A police station built to last
Do you remember that scandal over dozens of police stations that were left unfinished despite millions of baht being spent on the construction budget?
Construction of new Wat Sa Yai Som police station in Suphan Buri was abandoned by contractor. SATHIEN THUAMCHAN
That is not a problem with an old teakwood
police station in rural Mae Win in the northern province of Chiang Mai.
It was built during World War II more than 70 years ago and it is still in excellent condition
The two-storey wooden building roofed with sheets of galvanised iron is in tambon Mae Win, San Pa Tong district, about 60 kilometres south of the centre of Chiang Mai.
Originally, Mae Win police station stood in the way of Japanese soldiers marching through Mae Hong Son province to Myanmar, then known as British Burma. Its main task was to deal with communists and opium traffickers who were active in the area.
The old Mae Win police station remains in San Pa Tong district, 20 kilometres from the heart of Mae Wang district. The commanders decided to keep the old police station because it remained usable, said Pol Col Wongsaphat Jamroomphan, acting chief of the Mae Wang station.
So Mae Win sub-station still serves, and has cells and police offices on its upper floor, and is manned by police around the clock.
Maybe the contractors hired to build the new police stations should go to Chiang Mai to take a look.