Thai PM adviser urges police to improve criminal record updating system

Pichai Naripthaphan, previously holding the position of energy minister and presently advising Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, has urged the Royal Thai Police (RTP) to enhance their criminal record database updating system. The need for this improvement was highlighted when Pichai found his name still listed on the national police database during background checks, despite being cleared of all criminal offences.

Pichai recently underwent a background check following his appointment as an adviser to the 61 year old prime minister. During this process, he discovered his criminal record was yet to be cleaned on the database, an essential requirement for his new role.

“After I was appointed to the position of PM’s adviser, they ran a criminal background check. And as it turned out, the record was still there.”

Earlier, Pichai was implicated in three cases initiated by the former PM, General Prayut Chan-o-cha, all of which have been dismissed by the prosecutors. These accusations were based on the critical comments Pichai made on the internet about the Prayut administration’s ineffective economic policies, and were considered violations of the Computer Crime Act.

Pichai argued that his criticisms and predictions, which were initially labelled as criminal offences, have all turned out to be accurate, thereby invalidating the charges against him. However, despite this, his criminal record on the RTP database remained unmodified, a fact he discovered upon self-checking reported Bangkok Post.

Instead of the RTP automatically updating the criminal record database, Pichai was asked to provide documentation proving his innocence of all criminal charges.

He stressed that many individuals, particularly the younger generation, who have been cleared of criminal offences are suffering due to the RTP’s inefficient system for updating its database. This inefficiency could impede these individuals from securing employment or travelling overseas, he further added.

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