Deputy Interior Minister Chada Thaiset of Thailand’s Department of Provincial Administration (DoPA) has announced their determined efforts to track down people involved in multiple kinds of crime throughout the nation. Referred to as “influential figures”, these people are believed to be implicated in as many as 16 different forms of illegal activities.
The list of criminal offences is comprehensive, ranging from predatory lending and bid rigging to taking bribes from public transportation vehicles and smuggling of untaxed goods. Other forms of crimes consist of both online and offline gambling, human trafficking, illicit entry into the country, illegitimate overseas job placement, scams targeting tourists, hiring of gunmen for illicit purposes, unlawful debt collection, illegal arms trading, encroachment on public land, extortion, and the handling and smuggling of narcotics.
Announcement of this active maneuvering by DoPA comes in response to the tragic shooting incident headlined nationwide that involves Police Major Sivakorn Saibua. This unfortunate incident occurred at a dinner party held at the home of Praween Chanklai, better known as Nok, a local political figure and operator of a construction business, on the 6th of September in Nakhon Pathom.
Acknowledging the gravity of these offences, Deputy Interior Minister Thaiset, appointed by Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to oversee the entire operation, disclosed that DoPA’s director-general, Manrat Rattanasukhon, has given directives to deputy governors in all provinces, asking them to compile the names of such influential figures in their respective provinces just last week.
In addition to this, the DoPA is joining forces with various agencies, working to establish a far-reaching database containing information about what Minister Chada terms “mafia-like politicians”. Once this list is completed, DoPA plans to draw up a map indicating where these figures are based and the specific offences they are affiliated with.
Moreover, Chada added that officials are going to conduct in-depth probes into businesses that are run by these influential figures. The overriding goal of the ministry is to dismantle businesses that facilitate the growth of wealth and power of these figures. Apparently, several such businesses continue functioning even when the head operators are either imprisoned or deceased. More updates on this and other stories are available on The Thaiger’s new Facebook page.
Be First to Comment