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Published on July 22, 2007

As expected, the Surayud government's attempt to reform the Royal Thai Police force has been met with stiff resistance. A panel of former national police chiefs publicly criticised the Royal Thai Police Bill and the Police Complaints Commission Bill, which were approved by Cabinet earlier this month. They were particularly opposed to the idea of having "outsiders" (non-police officers) serve as members of the Police Commission, as part of the effort to ensure that members of the force are accountable to the public.

The former chiefs claimed they were speaking for all members of the 200,000-strong Royal Thai Police, who they said would be adversely affected by the changes but dared not speak up for fear of being accused of insubordination. Their protests must have struck a harmonious chord with many police officers, who must be busy scheming to undermine the most ambitious reform of the force in decades in order to maintain the status quo.

This does not mean that those retired officers did not have something constructive to contribute to the debate on how to best revamp the Royal Thai Police for the public's benefit. Indeed, some of the points they raised deserve careful consideration by the Council of State, the government legal advisory body that is in the process of vetting the proposed legislation. They made a valid point when they pointed out that a senior member of the Law Society of Thailand, the governing body of lawyers, should not sit on the Police Commission, the governing body of police officers, because that would affect checks and balances within the country's criminal justice system.

However, they were obviously wrong to reject out of hand the proposal that the Royal Thai Police be closely monitored by outsiders serving as members of the Police Commission - such as a representative from the Human Rights Commission and respected academics with unblemished records of professional integrity. Input from outsiders who are well versed in the concepts of law enforcement and the criminal justice system is vital for a successful implementation of police reforms. That is because the police cannot be expected to reform themselves, certainly not at a time when the Royal Thai Police has sunk to a low in terms of its professional standards of law enforcement. One has only to look at how corruption and abuse of authority by officers in the national police force became even more widespread than it already had been during Thaksin Shinawatra's five-and-a-half-years in power.

Let's not forget that the two bills designed to push through sweeping police reforms were the handiwork of a 28-member police-reform committee, comprising criminal justice experts and chaired by retired police General Vasit Dejkunchorn, widely recognised for his personal integrity and professionalism. The committee was charged with finding concrete measures to transform the bloated and corruption-prone national police force into an efficient law-enforcement agency accountable to the public.

Under the Royal Thai Police Bill, the national police force would be decentralised and broken down into three groups: provincial police bureaux (one to nine); metropolitan police; and an administrative arm working under the national police chief, to be overseen by civilian supervisory boards and the prime minister.

The long chain of command of the current Royal Thai Police, which was modelled on that of the military, would be replaced and members of the police force classified by their functions: regular policemen, non-commissioned officers, police officers, and investigators. The bill also seeks to establish a meritocracy to replace the traditional patronage system, while at the same time substantially raising police salaries to make sure that they can make a decent living without having to resort to corrupt practices.

The Surayud government must not leave it to the civilian government to emerge from the next general to decide on police reform. As much as police cannot be trusted to reform themselves, politicians also cannot be trusted to make the tough decisions that need to be made on police reform. The worst thing that could happen would be for reforms to be watered down and made ineffective because politicians did not have the nerve or wherewithal to put the police force in its proper place - that is to make sure it serves the people.