3	rural, police, officer, who, dares, seek, justice

UPDATE: Sorayud on Channel 3 just did a segment about this. They first showed him on his trip to Bangkok to plead for a peaceful final posting. He was in tears back then. He first started in the same police station he ended up as superintendent at. Sorayud interviewed one of the police captains who was working under Pol. Col. Sompien.They had been working on an interlligence lead at 5 am this morning.

BP: Not all districts of the Deep South have high levels of violence, but Bannang Sata was not of the one quiet districts. It had one of the high incidences of violence in the Deep South - see here and here.

A very sad story. He stated in his recent trip to Bangkok that those who spend long careers in the Deep South should also have the opportunity to be rewarded for posts in more peaceful areas. He stated this will serve an incentive for soldiers in the Deep South.

Isra News recently reported:

In wake of a recent corruption scandal in which a police general was transferred to an inactive police and investigated after he was accused of taking “tea money” from police officers who wanted to be moved to “goldmine” positions, a handful of police officers who strongly felt they were unfairly treated took the unusual step by taking their cases to the government and the Royal Thai Police Office to seek justice.

Among the daring complainants was Pol Col Sompien Eksomya, superintendent of Bannangstar district police in Yala province.  The police officer has been serving in various posts in the three southernmost provinces for about three decades and he is due to retire in the next 20 months.

After having risked his life to perform duties in the country’s most dangerous region where most police officers prefer to avoid, Pol Col Sompien felt he deserved a less stressful and less risky post so he could serve out the rest of his term.  He asked to be transferred to Kantang district of Trang as superintendent which is under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Provincial Police Bureau.

It was learned that Pol Col Sompien’s request for transfer was supported by Pol Gen Adul Saengsingkaew, an advisor of the Royal Thai Police Office.  Technically, the transfer is possible provided that it has the backing of his original command and the Ninth Provincial Police Bureau whose jurisdiction covers Trang, Songkhla, Satun and Phatthalung provinces.

Unfortunately though, more than ten police officers had also eyed for the post in Kantang district which has been graded as a “goldmine” position.  Only those who have good political connections or who can afford the “asking price” of the powers-that-be usually get the post and can expect to recoup the investment within a short period of time.

But Pol Col Sompien neither has the right connections nor the cash to “buy” the position.  So, he ends up getting stuck in the same post in Bannangstar district where he is likely to serve out the rest of his term until his mandatory retirement in the next 20 months unless there is a miracle.

BP: Was going to blog on this story, this weekend, but the reason that am blogging about it now is that there has been unfortunate update today as the Bangkok Post reports:

Four police officers, one of them the district police chief, were seriously wounded in an ambush in Yala province on Friday afternoon, police said.

The attack occurred  about 1.30pm when Pol Col Sompian Eksomya, the Bannang Sata police chief, Pol Lt Kittisak Loma, Pol Senior Sgt-Maj Somphon Intarabovorn and Pol Cpl Rawikorn Sangsiri were travelling in a pick-up truck in an inspection trip to Lue Kong village in tambon Taling Chan of Bannang Sata district.

BP: Channel 3's Rueng Yen Deen Nee news program reports that Pol. Col. Sompian has now died. RIP.