Tourist Police (Thailand)


The Tourist Police Bureau of Thailand was formed on September 1, 2017. It was elevated from the Tourist Police Division, which was formed in 1992 and traces its origins to 1976. The Tourist Police is a department of the Royal Thai Police, which is the main law enforcement agency in the country. The creation of the Tourist Police is due to the fact that the tourism and entertainment industry in Thailand is growing every year, and the number of people arriving in the country is constantly increasing. The priorities of the Tourist Police include cooperation with foreign nationals and the promotion of their security.
On September 6, 2017, General Prawit Wongsuwan who is the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of Thailand appointed Lieutenant-General Terapon Kuptanond Commander of the Tourist Police.

Functions

The Office of the Tourist Police has the following powers and responsibilities:
Tourist police are uniformed personnel who lack police powers and are largely responsible for writing out reports for insurance companies for victims of theft. In more serious cases, they will translate reports to be passed on to the regular police in Bangkok. Recently recruiting foreign nationals living in Thailand.
According to Reuters correspondent, Andrew Marshall, "The country has a special force of Tourist Police, set up specifically so that foreigners have as little contact as possible with the ordinary police—the effect on the crucial tourism industry would be chilling."
According to one source, there are 1,700 enlisted tourist police on the force.