Thailand’s acting PM Prawit tells Thai police to clean their act up
Acting Prime Minister of Thailand Prawit Wongsuwan – aka “Big Pom” – has ordered an end to corruption within the Royal Thai Police (RTP). Big Pom has wasted no time stepping up to his temporary ministerial duties after Thailand’s Constitutional Court suspended Prayut Chan-o-cha from the position last week.
Acting PM Prawit has taken centre stage in Thailand’s never-ending political circus act, saying yesterday that he won’t stand for corruption in the Thai police force, despite being the focus of a 40 million baht luxury watch corruption scandal himself back in 2017.
Yesterday, Big Pom chaired a meeting with the Police Commission for the first time. In the meeting, Prawit ordered an end to all corruption and inappropriate behaviour in the RTP. Police should not take bribes in any instance, said Prawit.
Officers who disobey Prawit’s commands will be subject to disciplinary action and the law itself, warned Big Pom.
The Thai police have a reputation for being corrupt. Last week, a casino robbery in Bangkok brought five Din Daeng Police Officers under fire when they had apparently “never heard of” the illegal gambling den located just 650 metres away from their police station.
Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Committee (NACC) is investigating the Din Daeng police force, but the public’s trust in the work of the NACC evaporated this morning when Secretary-General of the NACC Prayat Puangjama was sacked for being “unusually wealthy.” Prayat somehow acquired riches amounting to 658 million baht and failed to declare several assets.
In yesterday’s meeting, acting PM Prawit also ordered the RTP to crack down on illegal drug syndicates, illegal immigrants and workers, cybercrime and loan sharks, which are the biggest problems Thailand is facing right now.
The idea that Big Pom and his military chums – the same people that lead a coup against the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra – will expel corruption from the kingdom is simply a pie in the sky to the people of Thailand.
SOURCE: Daily News
