Pattaya e-cig extortion cop dismissed from service

A security camera recording purportedly shows a Pattaya police officer extorting a Chinese tourist in Pattaya on Jan 28. (Photo supplied)
A security camera recording purportedly shows a Pattaya police officer extorting a Chinese tourist in Pattaya on Jan 28. (Photo supplied)

A Pattaya police officer accused of demanding 60,000 baht from a tourist for possession of an e-cigarette has been temporarily dismissed from the police service pending a serious disciplinary investigation.

Pol Sen Sgt Maj Noppakrit Pornwatanathanakij, a traffic officer at Pattaya police station, was initially transferred to an inactive post on Feb 1 following a news report and pictures on  the "Hone Krasae" television programme aired on Channel 3 on Jan 31.

In the report, a Chinese tour guide was said to have sent a message to other guides in his group saying that a tourist under his care was detained for having an e-cigarette by a policeman who demanded a fine of 60,000 baht. After some bargaining, the sum was reduced to 30,000 baht. This allegedly happened in Pattaya on Jan 28 or 29.

A fact-finding committee found there was sufficient evidence of Pol Sen Sgt Maj Noppakrit having committed a serious breach of discipline.

Another committee was set up to conduct a serious disciplinary investigation against the officer.

Pol Sen Sgt Maj Noppakrit was temporarily dismissed from the police service until the investigation ends.

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Vocabulary

  • bargain: to attempt to get something for a cheaper price or under more favourable conditions - ต่อรอง(ราคา)
  • breach (noun): a failure to follow a law or rule - การละเมิดกฎหมาย, การละเมิดกฎข้อบังคับ
  • committee: a group of people who are chosen, usually by a larger group, to make decisions or to deal with a particular subject - คณะกรรมการ
  • detained: kept in a place and not allowed to leave - กักตัว ควบคุมตัวหรือฝากขัง
  • discipline: the practice of training people to obey rules and orders and punishing them if they do not; the controlled behaviour or situation that results from this training - ระเบียบวินัย  
  • evidence: facts, signs or objects that make you believe that something is true - หลักฐาน,ข้อแสดง
  • fine: an amount of money that you have to pay because you have broken the law - ค่าปรับ
  • guide (noun): a tourist guide, a person who brings tourists to interesting places to see on a tour - ผู้นำเที่ยว
  • inactive post: a job or position with no real responsibilities or duties -
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