On Wednesday, Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin made the right call by transferring the director-general of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Traiyarit Temahiwong, to the Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS).
Pol Maj Gen Suriya Singhakamol has since been appointed not only to act as his replacement but also to oversee the internal probe of six DSI officials (one of whom is a close aide of the transferred DSI chief) who are accused of serious misconduct -- by taking 10 million in bribes from 11 Chinese criminal suspects in exchange for letting them walk free.
The saga reminds society that there are more than just a few "bad apples" within the entire justice system.
The details surrounding the latest scandal read like a movie script. On Dec 22, a joint team of DSI officials and police officers raided a house leased by a former consul-general for Nauru in Bangkok's Thung Mahamek district. Authorities had received reports that the house served as a shelter for wanted Chinese criminals and doubled as a "factory" making counterfeit passports. While the original tenants had moved out, there were efforts to create the illusion that the house still hosted foreign diplomats in a bid to deflect suspicion.
Instead of putting the 11 suspects they found at the house in custody, the officers released them in exchange for some "tea money". In fact, the only person who remains in custody is an elderly maid who worked at the house. What's worse, it was later revealed that the suspects had previously managed to escape the crackdown on the infamous Jinling pub in October last year.
The scandal is truly shocking for the DSI, which was meant to emulate the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. Since its founding 20 years ago, the agency has had a relatively good reputation, having handled high-profile cases that included human trafficking and Ponzi schemes such as the recent Forex-3D scam. In fact, the DSI has been viewed as a beacon of hope by those embroiled in lawsuits against the state, such as with the murder of Karen activist Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen.
As such, the Justice Ministry and acting DSI chief face an uphill task in protecting the agency's reputation.
Acting chief Pol Maj Gen Suriya has pledged to wrap up the probe in seven days. It is hoped that this isn't just lip service, as the last thing people would want to see is a Thai-style probe which only sees the small fry get caught without touching the big fish.
It has become standard practice for government ministries to conduct a probe in response to complaints about corruption and misconduct, most of which end up forgotten or ignored completely -- such as the probe by Vicha Mahakun, which found around 20 officials, including public prosecutors and police officers, had conspired to help Red Bull scion Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya escape justice.
Most inquiries rarely lead to a solution, such as the internal probe against the Justice Minister and the Department of Corrections in 2021 over the decision to pardon high-profile prisoners convicted for the notorious rice-pledging scheme under Yingluck Shinawatra's administration. These include Boonsong Teriyapirom, who had his 48-year sentence slashed to 10 years and eight months. In response to the furore, the ministry simply ordered another probe "to find a way to improve the pardon system".
It is hoped that DSI can do better than that. If not, the agency's public image will suffer. Without public confidence, law enforcement will suffer.
