The Border Police, warts and all

THE second volume of Professor Des Ball’s long study of the Border Patrol Police (BPP) has a wealth of fascinating and some highly disturbing material.

This second 700-page book is crammed with valuable information and analysis, detailing the very positive development work the BPP has done – guarding the country’s borders, working in schools in remote areas, to its involvement in the suppression of political protests, as well as the price it has paid (the many officers killed) in helping to contain a bloody insurgency in the far South. 

It outlines its extensive efforts in fighting crime, such as the smuggling of drugs and people, and a long list of abuses by BPP officers involved in criminal activities.

Ball is one of Australia’s top academics and has been making annual trips to Thailand for many years. This two-volume set is the third in a series and follows books on the Thahan Prahan (rangers or light infantry) and Or Sor (volunteer defence corps), so he has extensive knowledge about security and police affairs in the Kingdom.

The final section assesses future directions for the Tor Chor Dor amid widespread calls for reform of the Royal Thai Police. The chapter on reform is particularly well timed, given the military takeover on May 22 – indeed this book with its lengthy list of police abuses, by a division long regarded as one of the country’s best, is a powerful reminder of the dismal overall state of the Thai police.

“Reform of the police force presents perhaps the greatest challenge to the rationalisation of Thailand’s security architecture… it is infused with massive corruption, perpetuated by a subculture that could take generations to eliminate,” he writes.

A key pillar of democracy was the rule of law and the opportunity of justice for all before the law, but that “is impossible to guarantee while corruption remains so pervasive”, writes Ball.  

An attempt to reform the police was initiated after Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown in late 2006 but recommendations by a committee headed by General Vasit Dejkunjorn – to decentralise its administration, personnel and budgets, and transfer “non-police functions” done by the Immigration, Tourist and Forest police to other state agencies, as well as boost pay and benefits – stalled in late 2007 amid opposition from retired and active police.

Ball quotes General Vasit as saying “the most urgent priority for police reform is to depoliticise the police, or to free the police from the control of politicians”. 

But the Australian academic notes that the abject failure of successive efforts at police reform was “very sobering” and it was possible that the military leaders who ousted Thaksin had underestimated a task he describes as a “monumental” bureaucratic change. Opposition to reform was “entrenched at all levels within the police force and reinforced by corrupt and powerful politicians”.

That challenge still awaits those running the country now, who have surely learnt that such moves need to be managed very carefully.

Ball details the history of BPP operations and assesses their activities from the 1950s to the present day. This second volume details cross-border incursions by Burmese militia, efforts to contain drug trafficking along the northern frontier, as well as BPP activities along the three other borders.

He describes the BPP’s close ties with the Royal Family and how the Palace “became a powerful guardian” in return for enthusiastic promotion of the “nationalist-royalist ideology” in border schools and development projects, plus protection – security at palaces outside Bangkok, etc. The book records events from the King’s mother’s (a trained nurse) recognition of the need to provide improved healthcare to remote villages, up to more recent projects by HRH Princess Sirindhorn to boost nutrition of children in isolated areas.

In chapter 4, Ball documents politicisation of the BPP amid its increasing use by national leaders to suppress protests such as those against the Pak Mun Dam and the gas pipeline in the far South, to yellow- and red-shirt rallies in more recent years. BPP units have been preferred for personal security by both Abhisit and Yingluck and BPP bases have also been used to detain leading red shirts (not always without controversy), as they are seen as more secure than other police centres.

The BPP’s involvement in containing the bloody insurgency in the far South is also detailed, both the good and the bad. The author has great respect for honest police but is not afraid to outline the “very widespread corruption” within the force. 

Ball’s allegations range from forced return of refugees, demanding bribes from illegal migrants and smuggling drugs or people from remote areas such as Sangkhla Buri, to the rape of women near the Myanmar border, revenge killings in the deep South, and involvement in a range of murders – the Ratchaburi Hospital siege in early 2000 to the slaying of a well-known forest monk in Fang and possible involvement in the assassination of KNU chief Pado Mahn Shah (perhaps because of burgeoning business ties with the DKBA).

The most disturbing criminal behaviour in recent times was a gang of BPP officers led by Captain Nat Chonnithiwanit, whose abuses – abduction, torture and extortion – are listed. Within a month of his arrest in January 2008, police had received a staggering 188 complaints, most from people in jail, saying they had been robbed and forced to admit to crimes they never committed under threat of severe violence. A senior lawyer said the crimes were so shameless and brutal the former BPP men deserve to be executed.

Aside from the “enemies within” it was disturbing to learn that even drug-trafficking groups such as the United Wa State Army enjoy superior communication devices. So, it is not surprising that one of Ball’s key recommendations is for a bigger budget and more equipment. 

Ball says the creation of an Asean Economic Community will also create extra work for the BPP. They need more women, he says, as just 6 per cent of border police were female in 2009, and this would enhance its community responses and legitimacy. BPP leaders should also be cautious about narcotics suppression as this was demanding on resources and created a grave risk of graft. But reform of the BPP was simple, he says, compared to what the general police and the Army require.

 

 

Tor Chor Dor, Thailand’s Border Patrol Police (Volume 2: Activities and Prospects)

By Desmond Ball

Published by White Lotus

Available at Asia Books and Kinokuniya, Bt1,750.

Reviewed by Jim Pollard