Thai police undereducated, corrupt

Wed, 05 Jun 2002 | Source: AFP

THAILAND: Police chief agreed on Tuesday with international findings that his force was undereducated, underpaid and corrupt.

Gen. Sant Sarutanond told reporters Sunday's report released by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) which said Thailand's legal system was the worst in Asia after Indonesia was true.

However Sant said the Thai police force was changing, with personnel gradually becoming better qualified.

Sant said commissioned police officers should be earning 20,000 baht (US$471) per month to cover their expenses in large cities, but they only received a starting salary of 6,000 baht ($141) per month.

On a scale of one to 10, Singapore was seen to have the best legal and police system with a rating of 1.7, followed by Hong Kong (2.9), Japan (3.67) and South Korea (4.83).

Of the countries which failed to reach the pass mark, Malaysia was rated at 6.29, then Taiwan (6.33), Vietnam (7.08), India (7.33), China and the Philippines (7.78), Thailand (7.96) and Indonesia (9.83). --AFP

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