Pol Maj Gen Phanthana Nutchanart, 49, has distinguished himself as a tech-savvy cyber-crimebuster going after online scammers and transnational gangsters.
He heads an operation team at the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT) under the supervision of national police chief Pol Gen Suwat Jangyodsuk.
Also serving as commander of the Immigration Bureau's investigation division, he has been entrusted with liaising with international police to deal with transnational organised crime networks.
Most recently, he led a police unit to arrest 10 Chinese nationals for running a call-centre scam at a condo on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok on Jan 20.
Six of the suspects were the subject of arrest warrants issued by the Chinese government. Police also seized a number of computer notebooks, mobile phones, bank passbooks and electronic gadgets.
On Dec 23, last year, a police team led by Pol Maj Gen Phanthana, with the support of Cambodian authorities, also arrested 39 Thais during raids at two locations in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville in the neighbouring country after an investigation found phone scammers might have been operating from there.
The suspects allegedly duped Thais into transferring money to their accounts, causing millions of baht in damages.
Born in Chon Buri, Pol Maj Gen Phanthana was inspired at a young age by his father's own job as a police officer to follow in his footsteps and seek out a police career. His father was later transferred to work in Bangkok and Nakhon Pathom and he had to move along.
When he finished high school, he enrolled in the police and graduated in Class 48 at the Royal Police Cadet Academy in Nakhon Pathom.
"I chose to be a police officer because I drew inspiration from my father. I wanted to be a crimebuster like him. The police job has offered me rich and varied experience in solving cases and capturing suspects," Pol Maj Gen Phanthana said.
He began his career as an officer at Taling Chan station in Bangkok where he was mentored by former deputy national police Pol Gen Panupong Singhara na Ayudhya, who was then the station's superintendent.
There, he was trained in investigative skills, apart from carrying out routine desk work.
"At the time, Pol Gen Panupong told me that while legal knowledge is a requirement for pursuing a police career, learning to work in the field as a plainclothes detective is also important,'' Pol Maj Gen Phanthana said.
After years of working as an investigator, he was appointed as a tourism inspector looking into cases mostly related to foreign tourists in Bangkok for five years before being made a deputy superintendent in charge of a tourism police unit in the North.
He was then promoted as a superintendent in charge of Pattaya police in Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district which is also busy handling foreign tourists before being transferred to the post of a Chon Buri superintendent, with a broader scope of authority.
His career took another turn when then Metropolitan Police Bureau commissioner, Pol Lt-Gen Kamronwit Thoopkrachang, moved him back to work as a superintendent in charge of Romklao police in Lat Krabang district, bordering the eastern province of Chachoengsao.
There, Pol Maj Gen Phanthana devoted effort to improving and modernising the lesser-known suburban station which went on to win the "Police Station for People'' award and serve as a model for other stations in Bangkok.
"Before I moved to Romklao station, I did not even know where it was and I ended up getting lost while driving to work on my first day. Despite it being located in the Bangkok suburbs, there was so much I could learn. There, I was introduced to close-knit communities and learned how to foster ties between police and residents," he said.
He rose through ranks and became a police major general attached to the Narcotics Suppression Bureau where he was in charge of handling technological devices designed to deal with drug traffickers.
Given his long investigative experience, Pol Maj Gen Phanthana has earned the trust of national police chiefs.
"I haven't worked for any chief in particular, but for the Royal Thai Police. I have experience in handling cases which requires coordination with foreign countries. My job calls for specialised skills in investigation," he said.
"In the past, investigators had to go out and meet people and look for information. Now, technology has boosted the rate of success in solving crimes," he said.
"For example, solving a gold shop robbery case could take up to two months, but with the help of technology, we can solve it in no more than two weeks on average," he said.
He said he has placed a great emphasis on tackling transnational crime networks and online scammers, both of which are often linked together.
"One of the most common scams on social media involves victims being duped into buying cheap products which do not exist. Members of transnational criminal gangs are also involved in such scams.
"Call-centre scammers also run rampant and swindle victims out of large amounts of money, not to mention romance scams or investment scams," he said. "Police must always strive for a deeper understanding of technical knowledge and equipment to deal with those online scammers," Pol Maj Gen Phanthana said.
