Police moves to plug confidential info leaks to whistleblower Chuwit
The Metropolitan Police Bureau is investigating a senior police officer who is believed to have leaked information on the Jinling nightclub case to ex-massage parlour tycoon and politician Chuwit Kamolvisit.
Bureau chief Pol Lt-General Thiti Saengsawang said on Friday that a panel has been set up to investigate the issue after evidence was found that a police colonel within the agency had been providing confidential information to whistleblower Chuwit.
The information leaked is related to a police raid on the nightclub in Bangkok’s Yannawa district in October 2022.
In the raid, 104 revellers, 99 of whom were Chinese, tested positive for drugs. Police also seized recreational narcotics and some 30 luxury vehicles in the raid.
The following month, Chuwit handed police information on alleged Chinese triads operating in Thailand and using the nightclub as a base.
This resulted in an arrest warrant being issued for alleged triad kingpin Chaiyanat “Tuhao” Kornchayanant, who then surrendered to the police.
On Tuesday, Chuwit posted on Facebook CCTV footage from the nightclub on the night it was raided. In his post, he claimed that police had failed to collect evidence of drugs being sold at the club. He also questioned the transparency of the investigation.
Thiti, meanwhile, said the footage and other documents that Chuwit has been showing to the media are confidential evidence and may have been leaked by a senior officer responsible for the case.
If found guilty, the police colonel will be charged with sabotaging police investigation, the bureau chief added.
