Concern about social norms on fringe of law

Police officers' demands for 'ang pao' at the end of a slippery slope

In a way, Chalerm Yoobamrung is right. Police demands for Chinese New Year "gifts" from business people are normal, or even traditional. He nonchalantly dismissed a security camera footage showing three cops seeking "ang pao" from an Indian tailor as something totally acceptable. To add to what Chalerm said a little bit, the shop owner should consider himself to be lucky that no gun was pointed to his head during the visit.

Supporters of the deputy prime minister may consider him to be pragmatic. It's a "tradition" and who are we to change tradition, end of story. And when Chalerm, who supervises the Royal Thai Police, is of that opinion, who are we to argue? Society may have to agree with Chalerm that the only mistake the three policemen made was to demand "ang pao", or Chinese New Year giveaways, from an Indian.

When the line between extortion and bribery is blurred, or when we are not sure whether it's either of them or a combination, let's call it a traditional gift. And if it is all right for police to get the gifts from Chinese business people during their New Year, maybe Thai police can raid Western-based corporate headquarters during Christmas and Indian communities during their festivals. Now that gift-taking is tradition in Chalerm's eyes, probably we should go all the way.

Make no mistake. Police seeking "ang pao" from a tailor is less controversial than those getting "paid" by brothel owners or gambling den operators. However, whether or not the "ang pao" mission is part of the learning curve remains to be seen. Obviously, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm does not believe that the three cops in the Indian shop will grow more audacious in the future.

The three policemen are a product of a system plagued with such traditions. In Chalerm's opinion, doing away with the practice is impossible. He suggested that it takes two to tango, but he seemed to overlook the fundamental why business people have to present gifts to the authorities in the first place. In other words, while it has become a "tradition" among the businessmen, it likely used to be downright extortion in the past.

Whatever it used to be, it doesn't matter now. Or so Chalerm believes. He even asked the media not to get carried away and play up the story. It was by no means extortion, he insisted. According to the deputy prime minister, if you condemn the three cops' behaviour, you condemn a social norm. Police, with the exception of some low-ranking rotten apples, are enjoying a good image, and the media must not slap the entire force with a bad stereotype, he said.

In fact, Chalerm doesn't have to worry too much. The "gift-seeking" story will disappear from the media soon, if it has not already. Some "punishment" may have been handed down on the three policemen and that will be it. While the public may see deep-rooted corruption as the crux of the matter, Chalerm is thinking differently. There is no need to overhaul the police, he stressed.

Where does this leave us? Obviously, it leaves us in a society that is no different today from the moment the three cops entered the tailor's shop a few days ago. It's no different because nothing happened then that needs to be fixed now. In the eyes of someone who arguably matters most, the three men were just "observing a tradition".

Only in Thailand can something found lying at the bottom of a slippery slope be called a social norm. The Indian shop visit was physically harmless and there was no obvious intimidation involved, so Chalerm see no needs to remedy the system. We are left wondering if many of our politicians in power, who are former police, used to give "ang pao" to visiting police or receive some when they were wearing the uniform. "Tradition", after all, is something that has been practised for a long while.

Latest stories in this category

• Concern about social norms on fringe of law


• Police officers' demands for 'ang pao' at the end..


• Rice gamble could be an expensive fiasco


• Prophecies a curious mix with financial..

We Recommend

• Meteorite explosion shakes Chelyabinsk, injuring 400


• A meteorite has flared spectacularly in the sky..


• Ombudsman hands Foreign Ministry ultimatum over..


• In death, another side to insurgent Mahrosu is..

Comments conditions

Users are solely responsible for their comments.We reserve the right to remove any comment and revoke posting rights for any reason withou prior notice.

Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/02/17/concern-about-social-norms-on-fringe-of-law/