Thread: Mixed Messages on Chinese Police Assisting Thai Police, No Patrols, Only Info Sharing

In an unusual move, Chinese police will join Thai police in tourist hotspots to patrol in the near future to boost tourist confidence, said the director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. However, a later statement by a spokesman to the Prime Minister denied any patrolling would take place and only that the two forces would share information.


The announcement was first made today, Sunday November 13th, 2023, by Thapanee Kiatphaibool, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. It followed a meeting with the Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport earlier today.

According to Thapanee, a meeting with the Chinese embassy would take place on Tuesday, November 15th, and top Thai police, tourist police, and Central Intelligence Bureau officers would attend to hammer out the specifics of the plan. The exact locations where Chinese police would patrol were not yet released but would be areas Chinese tourists gather in large numbers, said Thapanee. TPN media notes that places like Pattaya and Phuket would almost certainly be on the list.

Thapanee stated that the unusual move was a must to restore the confidence of Chinese tourists in their safety in Thailand, damaged by several factors over the past several months including a major mall mass shooting where a Chinese tourist was one of the fatalities. Additionally, a popular movie in China, No More Bets, in which Chinese nationals are conned into going overseas for legitimate jobs in Southeast Asia and then forced to work in illegal online gambling under horrible conditions by human traffickers, damaged tourism severely as well.


Thapanee added that this program isn’t unheard of or a first globally, with China and Italian police previously having a similar program that has since ended. The program was not without its criticism, notes TPN, but ran for multiple years.


Thapanee concluded by saying having Chinese police patrol with Thai police will make not only Chinese tourists feel safer but also tourists from many other countries, who, according to him, trust the Chinese police system.

The announcement has led to furious discussion and debate, much of it negative, online, notes TPN. In fact, it led to a late statement from Chai Watcharong, spokesman for the Thai PM, who said the two forces would only share information, especially involving Chinese criminals, but not have Chinese police actively patrol.

Mixed Messages on Chinese Police Assisting Thai Police, No Patrols, Only Info Sharing - The Pattaya News

but also tourists from many other countries, who, according to him, trust the Chinese police system.

huh? Which tourists or people think that?

Incredible! What sort of country would let another patrol it's streets? I can't believe I'm even reading this. Can't be true.

Originally Posted by DrWilly

huh? Which tourists or people think that?

None. I doubt even chinky tourists would be happy about it.

Explainer: China’s covert overseas ‘police stations’ | China | The Guardian

Originally Posted by spliff

Incredible! What sort of country would let another patrol it's streets? I can't believe I'm even reading this. Can't be true.

Vatican , Sam Marino, Monaco Ireland, many others?

More worryingly are the many Chinese secret Police Stations aimed at Chinese dissidents and well documented.

What are China’s alleged ‘secret overseas police stations’? | PBS NewsHour

Originally Posted by david44

Vatican , Sam Marino, Monaco Ireland, many others?

More worryingly are the many Chinese secret Police Stations aimed at Chinese dissidents and well documented.

What are China’s alleged ‘secret overseas police stations’? | PBS NewsHour

You can bet there's already something like that here.

What a pity. The Chinese police will not be allowed to beat Chinese tourists while they are in Thailand.

By sharing information with the Thai police the Chinese will be able to beat the Chink tourists when they get home.

Top cop rejects presence of Chinese police in Thailand

The national police commissioner has opposed the concept of inviting Chinese police to patrol with their Thai counterparts, ostensibly to increase the safety of Chinese tourists.


Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol said the idea could not be implemented because it involves national security, adding “I disagree with the idea as it would infringe upon Thailand’s sovereignty. Thai police are quite capable of taking care of Thai people as well as tourists.”


He also denied reports that it was the Royal Thai Police’s idea to conduct the joint patrols, explaining that “Reports that it was the Thai police’s initiative may have been a misunderstanding. What we have proposed is the setting up of a coordination centre with China, so that, when there are crimes related to China, we could exchange information about suspects and cases,” he said.


He went on to say that “The concept (of joint patrols with the Chinese) was tried in Italy. I believe that was because, in Italy, there was a language barrier issue, so they needed help from Chinese police. Such problems do not, however, happen with Thai police.”


According to Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool, it was the Thai prime minister’s idea to invite Chinese police to patrol with their Thai counterparts, to help provide security for Chinese tourists in Thailand.

Top cop rejects presence of Chinese police in Thailand | 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

Chinese police presence in Thailand a “slap in the face” : ex-NIA deputy director

Former deputy director of National Intelligence Agency Nantiwat Samart has questioned the concept of inviting Chinese police to join their Thai counterparts on patrol in main tourist provinces, ostensibly to boost the confidence of Chinese nationals in Thailand.


In his Facebook post today, the former spy chief said that he wonders who initiated the idea. He asked whether the idea is rooted in fear or is a joke, adding that if other foreign tourists want their police to do the same, will the Thai government allow them to do so?


He went on to say that allowing Chinese police to operate here amounts to a slap in the face to the Thai police. “Are the Thai police that bad?” he asked, adding that, if there are insufficient police to provide protection to Chinese tourists, the logical way to solve this problem is to increase Thai manpower or to ask local officials to help the police.


Nantiwat also questioned whether there is there something strange about there currently being an unusually high number of news reports related to China. He then cited a statement, issued by the Chinese embassy in Thailand during the weekend, complaining about a Thai media report of a Taiwanese separatist talking about the independence of Taiwan.


According to Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool, the idea of inviting Chinese police to operate in Thailand with Thai police was initiated by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, citing the example of Italy.


Thapanee said that the idea was raised by the prime minister during his official visit to Beijing in October and it has been discussed between Thai authorities and Chinese embassy officials.

Chinese police presence in Thailand a "slap in the face" : ex-NIA deputy director | 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

Originally Posted by misskit

Chinese police presence in Thailand a “slap in the face” : ex-NIA deputy director

Former deputy director of National Intelligence Agency Nantiwat Samart...


... “Are the Thai police that bad?” he asked...

Yes....

Well, given the Thai-Chinese own and run the country I suppose it is only natural they should defer to their masters in Beijing.

Presumably after the Shitta/Putin love in we’ll have Russian pigs patrolling with the commie chinks too.

These Thaksin governments just get worse and worse.

Still, maybe next election the people will vote for another party. Oops! I almost forgot!

What a ghastly place this silly country has become.

Ting about all this once you had a chinese truncheon you want another one half an hour later.

Like LOS

Sweet and Sour

What's it got , it's got the lot

I've always thought sa was a voluntary member of the thai tourist police.

Originally Posted by BLD

I've always thought sa was a voluntary member of the thai tourist police.

They were a bit of a fucking joke, weren't they? Kind of the Paul Blart's of Thailand.

Are they still going?

Originally Posted by BLD

I've always thought sa was a voluntary member of the thai tourist police.

You really are inordinately stupid, aren’t you.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

They were a bit of a fucking joke, weren't they? Kind of the Paul Blart's of Thailand.

Are they still going?

The assorted crims, shysters, con artists, pimps and superannuated scout masters who joined that outfit have gone pretty much the way of most farang resident in Pattaya, particularly the Brits: too fucking old to give a fuck, too fucking dead or given up and moved back to Blighty or elsewhere because funds ran out or their luck, or the police were catching up and warrants were pending.

I would sooner chew my arm off than be associated with any authority in this medieval snake pit of a heathen country.

Thailand backs away from Chinese police patrol plan amid furor

The Thai government has ruled out a proposal for Chinese police to be stationed at tourist hotspots around the kingdom amid a public backlash.


The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) on Sunday said the country was in talks with China about introducing joint police patrols as a way to appease Chinese visitors’ fears about safety.


But the announcement sparked an outcry and earned pushback from the national police chief, Gen. Torsak Sukvimol, who said having Chinese officers on Thai soil was “a breach of sovereignty.”


Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who is in San Francisco for the APEC summit, said Monday there was no plan to station Chinese police in the country for joint patrols.


Thailand only wanted to exchange information with China on criminal gangs operating in the Southeast Asian nation, Srettha said, according to a report from Bloomberg News.


In Bangkok, Tourism Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol echoed the prime minister’s comments, saying there was “no policy to bring Chinese police” to Thailand.


“The Thai police are already adequate … and are working hard to ensure tourist confidence,” he told reporters on Tuesday.


TAT Gov. Thapanee Kiatphaibool apologized the same day for the “misunderstanding” and any “negative sentiment” stirred up by her comments.


Chinese tourists accounted for a quarter of nearly 40 million tourist arrivals in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. But visitor numbers from the world’s No 2 economy have been slower to bounce back than anticipated after Beijing lifted its hardline pandemic rules in January.


Thailand expects between 4 million and 4.4 million Chinese visitors this year, the TAT said.


On Wednesday, Chinese Ambassador to Thailand Han Zhiqiang paid a courtesy visit to Sudawan to stress the importance of the bilateral relationship.


“China’s government supports Chinese tourists visiting Thailand,” he said in a video posted by the tourism ministry. “This helps stimulate the economy, the tourism industry and, moreover, brings the two countries closer together.”


The country’s image as a safe tourist destination for Chinese has been knocked by a spate of recent kidnap-for-ransom cases and reports of people being tricked into being trafficked as workers at scam call centers in nearby Myanmar.


A shooting spree that left three people dead, including one Chinese national, at a popular Bangkok shopping mall last month has also raised safety concerns.


The presence of Chinese police on foreign soil has become a sensitive issue worldwide after it was revealed by Spain-based Safeguard Defenders group in a September 2022 report that China was carrying out transnational policing operations across five continents, without the approval of the jurisdictions they were operating in.


The report said the operations “eschew official bilateral police and judicial cooperation and violate the international rule of law, and may violate the territorial integrity of third countries involved in setting up a parallel policing mechanism using illegal methods.”

Thailand backs away from Chinese police patrol plan amid furor — BenarNews