Immigration Bureau spokesperson announced that the Chonburi Immigration Division chief has suspended two officers from their duties. They have been assigned to a different location for investigation into the incident where a Korean suspect was allowed to live stream from a police vehicle and holding cell during his transit to a detention center in Bangkok.
On October 16, 2024, Pol. Col. Cheongran Rimphodi confirmed that the Bureau had ordered a fact-check into the situation after images surfaced online showing the foreign suspect using a phone while in custody. The suspect, MR. SEO, is implicated in a drug-related case and had been arrested on October 3, 2024, for overstaying his visa by 373 days and is subject to deportation.
The photos were reportedly taken while the suspect was being relocated to a detention center in Bangkok on October 15, 2024, and involved two specific officers overseeing his custody.
Pol. Col. Cheongran emphasized that despite having received a court sentence, suspects must be properly restrained and monitored, particularly as this individual is wanted in Korea on drug charges, raising concerns about escape. The incident suggests that the officers did not adequately secure the suspect prior to the stream.
As a consequence, the Chonburi Immigration chief has initiated disciplinary proceedings against the involved officers with possible severe penalties following the internal investigation.
This article was rewritten from a Thairath’s news article.
