Chiang Mai police caught extorting money from foreign tourist
Police chief defends subordinate, asking public to wait for investigation result
A viral video emerged showing a police officer in Chiang Mai extorting money from a foreign motorcyclist, prompting an investigation into alleged corruption.
The Facebook page Guru Guroo Chiang Mai shared the video yesterday, September 25, with the caption, “Another viral video! Thai police asked for ‘something’ from a foreign tourist. What’s that thing? The incident occurred near Chiang Mai Night Bazaar at night.”
In the video, a traffic police officer can be seen speaking with a foreign motorcyclist. The foreign man performs a wai, appearing to ask the officer for forgiveness for violating the law. After a brief conversation, the man nods in apparent agreement.
The officer then turns his back to the foreigner and discreetly extends his hand to receive money. The foreign motorcyclist performs a wai once again, and the officer responds by patting his arm, signalling that he may leave without facing charges.
Locals commented under the post, claiming they had witnessed police officers randomly setting up checkpoints near tourist attractions. They alleged that the checkpoints were used to extort money from foreigners unfamiliar with Thai traffic laws.
By law, police officers must issue traffic tickets and direct offenders to pay fines at a police station, with the money going directly to the Royal Thai Police. In this case, however, it appeared that the officer pocketed the cash.
Jane Sopha, Director of the Traffic Department of Chiang Mai Provincial Police, told MGR Online that officials were aware of the issue and had already suspended the officer featured in the video.
Jane added that a special committee would be established to investigate the matter and urged the public to await the outcome before drawing conclusions about the officer’s conduct. He also noted that the foreign motorcyclist in the video had not yet lodged a complaint.
Another Chiang Mai police officer was recently dismissed for extorting 7,000 baht from a victim whose nationality was not specified in the report. The officer had stopped the man on Hod-Doi Tao Road and accused him of carrying a weapon in a public place.
The officer initially demanded a fine of 20,000 baht but later reduced it to 7,000 baht. The man phoned his family to obtain the money and was released after making the payment. The victim subsequently made the matter public and filed a complaint against the officer, which led to a further investigation and his dismissal.
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