Police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang and the website InternationalLiving.com have a lot in common. Pol Gen Somyot says Thailand offers "fresh air and hospitality" to foreign visitors. The website says Thailand is "an outdoor-lover's paradise" combined with friendly people. InternationalLiving.com says the choice of restaurants and dining spots is vast. Pol Gen Somyot says the country has "a lot of tourist attractions" and "good food".
But here their arguments diverge. InternationalLiving.com describes Thailand as an excellent place for foreigners to live or retire — 10th best country in the world, in fact. Pol Gen Somyot says Thailand is attractive for a certain kind of foreigner: criminals and gang members, paedophiles and con men, drug traffickers and terrorists. They love Thailand for its hospitality, open doors, excellent food and even its fresh air.
The police chief is about to embark on a campaign to get rid of all of these unworthy people, and he deserves support. It is bound to be a tough job.
In some cases, Pol Gen Somyot is going to run up against influential people in thrall or in cahoots with the lords of the foreign criminal elements. And he is inevitably going to face a backstabbing campaign, where he will be accused of opposing some foreign criminals while favouring others. That's because the truth is that criminals will continue to try to take advantage of Thailand's welcome mat for foreign visitors, and it will be impossible to clean out every criminal trying to hide here.
The opening steps announced at the New Year by the police chief sound well planned. Pol Maj Gen Thitirach Nongharnphithak, head of the Central Investigation Bureau, is to be a key player. He has already begun the task — which never will end — of accumulating data on transnational criminals.
The police chief is currently recruiting officers for a new police unit focusing entirely on transnational crime. The requirements for this job are high. Prospective unit members must have a reputation as untouchable by corruption. They also have to have some experience in liaising with foreign embassies and consulates. That means they will need language skills. They will have to be tough enough to stand up to some extremely nasty characters.
Thailand has raised and maintained this kind of unit in the police and other security agencies in the past. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was the police who chased Khun Sa and other heroin drug lords from Thai soil. The biggest drug busts of that time were performed by a special unit of police based in Bangkok.
The men and women Pol Gen Somyot seeks are scattered among police divisions across the country. As the police chief, he has the resources to find the best and to mould them into a formidable crime-fighting force.
Many of the foreign criminal underworld and gangs are actually known — to local authorities, to foreign embassies, to potential informers.
But cross-border cooperation in fighting crime is far behind the criminals keeping a step ahead.
To have a hope of success will take the determined effort from a committed chief and a supportive government.
The public and the media will support such a campaign, but they must also act as watchdogs, to ensure the anti-crime unit stays dedicated to the task.
Keeping Thailand hospitable to most, unfriendly to the criminal few, is a worthy goal.