Tourist hit with ‘60K vape fine’
Singaporean tells media case details
CHON BURI: A senior sergeant major in the police force has been transferred to an inactive post pending an investigation after he was alleged to have demanded 60,000 baht from a foreign tourist for possession of an e-cigarette.
His transfer came in the wake of a news report and associated photos that aired on Channel 3 on Tuesday.
A Chinese tour guide was said to have sent a message to other guides in his group saying that a tourist under his care had been detained for possessing a vape by a policeman who demanded a fine of 60,000 baht. After some bargaining, the sum was reduced to 30,000 baht. Vaping devices are prohibited goods in Thailand.
The incident allegedly occurred in Pattaya around Jan 28.
After learning about the report, Pol Maj Gen Kampol Leelaprapakorn, the Chon Buri police superintendent, sent an urgent letter telling the chief of Pattaya police to investigate the matter.
The probe found the policeman referred to in the report was Pol Snr Sgt Maj Noppakrit Pornwatanathanakij, a traffic police officer at Pattaya station.
Pol Maj Gen Kampol on Tuesday transferred him outside Pattaya to assist with the operations centre at Chon Buri police headquarters.
A fact-finding committee has been set up to look into the alleged soliciting of a bribe. It was tasked with compiling all evidence, including examining recordings from surveillance cameras in the area where the alleged extortion occurred. Its report will be used for legal proceedings if there are grounds against the policeman.
Pol Snr Sgt Maj Noppakrit reported to the Chon Buri police chief yesterday, as ordered. In a phone interview, he denied extorting money from the Chinese tourist.
The director of the Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission Region 2, yesterday went to monitor the case at Pattaya police station.
A Singaporean man who was accompanying a Taiwanese actress when her group was allegedly extorted for 27,000 baht by police in Bangkok, claims the officers told him to pay the bribe or spend two days in jail for having vaping devices he had purchased in the city.
The 29-year-old man, who identified himself only as “Sky”, appeared yesterday before reporters at the Davis Bangkok Hotel, owned by former politician and massage parlour tycoon Chuvit Kamolvisit. He was invited by Mr Chuvit to visit Thailand for the press conference.
Speaking mostly in Thai, Mr Sky said: “If I didn’t trust Mr Chuvit, I would not have come here.”
He said he and three friends, including actress Charlene An, had joined the birthday party of a friend at a restaurant in the Sukhumvit area on the night of Jan 3.
Afterwards, they took a Grab taxi to head for the Huai Khwang area. At a police checkpoint in front of the Chinese embassy, he said police stopped their taxi and asked for their passports. The man told them he did not have his passport on him at the time.
Police reportedly ordered them to get out of the cab and take off their shoes. Then police discovered his vaping devices, and the group was told they would have to go to a police station.
The Singaporean said he had three such devices, but the Taiwanese actress had none. Officers then seized the items and uniformed policemen demanded they hand over some money in exchange for being spared from charges related to the vaping devices, which are illegal in Thailand, and failure to show a valid visa. The Singaporean said he had a visa on arrival, which was valid.
Police told them they would be jailed for two days unless they paid 8,000 baht per vape plus 3,000 baht for failing to carry a passport. The total amounted to 27,000 baht.
He then asked the officers why vapes were illegal because they were widely available across Thailand. He said he purchased them at a market in Huai Khwang without knowing they were illegal.
“I was very stressed and wanted to get away as quickly as I could. I was afraid of the police and imprisonment. I had 30,000 baht with me, and they took 27,000 baht,” Sky said.
“The money was collected by a police officer with a moustache who did not wear a uniform but wore a jacket. A large bald-headed officer blocked the CCTV camera and a thinner officer whose face was partly covered joined in to listen to our conversation,” he added.
The officers did not allow them to use their phones and kept threatening to take them to a police station, Sky claimed. He said he remembered the faces of the officers.