Police officer’s threats backfire
A policeman accused of improperly digging up the private records of a citizen to smear her name has laid charges against her husband of threatening him over the phone, as a wider dispute involving a social advocate and celebrity lawyer escalates.
The deputy head of investigations with Bang Pa-in police in Ayutthaya, Pol Lt Col Ruangyot Kaysornbua, has laid three charges against netizen and dog raiser Seth Dechsupa, accusing him of threatening behaviour.
His call, on Nov 31 last year, stemmed from an incident in which the senior policeman is accused of digging up private records belonging to Mr Seth’s wife, Rakchanok Charoenmarksuk, at the request of social activist Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, who wanted to smear the woman’s name.
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| Seth, far left, and his lawyer Sittra, far right |
After Mr Seth and his lawyer complained to Bang Pa-in police and the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok, a panel set up by Ayutthaya police found Pol Lt Col Ruangyot and Mr Atchariya did indeed act in cahoots, which raises the prospect of legal action against the pair.
Police have sent the case file to the National Counter-Corruption Commission for a decision. The police involved, the superintendent of Bang Pa-in station, Pol Col Rit Sirithep, and Pol Lt Col Ruangyot, have been transferred.
The police panel found Pol Lt Col Ruangyot was wrong to dig up a private citizen’s records and release them, and Mr Atchariya wrong to encourage him to break the law.
The complaint was brought by Mr Atchariya’s one-time friend and now bitter rival, celebrity lawyer Sittra Biebangkerd. He is fighting a broader battle with the activist after he accused him of seeking a bribe from a couple involved in a fraud case in Samut Sakhon, and encouraging police to give favourable testimony in a drugs case involving his client, actress Amelia “Amy” Jacobs, last year. Mr Sittra denies both claims.
TV news presenter Kanchai “Noom’’ Kamnerdploi also was roped into the saga after presenting an item about the records scandal. Mr Atchariya declared he would sue, one of 30 cases he is supposedly taking in relation to the row. Since the police panel turned the tables on the activist, Noom has threatened to counter-sue if a court throws out the complaint.
Mr Atchariya, chairman of the crime victims’ assistance club who routinely levels claims of bribe-taking and other forms of corruption against officials including police, accuses Mr Sittra of hiring himself out recklessly to defendants in drug cases, chasing legal fees at any cost and betraying his principles as a lawyer.
Mr Sittra says Mr Atchariya, a former engineer who is studying law, disrupts police inquiries and court convictions to make a name for himself, regardless of the cost which officials, in many cases doing their duties honestly, have to bear.
The police complaint laid by Mr Seth said Mr Atchariya believed incorrectly that he was the head of a web page, Red Skull, which was causing him bother, and spread the details online to discredit his wife, resulting in threats of bodily harm. In fact he was merely a private citizen and fan of the page who raised dogs quietly but found himself dragged into an ugly dispute between the activist and the webpage, which represents crime victims.
After getting news that the senior policeman accused of improperly releasing his wife’s private records now intended to sue, Mr Seth last week released an audio file of his phone call with the officer.
He said if he could find evidence of him making threats, he was welcome to take action. “In fact, when I called I didn’t intend taking any legal action, I just wanted to ask why you did it. If you’d spoken the truth it would have ended there ... but you misrepresented documents so I would end up in jail. Funny?” he said in an accompanying message.
“If you sue on the basis I threatened you, I will pursue the case to the end. You’re the deputy in charge of investigations and know much more about the law than I do. I finished Matthayom 6, and my wife is just a housewife who looks after the dogs at home,” he added.
In the clip, which one media outlet gleefully transcribed word for word, Pol Lt Col Ruangyot repeatedly avoids answering if he had dug up the files, and asked if he could go back and check. However, he does agree he knew the Line group “Revenge!” to which the information was released before being spread further on the internet. He said it belonged to Mr Atchariya.
Commenting on the post, Mr Sittra said he could find no evidence that Mr Seth threatened the policeman. His client was waiting for a summons and happy to give evidence once it arrived, he said.
Light-night chase ends in tragedy
Former actor Peerapol “Boy” Jantrakat has been charged along with a friend of killing two young men in a frenzied road rage attack in Chon Buri last week.
Police in Chon Buri have charged Boy, 49, and Anurak “Guy” Permwicha, 24, with intentionally killing the pair and carrying a weapon in public after the clash outside the Laemthong department store in Bang Saen on Feb 1. Media reports say the pair admitted the charges and are out on bail.
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| Boy |
CCTV footage shows two men on a motorcycle, followed shortly after by a Toyota Yaris. As the action returns to the frame of the camera, it also shows a man chasing another and stabbing him repeatedly. The attack resulted in the deaths of the pair on the motorcycle, Suriya Pinkuntot, 26, and Thanakrit Saehlay, 37.
They had been drinking at an eatery nearby along with the victims before the 5am incident. The row started as they headed for home when the victims, on a motorcycle, allegedly cut in front of the accused in their car.
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| Attack scene, caught on CCTV |
The accused gave chase until the pair on the motorcycle stopped in front of Burapa University hospital. An argument ensued, and the victims struck the car.
The pair in the Yaris, upset about the slight, pursued the pair on the motorcycle until they caught up with them outside the store when Guy grabbed a knife hidden in the vehicle, got out and allegedly stabbed Suriya until he fell to the ground.
Once he was subdued, he attacked Thanakrit.
Boy, a former 90s actor who turned to directing and producing later in his career, allegedly told police he fled the scene heading for his home in Bangkok, where he was arrested some hours later. The case continues.
The MP for getting things done
DJ and actor Paranyu “Tack’’ Rojanavudtitham is ribbing an actor friend’s aspirations to enter politics at the election by launching his own “For Husbands” party.
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| Tak's light-hearted send-up |
Tack last week took a light-hearted poke at plans by his singer-turned-actor friend Rattapoom “Film” Tokongsup to run for the Palang Thong Thin Thai party.
“I doubt you’ll scratch the itch in the right spot, so take a look at my party instead,” he said on IG.
Tack, who last month married Adira “Bell” Engtrakul in what was described as a lightning wedding, unveiled the party’s slogan as “Let’s fine fierce wives, and stop them arguing.”
He lists among the party’s policies that men be allowed to go out at night to curb the problem of excess power use at home; increasing “allowances for husbands” to 15,000 baht a month; cutting the price of the best girls on offer at sexy saunas, handing out 5,000 baht payments for trips to the sauna, and passing a law forbidding wives from hiding their husband’s money.
Film, who enjoyed the joke, made a passing dig at Tack, asking why he didn’t invite him to his wedding. Netizens, meanwhile, have taken Tack’s “For Husband’s” party in good humour, though some of his women fans said if such a party were really to take root, they would have to come up with a partisan “Wife’s Party” too.
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