Thai woman spills beans on corrupt cop’s love-linked traffic fines

A Thai woman took to social media to expose a corrupt police officer from Mueang Khon Kaen Police Station in the Isaan province of Khon Kaen after the officer instructed locals to transfer traffic fines to a girlfriend’s bank account.

The woman recounted the corrupt behaviour of the police officer, known only as Police Senior Sergeant Major S., through the Facebook page, Khon Kaen Mee Darn, on April 21.

She explained that officer S. fined her 2,000 baht for violating multiple traffic laws. He issued a fine warrant and directed her to pay it at Mueang Khon Kaen Police Station.

Later, the officer offered her a discount of 1,000 baht. The policeman told her that she must transfer money to a bank account of a woman named Maturot if she wanted the discount. According to the police, Maturot was a police officer responsible for handling traffic fines.

However, the woman found this suspicious as she had never been offered a discount on a traffic fine before and did not receive an official receipt after making the payment.

Suspicious, she shared the story with her friend, leading to the discovery that many other motorists had also transferred money to Maturot as well. Each paid between 500 to 1,000 baht to Maturot.

The story went viral among netizens in Khon Kaen province, prompting Mueang Khon Kaen Police Station to come forward to clarify the matter. The superintendent of the police station, Yotsawat Kaewsuebthunyanit, admitted that Police Senior Sergeant Major S. was one of his subordinates

According to Yotsawat, the accused officer initially denied embezzling the traffic fines. He claimed that he instructed motorists to transfer money to Maturot, intending to bring the collected amount to the police station later.

Yotsawat stated that he was not convinced by this statement, and a special committee was already set up to investigate the corrupt practice.

The nature of the relationship between police officer S. and Maturot remains ambiguous, with police suspecting that Maturot could be the officer’s girlfriend. However, during questioning with the police today, April 24, Maturot denied any romantic involvement with the officer, stating that she was merely a close friend.

Channel 3 reported that the investigation into the alleged corruption is ongoing, and authorities will scrutinise the transactions in Maturot’s bank account.