Thanks to greater international cooperation, it’s much easier for the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to detect crime and obtain evidence, so watch out those foreigners involved in crimes ranging from passport forgery, call centre scams, credit card fraud and illicit drugs to the sexual exploitation of children and even murder
Maxmilian Wechsler talks to Director of Bureau of Foreign Affairs and Transnational Crime
MY message to foreign criminals who plan to come to Thailand to do their dirty work is, think again! If you commit a crime here you’ll be caught and thrown in jail,” said Paisith Sungkahapong, Director of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs and Transnational Crime (BFATC) under the Department of Special Investigation (DSI). Mr Paisith acknowledged that in years past Thailand was regarded as a safe haven for foreigner criminals and fugitives, but he emphatically asserts that those days are over.
“The DSI is now a highly efficient, effective, and well equipped law enforcement organisation and we work closely with many foreign counterparts. This allows us to gather information on foreign criminals and fugitives more easily and it allows us to find them easily if they enter the country.” Director Paisith has been with the DSI since the civilian agency under the Ministry of Justice was formed in 2002. He held several key posts and achieved the civil service rank of C9 before he was appointed BFATC Director in July 2015. He recently made time in his busy schedule to talk to The BigChilli at the high-rise DSI headquarters on Chaeng Wattana Road. He was wearing the new dark blue DSI uniform which is not yet familiar to the general public.
“We have been trying to update our uniforms for years and the government finally approved this design in September. Every DSI officer is obliged to wear the uniform on Mondays, for special occasions and ceremonies and when conducting the operations.”
“The DSI is now a highly efficient, effective, and well equipped law enforcement organisation and we work closely with many foreign counterparts. This allows us to gather information on foreign criminals and fugitives more easily and it allows us to find them easily if they enter the country.” Director Paisith has been with the DSI since the civilian agency under the Ministry of Justice was formed in 2002. He held several key posts and achieved the civil service rank of C9 before he was appointed BFATC Director in July 2015. He recently made time in his busy schedule to talk to The BigChilli at the high-rise DSI headquarters on Chaeng Wattana Road. He was wearing the new dark blue DSI uniform which is not yet familiar to the general public.
“We have been trying to update our uniforms for years and the government finally approved this design in September. Every DSI officer is obliged to wear the uniform on Mondays, for special occasions and ceremonies and when conducting the operations.”
Transnational focus
The DSI was formed to tackle wideranging and complicated cases including suspected transnational crimes. Director Paisith explained that the BFATC was set up at the same time as the DSI and is one of the most important bureaus in the organisation. “We are responsible for handling all transnational crime in Thailand, although we often work together with the Royal Thai Police (RTP). “There are 39 types of crime we are empowered to investigate under the DSI Special Cases Act. These are defined as complicated criminal activities committed by influential persons or organised criminal groups, and include foreign exchange and currency crimes, government procurement fraud, consumer protection violations, trademark, copyright and patent infringement, money laundering, violations of security and exchange commission regulations, revenue code and customs violations, illegal trade in liquor and tobacco and trafficking in persons. “Crimes we are particularly focused on now include the sexual exploitation of children and passport forgery, and we have a good record of arrests and convictions in these areas. We are also responsible for cases of international fraud, like the call centre scams where smooth-talking criminals cheat people over the phone. They lie to potential ‘clients’, promising a high return on investments and then ask them to transfer money to them. This crime is mainly perpetrated by Chinese syndicates. “We also look at credit card fraud and we have cracked some cases involving Eastern European offenders. In 2015 we cooperated with the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and the Narcotics Suppression Bureau to bring down an illegal drugs network in one of the tourist islands down south. However, our agency is not directly responsible for narcotics suppression. “Sometimes we investigate murders that involve foreigners as victims or perpetrators. Terrorism is handled chiefly by military, police and intelligence agencies, but we are the part of the law enforcement community that shares and gathers information on terrorist activities. “We begin the information gathering process on cases in two ways. The first is when another agency asks us to investigate a possible criminal activity. We will then start a preliminary investigation, and if we find sufficient cause we will open up a Special Case. The second is initiating an investigation ourselves. This happens when intelligence generated within the DSI indicates something unlawful is going on. We then send our people to investigate and open up the case,” said Director Paisith. |
BFATC BACKGROUND ABOUT 50 officers are assigned to the BFATC. The whole of the DSI has about 1,200 officers working out of Bangkok headquarters and five regional offices in Chiang Mai, Chonburi, Khon Kaen, Pattani, and Surat Thani. Unlike other DSI bureaus which have only one operational function, the BFATC has two functions which are handled by five distinct divisions. Two divisions conduct investigations, and the other three divisions are concerned with matters of international cooperation, for example the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), extraditions, MoUs, following international protocol and handling translations and interpreters. “When staff is recruited for our bureau we look for people who can speak and write English well,” said BFATC chief Paisith Sungkahapong. “Our people are all assigned to the Bangkok headquarters, but when required we send our officers to provincial offices. “I have two deputy directors and five division chiefs here. We are very busy, sometimes working during weekends. Law enforcement is a 24-hour job. We usually do five to ten big cases and 15-20 preliminary investigations a year, and that’s a lot of work,” said Director Paisith. “Working closely with foreign law enforcement agencies allows us to detect criminal activities and movements in Thailand much more easily”
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Horrific cases handled by the Royal Thai Police
DIRECTOR Paisith stressed that not all crimes committed in Thailand by foreigners fall under the purview of the BFATC or DSI. This year, for example, some particularly gruesome cases involving foreigners have come to light.
November this year saw the arrest of an Israeli man who reportedly dismembered a fellow countryman and cemented the pieces inside a wall of his house. In September three English-speaking foreigners ‒ two allegedly Americans and a Brit ‒ were arrested at a house where the dismembered body of another foreigner was found in the freezer. Another case involved a Spanish suspect who police believe abducted and tortured a foreign man in order to obtain ransom money. He too apparently dismembered his victim and discarded the parts in the Chao Phraya River. He was arrested in Cambodia and handed to the Thai police.
Despite their high profiles, none of the three cases was investigated by the DSI but by the RTP since they had adequate resources to do the job.
DIRECTOR Paisith stressed that not all crimes committed in Thailand by foreigners fall under the purview of the BFATC or DSI. This year, for example, some particularly gruesome cases involving foreigners have come to light.
November this year saw the arrest of an Israeli man who reportedly dismembered a fellow countryman and cemented the pieces inside a wall of his house. In September three English-speaking foreigners ‒ two allegedly Americans and a Brit ‒ were arrested at a house where the dismembered body of another foreigner was found in the freezer. Another case involved a Spanish suspect who police believe abducted and tortured a foreign man in order to obtain ransom money. He too apparently dismembered his victim and discarded the parts in the Chao Phraya River. He was arrested in Cambodia and handed to the Thai police.
Despite their high profiles, none of the three cases was investigated by the DSI but by the RTP since they had adequate resources to do the job.
BACKGROUND OF PAISITH SUNGKHAHAPONG Education 1980: Certificate of English as a Foreign Language (UK) 1984: Diploma in Art (UK) 1998: Bachelor’s Degree in Law 1995: Master’s Degree in International Relation Training 1989: Police Training: Royal Police Academy 1997: Immigration Control: Japanese International 1998 Diploma: Federal Bureau of Investigation Academy (US) 2000: Supervisory Criminal Investigator Course: International Law Enforcement Academy Past Experience 1989 -1990: Office of Police Secretary 1990-1991: Inspector General Office, Royal Thai Police 1991-1996: Immigration Bureau 1996-2002: Interpol Bangkok: Royal Thai Police (rank Pol Lt-Col) 2003-2011: Chief of Foreign Affairs Division, Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Ministry of Justice 2011-2013: Senior Investigator supervising the Anti-Human Trafficking Centre (AHTC), DSI 2013-2015: Director, AHTC, DSI 2015-Present: Director of Bureau of Foreign Affairs and Transnational Crime, DSI Honour Award 2009: Good Performance Government Official of Ministry of Justice Mr Paisith is married with two children |
Asked whether crimes committed by foreigners in Thailand are increasing or going down, he answered, “This is a good question, and one I can’t answer offhand. We would have to look at the whole statistics. But I can tell you that it is now easier for us to detect crimes and obtain evidence, in large part because people often capture crimes being committed on their mobile phone cameras. Then too, CCTV is being installed at more and more locations.
This makes it much easier to locate foreigners in Thailand than, say, 10 years ago. As well, the Immigration Bureau photographs everyone when they present their passport upon arrival and departure.” International cooperation “We cooperate closely with a number of embassies in Thailand, most of which have a police attaché or liaison assigned to their mission. We sometimes get requests from embassies to locate a fugitive or someone with an arrest warrant out for them. In such a case we often work with the Immigration Bureau and the police. When we apprehend the wanted person we notify the authorities concerned for further action. “Foreign police liaisons in Thailand have set have up an organisation called Foreign Anti-Narcotics and Crime Community (FANC) which now includes 24 countries. We signed a memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with FANC as soon as the organisation was founded. We also have MoUs with individual countries and the Australian Federal Police, as well as the UK’s National Crime Agency. We will soon sign MoUs with the US Homeland Security Investigations and the Australian Border Force. “Working closely with foreign law enforcement agencies allows us to detect criminal activities and movements in Thailand much more easily. This is made possible by new technology, some of which is pretty amazing. “We also work closely with the RTP. We don’t see the police as competition; they are more like brothers. Sometimes we have joint social or sporting events. If we find that an investigation we are conducting doesn’t fit the Special Case category we refer it to the police. Likewise, if the RTP is involved in something that is fit with our responsibilities they refer it to us. “We have a Special Case Committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, which includes representatives from various agencies concerned. At present we are working on four Special Cases and about 15 preliminary investigations that may develop into Special Cases.” Director Paisith explained that we can conduct basic surveillance like following a pedestrian or a vehicle. “However, if we want to conduct electronic surveillance then we have to submit a request to the court for a warrant and we have to present evidence to the judge why this is needed. “The military works with us in some situations, for example assisting in arrests. When we do a big operation, especially in the provinces, we need the support from the military as well as the local authorities and the law allows us to make the request.” Director Paisith said increasing globalisation and international travel have led to a corresponding increase in transnational crimes. “The criminals can now travel from country to country very easily. That’s why we work so closely with foreign law enforcement agencies. Foreigners who come here to commit crimes, including high-tech or white collar crimes, or hide out from foreign law enforcement organisations, are very likely to find themselves taking up residence in a Thai prison,” he concluded. |
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