The police commissioner general has ordered the service’s Education Command to review its decision to reject a disabled officer for a commission, even though he passed the required written and physical tests.
Meanwhile, the Association of Disabled People of Thailand urged the Royal Thai Police to change its regulations barring disabled people from being commissioned.
Narong Paiwansao, head of the association’s legal affairs department, said that the regulation contravenes the Promotion of the Quality of Life of Disabled People Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People.
Today, Narong visited the disabled officer, Pol Sgt Thanawat Panyalertsattha, attached to Ban Bueng district police station in Chon Buri province.
Thanawat said that he passed the written examination and the physical tests, which involved swimming and running. He scored 91 out of 100 points, but he was rejected by the screening committee because of his disability, adding that he had been rejected for the same reason in a previous assessment, despite passing both the written and physical tests.
Thanawat said he didn’t think his disability would pose an obstacle to him performing his duty, because he has two prosthetic legs.
Nonetheless, the Police Education Command has explained that, because of his disability, Thanawat was not qualified to take the tests in the first place, due to his disability possibly limiting his performance of his duties as a commissioned officer.
The command also said the officer was allowed to take the tests because he had applied online and the command was not aware of his disability.
