Explosive details of a woman’s 2-year nightmare as a slave within the house of a serving Special Branch police woman who claimed to be the mistress or minor wife of a Thai senator have sparked calls for investigations to be carried out and full transparency to allay public concern and anger.
A TV programme broadcast on Thai TV’s Channel 3 on Thursday night in the kingdom has seen calls for internal probes within the Royal Thai Army, Police Special Branch and the Senate after shocking details emerged of the abuse of a 30-year-old woman, who claimed to be a former member of the military until May this year. She told viewers she was kept as a slave by a serving member of the police in Ratchaburi, a special branch officer and allegedly the mistress of a Thai senator. On Saturday, the 43-year-old police officer surrendered to police at Ratchaburi Police Station and was interviewed by the Assistant National Police Commissioner Police Lieutenant General Surachate Hakparn who warned that she may face serious human trafficking charges if the allegations against her are proven in due course.
A former Democrat Party MP, Watchara Phetthong, is now calling for an investigation within the Senate to identify a senator who may be linked to a policewoman who is facing possible slavery, assault and human trafficking charges linked with allegations aired on national television on Thursday by Channel 3’s Hone Krasae Show, a popular and award-winning television programme in the kingdom which specialises in news exposés.
The 30-year-old victim, a servant working at the home of the police officer, has been identified in recent days in the media only as ‘Miss A’.
Former Democrat MP calls on the Senate leadership to clarify matters and launch its own investigation
On Saturday, Mr Watchara called for the Senate to clarify if any senator was involved in the incident and if there were grounds to hold him accountable.
‘If found to have been complicit in his mistress’ immoral acts, the senator should be held accountable for the crime too,’ he said.
It is understood that Mr Watchara has already lodged a formal request to the Speaker of the Senate on Saturday.
The news comes as the suspect in the case, 43-year-old Police Corporal Kornsasi Buayaem, who works with the Special Branch Bureau in Ratchaburi, surrendered herself to an investigating task force at Ratchaburi Police Station in the capital district of the province on Saturday.
Police Corporal Kornsasi is attached to the Special Branch Bureau of the Royal Thai Police which has simultaneously announced a disciplinary enquiry into her actions.
Accused police woman, on Saturday, claimed to suffer from a mental illness which drove her to such violent behaviour and submitted a medical certificate
The serving officer has admitted to police that she abused her servant but has claimed it was the result of a diagnosed medical condition.
On Saturday, at Ratchaburi Police Station, she produced a medical certificate signed by a local hospital which said that a mental health condition had been diagnosed two years previously but the letter reportedly did not specify it.
On Thursday, Miss A’s lawyer told an anonymous caller who warned him off airing the details of the case on national TV that he was not afraid as he knew he was doing the right thing.
Ms A said that while working for her employer, she was not allowed to speak and that she was beaten regularly when her mistress was not satisfied with her work within the home.
Attacks with an electric prod which Miss A says her mistress stuck in her mouth to cause more pain
She said that this physical abuse included being attacked with an electric prod which was inserted in her mouth so that saliva and the electrical current would induce more pain as well as being beaten with a big stick, metal ruler and other implements over a two-year period.
She also told how, on one occasion, Police Corporal Karnsasi sprayed her hair and set it alight.
On Thursday afternoon, Mr Kannarat, Ms A and her lawyer Mr Paisan Ruangrit attended Ratchaburi Police Station where the woman made a formal complaint and outlined the nature of the abuse committed by the police officer who claimed to be the mistress of a minor wife of a Thai senator although the maid admitted to police she had never met the public figure.
Paid ฿500,000 to join the military but 2 years later, in May, was coerced into resigning her position
Ms A, the victim in the case, first befriended the police officer at a coffee shop where she worked but when the enterprise failed, was assisted by her employer to join the military.
A fee of ฿500,000 was to be paid to Police Corporal Kornsasi of which over half, or ฿270,000, was paid while the remainder was to be deducted from the woman’s salary at ฿3,000 per month.
Later, the 30-year-old woman did become a member of the armed forces but was coerced by her employer, in May this year, to tender her resignation having served for approximately two years.
It is understood the woman was at the same time, employed as a maid at the police woman’s home in central Ratchaburi which is where the abuse occurred.
Maid detailed the savage physical and mental abuse at the hands of her police woman boss over a two-year period to live Thai TV viewers on Thursday
‘I went to work at this house. For almost 2 years, I almost never left the house. We also had to sell cars, notebooks, phones and accessories. I gave the boss ฿270,000 not including the money taken from my salary which was deducted each month. Sometimes, I had to pay for water and electricity. This included paying for food for myself. Even though I was hurt, I was never sent to medical treatment. I was just told to let it heal itself. For example, my nose has been broken for over a month and still, I have not been treated. I am breathing from one right nostril. I was also threatened that if I fled, I would be followed and carried back,’ revealed Ms A this week.
In May, the woman was told by Police Corporal Karnsasi that if she failed to submit her letter of resignation from the military, she would face further abuse at the police woman’s hands.
She explained that after she resigned from the military under duress from her mistress, the beatings and abuse intensified causing her to seek help from a neighbour to help her escape from the home.
Efforts on the phone to intimidate the victim’s lawyer and an online activist who first broke the story
Both the victim’s lawyer and a social media activist who last week were instrumental in taking up the plight of the victim in the harrowing case, reported receiving intimidatory phone calls before the Channel 3 TV programme was aired last Thursday.
‘Ms A’ and her story were first exposed by Mr Kannarat Pongpaiboonvet or ‘Kun Chom Palang’, a social media commentator and influencer who follows up on cases of injustice for viewers online.
Mr Kannarat received a call from a caller purporting to be a lawyer warning him not to have the woman go ahead and present her story on the prime-time TV show last Thursday and to cease disseminating reports to the news media.
He responded that he would not stop as the kingdom had long abolished slavery.
Mr Kannarat also said that there was a real danger that this woman, Ms A, could have died at her employer’s home if he had not escaped.
Preliminary enquiry by Special Branch confirms Ms Karnsasi is a serving officer as an internal disciplinary enquiry is opened along with a criminal probe
In the meantime, her lawyer Mr Paisan has called on the Royal Thai Army, the Royal Thai Police and the Senate to conduct their own fully comprehensive enquiries into the matters which were aired in last week’s TV show.
The Special Branch has released the findings of a preliminary enquiry confirming that the officer suspected of being involved in the case was working as an investigator at its unit at Ratchaburi Police Station.
Reporters, on Friday, investigated the home at the centre of the allegations and were told that the policewoman had left earlier.
Neighbours were unaware of any relationship between the woman and a Thai senator and noted that the policewoman and her servant were quite private and travelled everywhere together.
The maid or Ms A was only seen by them alone while disposing of the rubbish and did not communicate with anyone.
Police Headquarters confirms the case was accepted by Ratchaburi Police Station. Provincial Police chief says the victim has been physically examined
On Saturday, a spokesman for the Royal Thai Police, Police Colonel Kritsana Pattanacharoen told the media that the police in Ratchaburi on Friday had accepted the case of the 30-year-old Ms A and her claims of regular physical abuse.
The senior national police officer confirmed that the suspect in the case was a serving officer and named her as 43-year-old Police Corporal Kornsasi Buayaem who worked with Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) in Region 4.
He said one focus of the enquiry would be on claims made by the police officer that she was the wife of a Thai senator and that these claims would also be pursued.
The commander of Provincial Police in Ratchaburi, Police Major General Piti Nareukhatpichai revealed that a physical examination of the woman allegedly abused and treated as a slave was carried out and would be critical to the investigation.
‘According to the initial questioning, the actions against the victim could be considered physical abuse, resulting in physical and emotional damage,’ Police Major General Piti said. ‘However, if the doctors confirm that the woman’s injuries are more severe, officers will have to press further charges.’
Looking to receive items linked with the abuse while reviewing the video clips submitted by the victim
The provincial police chief said that the investigators on the case were looking to retrieve items that had been used in the abuse while also reviewing video evidence submitted by the complainant thought to include video clips made while the attacks on her were taking place.
On Saturday, after being dispatched to Ratchaburi by police headquarters due to the high profile nature of the case, Assistant National Police Commissioner, Police Lieutenant General Surachate Hakparn also known as ‘Big Joke’ said he was there to ensure that police working on it expedited their work to clarify the truth of the matter and secure evidence.
He said that police top brass wanted the case to be investigated thoroughly and comprehensively.
Police Lieutenant General Surachate also pointed out that if the facts as outlined by the complainant were proven, the police officer could face serious legal consequences.
Search of the accused officer’s home while police did not oppose bail in the case, accused warned that interference in the case will see bail revoked
He revealed that a search would take place at Police Corporal Karnsasi’s home with her present seeking to retrieve further evidence.
Big Joke also made it clear that an internal disciplinary probe was also underway within the Special Branch division concerning the allegations led by a panel of inquiry.
The suspect was met at Ratchaburi Police Station and interviewed there by General Surachate under orders to supervise the investigation by Thailand’s police chief, General Suwat Jangyodsuk, due to the high profile nature given the recent prime-time TV show, the fact the accused is a serving police officer and the serious nature of the crimes involved such as slavery, physical abuse and harm as well as more serious criminal acts under human trafficking legislation.
The top police officer suggested that police would not oppose bail for the accused woman given that she surrendered and the relatively straightforward nature of the investigation.
However, he warned her that any attempt to undermine or interfere with the probe would see her bail revoked.
As a serving police officer, the accused is subject to twice the penalty if a court finds her guilty of human trafficking in this case, up to 20 years in prison
The social media activist, Kannarat Pongpaiboonvet, who runs a Facebook page known as Gun Jompalang is also known now to be focusing on the nature of the police woman’s medical certificate submitted to police reportedly without an exact medical diagnosis.
Police Corporal Karnsasi is facing a slew of serious charges, particularly for her coercion of the woman which could see her treatment of the 30-year-old victim designated as modern-day slavery and an offence under the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act 2008 as well as under Section 295 of the Criminal code for committing bodily harm which can see a person sentenced to up to two years in prison.
Under Sections 6, 6/1 and 13 of the anti-trafficking act, the police officer could face a term of anything from eight to twenty years in prison as the law specifies that any public official or employee of a public agency shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of twice that set down by the act which from four to ten years imprisonment.
Case shows a darker side to Thai culture where deference to authority is abused by some people
The case highlighted this week on national TV in Thailand reflects an underworld in the kingdom where such practices are known to be rife and are a product of Thailand’s culture which emphasises deference to authority or those with official positions or who are quite wealthy.
In 2019, a wealthy Bangkok-based Thai woman, Krissina Suwanpatik, was handed down a life sentence for a similar pattern of behaviour which unfortunately resulted in the murder of her 16-year-old maid who was handed into her care and service by the girl’s family in 2012.
The girl was viciously attacked by Ms Krissina in a violent rage and died from serious injuries sustained by the assault.
Her fate remained a mystery until 2017 when her mother launched a mission to find out about her daughter leading to the discovery of her body which had been disposed of in an effort to conceal the crime by her then 47-year-old employer.
Daughter of woman testified against her in 2019 trial which saw her jailed for life over maid’s murder
The case was eventually solved when the daughter of Ms Krissina who witnessed the attack came forward with the truth and testified against her mother following an intensive probe by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) of the Royal Thai Police.
Brutal murder of Thai maid 7 years ago sees punishment of mistress sentenced to life in prison
The murder had gone undetected for 5 years until the girl’s mother began her search in 2017 to locate the whereabouts of her missing daughter.
The girl had been hired out by her family in 2012 as a maid to the wealthy woman living in Bangkok who initially told police she had simply run off.
After a fruitless search, initially involving police and other agencies, a breakthrough came in October 2017 when a dramatic and anonymous telephone call to Janthira, the Thai girl’s mother, shocked the woman and revealed the chilling fate of her daughter, Jariya Srisak.
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Further reading:
Brutal murder of Thai maid 7 years ago sees punishment of mistress sentenced to life in prison
Police probe mental health of suspected murderer who killed his wife and stepson in Maha Sarakham
Yaba Yaba Don’t. Another murder in Phatthalung province this week linked to the evil drug now rife
Crazed man kills two in night of bloody murder in Nakhon Ratchasima on Sunday including ex-wife
Israeli wife murderer trying to evade Thai immigration blacklist back in prison where he belongs
Thai man brutally murders the man who took his wife as his own in a country that lives off passion
