Police reform is a tired subject because somehow, attempts have failed or not lived up to their billing. Second, police association with corruption, cronyism, and failure are well known and their brutal history extends much deeper than the death of Jeerapong Thanapat. In the 1970s, the Border Patrol police attacked Ba Na Sai village, killing several and burning the village to the ground. The event made national headlines as communist insurgents who were blamed were not living in the village nor was the village under the control of communist influences. Their complicity in the events of October 6, 1976 are well documented.

Police brutality and influence increased dramatically under former Prime Minister and former police lieutenant colonel Thaksin Shinwatra, who empowered the police to dark heights, rivaling at one time, the military in power. The famous “tomato” police were loyal to Thaksin to a fault, brutally enforcing a terrible war on drugs in the Deep South, and later were accused of killing human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaichit, who represented many Muslims.

Many have sought police reform, the most famous attempt was set up by Pol. Gen Vasit Dejkunjorn, after the 2006 coup. While it recommended the decentralization of the police as well as involving the public as a means of enhancing the reputation of the Thai police, few of his Police Reform Committee’s recommendations found their way into Thailand’s bloated police bureaucracy.