This post is part of New Mandala’s Thai institutions series. The first post in this series (Archives) is available here and the second (Unions) is here.
An article from Economist magazine about the Thai police begins by highlighting a list of abuses including excessive use of force, extortion, cronyism, and torture. It then notes that most Thais hold a negative view of the force. The article appeared in April 2008, but it could have been yesterday, or 1960 or even 1930.
To wit, an editorial on the police in the Krungthep Daily Mail from 1928 claims Thais saw the force as an enemy more than as a friend. This came amidst a tenacious campaign to expose a human smuggling and prostitution ring run by officers in the Metropolitan Police’s Special Branch, a precursor of today’s Santiban.
Thais, however, did not always loathe the police. In the years after 1860, when King Mongkut established the metropolitan constabulary, people saw them as something of a novelty. Locals in Samphaeng, where the unit began, made its Indian and Malay beat cops, outfitted in long-coats and high-helmets, victims of pranks and the butt of jokes.
By the turn of the twentieth century, crime was no laughing matter and the government found itself under pressure domestically and from the British and French to get a handle on the growing number of increasingly violent crimes. By the police’s own accounts, the kingdom’s murder rate doubled over the first six years of the 1910s.
To address the crisis, the government pushed through a series of reforms. Some measures aimed to bolster the size of the force, which grew from about 4,000 in 1904 to roughly 200,000 (including a 60,000-strong support staff) in 1994. Other measures sought to expand the police’s responsibilities.
In the early years, the police were tasked with suppressing crime – making arrests and maintaining order. They lacked even the power to question suspects. That duty fell under the purview of local civilian officials. Their broad mandate to ‘protect the peace,’ however, took them soon into fields far removed from the streets of Chinatown.
As early as the late 1890s, the police were drawn into the vice trade, registering pawnshops and prostitutes. Around the time of the 1932 revolution, they began monitoring the press, especially for political news. Today the police control traffic, borders, entertainment venues, and media outlets. It, as an institution, marks the presence of the state more tangibly than just about any other technology of administration.
To appreciate the police’s impact on everyday life, then, one must view it in relation to other institutions and to broader social processes. For in addition to growing physically, the police have gained, partly by chance, a foothold in the social imagination through print, broadcast, and streamed spectacles of law and death. Their investigative practices, arrests and seizures, and reenactments violent crimes have evolved into an addictive lakhon of legal procedure, science, and blood letting. It is almost impossible to imagine crime, violence, and the state without recourse to the tropes developed by the police and presented daily in the popular media.
A 1998 FEER report, for example, described a drug bust in Suphanburi intentionally conducted under “the gaze of scores of reporters and cameramen.” Despite the glare, the police felt no qualms about shooting (off-camera but within earshot) six suspects dead, all of whom were handcuffed. Sanoh Thienthong, then Minister of Interior, said afterwards that the suspects deserved to die.
After years of socialization through the media, Sanoh’s comments may represent public opinion more accurately than one might care to admit. Indeed, FEER claimed Thais were more alarmed by the police’s cavalier attitude than with the killings themselves. Summary justice is, after all, still justice, something in short supply in a judicial system many see as stacked against the accused. There is, then, a certain ambivalence: Thais detest the police’s heavy-handed tactics yet are drawn to the spectacle of modern policing.
At issue, therefore, when people call for reform is a history of excess, malfeasance, and resistance to change. It is also a tacit recognition that by entrenching themselves in daily life, the police have introduced new types of violence and instability into a public sphere they helped produce. To ‘fix’ this problem will require something beyond ‘professionalization’ and ‘transparency,’ for the police is in many ways already both.
What does this signal for the future?
Governments have come and gone. The police have been restructured several times, with varying results. Through it all, they have become rather impervious to outside pressure for change. The Economist article cited at the outset acknowledges this, stating, “Police reforms elsewhere have generally succeeded only where a public-spirited and untainted political leadership forced them through. When will Thailand get that sort of leadership?”
From the discussion above, perhaps the only real hope for a less intrusive, more community-minded force resides in loosening the tangled grip that the police’s tentacles have developed over daily life and the public imagination, an understandably minor item on the more pressing agendas of government representatives in today’s politically uncertain environment. It is however, one that will prove just as important in the long run for prospects for establishing a just and fair society.
Samson Lim is a doctoral candidate at Cornell University
40 responses so far ↓
1 Barrybankruad // Jun 28, 2010 at 12:24 am
Thailand will have to sort out it’s political problems before anyone can start trying to reform this corrupt, inept force that has the audacity to call itself ‘Royal Police.
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2 john francis lee // Jun 28, 2010 at 1:07 am
Cuffed cop killer shot by police at his home
Still going strong, a la Thaksin.
Please… rely upon the cops as judge, jury, and executioner? Is that what they teach you at Cornell?
And so with all the structural problems in Thailand.
I think a possible strategy is divide and conquer. Have an election, reinstate the 1997 Constitution, amend it as necessary, and then pay special attention to its provisions for decentralization… some detail is afforded here,Thailand: Decentralization, or What Next? (pdf).
What other country has just a national police force, answerable to itself, essentially. No. Provincial, Amphoe and Tambon police each answerable to an elected civilian review board. And pay them. No more “self-financing”.
Same with the courts and the military… with everything really. Decentralize, devolve power, divide, dismember, and conquer the colonial government in Bangkok.
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3 David Brown // Jun 28, 2010 at 1:38 am
I see the Thai military having a malign effect on virtually everything in Thailand and particularly the Police.
The military, and the Border Patrol Police, a quasi military force, claim allegiance to the monarchy rather than the government or people and are able to act effectively without accountability.
This makes there relationship with the Police fraught with difficulty and wherever they appear together it appears soldiers can order the police around and on occasion actually place the police in direct danger.
For example during the recent red standoff there was a pitched battle with rifles and grenades between soldiers and police at the Sanam Luang police station. Also at one stage the police were forced to march ahead of soldiers under threat of being shot if they avoided confronting the protesters.
Peoples view of the police is formed through day to day interactions on the roads and of course the crime reenactments and reporting noted in the article.
The article also fails to mention that the overt rich in Thai society are able to ignore the police and only on rare occasions actually risk fines or arrest. Anyone driving a gold or black BMW or Mercedes with darkened windows can behave as they wish on the roads.
At a deeper and veery pervasive level the fact of military and rich peoples power to ignore the police causes people contempt for the police and results in low expectations of any worthwhile legal recourse especially if someone of the “rich” is involved..
The article is interesting for its historical glimpses but very shallow in its analysis.
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4 BKK lawyer // Jun 28, 2010 at 3:12 am
The Bangkok Post of Sunday, 27 June, has a front-page article about two drug suspects shot dead by the police just this week, both while handcuffed in custody. The police claimed the suspects were shot while trying to grab a police officer’s gun.
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5 Samson Lim // Jun 28, 2010 at 9:08 am
Hi John,
Thanks for taking the time to read and post a comment! I do appreciate feedback. Just one point though, I don’t mean by any means that the police should act as judge, jury, and executioner. No one teaches that anywhere as far as I know. I do mean that there is some sentiment that the entire criminal justice system has become too cumbersome and that quick, sometimes harsh police action is warranted. The police’s heavy handed tactics in the war on drugs under Thaksin did find support in some circles after all.
Samson
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6 john francis lee // Jun 28, 2010 at 11:57 am
I cannot really imagine that you are in favor of summary execution, Samson… although the government of the United States is and has been for nearly a decade as was made clear by Dennis Blair before the US Senate.
It has since been revealed that Barack Obama has ordered the summary execution of a Muslim cleric, an American citizen, on “suspicion” of terrorism.
So it is not just the Thai military and Royal Thai Police who are enthusiasts of summary executions. I am equally sure that many Americans are enthusiasts of summary execution as well.
It may be argued that such the “justice system is too cumbersome” and that such sentiment is the result of citizen frustration.
The cure is for the people, not the cops, to literally take the law into their own hands via decentralization and participatory democracy, not executions.
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7 Charles Frith // Jun 28, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Samson – Why would you endorse that public sentiment for harsh justice when the police are very well provided for, by the drug dealers they don’t shoot?
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8 StanG // Jun 28, 2010 at 4:20 pm
I don’t know what exactly needs to be reformed in the police force.
Let’s be realistic – they will always control the vice trade, reform or no reform.
Will they stop shooting suspects? Possibly, but you don’t need a reform for that, and, with wide public support for summary executions in some cases, it’s the society itself that needs a reform, not the police.
I guess everyone wants them to solve more burglaries, return more stolen cars and catch more rapists but I don’t see how a reform would help that.
Theoretically, if they didn’t spend so much time on covering for underground businesses they’d improve their overall performance, but, as I said, they are not going to give up that kind of income no matter what, and somebody would step in their shoes anyway, and the society needs its vice trade, too, no reforms would ever change that.
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9 Srithanonchai // Jun 28, 2010 at 4:54 pm
For a dissertation on police reform, see
Amorn Wanichwiwatana. 2005. “The 1998 Thai Police Reform: A Study of the Persistence of Institutional Corruption.” Thesis (D. Phil.), University of Oxford iv+270 pp.
At present, old right-winger and anti-Thaksin activist Wasit has been tasked by Abhisit to head another “police reform” panel. Given the political preferences in wide circles of the police, this seems to be an odd choice.
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10 StanG // Jun 28, 2010 at 10:21 pm
This afternoon saw the usual police money trap – catching people who don’t go straight from the left only lane. They always set this checkpoint only at the end of the month, everybody knows the deal.
So one guy simply refused to stop when they tried to pull him over, he just drove around the waving policeman and that was the end of it.
This little episode shows the essence of the relationship between the police force and the public – people expect the police to perform traffic service, they don’t mind getting caught for breaking a little rule, they don’t mind paying a hundred baht to policemen personally, knowing their meager salaries.
However, if people don’t feel like paying they just ignore them and the police also know they can’t really enforce their half legal operation.
They can’t enforce fully legal rules either, it all depends on public cooperation.
Against this background I don’t really get the meaning of “police reform”. I’m not against it, per se, I just don’t see it has been thought through.
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11 John // Jun 29, 2010 at 8:45 am
When a nation is conditioned to accepting corruption as a social norm wether political or within the security forces how will any reform change the habits of the entire nation.
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12 Samson Lim // Jun 29, 2010 at 11:17 am
Hi Charles,
Perhaps I didn’t make it quite clear in the text, for which I apologize, but I don’t endorse harsh police tactics. Rather, I wanted simply to point out that I think that such support does exist in Thailand (and many other places, including the city where I am from) and that this, among other things, makes change difficult. Its funny, in a lot of ways I agree with John’s comment about decentralization and democratization of policing, but this decentralized model of policing is in some ways what the police reforms of the late nineteenth century to the 1930s was targeted to eliminate.
Samson
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13 LesAbbey // Jun 29, 2010 at 11:34 am
How to reform the Thai police? Well the obvious regarding decent pay and decentralization.
Then something like an internal affairs division with real power to act on public complaints. Tell mid-range officers they have to serve in this division with distinction if they hope to land a senior position in the future. Encourage the public to use their camera phones to record shakedowns and send them in.
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14 Nobody // Jun 29, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Police reform. That is one hell of an issue but reform cant really even be approached without taking into account the position of the police in historical and current power politics. The rivalry with the army, the ding dong over the navy and more recently their sudden acquisition or should that be inheritance of a very large proportion of one of the countries most lucrative trades. Throw in human rights issues which are routinely dismissed by polticians and the powerful of absolutely every persuasion as nothing and of course fear.
Police reform may be much talked about but hardly likley to be seen in the near future. The polity is too weak to challenge such powerful institutional players and the one time it may have been powerful enough the said institution was used in an attempt, ultimately unsuccesful, to counterbalance other institutions in what became a bit of a revisit of 60s history in institutional rivalry.
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15 StanG // Jun 29, 2010 at 5:53 pm
Les Abbey, I don’t believe there are shakedowns on any significant scale, not involving fully legitimate businesses.
On the other hand, I know of some fully legit businesses that need a bit of a slack on law enforcement side here and there and they happily pay the police to look the other way.
And then there’s vice trade that needs to pay up to stay open, can’t call it a shakedown.
There’s a gap between the legality, how the society wants to present itself, and the reality, what the country really is, and those who can’t or don’t want to live to impossible expectations desperately need corrupt police force who are happy to help. That includes not only businesses but their patrons, too.
It’s the symbiosis and so far the system of operates smoothly, and why fix what is not broken?
What exactly do they hope to reform?
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16 Shan // Jun 30, 2010 at 6:34 am
Police reform SOUNDS good. To begin with, policemen could be paid decent salaries. Given training in the law.
Yet I am afraid it would still not make much of a difference if the goal is a police force that actually “serves and protects” the PUBLIC (and can possibly gain its respect in doing so).
Because that’s not Thailand. The realities of a society stuck in a patronage (not to say “feudalistic”) system simply don’t permit it. Accountability applies to the individual environment and the patrons but – god forbid – not beyond.
It requires a revolution on the big stage of politics to create a backdrop that allows a genuine reform of the police. Doesn’t look so good, does it?
There’s also a non-political factor when it comes to “law and order”: As we know, you avoid conflicts in the “Land of Smiles”. People smile and ignore and smile and ignore. However, that doesn’t mean the conflict goes away. And when it gets too much, people explode. Thailand has the highest homicide rate in Asia (says Wikipedia).
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17 Jay Harriman // Jun 30, 2010 at 7:49 am
Samson,
I first read the article without looking at the title or author. Afterwards I curiously looked at the top to see who wrote it. You could believe my amazement when I saw your name! Drop me a quick line so I can fill you in on the last 8 years! Good to see what you are up to these days. As to the content, I think any reform solutions will require strong outside political leadership which the police higher-ups are willing to trust, respect, work with, and also fear; police higher-ups who want reform and have power to make changes; strong pressure from the citizenry and media; and culture change. And in all of this it doesn’t help that political factions try to “capture” police loyalty and use it as a political weapon/shield! Some investigation into other countries who have faced and overcome similar obstacles might be useful. Finally the cynic will always throw this bone: having a dysfunctional and corrupt police force uniquely benefits which groups in society?
Cheers,
Jay Harriman
Cheers,
Jay
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18 Tarrin // Jun 30, 2010 at 1:08 pm
It not point to reform the police now since there are so many figured and organization in Thailand that bar police from arresting them or doing their job.
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19 Ralph Kramden // Jun 30, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Let me get this right. According to StanG corruption in the police force is okay for it is a “system”. So what of the claims about rule of law that Abhisit has been making. Is rule of law only for some and not for others. Or am I misunderstanding?
Watched the police shaking down innocent motorists on Sukhumvit yesterday. The police (and military) are making the most of their return to power since the coup.
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20 FredKorat // Jun 30, 2010 at 3:27 pm
#18 Well Ralph. You are right about the police & military cashing in on the coup. But then one shouldn’t forget many (if not most) of them would also be more than happy to see Thaksin back here and in charge again. In such a Cash-22 situation, we would be fools to support either side in Thailand’s succession war. Certainly policemen should be much better paid. but then again, they have opportunities way beyond the expectations of ordinary farmers. And if they are so concerned about their own plight, then why don’t we see them making any honest efforts to reform this country. Policemen here obviously have no idea what they want. They talk about the evils of the sex industry, and say it must remain illegal, while still profiting from its illegality.
I heard of one language school that opened up in a building that used to be some sort of massage parlor. Probably not the smartest move, but I suppose the proprietors thought the price was right. Day 1, the owner is summoned to the lobby to find a bunch of tourist policemen reclining in chairs with their boots up on the clean tables. They had come on the assumption that any new business at that location could only be something to which they were automatically entitled to receive some cash payments and other payments in kind. It took quite a long time for them to finally be convinced that the owner wasn’t just spinning them a line to avoid payment.
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21 Portman // Jun 30, 2010 at 10:41 pm
There is some low hanging fruit that could be picked right away on police reform before moving onto the tougher nuts of decentralization, accountability, promotion on merit and elimination of corruption which is seen by most Thais as the main activity of the force. Peripheral activities that are not normally regarded as police work outside Thailand should be removed from the police and given to specialized agencies, e.g. Immigration, the fire service, the approval of entertainment licences, issue of search warrants etc.
I don’t think major reform with ever make much progress without educating the public to reject extrajudicial execution by the police in all circumstances. I am surprised that Samson Lim appears to endorse extrajudicial execution is a satisfactory way to plug deficiencies in the justice system. It is not a giant leap from here to glossing over the impressive body count in Thaksin’s war on drugs or his attrocities committed in the South. If you accept all of this, the killings by security forces of red shirts who were in violation of the emergency act and causing enormous damage to the livelihoods of ordinary people and the economy in general must also be fair game.
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22 Goo Stewart // Jul 1, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Am I the only one who believe that any reform, in the form of decentralisation, would bring abject disaster and sow the seeds for more corruption within the Royal Thai Police? Having a decentralised force, answerable to a local politician, will be like opening Pandora’s box for the local police chief. Probably in cohorts with said elected representative, the police chief for each region will establish their own fiefdoms, akin to the local power brokers which plague the Thai political system and make the politics of the country all about money. I could see the rule of law being even more subverted if this occurred. More centralised power is required, but power centralised in an honest (utopia?) law enforcement body with full checks and balances. This is, however, a pipe dream.
There are major issues with reforming the police, not least with the people of Thailand’s will. The real problem is that corruption is so ingrained that it cannot be removed by just reform of one institution. There needs to be a change in the mindset of the people who live in Thailand (not just Thai folks, all the people who live in the country). This will only occur through many decades of education, will-power and a more egalitarian society. Whilst there is an opportunity for corruption, it will exist in Thailand. The people need to change their mindset. Educate.
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23 StanG // Jul 1, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Remember an episode in Yasothon a few years back when a son of a local businessman walked into the police station with his buddies and severely beaten a policeman there, in full view of superintendent and others.
Let’s place the police legally under the power of local politicians…. NOT!
When teachers argue against decentralization, saying that local bodies are incompetent to run education, I think they’ve got a good point.
Even more so with running the police force.
I hope there are solutions to it, but just imagine canvassing for votes for the police commissioner’s post, for example.
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24 R. N. England // Jul 1, 2010 at 3:33 pm
This comes down to the fundamental problem of the Thai State. In a civilised state the rule of law prevails: the police are ruled by, and enforce the laws. In Thailand men rule, in a pyramid with the King at the top. Conflict resolution depends on the status of the people involved. He or she who is further up the pyramid wins. That is the moral law of the Thai state. The police are in no-man’s-land. Where few take the law seriously, the police (and their rivals the Military) enforce the will of their various bosses, who are trying to work their way up the pyramid. Thaksin, one of their own, shot up the status pyramid at such a rate that he became an alternative King in the eyes of many people, probably the majority.
For the police to be anything more than hired thugs loyal to a leader, the rule of law is necessary. Ever since Pridi, the Thai Monarchy has seen the rule of law as a threat to its power. This rotten state of affairs is fundamental to absolute monarchies, and explains the fact that the rule of law has languished in Thailand. In civilised monarchies like those of Europe, the monarch obeys and supports the laws made by the people’s representatives. They are republics in all but name. If Thailand evolves in that direction, the police will become part of the solution, instead of being part of the problem.
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25 michael // Jul 1, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Ralph K #18: “Is rule of law only for some and not for others.” Are you kidding? The answer to that is glaringly, depressingly obvious.
Before it is possible to reform the police force, there has to be a clean government, with no brothel-keepers, mafioso and initiators of expensive & unnecessary schemes that only exist in order to line the pockets of the ‘unusually rich’ in its cabinet. Do you see that as a possibility in the near future?
If that situation ever arrives, there are models from other countries that can be followed. Of course the judiciary & justice department would need to be cleaned up, re-trained & re-organised first. Don’t hold your breath!
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26 LesAbbey // Jul 1, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Goo Stewart – 21
I took decentralisation of the police force to mean bringing them under the control of the provincial authorities rather than locally elected politicians.
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27 StanG // Jul 1, 2010 at 7:11 pm
In a civilised state the rule of law prevails
Thailand is the same, the problem is that actual Thai laws by which the society operates and what they put on paper are two different things.
Neither is going to disappear anytime soon and compromises are needed.
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28 ลิขิต ชัว // Jul 2, 2010 at 11:48 am
Portman,
Where in this article does the author “endorse extrajudicial execution is a satisfactory way to plug deficiencies in the justice system”?
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29 Tarrin // Jul 2, 2010 at 3:51 pm
LesAbbey – 25
Provincial authority usually came from the selection of the ministry of interior affair, so your suggestion defeat the purpose.
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30 LesAbbey // Jul 2, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Tarrin – 27
Not really if the aim is to break up the power centers in the police department. Now the provincial police chief would be responsible to the local governor. What this does is demilitarize the police to some extent. Putting civilian control in at a lower level.
I have to admit I wouldn’t be that keen on local politicians controlling the police due their own involvement in crime.
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31 Tarrin // Jul 3, 2010 at 7:25 pm
LesAbbey – 28
Not really if the aim is to break up the power centers in the police department
Huh, so you are saying that decentralizing the police department will somehow get rid of the corruption in the force?
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32 LesAbbey // Jul 4, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Tarrin – 29
Huh, so you are saying that decentralizing the police department will somehow get rid of the corruption in the force?
No, I don’t think I said that. Did I say that Tarrin?
I can see back in comment 12 I said “How to reform the Thai police? Well the obvious regarding decent pay and decentralization.”
So there I was talking about reforming the Thai Police Force. Regarding corruption I said, also in comment 12, “Then something like an internal affairs division with real power to act on public complaints.”
Just a small idea, maybe a beginning. How do we handle corruption anyway? The Western way seems to be by taking small steps and punishing those found to be guilty with job losses, fines or imprisonment. The Chinese answer seems to be more along lines of a pistol to the back of the head.
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33 Tarrin // Jul 5, 2010 at 1:46 am
LesAbbey – 30
I just want to reaffirm your statement that’s all.
Speaking of which, why no one seems to be interesting about reforming the military? there’s some law that has been using since 1800s and some regulations in the Army are seriously out of date.
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34 Frank G Anderson // Oct 8, 2010 at 1:28 am
http://www.thekoratpost.com/
Remote remand! No court appearance. Well, a virtual appearance. What potential for abuse!
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35 Barrybankruad // Oct 8, 2010 at 11:43 am
Very interesting article. The reform of any police force always depends on the degree and extent of the reforms. Take for instance the British Police Force (or Service) as they are now called. They have been almost completely emasculated by the political correctness, do gooder, racist observant brigade. 50 years ago the British Police were recognised as on of the best in the world, now they appear to be a shadow of their formed self, almost universally disliked.
Will any reform in Thailand (in itself unlikely) try to achieve a balance as a strong fist in a gloved hand. I very much doubt it.
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36 LesAbbey // Oct 8, 2010 at 7:10 pm
Barrybankruad – 35
50 years ago the British Police were recognised as on of the best in the world…
Barry, funny you should pick that era as when the political correctness, do gooder, racist observant brigade started to bring down their reputation. I say that because withing a few years the Met (London Police Service) and the City of London police (covering just the square mile of the city) had managed to destroy their reputations without any help from the people you mention.
How did they do it? By corruption of course. What were they doing? Well taking money from criminals, organizing robberies to name just a couple. If the long running Operation Countryman had not be wound up early there probably wouldn’t have been a CID officer left in London. I do remember Deptford being down just one. See it wasn’t always Dixon of Dock Green.
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37 Charles // Oct 10, 2010 at 3:12 pm
@Barrybankruad-35
Any Police force rendered impotent by politically correct do gooders is insufficiently robust for the serious task of maintaining law and order. If the Canvey Island Knitting Circle led to the demise of a decent British Constabulary then like many areas of expertise and reputation once had. It is no longer.
The British police, like the population they serve are unrecognisable from 50 years ago. There are no institutions unaffected by the oxyacetylene of market capitalism. Ask the Royal family or the Church if you think that’s a good thing.
The really good news is that not all change is bad. One of the UK’s transformational dynamics is massively welcome and deeply appreciated, for being both inspirational and pluralist to society as a whole while cultivating compassion as well as neighbourliness.
Ironically the same qualities the Police were both guardians and practitioners of some 50 years ago.
Yes; immigrants from all over the world are a gift to the UK. From cuisine to commerce, our new extended family is an exciting part of our new identity. It’s a paradox that the most quintessential of British traits. The value and sense of fair play (sporting do-gooders springs to mind) is most alive because waves of immigrants held us accountable for it. Otherwise like all the other things we harp on about as gone forever with only ourselves to blame.
We’d have lost that too.
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38 Frank G Anderson // Oct 31, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Can another Thai language reader/translator check my translation, please? Dictionaries were not overly helpful.
Thanks.
Frank
เครื่องหมายราชการแห่งสำนักงานตำรวจแห่งชาติ เป็นรูปพระแสงดาบเขนและโล่ ซึ่งเป็นรูปวงกลมเส้นคู่สองชั้น วงนอกเป็นลายพรรณพฤกษา วงในเป็นลายใบเทศผูกลายเป็นรูปหน้าสิงห์ (ไม่จำกัดสีและขนาด
National government symbol – Royal Thai Police, comprising a sword and round shield with paired raised circles. The outer circle is in the form of a tree, the inner circle in the form of sermon leaves bound together to form the face of a lion (no limitation on size or color).
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39 Tarrin // Nov 1, 2010 at 12:02 am
Frank G Anderson – 38
I think its pretty close.
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40 Velia Klis // Apr 10, 2011 at 12:48 pm
I concur what a really well written article, thanks for writing this!
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