Department of Special Investigation

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is a department of the Ministry of Justice of Thailand. It operates independently of the Royal Thai Police and is tasked with the investigation of certain "special cases". These include complex criminal cases, those affecting national security, those involving organised criminal organisations and those potentially implicating high-ranking government officials or police officers. As of June 24, 2020 the DSI is tasked to investigate and follow up on cases under the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances if and when it becomes law on cases involving torture or forced disappearances.[1]

Not to be confused with Special Investigations.

Department of Special Investigation
กรมสอบสวนคดีพิเศษ
Department overview
Formed3 October 2002 (2002-10-03)
TypeMinisterial department
JurisdictionGovernment of Thailand
HeadquartersBangkok, Thailand
Annual budget1,190 million baht (FY2019)
Department executive
  • Police Lt Col Korawat Panprapakorn, Director-General
Parent departmentMinistry of Justice
WebsiteDSI

The DSI is often referred to as Thailand's counterpart to the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).[2] Since its inception, the DSI has seen conflicts with the police over jurisdiction and authority over cases, and department officials have publicly expressed concern that the department's work has been consistently subject to political interference.[3][4][5]

Police Lieutenant Colonel Korawat Panprapakorn was named DSI Director-General in April 2020. The position had been vacant since Police Colonel Paisit Wongmuang's resignation in February for health reasons.[6]

Budget

The DSI's budget for fiscal year (FY) 2019 was 1,190 million baht, up from 1,102 million baht in FY2018.[7]

Organization
  • Office of the Director
    • Law Department
    • Office of Foreign Affairs and International Crimes
    • Office of Financial Litigation
    • Office of Security
    • Office of Consumer and Environmental Protection
    • Office of Intellectual Property Litigation
    • Office of Technology and Information Technology Case
    • Office of Tax Lawsuit
    • Office of Special Criminal 1
    • Office of Special Criminal 2
    • Office of Special Criminal 3
    • Office of Technology and Information Monitoring Center
    • Office of Policy and Strategy
    • Office of Special Cases
    • Office of Special Operations
    • Office of Special Case Development and Support

Notable cases
  • In 2004, human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit was abducted in broad daylight in Bangkok. He had been representing a group of Muslim suspects allegedly involved in the South Thailand insurgency. Five police officers were charged with the abduction. They were acquitted in 2015. A year later the DSI dropped the case, having shown no results after 12 years of investigation.[8]
  • In 2014 the disappearance of Billy Rakchongcharoen, a Karen rights activist, resulted in his wife petitioning the agency to "take up the issue for consideration as a special case".[9] The DSI rejected the petition by the activist's wife in 2017, citing a technicality: the couple was not legally married.[8] Inexplicably, in June 2018 the DSI announced that it would reopen the investigation of Billy's disappearance as a "special case". Media reports intimated that the DSI's change of heart was due to pressure on the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration from international organizations regarding a case that was initially ignored, leading the media to doubt DSI's newfound commitment.[8]
  • In 2016, DSI opened a much publicized case against the abbot of Wat Phra Dhammakaya after some funds from an alleged embezzlement case was traced to donations made to the temple. The case has been described as a proxy war between supporters and opponents of the temple.[10][11][12][13] One of the most criticized and debated aspects of DSI's handling of the case was its refusal to give the abbot his charges at the temple.[14][15] Other criticisms of DSI's handling of the case include continuing to pursue the charges after the affected credit union withdrew charges,[16][17] in violation of Thai Criminal Procedure Code Section 39(2).[18][19]

Controversies

Tawatchai Incident

On 30 August 2016 it was reported by DSI that one of the suspects it had detained was allegedly found unconscious and hanging in his cell. The suspect, Tawatchai Anukul, who was a suspect in a case of land deed fraud, was then rushed to Mongkutwattana Hospital where he was pronounced dead after several attempts at revival. DSI gave conflicting reports about how Tawatchai was found, with one official stating he likely committed suicide by hanging himself with his shirt. Another official gave a report stating he was found hanging by his socks.[20][21] Tawatchai's family reported that DSI gave them contradictory information regarding his death. For instance, family members pointed out that the wound on Tawatchai's neck looked like it came from a wire rather than clothing.[21]

A post-mortem examination revealed that Tawatchai had died of a ruptured liver, suggesting blunt trauma, as well as suffocation. DSI stated that the liver rupture was due to the hospital team performing CPR on Tawatchai in an attempt to revive him, which the hospital dismissed as impossible.[22] DSI also announced that their CCTV servers had malfunctioned at the time and therefore there were no recordings from security cameras of the incident.[23]

Article 44 death

During the 23 day lock down of Wat Phra Dhammakaya in 2017 that junta leader Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered using article 44 of the interim constitution, one follower in the temple died of an asthma attack during the operation. According to temple spokespeople, the death was caused by the halting of an ambulance at the junta's blockade that delayed emergency response.[24] DSI, however, claimed that the temple did not notify emergency services until after the follower had died.[25][26] DSI stepped back from this statement later, when the temple revealed time stamped LINE messages asking for emergency services that supported Wat Phra Dhammakaya's account of the timeline.[26][25][27] The authenticity of the messages was not disputed by DSI, however DSI still denied delaying emergency services.[27]

Corruption in the ranks
  • Tarit Pengdith, former director-general of DSI until his dismissal in 2014, was accused by the NACC of hiding assets while serving as DSI director-general. The NACC found that Tarit had amassed unexplained wealth of 346.65 million baht during his 12 years at DSI. The supreme court found Tarit guilty and sentenced him to six months in jail and a fine of 10,000 baht, commuted to a three-month term and a fine of 5,000 baht because he confessed. It suspended the jail term for two years because he had not previously been sentenced to prison.[28]

References
  1. Limited, Bangkok Post Public Company. "Cabinet gives nod for draft bill on torture, abduction". bangkokpost.com. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  2. "Law enforcement agency tries to shake off shackles". Bangkok Post. 10 May 2009.
  3. "Thailand: Effort underway to define functions of Department of Special Investigation". Thai Press Reports. 8 March 2007. Archived from the original on 2 March 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  4. "Thai special investigation team must politically freed: senior official". People's Daily Online. Xinhua. 12 July 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  5. Laohong, King-oua (1 September 2012). "Famed crime fighter bows out". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  6. Laohong, King-Oua (28 April 2020). "Korawat made new DSI chief". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  7. Thailand's Budget in Brief Fiscal Year 2019. Bureau of the Budget. 20 December 2018. p. 88. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  8. "DSI faces an uphill battle in 'Billy' case" (Editorial). Bangkok Post. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
  9. Satyaem, Chaiwat (2 September 2015). "Supreme Court clears former park chief in 'Billy' case". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  10. Marshall, Andrew R.C. (16 June 2016). "Meditating devotees shield scandal-hit abbot from Thai police". Reuters. Archived from the original on 19 June 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  11. Rojanaphruk, Pravit (12 June 2016). "Yellow and Red Seen in Orange in Dhammakaya Scandal". Khaosod English. Archived from the original on 5 December 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  12. Liusuwan, Nicholas. "Complexities of Thai Buddhism". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  13. "Social Media Campaign Launched by Dhammakaya Followers". Digital Journal. 13 June 2016. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  14. "Interview of Deputy Prosecutor Mr. Paramat Intarachumum". TNN. 26 May 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  15. "Interview with former Police General Sereepisuth Temiyaves". Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  16. "คุยข่าวเล่าธรรม04 06 59". Peace TV. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  17. Credit union request an end to all civil and criminal lawsuits against Wat Phra Dhammakaya, Thai News Network, 29 April 2016, retrieved 14 December 2016
  18. "The Criminal Procedure Code" (PDF). UNODC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  19. "Peace TV Interviews Lawyer: Legal Code Supports Venerable Dhammajayo's Innocence". Dhammakaya Uncovered. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  20. Laohong, King-Oua (2 September 2016). "Arrested former lands official found dead in DSI cell". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  21. TAMNUKASETCHAI, PIYANUCH (2 September 2016). "Death of land official shrouded in mystery". The Nation. Archived from the original on 3 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  22. Laohong, King-Oua (1 September 2016). "Doctor dismisses DSI's cause of suspect's death theory". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  23. THAMNUKASETCHAI, PIYANUCH (8 September 2016). "Probe into suspect's death in DSI custody to be concluded in 30 days: police". The Nation. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  24. "Dhammakaya follower dies of asthma after ambulance stopped by troops: monk spokesman". The Nation. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  25. "Find facts in temple death" (Opinion). Bangkok Post. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  26. Sattaburuth, Aekarach; Wongyala, Pongpat (3 March 2017). "Government slams 'fake news' from temple". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  27. Charuvastra, Teeranai (2 March 2017). "DSI Denies Blockade Responsible for Death of Dhammakaya Disciple". Khaosod English. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  28. "Tarit gets small fine, suspended jail for undeclared wealth". Bangkok Post. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
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