corruption at the police station The total police force numbers 170,000 in 1993. The director of is to the Ministry Interior. the director, there are five responsible for five lines for crime prevention and suppression; for and for for for internal security; line of development. Each deputy director oversees work in his extending all over the kingdom. from the five deputy directors are assistants to of the police police and the public oc- The principal interface between the the police station. Each station has five sub-divisions re- sponsible respectively for crime prevention and suppression (mainly patrols); interrogation; investigation (mainly clothes work); traffic control; clerical and administrative duties. All the work at the police station is under the supervision of the head police inspector (s yai). Above the head police inspector there is a complex hierarchy o command. Going up this hierarchy, there is first a police superintendent who is usually responsible for three police stations; next a police commander who usually oversees more than 15 police stations; and then a police commissioner, of whom there is one for each of the five regions of the country (Bangkok Metropolis and central region, east, northeast, north, south). Despite this complex network of command, when things go wrong at the police station the head police inspector is often the only person to bear the direct responsibility. If inefficiency at the police station leads to criticism of the police department, the police superintendent sometimes will have to bear the responsibility and will be moved to other areas. All the others on top of him are further removed in terms of direct responsibility and are often not affected. For instance in a notorious case in Songkhla in early 1993, a prostitute who r away from a brothel and hid in the town hall was murdered by a policeman who worked in collusion with the brothel owner. The head police inspector of the town was held responsible for the police misdeed and was immediately moved out of Songkhla province. No more senior officers were held to blame.