Somyot in very hot water

Based on his media interviews, ex-national police chief Somyot Poompunmuang’s explanation about a 300-million-baht loan he claimed he received from the owner of Victoria’s Secret Massage parlour seems pretty shameless. And unfortunately, it has done little to provide legitimate reasons over why he decided to accept the money and form a close friendship with someone who runs such a shady business.

Pol Gen Somyot said he started borrowing money from Kampol Wirathepsuporn, the fugitive owner recently accused of human trafficking and other illicit activities, in October 2014. As the then, newly appointed national top cop, Pol Gen Somyot should have distanced himself from such an ethically dubious loan.

The amount of money borrowed could easily be construed as a conflict of interest and it puts his integrity as the then most powerful police officer into question.

Even though the Department of Special Investigation, which raided the parlour last month in Bangkok and revealed the money trail, has not yet called Pol Gen Somyot in for questioning, the former national police chief, who is now president of the Football Association of Thailand, still has much more to explain to the public about this unusually high amount of personal borrowing.

First of all, the timing was dubious. He managed to get the money from his friend within the first month of him being promoted to the top cop post. Before that he was a member of the National Legislative Assembly appointed by the military regime.

He said he had known Mr Kampol for almost 20 years but did not clarify whether this level of borrowing had been common between them prior to his promotion, and whether there were conditions attached as with most business loan agreements, such as interest payments and a due date for repayment.

In addition, he has to explain why he did not appear to check whether the money could have come from illicit sources. As a senior police officer, he should have been aware that taking such a sum of money, even as a personal loan, from someone running a grey-area business could risk him becoming involved in dirty money.

It is well known that shady business operators usually seek friends in high places to facilitate their activities. Pol Gen Somyot therefore faces a tough task in convincing the public that his friendship with Mr Kampol never influenced his decisions as a law enforcement officer to act or not act against his friend’s business.

In particular, the Victoria’s Secret Massage raid exposed bribery in the form of complimentary sexual services offered to a number of police officers. As a close friend of the owner, Pol Gen Somyot has yet to clarify how such obvious information never came to his attention.

Undoubtedly, the latest revelation about the 300-millionbaht loan puts a further dent in the public’s trust in the Thai police force’s integrity which has already been at a very low ebb.

Even before Pol Gen Somyot’s case, another senior police officer was found to be involved a scandal involving a much smaller amount of money. Early last year, then Bangkok police chief Sanit Mahathavorn’s asset list exposed a flat amount of 50,000 baht he received every month for his role as an adviser to the country’s biggest beverage empire. He later said he made a mistake in the asset declaration he submitted to the anti-graft agency. The case was then cleared and closed by the Office of the Ombudsman which cited a lack of evidence.

For Pol Gen Somyot, his blunt clarification about the loan also brings disgrace to himself in his admission that law enforcement was a secondary role because his main job was as a businessman.

Senior public office holders are normally aware they need to avoid situations that could weaken their ethical and moral standing. Pol Gen Somyot seemed to not follow this principle and he still has much to explain to doubters about why chose not to.