From Andrew Drummond, Bangkok, June 15
Two suspected paedophiles have had a former Thai police volunteer arrested in the Thai resort of Pattaya for harassment and blackmail.
The two paedophiles, a Swede and a Briton, whose names have been withheld, had both agreed to pay £2000 and £3000 respectively for indulging in under age sex with young boys.
One withdrew the cash from the bank. The second paid in full. But when they realised their blackmailer was not a normal policeman, they made an official complaint.
The arrested man Khun Wansanor said that he had worked voluntarily with police and grabbed their, apparently lucrative, list of names of suspected paedophiles.
Critics, however, say he would have had to have been given the list by a Thai police officer.
Thai police were at pains to say that Wansanor was not a real policeman. Police Major General Koson Paowes said: “He was impersonating a policeman but he has not had any police training.”
Nevertheless despite one or two high profile cases many arrested paedophiles in Pattaya, a resort known for its sex and sleaze, are eventually released after paying large ‘fines’ which go to local police. Those arrested claimed they have had to pay up to £15,000.
Among those released, have been two arrested in a joint operation with Britain’s CEOP last December which was described as a triumph of international police co-operation.
“The Royal Thai Police has demonstrated an unerring commitment to making Thailand a hostile environment for UK offenders,” said CEOP’s chief Jim Gamble at the time.
One Briton, Maurice Praill, known as ‘The Ghost’ abused children for over twenty years, paying off police many times, before finally being sent to jail in January for 14 years after outrage was expressed by child protection agencies at the local police’s failure to keep him behind bars.
Skype
Mr Gamble is either incredibly naive or playing (poorly) at the public relations game. Any success the RTP has had at apprehending known UK offenders is due to intense pressure from the very organisation which employs Mr Gamble! The keyword there of course is “known” because for those sick kiddie-fiddling bastards not already on a watch list the revolving door is still spinning fast as ever if they can just come up with the money.
As to what Pol Maj Gen Koson is on about… a pretty clear-cut exercise in typical Thai blameshifting and obfuscation. Did he mean to say that Tourist Police Volunteers have no training? Or that they have no authority? Woe betide anyone who proceeds on the latter premise and runs into a TPV who hasn’t been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Surely The Brown will quickly be on the scene, guns drawn.
Thanks Andrew for the continued illumination about the state of play here in the Kingdom where justice is a joke.
“Another person who Andrew exposed a while a go is now big profile in the Pattaya . M a convicted paedophile from and now in Pattaya. He is highly placed in “…..
AD: Whoah there. I have had to censor this. I agree with your sentiments about certain influential foreigners in Pattaya but history has shown that if these people are rich no matter what they have done journalists will not win a libel case there!
In this case the organisation in which he is an influential person either do not believe his conviction or regard it as a misdemeanour. Thanks for the update though. Might have another look at him.