The head of the police investigation into the trafficking of Rohingya migrants has quit after being ordered to transfer to the South, saying he feared for his safety because the suspects he is prosecuting are influential there.
Closing the net: Three trawlers were raided at sea in a joint operation to crack down on illegal fishing in Trang province. Police arrested the skippers of the vessels for alleged involvement in human trafficking, along with the president of Kantang Fishing Association.
Pol Maj Gen Paween Pongsirin said many of the traffickers he is pursuing are prominent figures in the three southernmost provinces, adding that the transfer order put him in an awkward position since he has not been trained to take on a senior post in the region.
The 57-year-old deputy commissioner of Provincial Police Region 8 said yesterday he would complete his duties in the migrant investigation before stepping down.
It has been more than five months since Pol Maj Gen Paween took up the high-
profile human trafficking case.
The investigation was launched after the discovery in early May of graves and 26 corpses at what is thought to be a human-trafficking camp atop Khao Kaew mountain in tambon Padang Besar in Songkhla’s Sadao district, near the Malaysian border.
The bodies were believed to be Rohingya Muslim refugees who were victims of human trafficking.
"This is my last task and I will try my very best to complete it. The suspects will be brought to justice based on the evidence we've compiled.
Target: Pol Maj Gen Paween's fight against traffickers has made enemies in the South.
"Believe me, I won't let this personal issue about my situation interfere in the investigation," he said.
"That's all I can say because I've been placed in a very awkward position."
Pol Maj Gen Paween tendered his resignation on Thursday and said he expected it to be approved and effective by Dec 6.
In the interim, he will remain as head of the Rohingya human trafficking team that is now working with prosecutors on an investigation report of more than 200,000 pages.
That report is expected to be forwarded to the Criminal Court later this week.
So far 153 arrest warrants have been issued in the trafficking case and 91 suspects have been detained.
Among them are civilians, local politicians, wealthy figures, six military officers and four policemen.
One of the suspects is former senior army adviser Lt Gen Manas Kongpan.
Pol Maj Gen Paween previously revealed that several of the trafficking suspects facing arrest were influential people with enough money to finance almost anything they wanted.
Some witnesses had complained they were being intimidated by the suspects. There were concerns that these people might retract their statements if they felt their lives were in danger, he said.
Despite seeking and receiving a large number of arrest warrants in a short period of time, Pol Maj Gen Praween has insisted that his team adhered to the law and followed the evidence while investigating the case.
He said the safety of investigators was of paramount concern because their role was to dig deep into the human trafficking network.
The officer said he had actually requested a move to the far South two years ago, so that he could gain experience of working in the violence-plagued zone. His request was not approved at that time.
It was ironic, he said, that an order was now being made for him to transfer there, after having made a lot of enemies in the region through his role in the trafficking investigation.
On Oct 21, the Police Commission approved a reshuffle list of more than 200 police officers that included Pol Maj Gen Paween.
It earmarked him for transfer to the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre (SBPPOC), where he would have taken up the post of deputy chief.
National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda insisted that the reshuffle order was justifiable.
He urged Pol Maj Gen Paween to lodge a complaint with the Administrative Court if he felt it was unfair.