Pol Maj Gen Atchayon Kraithong, spokesman for the Royal Thai Police Office, said yesterday (Jan 23) a police senior sergeant major proposed a bespoke police escort service to a tour firm, offering to whisk Chinese visitors directly from their plane to their hotel.
The police senior sergeant major proposed the service to a tour operator he met at an event last November, Pol Maj Gen Atchayon said, without elaborating on the non-commissioned policeman.
To enact the controversial escort service, the police senior sergeant major had a tourist police captain meet the Chinese tourist at Suvarnabhumi airport. After picking up her luggage, the captain then ushered her through an immigration fast lane, reports the Bangkok Post.
Once outside the airport, the police senior sergeant major had two traffic police sergeants escort the Chinese tourist in a motorcade from the airport to her hotel in Pattaya.
The two traffic policemen were charged with violating the Land Traffic Act and the Official Symbols Act.
A motorcycle and a car used in the motorcade were private vehicles but they were attached with sirens and the logos of the Royal Thai Police Office without permission, Pol Maj Gen Atchayon said.
Police would question the tour operator and the female Chinese tourist to support their investigation into the case.
Police would also verify statements she made in her video clip and the claim that the policemen in the motorcade received B7,000 plus a B200 tip.
Additionally, investigators would find out how long the group of policemen had provided the escort service and whether they should be prosecuted for wearing police uniforms while doing so.
The police spokesman said police officers were not permitted to offer such escort services to individual tourists. Police escort service must be approved by a traffic police commander in Bangkok or a highway police commander in other provinces and performed only for groups of people in convoys.
Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Monday no law permitted police to operate such a sideline and the officers in question had therefore broken the law and police regulations.
“We did not advertise any escort service for visitors,” he said.
“Those who did this must be prosecuted and punished.”
Fascinated | 27 January 2023 - 12:45:26