Tourists extorted by police safe from prosecution for bribery

published : 1 Feb 2023 at 15:14

writer: Gary Boyle

ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Wassayos Ngamkham

Tourists extorted by police will be safe from prosecution even though they paid a bribe, including holidaying Taiwanese actress Charlene An, a senior Bangkok police officer said on Wednesday.

The commander of Metropolitan Police Division 1 said interrogators would question witnesses in the case involving Ms An in Singapore and Taiwan to ensure their safety.

The tourists involved in the case would not be prosecuted for bribing police, and would be treated as witnesses because they were seen as the damaged party and were coerced by policemen, he said.

He said 14 policemen set up vehicle checkpoints on Ratchadaphisek Road in front of the Chinese embassy in the early morning of Jan 4, and the group including Taiwanese actress Charlene An was stopped for a search.

She later said she was forced to pay a bribe of 27,000 baht before they let her go.

The commander said seven policemen were at the checkpoint where Ms An's taxi was stopped. These officers had initially been charged with dereliction of duty for failing to prosecute the actress, who allegedly had a vape in her bag.

If the questioning of the witnesses provides enough evidence, police could additionally press extortion charges against the officers.

Vocabulary

• bribe: to give money or presents to someone so that they will help you by doing something dishonest or illegal - ติดสินบน
• bribery: the crime of giving money or presents to someone so that they will help you by doing something dishonest or illegal - การให้สินบน
• commander: a police offer of high rank - ผู้บังคับบัญชา
• dereliction of duty: the fact of deliberately not doing what you ought to do, especially when it is part of your job - ล้มเหลวในการทำหน้าที่ของคุณ
• extortion: the crime of trying to obtain something by force or threat - การขู่กรรโชก  รีดไถ
• interrogator: a person who asks someone a lot of questions in order to get information - ผู้สอบถาม, ผู้ซักถาม
• prosecute: to officially accuse someone of a crime and to try to prove them guilty in a court of law - ดำเนินคดี ฟ้องร้อง ซักฟอก
• prosecution: the process of accusing someone of a crime and asking a court of law to judge them - การดำเนินคดีตามกฎหมาย
• vape (n): a device used for inhaling vapour containing nicotine and flavoring -
• witness: a person who sees something happen - ผู้ที่เห็นเหตุการณ์