It is quite rare to find police swamped with paperwork, and a far cry from the common image of law enforcement officers busting crimes and chasing after robbers.
But desk work may become a more familiar sight after Pol Maj Gen Kamol Reanracha instructed his subordinates to sift through piles of documents as he attempts to make sense of the alleged multi-million-baht embezzlement of temple maintenance funds, otherwise known as the "change money" scandal which has shaken the clergy to the core.
Pol Maj Gen Kamol Reanracha of the police Counter-Corruption Division: 'If the NOB and other agencies fail to deal with corruption in their agencies, we will step in to do the job for them'. (Photo by Tawatchai Kemgumnerd)
Heading the Counter-Corruption Division (CCD), it is Pol Maj Gen Kamol's job to investigate corruption in state agencies. This crackdown on a complex network of embezzlement has exposed a grim reality of unchecked illicit wealth at several Buddhist temples.
Complicit in the crimes are state officials, many of them senior officials at the National Office of Buddhism (NOB).
Inquirylines, published bi-weekly on Mondays is a Bangkok Post column to present in-depth details of a range of issues from politics and social interest to eye-catching everyday lives.
Pol Maj Gen Kamol has handled the highly-publicised embezzlement case since the beginning, helping raise the CCD's profile to a level on par with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), traditionally the main agency which investigates graft offences against senior state officials.
The CCD first leapt into the temple funds case when Pol Maj Gen Kamol announced back in June that 12 temples, mostly in the North, as well as former and incumbent officials at the NOB, were implicated in the scandal.
Those 12 temples were part of the first round of investigation. A second probe followed which identified a further 23 temples embroiled in the embezzlement.
The CCD sent a report to the NACC, concluding that in the second investigation, four senior monks and five NOB officials, both former and current, are suspects in the case. The NOB oversees the disbursement of temple maintenance funds.
The four monks are Phra Khru Kittipatcharakhun, abbot of Wat Lat Khae in Phetchabun's Chon Daen district; Phra Rajratanamunee, assistant abbot of Wat Pichaya Yatikaram, in Bangkok; Phra Thepsenabodi, the abbot of Wat Kawisararam in Lop Buri's Muang district and chief monk of Lop Buri; and Phra Khru Wisutthiwattanakit, assistant abbot of Wat Ratchasittharam in Bangkok Yai district.
The CCD said it has charged the four with violating three sections of the Criminal Code.
Pol Maj Gen Kamol said his division's main focus is to crack down on irregularities in state agencies and initial evidence it has gathered suggests that most monks in the country did not collude in the scam.
"Change money" refers to the funds which the NOB distributed to temples for building and maintenance purposes. However, the officials in charge of granting the funds asked to have some, if not most, of the money back from the temples and kept it in their private accounts for personal use.
In some cases, the monks also conspired to take some of the money. In other cases, the monks were not party to the crime.
According to experts, the scandal grabbed public attention because temples are not often associated with graft. Also, authorities have had to handle investigations into clergy members carefully to avoid accusations of religious insensitivity.
The CCD launched its probe in the middle of the year and the investigation has made headway.
However, Pol Maj Gen Kamol told the Bangkok Post that investigators were typically not so fond of cases involving such a sensitive subject.
"We don't want to handle this kind of issue so much," Pol Maj Gen Kamol said, admitting the CCD would rather spend time investigating other cases.
Layman suspects include Chatchai Chuchuea, director of the NOB's Buddhist monastery division, and former NOB director Phanom Sornsilp.
He said investigations revealed the trail of the alleged embezzlement followed more or less the same pattern.
However, Pol Maj Gen Kamol said, "If the NOB and other agencies fail to deal with corruption in their agencies, we will step in to do the job for them."
The commander said investigating embezzlement cases usually demands a lot of paperwork, which is something many officers do not prefer to do. They would rather work outdoors, chasing after clues, piecing together a criminal case and searching for the truth.
"But I think this job is challenging," Pol Maj Gen Kamol said, adding a key detail hidden in a pile of documents can be a big help to the investigation.
Pol Maj Gen Kamol has been an investigator throughout his police career. He formerly served as deputy chief for Natural Resources and Environmental Crime where he had to catch loggers who illegally cut down highly-prized phayung trees.
He was also appointed deputy chief of the Railway Police Division where he had to investigate the allegedly dishonest bidding for franchises in the State Railway of Thailand.
His performance was noticed by Central Investigation Bureau commissioner Pol Lt Gen Thitiraj Nhongharnpitak and he was promoted to chief of the CCD.
"We've investigated many issues, not just the change money scandal," the CCD chief said.
Other cases include price collusion in development projects overseen by local administration bodies and alleged tax evasion on imported luxury cars that may involve state officials.
Pol Maj Gen Kamol insisted corruption, at any level, must not be taken for granted as it ruins the principle of fair competition and drives politicians to buy votes in order to get top positions on state projects.
Even in police units, corruption is also present, Pol Maj Gen Kamol said, referring to the allegations that some police officers demanded bribes over sand transport. This is another issue the CCD is looking into.