One police officer has been dismissed, and four others are facing criminal and disciplinary action over their alleged involvement in corruption linked to the unlawful release of Chinese detainees, the Royal Thai Police said on Friday.
All five officers are investigators attached to the Metropolitan Police Bureau, according to Pol Lt Gen Trairong Phiwphan, deputy inspector-general and deputy spokesperson. The case centres on allegations that investigators colluded to temporarily remove Chinese nationals from immigration detention for criminal proceedings but failed to return them for deportation, allowing the detainees to disappear from official custody.
An internal probe found that between 2021 and 2025, police investigators requested the temporary transfer of 131 Chinese detainees from immigration custody. Of these cases, five investigators — holding ranks from police captain to police lieutenant colonel — were found to have allegedly demanded bribes from foreign detainees. One officer alone was accused of requesting the transfer of more than 30 detainees.
“The RTP has already dismissed one of the five officers, Pol Capt Chaiya (surname withheld), today. The remaining four are facing both criminal charges and serious disciplinary proceedings,” Pol Lt Gen Trairong said.
He explained that the officers accepted fraud complaints, gathered evidence and obtained arrest warrants for individuals who were already being held by immigration authorities pending deportation. The detainees were then released into police custody for legal proceedings. Immigration police complied with the requests after receiving court warrants but formally stated that the detainees must be returned to immigration custody once their cases concluded.
“However, the detainees were not returned as required,” Pol Lt Gen Trairong said.
Investigators are now conducting a wide-ranging probe into all parties involved, including complainants, legal representatives, intermediaries and police officers. Financial trails and potential criminal networks connected to the alleged scheme are also under scrutiny.
National police chief Pol Gen Kittharath Punpetch has ordered a nationwide review of detainee releases going back 10 years to determine whether similar abuses occurred elsewhere. “Whether this represents a systemic loophole or deliberate criminal intent must be examined at every stage,” Pol Lt Gen Trairong said, adding that confirmed wrongdoing could amount to the fabrication of criminal cases to prevent deportation.
The inquiry was launched after the Chinese Embassy alerted Thai authorities in January last year to the unexplained disappearance of a detainee identified as Ma Guangxue, who had been scheduled for deportation. The Immigration Bureau has said the transfers were carried out in compliance with court orders presented by police investigators.
