BANGKOK – International rights advocacy group Amnesty International launched a campaign yesterday to highlight what it calls the “cruel and inhumane” practice of transferring high-ranking officials from one position to another as punishment for wrongdoing or corruption in Thailand.
“In the twenty-first century, it is simply inconceivable that a civilized country would allow this barbaric and antiquated act of career-punishment to continue,” said Norma Kang Muico, an AI regional officer. “The global community must stand up to fight this horrific practice, in the name of humanity.”
The practice of transferring involves the lateral shifting of a bureaucrat or minister to another post in the same or similar department as punishment for criminal behavior or incompetence. According to Muico, this action often includes a “minor demotion of rank” and “potential reduction in salary” of as much as 15%.
What AI finds most objectionable, however, is the so-called “loss of face” that the official will have to endure for the rest of his or her life.
“Face means everything in Thai culture,” Muico explained. “To be transferred from your post is basically to endure the public loss of face, which is worse than death. It’s a form of torture that should be outlawed by the Geneva Convention.”
Although transferred officials in Thailand are typically spared any actual investigation into their alleged crimes, and never lose employment benefits or serve jail time, the process of having been moved from one office to another – sometimes in a different building altogether – can leave psychological scars that are as just as damaging.
Amnesty also criticized what it called the most egregious cases of transferring, to “inactive posts” that didn’t even require the victim to show up for work in order to collect a large salary.
“To have nothing to do all day is to be deprived, and deprivation is a known torture technique,” Muico said.
The timing of Amnesty’s campaign is believed to have been inspired by the recent decision of Pheu Thai MP Chalerm Yoobamruang to transfer National Police Chief General Wichean Potephosree following accusations that he failed to crack down on illegal gambling dens.
Wichean will now face the life-destroying punishment of having to be employed as the National Security Council secretary-general, a high executive position with full benefits and privileges, including a government-paid BMW 7-series for personal and business use.
Muico says that the Wichean case, while emblematic of the cruelty of the Thai justice system, is not unique, and he highlighted several others.
- Plodprasop Suraswadi, permanent secretary of the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, was transferred to an inactive post in 2004 for allegedly allowing the illegal export of endangered tiger species to China.
- Lt-Colonel Surin Plairahan was transferred to the Bangkok Immigration office for allegedly allowing Thai gamblers to travel without visas to illegal casinos in Cambodia at the Aranyaprathet border checkpoint in 2005.
- In March of this year, at least two Thai army officials were transferred after a large amount of weapons went missing from the 1st Infantry Battalion at the Royal Thai Army Infantry Centre in Pran Buri district of Prachuap Khiri Khan province.
In response to Amnesty International’s accusations, a Thai government spokesperson insisted that transfers were a perfectly humane way to deal with difficult corruption scenarios.
“We provide the accused with a lifetime salary, an easy job, and all the privileges that a powerful person is entitled to under Thai culture,” said PM representative Thitima Chaisaeng.
Furthermore, Thitima insisted that the transfer punishments were really less severe than Amnesty was portraying.
“As soon as the winds of power shift at the top, the transferred person usually gets transferred back quietly,” she explained. “So really, there’s no punishment at all.”
