Japanese tourist exposes corrupt Thai traffic officer in viral video

A Japanese tourist exposed a corrupt Thai traffic police officer by sharing a video of the officer in Bangkok asking him to secretly pay 500 baht to avoid a charge for driving without an international driving licence.

The Japanese YouTuber shared a video with the caption, “How to deal with corrupt Thai police when you get arrested.” In the video, the foreign man was driving a car along a road in Bangkok when he was asked to stop at a police checkpoint.

The traffic police officer was unable to communicate in either English or Japanese. He presented a traffic fine ticket to the Japanese man and encouraged the foreigner to pay a fine and go.

The Japanese man attempted to explain to the officer that he did not understand what was written on the paper but the officer ignored him and urged him to pay 500 baht.

When the foreign man gave the police officer 500 baht in cash as requested, the officer quickly asked the man to keep the cash low on his lap and hide it under the fine ticket before giving it to him.

The Japanese man was confused due to the language barrier, so the officer grabbed the ticket from his hand and placed it over the money before keeping it and letting the foreign man go.

The video went viral on Thai social media after a news X account, Red Skull, shared it on June 19. Other news agencies began to report about the matter, prompting the Commander of the Traffic Police, Chet Bandit, to come forward to clarify the matter.

Chet claimed that the video was taken in 2019, and the officer in the video has since been promoted from police senior sergeant major to police sub-lieutenant. The officer reportedly still works at the same spot where the incident took place.

Chet emphasised that the traffic police would conduct an investigation into the matter and punish the officer even though the issue took place a long time ago. However, Chet has not yet revealed the identity of the officer in the video to the public.

ใครฟังญี่ปุ่นออกแปลที เค้ามีไรกัน กูฟังออกแต่ under under 😅 pic.twitter.com/sjpGCfQWPj

— Red Skull (@RedSkullxxx) June 19, 2024