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.