Police search Big Joke's house

Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn (left, partly concealed) reads the court search warrant, near his house in Bangkok on Monday morning. (Photo supplied)
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn (left, partly concealed) reads the court search warrant, near his house in Bangkok on Monday morning. (Photo supplied)

Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) police searched the house of deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate "Big Joke" Hakparn in Bangkok on Monday morning after he was allegedly found to have been involved in gambling site operations.

The search was part of a larger operation called Big Cleaning Day.

Also to be searched were five houses in Soi Vibhavadi 60 behind the Police Club. The houses were reportedly bought by Surachate for his subordinates.

When police arrived about 8am, Surachate was at his house and received them wearing only a pair of boxers and a white T-shirt. He reportedly refused to let the police into his house.

The search team had to wait for the CCIB commissioner to arrive. After he arrived, Surachate allowed the search.

Surachate's house, in Soi Vibhavadi 60, was reportedly among about 30 houses to be searched on Monday in Bangkok and five provinces.

The other houses reportedly belong to junior police officers close to Surachate and alleged to have been involved in online gambling sites operating in Laos with about one billion baht in circulation.

In operation Big Cleaning Day a number of officers, including a police major general and a police colonel, in a team of investigators under Surachate were reportedly arrested. They were  expected to be taken to Metropolitan Police Division 5 headquarters on Sathorn road for questioning.

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Vocabulary

  • boxer shorts (n): men’s underpants similar to the shorts worn by boxers -
  • circulation: the passing of money from one person to another - การหมุนเวียนของเงินสด, กระแสเงิน
  • commissioner: the head of a particular police force in some countries - ผู้ตรวจการณ์
  • gambling: the activity of betting money, for example in a game or on a horse race - การพนัน
  • headquarters: the place where an organisation or company has its main offices - สำนักงานใหญ่ กองบัญชาการ
  • operation: an activity which is planned to achieve something - การดำเนินการ
  • questioning: when the police asks a person questions in the investigation of a crime -
  • refuse: to say you not want something that has been offered to you - ปฏิเสธ
  • subordinate: someone who has less power or authority than someone else - ผู้ใต้บังคับบัญชา สมุน
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