Critics claim the operations are geared at social media, but police say they have enabled real arrests
P
olice officers from Bangkok’s metropolitan bureau had less than 24 hours to prepare for their latest undercover operation. They would be starring as performers of a lion dance at a temple fair held for the lunar new year. Their mission: track down and arrest a suspected thief who had a history of evading officers.
“The dance was spontaneous. We just did what we did,” said the police captain Lertvarit Lertvorapreecha, adding that nobody had time to practise. In his haste, he accidentally picked up his colleague’s male mask, which he wore with a red silk dress, trousers and tactical shoes.
Their disguise seemed to work, however. Children rushed over to join in, passersby laughed. Crucially, they were able to take their suspect by surprise, wrestling him to the ground in a tumble of red and gold fabric. He is now in prison awaiting trial, accused of stealing Buddhist artefacts worth £47,717.
