Thai Spring Movement Against Corrupt Police
Will Social Media finally bring the alarming number of corrupt police officers in Thailand to a halt? A number of videos, pictures and audio tapes have surfaced recently that make you wonder how much bad press the Royal Thai Police can take?
The Ang Pao in Thailand – Tea Money
Just before Chinese New Year some Thai police officers were caught on camera demanding money for ang pao even if their bosses officially forbid it. I have seen plenty of police officers collecting ang pao this year from shops. I have even had police officers coming to my old shop demanding ang pao to keep my shop in good relation with the police station. I refused and luckily nothing happened.
Some reporters working for The Nation in Thailand witnessed the demand for ang pao personally and published the video, creating outrage on the online communities. The Thai corrupt police force is everywhhere and everytime they say they will clean it.
Pol Lt Gen Khamronwit Thoopkrajang, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, said Pol Lt Colonel Phongsak Subindee, Bang Rak station’s superintendent on crime suppression, was transferred to an inactive post for 30 days, while Pol Snr Sgt Majors Prasarn Koeymunag and Anuchit Muenyuth, who were caught on the shop’s security cameras demanding money for Chinese New Year from the owner, were detained for 30 days.â€
The Deputy Prime Minister in Thailand is simply trying to push this thing away saying they asked in the wrong shop and things had not gone well in social media. Chalerm Yubamrung son allegedly shot a police officer at point-blank range and got away with it.
Inactive posts won’t work anymore
Moving the corrupt police officer to another district or to a desk job will not work anymore. Inactive Thai police will not do the trick as usual, the will still be corrupt police just in another town. Thai police who break the law must face real justice and go to jail and lose their jobs. We might have a shortage of police officers for a while, but it is better than just keep on feeding a corrupt police force.
Meanwhile in Pattaya
A City Official or Police, like some of the Thai say is seen kicking the living daylight out of a person again on camera. This video with over 300 000 viewers has not even reached the local media in Pattaya ,and it probably never will. The Pattaya Media have a strict agreement in Pattaya Police not to show too much violent content or something that could hurt the city or Police too much. The Police are the ones giving each publication their printing rights.
Attack or adapt?
Will the Thai police learn to not take or ask for money on Camera? Probably but we could probably see a crackdown on videos showing police in a bad light. It would not surprise me if the Thai police will attack by lawsuits or by arresting the people posting the videos. In a statement from the government regarding the rape in Krabi, the Thai government said that it could not be considered rape since she had dinner with the Thai man who sexually assaulted her afterward.
No more stopping the Social Media
But all these hushing down tactics might work before when you could control the media but with the social media the video can be online in a few minutes and almost impossible to stop. How can you stop someone from downloading and showing it to friends on their workplace or school? You could probably stop Youtube from showing certain videos, but once it reached the torrent network it would be impossible
Conclusion
The Thai Police and the Thai government just have to wake to a new Thai spring with fast media coverage and lots of bad press. The advice I have for them is cut out all the corrupt police officers all the way to the top and do not spare no cost to root out the cause. Thai people are waking up and they had enough of the Political élite getting riches from others. This is not about the color of shirt this is about Thai people just tired of corruption.
