The new problem these days in Pattaya is with what I will call "sub-police" (i.e. Pattaya police volunteers, and other neighborhood watch type programs) and people who were formerly members of those groups using their position to either commit crimes, or to fight crime without official sanction.Some criminals are merely claiming to be police volunteers in order to get their victims to cooperate to the point that it is too late. Some are actual members of the volunteer police force who decide to start carrying loaded firearms, which they are not allowed to do. Some police volunteers are causing accidents by chasing down criminals they are not even authorized to chase. And most naturally, some police volunteers are using the authority given to them to extort money from people here in Pattaya.
It goes without saying that a program like this is a bad idea. You can't create "law enforcement lite" out of ordinary civilians and expect them not to think of themselves as "sort of like police officers."
Fortunately, I have not read of an instance where a farang or tourist has had a run-in with one of these people... they seem to be creating problems only for Thai people so far. Still though, you should keep in mind that unless you are dealing with a fully-uniformed police officer, be wary of your situation. Also, let your Thai friends know this as well.
Anyway, City Hall is looking into the spate of crimes involving Pattaya Police Volunteers, and hopefully the program will be overhauled, or gotten rid of completely.
1 comment:
Yes you are right i have lived in Pattaya for the past 15 years and now back resident in the UK,on my last visit 2 months ago i saw these so called police voluntiers and it made me laugh as they were old age pensioners weilding a badge as if they were special forces,as you say they are just making things worse for the Thai Police, i made a point to try and speak to a volunteer in Thai and he haden't got a clue what i was on about all he could say was "i'm busy not bother me"
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