If you spend long enough in Thailand you get used to being in a society where rules don't apply to the well-connected or wealthy. Such is the case of a high-ranking Thai airport official, who assaulted a customs officer at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok last week.
The official, who has only been named so far as 'Sombat', caused an airport security alarm to beep when he walked through it. The customs officer requested he stand for a patdown, and the official became irate, whacking the customs officer around the ears. Being junior, the customs officer could do nothing but bow apologetically.
The assault was caught on video (see the left hand side of this article), which showed up on YouTube this week. Once more than 200,000 people had viewed the video and thousands of Thais had left outraged comments, only then did the Customs Department see fit to 'punish' the official.
The punishment however was nothing more than being transferred from Suvarnabhumi Airport back to headquarters. Again, typical Thailand, where true 'punishment' is only meted out to those with no money and no connections.
Meanwhile, the customs officer who was assaulted has filed a complaint with the police and is pressing charges. The Customs Department says the 'alleged assault' (a bit difficult to say the word 'alleged' with any seriousness when it's all on video) will be investigated, but it will take about a month for the investigation to be completed. If the final punishment is lenient by both the Customs Department and the police, to most Thais it will hardly be a surprise. The hi-s0s (high society types) have a way of making that happen.
In Thailand, incidents like this are unfortunately far from rare. The only difference in this case is it was videotaped.
In a society which values social hierarchy more than it does human rights, subordinates in Thailand are often mistreated by those who are supposed to be 'superiors'. They're forced to work long hours for low pay, work weeks at a time without a break, and are even subjected to violence in some circumstances.
While Thailand does have labor laws, companies all over the country ignore them and, again, if owned by someone wealthy or well-connected, that's often easy to do. Corruption is rife in Thailand too, which means just paying the right person can make it all go away.
Hierarchy being what it is, few in the lower ranks dare complain. After all, as anyone knows who lives here, in Thailand, a high-ranking superior can make your life, and those of your family, very difficult if you choose to cause trouble.
Thanks to the beauty of YouTube though, at least today, there's one less Thai official who was able to hide his abuse.
