Crackdown Expands to Expel Foreign Criminals

In an exclusive interview with the Pattaya Times newspaper a US Marshal based at the US Embassy in Bangkok, reported, “When we issue a criminal warrant for crime committed in the US and we know the suspect fled the jurisdiction, first we look in Las Vegas, USA. Then we look in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya Thailand.  These are the easiest places to catch them given the manpower. We need to coordinate resources with the Thais and share information to apprehend more fugitives escaping to Thailand. The updated Thai Immigration database and Thai investigators’ information sharing among Thai special units are essential to our joint success."

The Pattaya Times was invited and attended the special conference in Pattaya where Thailand Immigration Bureau Commissioner Lt. General Wuthi Liptapanlop said Thailand is known worldwide as a safe haven for criminals because of its easy visa-on-arrival program.

The exceptionally well-spoken Immigration Bureau Commissioner said once here, criminals on the run can blend in with the large number of foreigners here. Thailand is doing something to stop this and catch the foreign criminal by asking for more intelligence from countries issuing the warrants, merging databases, more internal cooperation, better allocation of resources and more personal information sharing with foreign government agencies. Internet, phone usage, CCTVs and GPS tracking all make it easier with new technology.

As proof of this new cooperation and implementation of advancing technological information resources Police Lt. General “Wut” Wuthi Liptapanlop directed the embassy and foreign police officials gathered at the conference in Jomtien to  news articles in English of Korean, Japanese and Danish fugitives caught by Thailand Immigration as reported in the local Pattaya Times newspaper as evidence of the success of his Immigration force once the foreign police notify Thai authorities of the identity of the wanted criminals.

He pointed out three cases-in-point of the high profile criminals his immigration police have caught once information of the outstanding foreign warrants were give to his office. The Commissioner referred foreign representatives to the articles published in the popular English language Pattaya Times newspaper and on the internet:

http://pattaya-times.com/a5078-thailand-immigration-bureau-arrest-korean-fugitive

http://pattaya-times.com/a5087-fugitive-dane-arrested-for-tax-fraud-in-bangkok

http://pattaya-times.com/a5086-japanese-yakuza-headman-arrested-in-thailand

We will not stand for letting foreign gangs operate in Thailand or criminals to live freely here.  This is a tourist destination attracting millions of visitors worldwide.  Thailand is safe.  The National Criminal Center will use the databases we have on foreign arrivals and departures at immigration checkpoints along with hotel reports of guests and 90-day reporting of foreigners here on long stay visas to catch the small percentage of foreigners who commit crimes.

Police Lt. General Wuthi, who also heads the Transnational Crime Coordination Unit within the bureau, said his unit has been  given  the identifications of the ''Most Wanted'' people sought by the  US's Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and by INTERPOL.

When the Narcotic Suppression Bureau receives information about foreign drug traffickers,  would like all branches with investigative resources to receive the same information. We want all of the Thailand special police units to be linked to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Interpol and to other foreign law enforcement organizations, he said.

Police Lt. General “Wut” Wuthi Liptapanlop said,  We will try to classify the various warrants and arrange warrants into categories depending on the severity of the crimes.  Some foreigners are wanted for human trafficking, robbery, terrorism, drugs, murder, kidnapping, rape and other serious charges, while some are wanted for lesser charges.

The new National Criminal Center office will work with INTERPOL, US, Scandinavian, EU countries, Great Britain and Australia, as well as Asian countries to catch fugitives on the run and hiding in Thailand as is necessary to also coordinate between local law enforcement agencies in Thailand working on rooting out transnational crime in Thailand.

A branch office will open in a few days at the Chonburi Immigration headquarters on Jomtien Soi 5 led by Police Colonel Athiwit Kamolrat.

The main office will open in March under the command of Police Lt. General “Wut” Wuthi Liptapanlop at the Soi Suan Phlu  Immigration office which used to be the main Immigration Bureau office until relocated to a new building on Chaeng Wattana Road in the new Government Office Center  where the Thai passport office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are also located.

Both offices will handle police requests from abroad and INTEROL Red Notices to track down foreign criminals who may be in Thailand.

The crackdown will target more than 2,000 foreign nationals who have outstanding international arrest warrants against them and a list of about 1,000 foreign nationals with arrest warrants issued by Thai courts who have committed crimes while in Thailand.

Pol Lt General Wuthi Liptapanlop, who served as commissioner of the Narcotic Suppression Bureau (NSB), deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) and commander of the Tourist Police, was moved to immigration chief in November when there was a reshuffling of many major postings of Thai government public servants and promotions.