Or did she 'illegally bribe' Thailand's finest to avoid being charged? Perhaps she should return to Los to answer for her crime.
It would go a long way to cleaning up a lot of Thai society if they did.
CCTV Collected By Thai Media and Police Shine Major Doubt on Claims from Taiwanese Actress of Extortion
CCTV released by Thai media such as Nation TV and Channel 7, along with continuing evidence released by Thai police, have shone some doubts on claims made by a Taiwanese actress of being extorted by Thai police for 27,000 baht.
In a nutshell, the actress claims Thai police extorted her for 27,000 baht and took her to a private alley to do so. She had been stopped in a vehicle at a regular traffic checkpoint near the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok on January 5th while on vacation. Charlene has since left the country and pledged to never return while making continued statements about her alleged extortion and detainment on Instagram.
Charlene stated on her Instagram she had a proper visa and provided proof when asked, was not intoxicated and was cooperative with Thai police, and was taken to a private alley to be extorted for 27,000 baht. More recently, she claimed on Taiwanese television that Thai police had placed vaping equipment in her hand without her knowing what it was and claiming she didn’t vape. Vaping is illegal in Thailand, notes TPN media. She also stated she was held for two hours uncomfortably.
However, recent CCTV video released by multiple Thai media and police sources appears to contradict some of her statements, as they appear to show her having and using the same vaping equipment on multiple occasions prior to her traffic stop and no sign of being led away to a private alley as she stated. Her detainment also lasted 47 minutes, according to CCTV, and not two hours, and there were no signs of being forced to uncomfortable areas as she was seen only standing in the footage. Additionally, Thai police and witnesses such as her taxi driver have stated she was heavily intoxicated and uncooperative, with her taxi driver reportedly willing to testify in court.
Thai police also insist her visa paperwork was incomplete and that she was not cooperative with officers. Meanwhile, senior Thai police have asked for several more days to investigate all sides involved and make what they say will be a transparent decision. Charlene has continued to stand hard by her statements and state she did nothing wrong and is telling the truth. She had also threatened to report Thai police to Interpol, although it was unclear what effect this would have.
Senior Thai police, meanwhile, have stated that if police involved did not charge Charlene properly for vaping equipment or extorted her, charges would be filed. However, they also cautioned that if Charlene was caught violating Thailand’s strict defamation and slander laws or lying she could also be charged, including with an Interpol red notice to be extradited to Thailand for trial, in what was likely a retort to Charlene’s own threats of going to Interpol.
For now, both sides refuse to back down and senior Thai police continue to investigate while the case polarizes and captures the attention of Thai and Taiwanese social media. Unfortunately, as called out by Thai Prime Prayut Chan-O-Cha, regardless of who is right or wrong, the longer the situation drags on the more it harms Thai tourism overall.
Taiwanese social media has broadly supported Charlene An, and initially most Thai media did as well, however, with the release of CCTV footage and statements from witnesses, many Thai media sources and social media commenters in Thailand have begun to turn on Charlene’s statements. TPN media, as usual, remains neutral and will let investigators involved make final decisions.
CCTV Collected By Thai Media and Police Shine Major Doubt on Claims from Taiwanese Actress of Extortion - The Pattaya News
An odd thing to say considering they supposedly have all this "evidence" against her.Unfortunately, as called out by Thai Prime Prayut Chan-O-Cha, regardless of who is right or wrong, the longer the situation drags on the more it harms Thai tourism overall.
The Taiwanese actress has won? The Thai police, in effect, admitted they were bastard police.
Well that's a turn up for the books. Of course there is the usual BiB hilarity.
Police officers at a checkpoint in Bangkok’s Huay Kwang district admitted to extorting 27,000 baht from a Taiwanese actress in exchange for letting her off after allegedly finding a vaping device on her.
A Royal Thai Police (RTP) source said policemen manning a temporary checkpoint in front of the Chinese embassy in the early hours of January 5 admitted to extorting the money while being interrogated separately on Sunday.
Pol Lt-General Thiti Saengsawang, commissioner of the Metropolitan Bureau, confirmed on Monday the reported confessions but did not provide details on the number of police officers in question, their rank, position or names. He added that the investigation team led by him has yet to make a formal announcement of the findings.
The RTP, already reeling from a series of scandals, was hit again when Taiwanese actress Charlene An (An Yu-qing) posted a TikTok video earlier this month alleging that she and her friends were stopped at the checkpoint in the early hours of January 5 and police planted a vaping device on her before demanding 27,000 baht to let her go free.
Thailand bans the import and sale of e-cigarettes and the possession of vaping devices is unlawful.
An claimed she and her friends were held at the checkpoint for two hours and were only let go after they paid the bribe.
However, footage from several security cameras in the area proved that her allegations were inaccurate, as she was seen holding and using the vaping device before being stopped by the police. CCTV footage also showed that she and her friends were held at the checkpoint for 47 minutes, not two hours.
While footage from security cameras appeared to contradict her account, whistleblowing former politician and massage parlour tycoon Chuwit Kamolvisit came to her rescue on Monday, saying he had a clip showing one of An’s friends paying the bribe to a plainclothes policeman.
Chuwit also alleged that Metropolitan Police Bureau had deleted some footage to cover up the extortion.
Thiti said on Monday that investigators have now shifted to filing charges under Section 157 of the Criminal Code, which bans officials from carrying out malfeasance or nonfeasance.
“Several police officers will be charged,” he said without elaborating. “I want to apologise to everybody for some police officers’ actions that have damaged the image of Thailand and Thai society.”
‘CCTV clips not doctored’
Thiti denied that he had instructed officers to delete any video clips. He added that the body cams of police officers at the checkpoint will be sent to the Police Scientific Crime Detection Division to restore all clips that may have been overwritten or deleted.
An RTP source said on Monday that the case had been discussed extensively at the police headquarters and the transfer screening panel was told that each involved police officer confessed to extorting the money while they were being interrogated separately.
The source, who had also attended the meeting, said the bribe had been paid by a Singaporean member of the Taiwanese actress’s group.
Cover-up backfires
Huay Kwang police officers initially denied taking the bribe when An dropped the bombshell because they thought she was a foreigner and could do nothing. They also thought they could cover up the extortion because An did not file a police complaint against them.
The source added that the RTP has instructed the Metropolitan Police Bureau to re-check the backgrounds of the policemen in question to see if they had committed similar offences earlier. The source added that several complaints had been filed against Huay Kwang police officers of alleged extortion around the time of An’s incident.
The Taiwanese actress’s allegation has prompted National Police chief Pol General Damrongsak Kittiprapas to instruct the Metropolitan Police Bureau to have the Huay Kwang Police Station chief transferred to an inactive post immediately, RTP spokesman Archayon Kraithong said on Monday.
The spokesman also said that the police chief had instructed the Metropolitan Police Division 1 to set up a disciplinary panel to take both disciplinary and criminal action against the policemen in question.
The spokesman said the national police chief reminded all police stations to strictly follow regulations about setting up road checkpoints.
On Sunday, sources said the Metropolitan Police Bureau’s fact-finding committee spent all of Sunday reviewing the information and evidence and decided that:
• The checkpoint was not properly set up in line with Royal Thai Police regulations
• The police team at the checkpoint spent more than 40 minutes searching the group and did not find a vaping device, even though footage from several security cameras before and after the group was stopped showed the Taiwanese actress had a vaping device
• The police team did not report the seizure of the vaping device, nor did they file charges against the actress for having the vaping device in possession
As a result, the fact-finding panel concluded that the police team violated Section 157 of the Criminal Code by committing dereliction of duty. The case will be handed over to the National Anti-Corruption Commission to launch a graft probe against the team.
Bangkok police admit to extorting 27,000 baht from Taiwanese actress
I wonder how they're going to give her the 27 grand back?
This a humiliating and shameful blow for Thailand. The Thai cops thought they had a soft target but they picked the wrong victim. High fives to the Taiwanese actress.
" to see if they had committed similar offences earlier. "
It's clear that this is not the first time!
Of course at the press conference the blustering head honcho was all about trying to identify the "criminal" who "bribed a police officer" despite this being an obvious case of coercion.
Probably fake police
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