Thread: Chinese national, tour operator to be questioned in police escort scandal

A tour operator and a Chinese tourist are to be invited in for questioning over controversial and unauthorised police escorts provided by Thai tourist and traffic police officers.


Pol Maj-Gen Archayon Kraithong, spokesman for the Royal Thai Police, said on Monday that two traffic police officers and a tourist police officer are now under investigation by their respective agencies for providing an escort to a female Chinese tourist.


He said that the tourist police officer, Pol Captain Somphol Pinyosamosorn, picked up the Chinese tourist at Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok and escorted her, through a special immigration channel, out of the airport to a waiting car, which was then escorted by a traffic police officer on his motorcycle to her hotel in Bangkok.


He said that both the motorcycle and the car used to take the tourist from the airport to her hotel were privately owned, but had been modified to look like official escort vehicles, adding that the two traffic police officers have been charged with violating the land traffic law and the law regarding official signage.


The police spokesman also said that police investigators are trying to discover whether the three officers had received 7,000 baht, as claimed by the tourist, for the unauthorised escort service.


He said that the national police chief has instructed the probe teams to determine how long the three police officers had been providing this moonlighting escort service to foreign tourists and whether more police are involved in the malpractice.


According to a cabinet ruling in 2001, police escort services are only provided to groups of people, not to an individual, and permission has to be granted by the traffic police commander on a case by case basis.


The unauthorised escort service was disclosed by the tourist herself on social media, boasting about the special police service with which she was provided. Her post sparked an uproar among netizens against the police.


Chinese national, tour operator to be questioned in police escort scandal | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world

7,000 sounds cheap. If only she had kept her mouth shut.

There used to be a fast track scheme operated by the airport. For a relatively small fee, passengers would be met on arrival and escorted through a fast channel by airport staff, and onward to the arrival exit.

Transport further than that was at the individuals expense. Local mafia exploiting a loophole perhaps?

Originally Posted by Switch

There used to be a fast track scheme operated by the airport. For a relatively small fee, passengers would be met on arrival and escorted through a fast channel by airport staff, and onward to the arrival exit.

Transport further than that was at the individuals expense. Local mafia exploiting a loophole perhaps?

I can only assume you're kidding.

There are several of these services and they openly advertise; they include golf carts from the gate to immigration, and optionally airport transfers.

Just google "Suwarnabhumi fast track".

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

I can only assume you're kidding.

There are several of these services and they openly advertise; they include golf carts from the gate to immigration, and optionally airport transfers.

Just google "Suwarnabhumi fast track".

Its not beyond Thai to exploit anything. These mugs in the op were just not very good at it.

Police officers providing escort service to Chinese tourists face criminal probe

A committee has been set up to consider disciplinary and criminal action against four Thai police officers who are accused of providing vehicle escort services to Chinese tourists, from Suvarnabhumi airport to their hotels in Bangkok.


Pol Maj-Gen Archayon Kraithong, spokesman for the Royal Thai Police, said on Sunday that the national police chief, Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittipraphat, issued an order on Friday for the appointment of a panel to consider what action should be taken against the police officers for gross misconduct, after a fact-finding committee discovered that the four officers used their private cars, illegally equipped by sirens and painted in police livery, to provide escorts to Chinese tourists.


The four officers have already been relieved of duty in the tourist and traffic police and have been moved to the operations centre of the Royal Thai Police, pending the outcome of the disciplinary probe.


Regarding criminal litigation, Pol Maj-Gen Archayon said that Suvarnabhumi police will be responsible for handling the case.


To prevent a repeat of such malpractice, another committee has been formed to study the relevant laws and regulations and to draw up a clear guidelines for police escort services for VIPs, he said, adding that, in addition to the officers accused of the wrongdoing, their superiors will also be held accountable.

Police officers providing escort service to Chinese tourists face criminal probe | Thai PBS World : The latest Thai news in English, News Headlines, World News and News Broadcasts in both Thai and English. We bring Thailand to the world