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dirtydog

CRIME PREVENTION / CHILD SEX ABUSE
Police checking on foreigners

Police are making background checks on more than 1,000 foreigners, mainly teachers, working in Thailand after a spate of arrests for alleged child sex abuse, a senior officer said yesterday.

''It shouldn't be enough to wear white shirts and have a university degree. We need to know their backgrounds,'' said Pol Col Apichart Suribunya, head of the liaison office for Interpol.

Police would seek records of any convictions in home countries and from Thai immigration police before foreigners were hired as teachers.

''We are scrutinising more than 1,000 foreign teachers working in Thailand,'' he said. ''Until now, educational institutions would only look at their academic qualifications, but that is not enough.''

''It's easy for teachers to gain trust and respect from people, especially in Asian cultures which hold teachers in high regard,'' he added.

He did not say how police had chosen the foreigners in question.

His comments follow the arrest on Tuesday of Briton Paul Jones, 39, who has lived in Thailand for seven years. Police said they raided his Bangkok apartment and found a computer containing hundreds of photos of naked boys and girls.

Mr Jones was a teacher at a Bangkok private school, police said.

His apprehension followed the arrest of Canadian-born teacher Christopher Neil on Oct 19 after a worldwide Interpol campaign to track down a man seen in internet photos abusing Asian boys.

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