Thai Police: From Lion Dances to Wrestlers for Justice

Bangkok metropolitan police have demonstrated remarkable ingenuity in their undercover operations, employing highly unusual disguises to surprise and apprehend criminals. One notable instance involved officers performing a lion dance at a temple fair to arrest a suspected thief of Buddhist artifacts valued at £47,717. The suspect, known for evading capture, was caught off guard.

This tactic is part of a broader strategy where officers have adopted various personas, including construction workers and even a wrestler, to ensure successful arrests. These methods have proven effective against experienced criminals or those prone to fleeing. The police have faced criticism that their operations are designed for social media, but they assert that these tactics have resulted in significant arrests for serious offenses like rape and child sexual assault.

In one case, an officer crawled through rice fields in a ghillie suit to apprehend an individual accused of sexually assaulting a minor. Another operation saw an officer posing as a wrestler to arrest a tourist implicated in rape and filming offenses. These operations aim to reassure the Thai public of the police's dedication to crime fighting and deter potential offenders by demonstrating that evasion is increasingly difficult.