The governor of Samut Sakhon and 22 other officials including law enforcement officers of the province and elsewhere were abruptly transferred and they face investigation for alleged abuse of labour, ill-treatment of the Rohingya and human trafficking.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha issued the transfer order in his capacity as the chief of the National Council for Peace and Order.
The transfer order was issued just a few hours after Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi met and held discussions with Prayut at Government House on Friday evening.
On Thursday, Suu Kyi visited migrant workers from her country at Talad Talay Thai in Samut Sakhon province, which is known as Little Myanmar because of the great number of Myanmar migrants working there. Suu Kyi reportedly received complaints from the workers about alleged abuses suffered by them. The Samut Sakhon governor was transferred along with three senior officials in the province.
Governor Manrat Ratanasukhon was transferred to an inactive post at the Interior Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Office.
Nanthawut Utsahatan, the deputy chief prosecutor of the province, was transferred to an inactive post at the Office of the Attorney-General.
Songwut Chotima, Samut Sakhon’s chief industry officer, was transferred to an inactive post at the Industry Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Office while Ratana Palachai, the province’s chief labour officer, was transferred to an inactive post at the Labour Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Office.
The order also transferred a public prosecutor and deputy public prosecutor from Nathawee district in Songkhla province to the Office of the Attorney-General.
Prayut also moved 17 police officers both in Bangkok and other provinces, whose ranks ranged from police major to police major-general, to inactive posts at the Royal Thai Police. The police officers included those from Songkhla’s Sadao district.
Allegations of Rohingya trafficking were believed to be behind the transfer of officers in Nathawee and Sadao while police officers in Bangkok were transferred apparently following a recent crackdown on migrant prostitutes at the Nataree massage parlour.
The order stated that the ministries or agencies the transferred officers belonged to must investigate them for corruption. If they were found to have committed no wrongdoing, their agencies must find new posts at the same level for them but they will not be reinstated to their posts in Samut Sakhon.
Reuters, The Nation/ANN, The Daily Star/ANN, The Star/ANN, Vice News, AFP
