Thai police apologize for Taiwan actress’s alleged extortion

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s police commissioner apologized Tuesday after seven officers were placed under investigation for allegedly extorting money from a Taiwanese actress who was visiting Bangkok on a holiday.

Actress Charlene An posted on social media that she was traveling in a taxi with friends after a night out in the Thai capital when they were stopped and searched at a checkpoint in the early hours of Jan. 5. She said she was threatened with a criminal charge for having an e-cigarette and later paid 27,000 baht ($820) before they were able to leave.

Two captains, two senior sergeant majors and three sergeants who were at the checkpoint were transferred to inactive positions while the investigation is ongoing, police said.

“There are still many good police. We must encourage the good ones and deal with the bad ones,” police Gen. Damrongsak Kittiprapas told reporters at…