Taxi calls police friend to arrest complaining passenger

Taxi driver facing charges after calling policeman friend to arrest passenger complaining that refusing fare was against the law but passenger is a criminal prosecutor.

TAXIS, POLICE MISCONDUCT & POLICE REFORM

Taxi calls police friend to arrest complaining passenger but he is a prosecutor

15/02/2017
Online Reporters

A taxi driver is facing charges after he called a policeman friend to arrest a passenger for "irritating him" over a warning that it was against the law to refuse a fare.

The prospective passenger, the driver later found out, was a public prosecutor.

The Land Transport Department (LTD) on Wednesday launched an inquiry after the incident was posted on Facebook and drew heavy criticism of the driver and the police officer.

WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED?

A passenger, 54, hailed a taxi in front of Narai Hotel on Silom Road at around 9pm on Feb 10 to drive him to another place in Bangkok, but the taxi driver refused.

The passenger then said “Refusing a passenger breaches the law’’.  

Upset by the remark, the driver phoned someone and spoke with a loud voice:

“Are you free now, my boss?," the driver asked his police friend.

"A passenger is irritating me. Come and arrest him now." 

POLICE WAS GOING TO ARREST PASSENGER BUT HE WAS A PROSECUTOR

About 15 minutes later a police officer with the rank of police lieutenant showed up and asked the driver who the person was.

After the man was identified by the driver, the officer walked over to arrest him.

But when the passenger identified himself as a criminal prosecutor, the police offiver decided that maybe he should not try arresting him.

The criminal prosecutor, obviously knowing what the law was in this situation, then asked the police officer to arrest the taxi driver for refusing a fare.

NO DISCIPLINARY ACTION FOR POLICE MISCONDUCT, FOLLOW UP SHOWS

Two days later, the prosecutor followed up the case by contacting the police station in the area where the incident happened.

However, the prosecutor found that no action had been taken against the driver.

In fact, the police officer who had been called to the scene by the taxi driver (who arrived at the scene on a police motorcycle driven by another officer) was not even based at the police station that had jurisdiction in the case.

Clearly, some sort of police misconduct had occurred.

AFTER PROSECUTOR'S PRODDING, POLICE WILL NOW PURSUE CASE

After the prosecutor followed up on the case, the legal process of investigating the case was at least set in motion.

Whether the case will simply fade away and be forgotten, leaving the corrupt police officer, undeterred, to do it again, remains to be seen.

LTD deputy chief Nanthapong Cherdchu said on Wednesday that footage of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the area would be examined and the accused taxi driver would be called in for questioning, Channel 7 News reported.

Any taxi driver refusing a fare is liable to a fine of up to 1,000 baht.

A fine of 1,000 baht will be imposed on a cabbie found to have intimidated a passenger.

A driver who repeats the offences will have his driving licence for public transportation revoked.

On his Facebook page, Mr Songkran urged the LTD to take swift action against the accused taxi driver to set a precedent.

He said he was willing to provide the licence number of the taxi and other details if asked.

The lawyer said many taxi drivers had refused passengers but he had never seen a case of a cabbie asking a police officer to arrest a passenger like this before.

WHAT HAPPENS TO POLICE OFFICER CLEARLY GUILTY OF MISCONDUCT?

No mention of what action will be taken against the police officer who clearly violated the code of conduct for police officers working outside of his jurisdiction and disregarding the law to help a friend.

In fact the system for filing complaints against police officers for misconduct is not subject to public oversight (see here).

BIGGER QUESTIONS

This case obviously raises bigger questions.

What would have happened if the taxi breaking the law by refusing passengers had not been a public prosecutor?

Would the non-VIP passenger quite reasonably demanding that the law be followed have ended up in jail himself?

Will police reform really be meaningful and successful, if police misconduct is only punished in cases involving VIPs or people with elevated social status such as a police prosecutor?

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1199045/cabbie-calls-cop-after-being-warned-for-refusing-a-fare

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