5.3 Key Fields of Cooperation

5.3

Key Fields of Cooperation

From a substantive perspective, four key areas of cooperation were identified:

1. Information and intelligence sharing;

2. Joint law enforcement operations, from detection to the investigation and arrest phase;

3. Capacity building and technical assistance, in particular the provision of training and technical equipment;

4. Mutual legal assistance and other forms of cooperation at the prosecution and judicial stages (such as the issuing of arrest warrants, the collection of evidence and testimony, and coordination in criminal proceedings involving foreign defendants).

Less frequently, Thailand has engaged in international cooperation for the purpose of policy development and awareness raising in local communities. Few agencies undertook consultative meetings on best strategies and practices against TOC, security dialogues with other countries, and study visits abroad.

The extent to which these forms of cooperation apply vary greatly between the capital and border areas and depending on the partner. Cooperation with neighbouring countries, especially in border areas, is primarily focused on anti-trafficking in persons and drug control through information exchange and joint law enforcement. Thai law enforcement officers (notably the Royal Thai Police, the Immigration Department, the Department of Special Investigation, and the Anti-Money Laundering Office and Customs Department) frequently team up with extra-regional partners (such as the United States, Australia, Italy, INTERPOL, and the United Kingdom) in counter-TOC joint field operations in Thai territory. Additionally, the Australian, American, British and Canadian governments are key technical assistance providers, including in the delivery of technical and language training and the provision of equipment, as well as facilitators of regional cooperation together with the UNODC and INTERPOL.

Almost all agencies included in this study have benefited from these technical assistance programmes, with the Royal Thai Police, the Immigration Department, the Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Special Investigation being the primary recipients. Thai beneficiaries are overwhelmingly satisfied with this technical support and hope that further training opportunities will be provided. Continuous efforts are being made by the Australian Federal Police and the UNODC to deliver training in provinces across Thailand; however, training efforts are still concentrated in Bangkok, including at the US-sponsored International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA).

Cooperation with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) remains a largely unexplored field of work. In their interactions with government agencies, NGOs engage primarily in policy advocacy, making recommendations on issues to be included in the government priorities agenda and on ways to address them. Anecdotal examples show that some NGOs have also supported capacity building within some specialized government agencies.

Promising Practices from Interviews

The Foreign Anti-Narcotics Community of Thailand (FANC)

The FANC is a professional organization consisting of representatives of countries and international organizations who are dedicated, in cooperation with the Kingdom of Thailand, to the suppression of TOC, illicit drug trafficking, terrorism, migrant smuggling, trafficking in persons, child sexual exploitation and abuse, money laundering, extortion and corruption. The FANC currently has 63 individual members from 40 different Thai and international law enforcement agencies, including international organizations such as INTERPOL and the UNODC. The Chairmanship of the groups rotates periodically.

The overall objectives of FANC are to:

• enhance enforcement efforts against international drug-trafficking and transnational crime through close personal contact of its members,

• maintain a close professional association with representatives of the Government of Thailand, in particular, those counterparts who are involved in the suppression of drug and transnational crimes, and

• render through its members, advice, assistance, support and guidance to all counterpart agencies engaged in narcotic and transnational crime suppression.

The FANC has been operating for over 30 years and has proven to be very effective among Thai and foreign law enforcement agencies with attachés based in Thailand, to the point that other countries in the region have shown interest in imitating this model.

A meeting is convened monthly in Bangkok to discuss various criminal problems. Members of the group consider it extremely useful from an operational perspective, both in terms of information and intelligence exchange and cooperation in investigations: “This helps to accelerate investigations in a way that anticipates INTERPOL’s action”. For instance, a series of joint operations conducted by the Thai and the Italian police over recent years led to numerous arrests of child sex offenders in Thailand.

The FANC also serves as a forum to leverage expertise, to maintain a dialogue on capacity building and to coordinate in order to avoid duplication in the delivery of training. Western countries are particularly active in this regard, with the FBI and the Australian Federal Police representing important donors offering funds and technological equipment.

However, the group remains characterized by an uneven degree of participation and capacity among its members. For example, while the United States participates with representatives from six different law enforcement agencies, the majority of embassies only have one police attaché who covers criminal matters in several countries in the region. Some members argued that cooperation is particularly effective among Western law enforcement agencies, while representatives from ASEAN member states play a less active role. Despite such limitations, it is widely agreed that the FANC remains a valuable cooperation mechanism for the fostering of continuous networking among key professionals.

There was wide consensus among interviewees that the cooperation in place is useful and effective (50 out of 52 interviewed). Some of the Thai officers stated that current international cooperation is essential to solving many transnational cases, and that Thailand is very active within that cooperation. This statement was backed by international stakeholders and international NGOs who unanimously acknowledged the effective operational relationship, although the NGOs noted that the Thai authorities often cannot meet their requests. However, cooperation by ASEAN member states in criminal matters was often referred to as inefficient and not sufficiently developed. This latter issue requires a deeper analysis in the context of the regional integration.