Recent rapes and deadly violence in the tiny province of Nakhon Pathom have gripped the entire country with sadness.
The serial rapes of more than 10 elderly women have dominated the headlines for over a week. The crimes in Nakhon Pathom and two other provinces can be traced back to 2010. It has taken that long for police to piece the jigsaw together and realise it was the work of one man. The police still have no clue who the man is, though they have offered a 300,000-baht bounty.
The other case of violence involves the deadly shooting of a noodle shop owner who tried to save her two sons from rogue youngsters.
Koranut Purensupa and her sons were busily preparing noodles for their patrons in Nakhon Chaisi district when some 20 youngsters attacked their shop with home-made grenades. Their intention was to provoke the two sons to come out and fight with them.
The grenades shocked the customers, who ran for their lives.
The mother and sons decided to close the shop and the youngsters came back half an hour later, throwing more grenades before fleeing. They attacked it for a third time firing guns.
When they returned another half hour later Mrs Koranut went out of her shop and pleaded with the youngsters to leave her sons alone. She even performed a wai but was shot dead in front of her sons.
Altogether, the violence unfolded for an hour and a half before it ended in tragedy. But did anyone see a police officer? No. How could this happen?
One cannot help but ask whether the police were doing their job properly.
The fatal shooting at the noodle shop could have been avoided if police had gone to the scene. As has come to be expected, the police boss said he is checking to see if the victims sought help through the 191 call centre and has threatened to take action if his subordinates were negligent in their duties.
But we all know the image of the Thai police is far from good. Just mention the Koh Tao murders, and the complaints are endless.
The way the majority of Thai police work gives the impression they give priority to cases involving the rich and the privileged.
It's safe to say cases of poor, ordinary people hardly ever draw their attention. Their cases are probably piled up somewhere in the police stations only to be forgotten.
Most victims have to turn to the media in the hope of getting attention from the men in brown. (In the shooting case, I guess it was the high level of publicity that forced the police to pursue the culprits and eventually arrest them.)
But it's fair to say that the bad guys are just a minority in the force and perhaps we should look at them with a bit more understanding.
We should realise that this is a highly-stressful profession. This fact is attested to by the high number of suicides among police officers each year. The number has triggered alarm, but there seems to be no way to stop it.
Where does the stress come from? Well, it's a profession that deals with risks that can be matters of life and death.
Low pay and poor welfare. No need to elaborate here but their meagre salaries force many police to accept bribes and tea money. Not to mention the systematic corruption that makes it impossible for officers to say no.
Traffic policemen (I know, many will frown at this but it's true) have their own problems with stress. Who wouldn't? Their working conditions are tough, from dawn to dusk, in a polluted environment. Many don't have the necessary protection gear that could save them from accidents.
Just yesterday, we lost a good officer in an accident. He was riding his motorcycle on an expressway and was hit by a car.
As much as I dislike (most of) them, I think they deserve better.
And it's one of the professions that is subject to constant political interference. Instead of serving the public, the system forces them to serve politicians — many who are are known to be bad and mafioso.
It's undeniable that colour-coded politics have had a huge effect on them.
Besides, we have to blame the system that forces them to accept bribes, and the kow tow culture.
This week's lightning transfer of the head of the 7th Region Police for instructing his subordinates to call on a senior politician at his Charansanitwonge residence is a case in point.
These are just a few examples. But let me tell you, unless the basics are resolved, police reform will simply evaporate into thin air.
Ploenpote Atthakor is Deputy Editorial Pages Editor, Bangkok Post.