The views on the commercial sex trade attributed to Pol Col Napanwut Liamsanguan have provoked the predictable condemnation from all those misguided social activists, academics and other assorted lunatics who insist on basing their opinions on a rational analysis of the data rather than the Police Colonel’s unsubstantiated prejudice.

Pol Col Napanwut argued that sex workers provide a valuable social service.  By degrading themselves with their sordid criminality, they reduce the risk of rape for other, decent women.  If Thai society did not have the sex workers that the police regularly round up, fine and put back on the streets, crime would increase.

While one might wonder why someone with opinionated opinions like these should be appointed as the head of Bangkok’s Children and Women’s Protection Unit, it appears that Pol Col Napanwut is not the only guardian of the law who takes a similar perspective on their responsibilities.ล

For example, there are a number of well-known gangs that prey on foreign tourists.  There is the mob that drops something with a resounding crash in the supermarket and while all heads are turned, lifts handbags from the shopping trolleys of distracted tourists. 

Then there is the plausible chappy who asks the tourist where he’s from.  Oh really?  I hear that your banknotes are really beautiful.  Can you show me some?  The mark hands over the wad, the appreciative grifter riffles through the notes and hands them back.  At least some of them.

Then there are the taxis that run out of gas half way from the airport, but no problem, I’ll call my friend to take you the rest of the way.  Very accommodating friend, who even helps transfer your bags from one cab to the other.  Except for the one with the laptop, camera, etc. 

And the motorcycle duos who snatch bags from unsuspecting tuk-tuk passengers waiting for red lights.  And the black money scam artists.  And the jewellery stores with special prices for days that aren’t special at all.  And so on and so on.

The daily blotters of the capital’s police stations are full of such reports.  But very rarely do they record any arrests.  This is partly because of a belief in the higher echelons of law enforcement that if the thieves are ripping off tourists (who, given their wealth and incredulity, really only deserve what they get), then they will leave Thais alone.

Midnight motorcycle racers are a danger to themselves and other road users.  As well as a noisy nuisance to anyone in the vicinity trying to sleep.  But one line of thinking among the traffic police is to give them designated road space and let them do their thing. 

If this includes leaving the odd obstacle in the blind spot beyond the bridge or the bend, then spectacular accidents will be a nightly occurrence, leaving some bikers dead or disabled.  Over time, the ranks of would-be racers will be thinned by this variant of natural selection, to the greater good of the rest of society.

Thai society is founded on a system of blind obedience by the lower orders, a system that is practised and inculcated by the education system and then reinforced by just about every other national institution.  This humbling process of course does not work equally well in all cases and there remains a residue of resisters, mostly young men, at the bottom of the pecking order. 

Their feelings of resentment, however, are sublimated by giving them jobs as car park attendants with whistles.  They are then allowed, and even encouraged, to blow their little hearts out.  The nuisance value of this activity is seen as a minor price to pay for staving off the possibility of insurrection or worse.

And finally there is the question of how police officers with views like those of Pol Col Napanwut can rise to positions of power and influence within the force.  The Prime Minister has somewhat naively asked police officers to stop ‘buying’ the top jobs.

But this flies in the face of what makes a good police officer.  Very few police officers enter the force as rich men (unlike politicians, for example).  If they have amassed sufficient wealth to purchase a coveted top spot, this is a sign that they have been more successful than their peers and truly merit the promotion that they are paying for. 

Contrary to popular opinion, making money is not that easy for a policeman.  It takes a deep understanding of the criminal mind, an extensive network of connections, superior skills in logistics and management, and a well-honed insensitivity to concepts like justice and honesty.  Any officer with these qualities will naturally rise to the top, with the amassing of a small fortune being an almost inevitable by-product.

Does this then mean that wrong-doing will always be tolerated in the Thai system?  Far from it.  Some crimes will remain taboo, to be investigated, prosecuted and punished with the greatest of vigour.  Things like writing sarcastic columns that besmirch Thai values, for example.

So let’s all hold our breath and see if next week’s column will appear.

About author:  Bangkokians with long memories may remember his irreverent column in The Nation in the 1980's. During his period of enforced silence since then, he was variously reported as participating in a 999-day meditation retreat in a hill-top monastery in Mae Hong Son (he gave up after 998 days), as the Special Rapporteur for Satire of the UN High Commission for Human Rights, and as understudy for the male lead in the long-running ‘Pussies -not the Musical' at the Neasden International Palladium (formerly Park Lane Empire).