Tum's not so great escape, marriage put on hold, fanning the flames

Socialite walks free

Mor Air

A wealthy socialite who accused a high-profile policewoman of stealing her boyfriend has escaped jail in a multi-headed defamation row, with one case still to be decided this month.

The Appeal Court last week sentenced socialite Wichuda “Tum” Leenuthapong to seven years’ jail, suspended for two, in her dispute with Pol Lt Col Anchalee “Mor Air” Teerawongpaisal, whom she accused of breaking up a relationship with her policeman lover. She must also pay a fine of 700,000 baht.

Tum

Mor Air laid police complaints against Tum early in 2015 after the socialite accused her of being a bad woman, being promiscuous and having a secret fling with her former boyfriend, Pol Lt Col Attapol “Aun” Ittayorpasakul, a one-time social media icon feted for his good looks.

Mor Air laid two complaints against the socialite, and prosecutors filed a third, after Tum attacked Mor Air on social media.

The saga started when Tum declared in February that year she had broken up with rising police star Aun after he asked her for money allegedly to buy a police promotion, and started seeing Mor Air.

Mor Air, who works at the Police Hospital in the psychiatry and drug addiction unit, and is a former spokeswoman for the hospital, laid a police complaint the same month. Tum kept up her attacks on Facebook, so she laid a further complaint in March.

Tum initially denied the charges, but in June last year decided not to contest the case and offered 100,000 baht in damages.

Sentencing her in October, the Criminal Court said Tum had broken the law on six counts, with a total penalty of 12 years in jail, and accumulated fine of 600,000 baht.

However, it halved the penalty in recognition of Tum’s guilty plea and the compensation offer, and also suspended the jail term.

In two minor cases arising from the dispute, the court earlier imposed a jail term of one year, suspended for two, and fined her 50,000 baht.

In its ruling last week, the Appeal Court halved the penalty for the six counts, for a total of six years in jail and a fine of 300,000 baht.  It threw out charges laid under the Computer Crime Act and rejected Mor Air’s demands for a published apology.

However, it agreed with Mor Air that Tum offended on many occasions and should be penalised separately for each.

In one of the minor cases brought by Mor Air, the Appeal Court said Tum offended on eight occasions over the course of two weeks in March 2015, and sentenced her to eight years in jail with a 800,000 fine, halved for her confession, and suspended for two years.

Despite the mixed outcome, Tum, who attended court for the ruling, said she was happy with the decision. The appeal ruling on the second minor case in which the lower court jailed her for six months, suspended, will be on Aug 22.

Nuptials just have to wait

Noom, Nicole

Actor Sornram “Noom” Theappitak says any decision on marriage to actress Nicole “Nicky” Theriault will have to wait until the end of the year.

Noom said he would rather wait until the cremation ceremony for late king is over in late October, as it’s the biggest event of the year.

“I am not sure if we will have to play a formal part in the ceremony but that’s the focus of every Thai’s attention for now,” Noom said.

He was speaking after the pair took a recent trip to Hua Hin with Nicole’s son, Tigger Achira, 12.

When reporters caught up with Nicole and Tigger earlier in the week, she deferred questions about marriage to Noom, while admitting the families were growing closely entwined.

Nicole attended the funeral last month of Noom’s father, veteran actor Chumporn Theappitak. She also helps take care of Noom’s mother, meeting her for a meal three or four times a week.

Asked about the trip, Tigger, born to Nicole’s former union with rocker Jeerasak “Maew” Panpoom, said he would be happy if Noom ended up in a more permanent relationship with his mum.

“P Noom is generous and takes care of everyone well, including me. He buys me lots of goodies to eat,” Tigger said.

Nicole said Tigger and Noom get along well and talk about “men’s stuff”.

“They click easily and talk about football and music. Noom has a larrikin streak. He teases and plays practical jokes. More importantly, he also calls Tigger ‘Dad’ ... if ‘Dad’ is not happy, his ‘son’ can’t do a thing. Everything is down to Tigger,” she said.

Asked about their comments, Noom said the pair did him a great honour in letting him into their lives.

“Tigger’s charm is that he loves his mum very much and looks after her well. I tell Nicole that he is passing from child to teen, and probably doesn’t want to get around holding her hand any more.

“He might want to play football or start a music band. She is adapting her behaviour to suit.

“As for our future together, a decision will have to wait until next year,” he said. “We are both committed to work but see each other when we can.”

Crazed fan’s unwanted gift

Ploychompoo

An overenthusiastic fan has given singer and actress Jannine “Ploychompoo” Weigel a fright after he made an unannounced visit at her home.

News reports say a man claiming to be a member of her fan club on Aug 4 forced his way past security at her housing village to reach the front door of her home.

He managed to ring the door bell before security grabbed him and handed him over in handcuffs to the police.

The man, who was not identified, told police he simply wanted to hand over a gift. News reports pictured a man in his 50s with a scruffy appearance holding a boxed cake.

Security at her housing village said the man, who had tried to gain entry a couple of weeks before only to be chased away, first asked motorists entering the village if they could give him a lift inside so he could get past security.

Nobody would take him, so he kept circling around outside the village until he was chased away.

He reappeared an hour later, charging past the security booth on foot and making it as far as Ploychompoo’s door. The singer’s parents were at home at the time.

Ploychompoo’s helpers say the intruder is the same man who recently climbed over a security barrier at one of her concerts and tried to gain entry to the artist’s area behind the stage. He was not successful.

The singer and her mother have now spoken to the man, who apologised for his conduct.

Ploychompoo said the incident had left her shaken, as she did not think any fan would be mad enough to try to see her at home.

Police let her crazed fan go without charge.