VZCZCXRO7485
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHBK #3164/01 3500920
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 160920Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9306
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 7773
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0247
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 6042
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2171
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 0233
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 7397
RHEFDHS/DIA DHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 003164 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP, NSC FOR WALTON 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/16/2019 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM DRL TH
SUBJECT: THAILAND TACKLES POLICE CORRUPTION AND BRUTALITY 
WITH SECOND CONVICTION OF BORDER PATROL POLICE 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 2286 
     ¶B. BANGKOK 1417 
 
BANGKOK 00003164  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Pol Counselor George Kent for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
SUMMARY AND COMMENT 
------------------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) In a major victory for police reform efforts and 
accountability in Thailand, a Bangkok district court found 
eight members of the 41st Border Patrol Police (BPP) unit 
guilty on charges of assault, illegal detention and 
extortion.  The unprecedented December 8 district court 
ruling followed an earlier Bangkok criminal court decision 
finding the same group guilty of accepting bribes, and added 
some momentum to nascent efforts to hold the police 
accountable for their transgressions. 
 
¶2. (C) COMMENT: Though local human rights advocates 
anticipate this verdict will be appealed, it has nevertheless 
been widely hailed as a critical "first step" in Thailand's 
ongoing struggle to combat police abuses, and an important 
moment in a faltering campaign to establish police 
accountability.  The verdict assumes an additional layer of 
importance given the RTG's renewed efforts to combat drug 
trafficking along the Burmese border.  With memories still 
fresh of such "clean up" campaigns during former prime 
Minister Thaksin's tenure -- when hundreds of extrajudicial 
killings occurred in 2003 -- the need for accountability and 
judicial credibility remains critical.  END SUMMARY AND 
COMMENT 
 
THE B IN BPP STANDS FOR BRUTAL FOR THE 41ST 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) RTP Captain Nat Chonnithiwanit and seven other 
police officers in the 41st unit of the BPP have now been 
convicted on numerous charges, including receiving bribes, 
extortion, illegal detention and assault, by two separate 
Bangkok courts.  They were originally arrested in January 
¶2008.  On July 24, 2009, the eight police officers received a 
sentence of three years and four months on bribery charges; 
on December 8, 2009, another court sentenced them to five 
years in prison for the other crimes.  The RTP Crime 
Suppression Division told us that these represent two of the 
three cases they have accepted against these officers; the 
remaining case remains under investigation.  According to 
Human Rights Watch representatives, at least 61 people have 
filed formal complaints of police abuse against BPP officers 
under Captain Nat's command. 
 
¶3. (SBU) RTP Major General Piya Uthayo, spokesman for the 
Metropolitan Police Bureau, told us that many lawsuits have 
been lodged against this police gang in numerous provinces, 
although he did not know the exact number.  He claimed that 
the RTP was dedicated to the prosecution of policemen 
committing crimes and would respect the court's verdicts. 
The convicted policemen are currently officially suspended 
from duty and are being detained without bail.  As the 
investigation of these cases has been handled internally to 
date, the Department of Special Investigations has not yet 
gotten involved, as they have with the investigations of RTP 
involvement in extrajudicial killings during Thaksin's "War 
on Drugs" in 2003. (Ref B)  While the current cases do not 
involve murder charges, allegations include the use of 
electric shock, beatings, and placing plastic bags over 
"suspects'" heads to extract confessions, as well as 
demanding bribes of cash and jewelry to be released or have 
the charges reduced. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Despite this positive "first step," there is still 
cause for concern.  Chetsada Anuchari, the Chair of the Human 
Rights Committee of the Lawyer's Council of Thailand 
cautioned us that the verdicts were only from the courts of 
first instance; there are at least two levels of appeals, 
which might result in overturned verdicts or reduced 
sentences.  Furthermore, Chetsada had hoped that higher 
ranking RTP personnel would be charged and held accountable; 
he believed that now, as in the past, lower level officers 
were serving as scapegoats for those truly behind these 
 
BANGKOK 00003164  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
rings.  However, he expressed hope that this verdict would 
serve as a lesson to the RTP, and that officers in the field 
would learn something about the costs of their actions. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Note: As the RTG launches new initiatives to combat 
Thailand's expanding drug problem, the need for police 
accountability is even greater than before.  The Ministry of 
the Interior recently announced a new campaign to clean up 
16,106 communities of drug users and traffickers.  These 
programs are popular with the public, as Thai citizens 
consider drug trafficking to be the most serious of crimes, 
and strongly support long sentences and even the death 
penalty for drug traffickers. (Ref A)  Human Rights Watch 
advised the Abhisit administration to continue to pursue 
cases like those against Captain Nat, rather than see the RTP 
descend into the same culture of brutality and impunity that 
existed under Thaksin. 
JOHN