Nongprue police called it an unfortunate “coincidence” that its Pattaya-area police station was left with only kids to man the desk early this week.
Stories of the “empty” police station spread like wildfire after a pair of residents went to file a report and found only student trainees sitting at the counter. No other officers were in the building.
The kids supposedly told the residents that they were assigned to take reports while the real officers were out for a meal.
After the resulting uproar, Pol. Col. Jirawut Thankasri said, in fact, all the officers but one were out on a burglary call. The other officer who was assigned to man the desk and take reports fell with blood-pressure issues and went to the doctor, leaving the student trainees in charge.
While the situation was a “coincidence”, Jirawut said, it nonetheless created a bad image for a relatively new police station and cannot happen again. All the officers were warned to always have someone available to assist the public, he added.
Nongprue Police Station was broken off from the Banglamung Police Station with officers transferred to the former substation. It has a relatively small size compared with the main sub-district station.
