Asia (Page 606)

Seller threatens to sue FB page, media

The Royal Thai Navy is investigating a claim about irregularities in the purchase of armoured vehicles (AVs) worth more than 440 million baht.

Navy spokesman Adm Pokkrong Monthatphalin said yesterday that navy commander Adm Choengchai Chomchoengpaet had ordered a probe into a claim made by the CSI LA Facebook Page that some navy personnel demanded a 15% kickback from the supplier.

Adm Pokkrong said the navy has a project to procure seven 8×8 wheeled armoured personnel carriers worth 448 million baht, manufactured by Chaiseri Metal & Rubber Co.

The project will be financed by funds from the 2023 fiscal year starting from Oct 1 last year until Sept 30 this year. The manufacturer will have to deliver the armoured vehicles to the navy within 270 days.

Approval for the purchase is being sought from the Defence Ministry, Adm Pokkrong said, adding the project has been scrutinised by several agencies, such as the Anti-Corruption Cooperation Committee for state procurement, as well as a panel of observers.

“The navy has tried to ensure that budget spending is transparent and can be scrutinised. The claim about the 15% kickback is not true,” the navy spokesman said.

Nopparat Kulhiran, the founder of the company, dismissed the claim as baseless, saying it was intended to discredit the company and the navy.

The administrator of the page should disclose the source of the information to prove the veracity of the claim, Ms Nopparat said, adding the company operates its business based on the principle of good governance and transparency.

The company has manufactured and delivered products for use in government defence and security as well as providing maintenance services since 1968, she said, adding that most of its income comes from exports rather than domestic sales.

“The company had sold its products to the Thai military for about 50 years, and our company is also well-known worldwide,” she said.

Ms Nopparat threatened legal action against the CSI LA Facebook Page and any media outlets that shared false information.

“The media has been urged to examine the information first before sharing it. If there is any damage done, the company will reserve its rights to take legal action to protect its reputation,” Ms Nopparat said.

Two corporals face charges after video shows another variation of police sticker-bribe racket

Two police corporals suspected of collecting a bribe from a food vendor in Nonthaburi in exchange for a special sticker have reportedly surrendered after a video of them went viral on social media.

The two officers on Wednesday met with Pol Col Sompon Wongsrisunthorn, deputy chief of Nonthaburi Provincial Police, after CCTV caught them with two other men suspected of trying to collect a monthly bribe of 3,500 baht from a fried banana vendor in Bang Yai district.

They denied the accusation.

The vendor was quoted as telling reporters that she was told someone would come to collect money from her on Tuesday. In turn, she would receive a small lion sticker with the word “June” written on it and a signature next to it. With such a sticker displayed where it could be seen, she would not be bothered by the police.

Subsequently, four people who claimed to be police officers visited her shop in a pickup truck to collect the monthly payment. The four, however, refused to get out of the car and drove away after she refused to pay them.

The vendor then filed a report with the Bang Mae Nang police out of concern for her safety.

Pol Col Sompon confirmed that the two policemen were caught on CCTV along with two others, one of whom was identified as Tee, in the pickup truck.

Investigators have pressed charges against the two officers for breaching Section 148 of the Criminal Procedure Code for abuse of power which carries a prison term ranging from 5-20 years and/or a fine of up to 100,000 baht. They will also be changed under Section 157 for malfeasance by public officials, which carries a prison term of up to 10 years and/or a fine ranging from 20,000 to 100,000 baht.

Pol Col Sompon said the two officers were not posted at Bang Mae Nang station but are part of an investigation unit that works in various places as and when they are assigned.

He also insisted that the police would take serious action against the two officers if they are proven guilty, as per the instructions of deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, who has demanded that bribery cases be dealt with in a serious manner.

Police are also investigating the other two men.

In a related development, a netizen has posted a video of a conversation with two Vietnamese dried squid vendors about bribe-paid stickers for migrant workers in Nonthaburi.

One of the vendors said he needed to earn about 1,000 baht per day, as he needed to pay eight or nine agencies almost 6,000 baht in total each month. The other said they needed to pay six agencies about 4,000 baht a month.

Once they paid, they said they would be given stickers with various animals on them, such as chickens or ducks. The netizen also shared a picture of a foreign vendor who has stickers with tigers and black panther figures.

“Sticker bribery” has entered the local vocabulary in recent weeks, with more instances of police malfeasance continuing to emerge. Lottery ticket sellers are among those who now claim that special stickers affixed to their display boards will keep the police out of their way.

The sticker racket was first brought to light by Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, a Move Forward party list MP-elect. He produced evidence that overloaded trucks with special stickers were not being detained, nor were their drivers ever arrested. The practice had been going on for two decades, he said.

So far, 12 highway police officers out of 40 implicated in the truck sticker bribe scandal have been charged with extortion and misconduct.

Former mass communication student says he had been giving injections for five years

A 33-year-old man claiming to be a doctor has been arrested for illegally giving filler injections and other unlicensed services during a raid on a beauty clinic in Chatuchak district of Bangkok.

Police searched the Yongchang clinic located inside a hotel in the Lat Phrao area following a complaint that the clinic had hired unqualified staff to administer vitamin, Botox and filler injections to customers.

On arriving there, the officers found a man, identified later as Phimlaphas Phetkrachang, 33, administering injections into the face of a customer. He claimed to be a doctor.

However, checks found that the man had no medical practitioner’s licence and the clinic was also operating without a permit, said Pol Maj Gen Anan Nanasombat, commander of the Consumer Protection Police Division (CPPD).

Mr Phimlaphas was arrested and all medical products and equipment seized.

During questioning, Mr Phimlaphas admitted he studied mass communication, and not medicine, at a university. But after working as an assistant to doctors at a beauty clinic, he saw an opportunity to earn a high income.

He reportedly told police that he had been administering vitamin, filler and Botox injections at different clinics for five years, earning 20,000 to 40,000 baht a month. He had worked at the clinic for two months before being arrested.

Police said the man admitted to having administered filler injections on the foreheads of customers. Normally, doctors avoid this area because it is considered a high-risk point, with some blood vessels leading to the retina and the brain. An injection done by someone lacking expertise could lead to blindness, he claimed.

Police charged him with providing treatment without a practitioner’s licence, selling medicines without permission and selling unregistered medical products. He was held in police custody pending further legal action.

Police question employees at the Yongchang beauty clinic in Chatuchak district of Bangkok. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)