Chris McLaren, leader of the Region 8 Police volunteers, says the “sting” has been going on for years, with no action from the Patong Police.
“For five years the complaints have been consistent. Tourists tell us that they bought marijuana from a man behind the police box at end of Bangla then within three minutes they are ‘arrested’ and taken into the police box for ‘negotiations’,” he explains.
“The deal is consistent, they are told they can pay B20,000 to B30,000 to settle the matter immediately, or they will have to go to the police station where it will cost them at least B80,000 to have the matter dropped.
“There has been no attempt to arrest this man, who is well known to the Patong Police, and no investigation into the reports. There is no excuse for not checking CCTV footage to confirm these reports, so why are these repeated, years-long, consistent allegations going uninvestigated?” he asked.
Patong Police Chief Col Chaiwat Uikum on Tuesday (May 31) admitted that he had heard the allegation, but dismissed it.
“I get a lot of complaints from foreigners. We did investigate this, but the foreigner who made the complaint said he could not identify the officers involved,” Col Chaiwat alleged.
“There are three officers on duty at that police box each day, but the complainant could not point out which one. That’s not information we can act on,” he said.
However, Col Chaiwat did not elaborate on that only one officer is on duty in the police box at any given time.
Col Chaiwat said he did check CCTV footage from inside and outside the police box. “But we did not find anything related to this complaint,” he said.
“Let’s be clear about this. We can check who is on duty at any time. In that area, there is not only the officer in the police box. If this really happened, then police officers on patrol in the area would also know about it,” Col Chaiwat said.
Yet the dope shakedown allegation is only one issue among many that has prompted the police volunteers, who are instrumental in facilitating police patrols by translating for officers and explaining local laws to tourists, to go on strike.
Frustrating the volunteers is that the Patong Police have refused to meet with them to even hear feedback from tourists in the key tourism town. Despite repeated requests from the Region 8 volunteers, no meetings have been held in the past six months.
“We get lots of feedback directly from tourists about what is going on in Patong and along Patong Beach, and these meetings are the only chance we get to inform the Patong Police of these issues. Without these meetings, many of these issues go unaddressed,” stressed Mr McLaren.
Again, Col Chaiwat dismissed the issue, saying “I am happy to meet with them whenever they want. When we meet is up to them. All they have to do is ask.”
Yet, despite admitting that no meetings had been held for six months, Col Chaiwat offered no reason why the once-monthly meetings were being held no more.
Col Chaiwat also dismissed the claim by the volunteers that CCTV cameras had been turned away from monitoring key areas, leaving even Bangla Rd unrecorded.
“These cameras are essential when dealing with incidents on Bangla, and especially so following the attacks on tourists by staff working at venues along the street. Two attacks alone made international headlines, and without the CCTV footage, the tourists have no evidence to back up their claims,” Mr McLaren said.
“In terms of more serious security and safety concerns, these cameras become critical,” he added.
A further frustration, said Mr McLaren, has been parasail and jet-ski operators still working after sunset, and the key safety issue of speedboats and jet-skis ploughing through the water behind the police box in the dark – while tourists were still swimming there.
“Only last week the latest one finished was 7:47pm,” Mr McLaren said. “It’s only a matter a time before someone is seriously hurt… or worse.”
This issue, Col Chaiwat said, was “impossible”.
“We have set zones and conditions for these operators. It is impossible for parasail boats to be operating after dark behind the Bangla Police Box,” he said.
“We set the zone for them, so how could they do this? You can see where the zone is just by looking at where which activities are done on the beach,” he added.