Honest Thai Policeman, Chit Thongchit. Murdered by Corruption.

It is actually sad and amusing to read a report on the murder of a Thai policeman. It’s sad because the man fought corruption his entire time on the police force, amusing because the main suspects are in fact Thai police or politicians. He had fought more than 10 corruption cases against police and local and national politicians.

The policeman’s name was Chit Thongchit and he was a highway policeman. But four cases stand out as being most probably connected to his murder on Jan 15 this year.

This is what a police investigator said, "From our field investigations, we realised that no policemen liked him because he tried to expose their extortion activities.”

I bet they didn’t like the guy, not into corruption and also blowing the whistle. This guy had huge balls. Good to see a policeman with ethics.

The investigator also said, "On the other hand, every villager loved him because he always lent them a hand every time they had problems with police."

Chit also locked horns with an academic and former Kanchanaburi politician who was allegedly cheating villagers in Ratchaburi and Phetchaburi provinces over land sales.

This is hard to believe, A Thai cheating a Thai out of money and the Thai doing it is well educated and a politician. I have the politician’s name but won’t publish it.

Investigators have not ruled out his most famous case 11 years ago when he was a member of the highway police unit.

In 1998, he revealed how his colleagues were collecting money from drivers of overweight trucks in exchange for letting them on the road.

He was also investigating the corrupt activities of a politician in Ratchaburi who owned a farm.

Chit gained a reputation for being an honest cop when his team on a special assignment arrested policemen involved in cigarette smuggling in Khao Yoi district, Phetchaburi, in December 1987.

The case came under the spotlight when he revealed that his commander kept 834,000 baht of the cash reward for the operation and also kept some of the cigarettes seized from the operation.
I cannot believe that Thailand allows police to be paid rewards for doing their jobs. Thai police get commissions per ticket that they write. The Narcotics division receives percentages of money and assets seized and so forth. This is just so wrong.

The case that they believe that may have brought about his death was this one;

Chit filed a complaint about police in Prachuap Khiri Khan who had charged an innocent man with selling methamphetamine pills. This resulted in several senior and junior policemen being moved from the province.

Chit was a real policeman; this guy was trying to do what police are meant to do. Uphold the law and protect and serve the public. This got him killed.

Investigators have questioned people involved in this case but amazingly all have denied involvement in his death. (That’s surprising)

The death of the policeman has gained a lot of media coverage due to his unrelenting fight against corruption. This is in Thai and Thai English papers but not so abroad. I Googled his name and some key words and all the news was from Thai papers.

Thankfully his son is fighting for him now. He is a lawyer and said he will fight everyday for the rest of his life to bring the killers to justice. There is an interview with him here if you would like to read. He talks about how he had to collect evidence and give to investigators from the crime scene. He doesn’t trust the investigation; this is with good reason too. He has also forwarded the case onto National Humans Right Commission and also the Lawyers Council of Thailand.

Chit being fed up with being unfairly treated by colleagues and supervisors called it quits in 2002 and joined the People's Network Against Corruption to monitor police activities.

Chit survived an assassination attempt after the overweight truck case. But his end came at his farm in Pak Tho district in Ratchaburi on Jan 15. He was shot in the head with .22 calibre bullets.
A police Colonel stated "I suspect that the killer is a man in uniform."

Chit's body remains at Wat Pom Kaew in Samut Songkhram's Muang district pending cremation; 50 police from the Crime Suppression Division, Ratchaburi are striving to fulfill the wish of his family members - they will not cremate him until investigators bring his killers to justice.

His family is not holding its breath. I hope that they find the killers and that others pressure the Thai government into making sure this investigation is seen to properly.

I am sure there has to be other Thai police who are like this, I hope that with time and if a government takes it seriously in stamping corruption out that one day, many years from now Thailand will be a place where corruption isn’t so prevalent.

Brunty