A police inspector was transferred to an inactive post and two other officers were held behind bars on Monday after a video of two policemen demanding money from a tailor shop owner surfaced on the internet.
A security camera captured three men, two wearing police uniforms, arriving at a tailor shop in Si Phraya, Bang Rak district on their motorbikes, reports said.
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The officers then had a chat with the owner, Porn (surname not given), before leaving moments later.
The individuals were identified as an inspector of the suppression unit, the man without a uniform, and two police officers. All three were from the Bangrak Police Station.
A news reporter from The Nation, Banjong Chiwamongkol (wearing a red t-shirt), was sitting in the store during the incident.
He said the policemen came into the store and demanded money from Mr Porn, saying that he needed to pay them as part of the "tae-ear", giving money in a red envelope, tradition for Chinese New Year.
The inspector said to Mr Porn, "Do you have any 'tae-ear' for us?"
The store owner replied, "Could you come back later? This is not a good time for this." However, the cops persisted, Mr Banjong explained.
He said he later spoke to the police officers and said, "I recently heard that the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau had strictly forbidden police from demanding 'tae-ear' from people?"
The policemen immediately backed off and joked about the incident, saying they only get part of the money and that most of it goes to upper-rank police officers, Mr Banjong said. The three left soon after.
Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit Toopkrajang, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, called in Pol Col Ratchapol Boonnat, superintendent of Bangrak police station, for questioning.
Pol Col Ratchapol said he had already identified the men in the video and had taken action against them.