THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Police escorts aiding smugglers at Suvarnabhumi?

Police escorts aiding smugglers at Suvarnabhumi?

Reports in local media indicate that the two people who attempted to smuggle 21 rhino horns into Thailand were accompanied through Suvarnabhumi Airport by two police officers.

According to a police spokesman, the two suspects were well connected, and had requested, via an influential “pu yai” of their acquaintance, that a police escort be provided to them “for convenience”. Apparently the police officers tried to persuade Customs officers not to check the suspects luggage, but to their credit the officers ignored the request, and the horns were found.
The police spokesman claims that neither the police officers nor the pu yai were aware that the luggage contained rhino horns, but the fact that members of the public can arrange for such services from the police, who really should be doing something more useful, is just one example of how those with the right connections can arrange for special treatment. Regrettably the suspects escaped, but if they are prominent people, then hopefully they will be quickly tracked down. They are allegedly complicit in the death of 21 rhinos, an appalling crime against an already endangered species.
Robin Grant
 

nationthailand