Article prompts Prawit to order probe into police action
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In response to an article in Time magazine about Thai police's extensive extortion tactics and mistreatment of foreign tourists, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday that he had ordered Royal Thai Police chief Somyot Poompanmoung yesterda
He said such allegations damaged the country’s reputation, and that the image of police should improve with the ongoing reform.
The article in Time’s January 20 edition quoted people who had either directly experienced or had knowledge about Thai police extorting money from tourists. The article quoted UK Ambassador Mark Kent’s tweet about him meeting officials from the Tourist Ministry to address complaints lodged by British tourists about random police searches and demands for bribes.
The article also cited former Rak Prathet Thai Party leader Chuwit Kamolvisit complaining about tourists being stopped on Sukhumvit Road to search for drugs and forced to take urine tests or facing demands for money.
