PHUKET: Evidence exists against at least two policemen on Phuket to charge them with extorting money from dive industry operators, a senior officer with the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission said today.
''We will be proceeding in those two cases and there may be more,'' Colonel Pravesana Mulpramook, Secretary-General of the PACC, said at a meeting in Patong.
The PACC has been investigating officers at Phuket's Chalong Police Station since members of Phuket's dive industry went public and blew the whistle, alleging that men who claimed to be police had been trying to scam an increasing number of Phuket dive instructors and dive company managers.
Since the first group of divers decided to go public and ignore intimidation, other dive industry expats in Phuket and Phang Nga have also said people who claim to be police have been extorting money from them, too.
It's one of the most promising signs so far that corruption, which is endemic on Phuket, can be reported without fear.
Colonel Pravesana was making his second trip to Phuket and today he met at the French Consul's office in Patong with Claude de Crissey, who has a diving business and is an adviser to Association of Thailand Underwater Sports. ATUS recently replaced the Thai Diving Association.
Since the allegations were revealed, other dive instructors have come forward to say they were making regular monthly payments to make sure their businesses survived.
Most of the extortion has been taking place under threats of arrest for work permit breaches that occur in theory every time an expat worker carries equipment to or from a dive boat.
Men claiming to be police have usually demanded as much as 20,000 baht in the carpark at Chalong Pier or in less exposed parts of Chalong Police Station.
Collective labor is an integral part of the dive industry. Authorities are now looking at changing the wording of the work permits for dive instructors so they can't be held to ransom for doing their jobs.
''It's looking good,'' one dive industry worker said today. ''People now have the confidence to speak out and to supply evidence if they can of corrupt officials and poachers.''
Many other scams are reported to plague the dive industry. On May 22, the Phuket Employment Office (PPEO) will be holding an eight-hour seminar at the Royal Phuket City Hotel in Phuket City to clarify regulations and work permits for dive industry workers.
PPEO Chief Yaowapa Pibulpol said: ''We will provide information about the Alien Working Act, BE 2551, the Social Security Act BE 2533 and the Labor Protection Act BE 2541.''
The seminar begins with registration at 8.30am and runs through until question time at 4pm. It's free. By then, the case should have made more progress.
Phuketwan wants Phuket made free of corruption as a role model for all of Thailand and has suggested beginning by staffing one Phuket police station with incorruptible officers and expanding the project, step by step.
''We will be proceeding in those two cases and there may be more,'' Colonel Pravesana Mulpramook, Secretary-General of the PACC, said at a meeting in Patong.
The PACC has been investigating officers at Phuket's Chalong Police Station since members of Phuket's dive industry went public and blew the whistle, alleging that men who claimed to be police had been trying to scam an increasing number of Phuket dive instructors and dive company managers.
Since the first group of divers decided to go public and ignore intimidation, other dive industry expats in Phuket and Phang Nga have also said people who claim to be police have been extorting money from them, too.
It's one of the most promising signs so far that corruption, which is endemic on Phuket, can be reported without fear.
Colonel Pravesana was making his second trip to Phuket and today he met at the French Consul's office in Patong with Claude de Crissey, who has a diving business and is an adviser to Association of Thailand Underwater Sports. ATUS recently replaced the Thai Diving Association.
Since the allegations were revealed, other dive instructors have come forward to say they were making regular monthly payments to make sure their businesses survived.
Most of the extortion has been taking place under threats of arrest for work permit breaches that occur in theory every time an expat worker carries equipment to or from a dive boat.
Men claiming to be police have usually demanded as much as 20,000 baht in the carpark at Chalong Pier or in less exposed parts of Chalong Police Station.
Collective labor is an integral part of the dive industry. Authorities are now looking at changing the wording of the work permits for dive instructors so they can't be held to ransom for doing their jobs.
''It's looking good,'' one dive industry worker said today. ''People now have the confidence to speak out and to supply evidence if they can of corrupt officials and poachers.''
Many other scams are reported to plague the dive industry. On May 22, the Phuket Employment Office (PPEO) will be holding an eight-hour seminar at the Royal Phuket City Hotel in Phuket City to clarify regulations and work permits for dive industry workers.
PPEO Chief Yaowapa Pibulpol said: ''We will provide information about the Alien Working Act, BE 2551, the Social Security Act BE 2533 and the Labor Protection Act BE 2541.''
The seminar begins with registration at 8.30am and runs through until question time at 4pm. It's free. By then, the case should have made more progress.
Phuketwan wants Phuket made free of corruption as a role model for all of Thailand and has suggested beginning by staffing one Phuket police station with incorruptible officers and expanding the project, step by step.
Does anyone knows in which language will the seminar be?
Posted by JK on May 3, 2014 16:56