Police Lieutenant Colonel Dr Phirapat Mangkhalasiri is a former police investigator with over a decade of combined frontline and academic experience. He specialises in integrating practical policing expertise with international research to address human trafficking, transnational crime, and systemic justice reform. His core areas of expertise include policing, human trafficking, and emerging forms of crime.

Dr Phirapat earned his PhD from the Jill Dando Institute at University College London (UCL), with a dissertation focusing on the investigation and prosecution of child sex trafficking and child labour trafficking in Thailand. He also completed an internship with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), under the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section, where he deepened his understanding of international frameworks and victim-centred approaches.

He currently serves as Deputy Director of the Centre for Crime Science under the Royal Thai Police, where he works to institutionalise evidence-based policing in Southeast Asia. He also lectures in criminology and victimology at the Royal Police Cadet Academy, supporting the development of scientifically grounded and ethically informed future police professionals.