynicism is on display below. We are not suggesting that Phumin is corrupt, but we observe that many of the posts he has held are coveted by the corrupt.

Somyos and his loot

If Pol Maj Gen Phumin’s family name is familiar, it is because former national police chief, Somyos Phumpanmuang, is his uncle. We have posted plenty on the uncle who was corrupt – unusually wealthy – and univestigated by the state’s anti-corruption bodies.

The report says that the SOP is “a new unit within the Royal Thai Police whose broad remit ranges from combatting drugs to protecting the Crown.” It is said to be “little known.”  We don’t think this is the Ratchawallop Police Retainers, King’s Guard 904 mentioned in previous posts, although readers might correct us.

In the report, Pol Maj Gen Phumin says the (in)famous surname “is both a blessing and a curse.” He said he has had “to prove that he is able to rise through the ranks on his own merit.” He seems to imply that there’s a meritocracy in the police. In fact, nepotism is common in the police and the military. At the senior level it is almost a rule.

The nepotism begins early. Phumin says “that as a young child, he would tag along with Pol Gen Somyot, then a mid-ranking investigator, on missions.” Later, when “his uncle became the deputy chief investigator at Phra Khanong station, Pol Maj Gen Phumin recalled, he was allowed to join the team on a gambling den raid.”

He was socialized with both the police gangs and the criminal gangs.

Like almost all of the top brass, he attended the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School before going on to the Royal Police Cadet Academy. These academies instill the necessary royalism, adherence to hierarchy, and establish “class” relations that allow for money-making, favors, and impunity.

After graduating, Phumin was assigned to the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, “where he learned the ropes for two years.” It is difficult to single out many straight coppers in that Bureau, where corruption and thuggery reign. He went on to the Marine Police Division, long in cahoots with smugglers.

Pol Maj Gen Phumin was also used as a decoy in a sting which went south when he was a young officer in Suphan Buri. After his cover was compromised, the suspect fired at him, but missed. It was there that he killed his first “suspect.”

He continued to the “Metropolitan Police Division 1, where he was involved in stamping out drugs.” The police are better known for managing the supply of drugs. He went on to the Crime Suppression Division, and was posted to Phuket, one of the most lucrative posts for police bosses, and one that requires lots of political support or a big bribe to get the post. He became “head of the island’s marine and tourist police branches.” Those positions are highly sought after for the wealth they create.

When he became SOP commander, he was promoted “to the rank of police major general.” It was also a position that must have the support of the king as the “unit also provides security to the King and members of the royal family.” Think elephant ticket:

His rise to the SOP’s top seat triggered heated debate. In the previous no-confidence session in parliament, an MP from the Move Forward Party suggested his rapid career advancement was the result of a blessing from “the higher institution”.

Pol Maj Gen Phumin insists he “earned his promotions through hard work.” He adds:

I know I have what it takes to be where I am…. There are quite a few anti-monarchists around. The SOP’s roles also include instilling the right understanding [about the monarchy’s closeness to people]….

Although the SOP is a new unit in the RTP, it has more than 1,500 personnel already. Its officers undergo extensive training, including anti-terrorism courses, tactical parachuting and sharp shooting.

You see how the rotten system works, all the way to the top. Men like Phumin will do whatever the king orders, legal or not.