About 50 local residents from Baan Thasak, in Phuket’s Pa Khlok subdistrict, gathered in front of the Thalang District Office at 9pm on Wednesday to protest alleged physical abuse by officials.
The crowd was demanding that two men, Somsak Aungkara, and his son, Autsadawut Deem Aungkara, 20, who had been taken into custody for the drug offense of possessing one yaba pill, be released.
They claimed that officers used too much physical force in handling the suspects, especially the son, who they said was “not of full sound mind.”
The crowd called for the officers involved to be held responsible.
One protester, a relative of the suspects, shared that Autsadawut was on a motorbike when civil defense volunteers stopped him at a checkpoint near Wat Thasak and made him perform a urine drug test.
The urine sample tested positive, so officers forced him to his family’s home and claimed that they found one meth pill in the house. Somsak, Autsadawut’s father, told officers that the meth belonged to him.
The Thalang District Office report of the incident noted that senior Thalang District Office officials Siriphong Leeprasit and Danai Jaikheng, who head the district’s security operations together, along with defense volunteers, had set up a security checkpoint nearby at 5:20pm on Wednesday and this is why Autsadawut was stopped and tested .
The report said that the officials checked Autsadawut’s urine and believed that he has involved with drugs, so they went to check his house and took both men into custody.
While officers were on their way with them to Thalang District Office, 18 people who were believed to be the suspects’ relatives, blocked the road.
They threw rocks at officers’ vehicles. One defense volunteer, Niyom Nueang-ubon, suffered an injury to his head. He was taken to the hospital.
“We saw officers use physical force in handling them. Local teenagers and residents are disappointed about this. That is why they later gathered in front of the Thalang District Office,” the relative added.
Police officers were called to the scene after protesters continued their very vocal protest in front of the gates.
The protesters disbanded after Thalang District Chief Vigrom Charktee spent an hour talking with them.
After the protest, the relative who asked not to be named said, “We have not reported this incident to police. We haven’t decided yet. We have just realized that officers are going to report that we obstructed them in performing their duties.
“They also have said that they would report any persons who spread this news as it is illegal under the Computer Act,” the relative added.
Story: The Phuket News
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