Police entrance exam cancelled over scandal: Arrests made

[Khun Don]

2 caught in exam cheat probe
Large criminal syndicate supports gang, say cops

Published: 18/06/2012 at 01:40 AMNewspaper section: News


Two more suspects in the police exam scam, including a police officer, were arrested in Phayao yesterday, as a manhunt for the ringleader of the exam cheating gang continues.

The arrested men were identified as Pol Sub Lt Pech Promthaweeporn, a deputy police inspector in charge of crime investigation and suppression at Chiang Muan district police station in Phayao, and Theerasak Nanthasen, 48, a resident of Nan province.

After their arrests, the two were taken to Lampang for interrogation conducted by Provincial Police Region 5.

Pol Maj Gen Watthana Sakkawat, deputy Provincial Police Region 5, said police were investigating more suspects in the case, including Wibulsak Saenjak, 29, a Lampang resident who is believed to possess key information about the gang.

The Immigration Bureau has been asked to keep an eye out for Mr Wibulsak, as police are worried he will attempt to flee the country with the help of a large criminal syndicate that supports his gang, Pol Maj Gen Watthana said.

Ten suspects have been charged in connection with an exam scam that was discovered last Sunday during a nationwide exam for admission to the police force's school for non-commissioned officers.

About 20 applicants were detained after police found they had brought radio receivers into the exam hall.

Five people were arrested at a hotel in Nakhon Ratchasima the same day on suspicion of sending radio signals indicating the correct answers to applicants who had smuggled in the receivers with them into the exam centre.

Dachai Uchukosolkarn, 42, a Lampang provincial administration organisation candidate, was later arrested after one of the five suspects arrested at the hotel implicated him as a coordinator of the gang.

On Saturday, Flight Sergeant First Class Samart Yodchuea, 37, Julalak Sriprommas, 25, and Nipaporn Jaiboon, 24, turned themselves in and confessed to recruiting customers for the gang.

Meanwhile, Chatchawal Sonchaiyaphum, a Chaiyaphum resident, was also arrested in connection with the exam cheating scandal.

The four suspects have been charged with fraud and unauthorised possession of telecommunications devices.

Another suspect is a man police have identified only as To, who investigators believe was responsible for distributing the receivers to applicants and teaching them how to use the devices.

In Nakhon Ratchasima, Pol Maj Gen Jakthip Holasutsakul, deputy Provincial Police Region 3 commissioner, said police had finished inspecting more than 36,000 test papers. A total of 142 copies have been found to be suspicious.

The number of vowels and intonation marks in the first and second questions of the test were scribbled on the side of these 142 exam papers, he said.

Police believe cheating applicants sent a radio signal indicating how many vowels and intonation marks there were in the first two questions, so the hotel gang could determine which test had been assigned to a particular applicant.

There were eight different test papers at the exam, which were distributed randomly among applicants.

If the 142 papers turn out to have been handed in by cheating applicants, they will be banned from applying to work in government service, police said.

BANGKOK POST

[Khun Don]

Applicants cheat for vacancies 'in all units'
Published: 19/06/2012 at 01:37 AMNewspaper section: News


The expanding investigation into the police entrance exam scandal indicates that cheating is common among applicants for positions in every unit under the Royal Thai Police Office.

The finding, announced yesterday by deputy police chief Pol Gen Pansiri Prapawat, follows a sweeping investigation into alleged irregularities in the nationwide exam on June 10 to recruit non-commissioned police officers.

Among police units dragged into the scandal are Lampang Provincial Police, the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre and Provincial Police Region 3 in the Northeast.

Police have arrested 32 suspects, including police officers, and they are hunting for six more, including Wibulsak Saenjak, 29, a Lampang resident, said Pol Gen Pansiri.

Mr Wibulsak is suspected of acquiring 80 radio transmitters and receivers that were used by applicants to cheat on the exams.

Another key suspect in Lampang, who was arrested and later released on bail, is Dachai Uchukosolkarm, 42. He was implicated as a coordinator of the scam.

Mr Dachai, who is running in the Lampang provincial administration organisation election, denied the charge.

Police also have an arrest warrant for Mr Dachai's brother-in-law, Praphat Mueangmun.

Investigators said the arrest of Mr Praphat, who was caught cheating in the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School exam held in Mae Hong Son in 2005, would provide them with more clues about the June 10 scam. Elsewhere, the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre has arrested nine suspects allegedly involved in a plot to sit the exam on behalf of applicants by using forged identity cards.

Provincial Police Region 3 is searching for a soldier attached to a military unit in Lop Buri on suspicion of being involved in the scam in the Northeast.

The Royal Thai Police Office has cancelled the latest exam, which will delay recruitment of new police, particularly 2,000 officers needed in the restive South.

BANGKOK POST