UPDATE: Thai Police Did Extort Money from Taiwanese Tourist, Says Former Thai Politician “Chuwit”

PHOTO: ชูวิทย์ กมลวิศิษฎ์

National —

Whistleblowing former politician Chuwit Kamolvisit posted on his Facebook wall that Thai police did extort money from a Taiwanese actress and her friends, adding if the police continued to lie and blame the victim, he would expose them with evidence.

First our previous story:

CCTV released by Thai media such as Nation TV and Channel 7, along with continuing evidence released by Thai police, have shone some doubts on claims made by a Taiwanese actress of being extorted by Thai police for 27,000 baht.

Now for our update:

Chuwit wrote a Facebook post on Monday that he was contacted by a friend of Charlene An, who said they were with An at the checkpoint and had a video recording of the police extortion against her earlier this month.

An, who alleged that she was extorted by Thai police for 27,000 baht, had returned to her homeland but continued to make headlines in Thailand and her country over the past few weeks.

The drama between her and whom she called the “bastard police” seemed to reach an end yesterday when CCTV recordings, which came out yesterday, reportedly contradicted several points in the 33-year-old actress’s claims.

However, according to Chuwit, several senior police are trying to cover up the truth by deleting footage from the CCTV cameras at the Chinese Embassy and the police body cameras.

He also stated that the police persuaded the Grab taxi driver, who was delivering the victim, to lie that the victim was drunk and that she stayed at the checkpoint for only 40 minutes, not 2 hours as she claimed.

The former massage parlor tycoon continued that prior recordings were released to discredit the victim and make her extortion claim implausible.

He stated that he would expose every authority involved to the public if they persisted in lying.

“Most importantly, the police made up a story, destroyed evidence, and retaliated against a Taiwanese actress,” Chuwit stated.

Meanwhile, Pol. Lt. Gen. Thiti Saengsawang, chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, came out today, January 30th, to say that policemen at the checkpoint were being investigated for possible shakedown.

He also stated that the officers should have not released the Taiwanese actress when she was caught with an illegal vapouriser.

This meant the police at the checkpoint were initially derelict in their duty, as they did not confiscate the vape and let the actress go, said police, adding the Police Bureau was accumulating evidence to proceed with disciplinary and criminal action against the concerned police.

Pol. Lt. Gen. Thiti stated that many existing police findings supported the speculation in news reports, including the bribe. Witnesses were being contacted to confirm the wrongdoing.

Thiti’s statement at a press conference also matched that of Chuwit, which said the concerned police erased helmet camera recordings, but this still awaited a probe result from forensic officers.

No one would be spared if proven wrong, said Thiti, who continued to investigate.
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Aim Tanakorn
The local news translator at The Pattaya News. Aim is a twenty-four year old who currently lives in Bangkok. Interested in English translation, story-telling, and entrepreneurship, he believes that hard-working is an indispensable component of every success in this world.