PHETCHABURI - Highway police arrested a man on Wednesday on a charge of impersonating a police officer and making money posing as a police escort, a report said.

Chairat Manpian, 55, was taken into custody at a checkpoint on the bypass road in Cha Am district.

The man was wearing a police uniform and driving his own car which had a attached siren, police-symbol sticker, and false licence plates. A pistol and some ammunition were also found inside the vehicle and seized as evidence, police reported.

Mr Chairat reportedly confessed to police that he was left broke when his tour bus rental business collapsed.  The man said he used to be part of the community police and saw an opportunity to make money by working as a police bodyguard for businesses.

He admitted he was recently paid 20,000 baht to escort cement trucks to Nakhon Si Thammarat and had about nine similar jobs previously, receiving varying payments based on the distance he was required to travel.

Pol Col Vithat Barirat, superintendent of the Cham Am police station, said Mr Chairat was charged with  impersonating a police officer and illegally carrying a firearm in public.

Related search: Phetchaburi, fake policeman