A Pattaya police office and two volunteers will receive warnings after failing to show proper identification and allegedly leading a young go-go bar dancer into believing she was being kidnapped.
Pattaya police chief Pol. Col. Apichai Krobpetch said the three unidentified officers were to be reprimanded for improper procedures that led to the Jan. 23 police report by a 23-year-old woman identified only as Mod.
She said she went out for a bite to eat after midnight near Rungland Village in South Pattaya and was approached by three men in their late 20s who claimed to be police. None were in uniform and none showed ID.
They told her they wanted to take her to a nearby van to test her for drugs. Despite initial reservations, she went along, then became more wary once she saw the vehicle. She peppered the men with questions, did not get satisfactory answers and managed to escape.
She filed a complaint at Pattaya Police Station that fake officers tried to abduct her.
Apichai said the next day that the three men were indeed legitimate. A senior sergeant major and two police volunteers were set up near Rungland Village to find drug users and dealers.
The police chief said Mod dropped the charges once getting his explanation, but stressed that corrective actions have been taken to require duty or patrol officers to always clearly identify themselves.
