Bangkok, Thailand-
As a war of words has heated up between Thai law enforcement and a famous Taiwanese actress who claims she was extorted by Thai police the Commander of the Thai police has ordered a full, transparent investigation.
Pol. General Damrongsak Kittipraphat, the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Police, ordered this morning, January 28th, 2023, a full and transparent investigation that he said would be fair to all sides involved.
The actress and social media influencer, An Yu Qing, known by her English name Charlene An, has been engaged in verbal sparring online from her Instagram with Thai police for several days after she claimed she was extorted by Thai police at a regular traffic checkpoint for 27,000 baht while visiting the country around New Year’s. She has since pledged to never return to Thailand.
Thai police, however, claim that according to her taxi driver and witnesses she was heavily drunk, had illegal vaping equipment, was uncooperative, and her visa was incorrect. Charlene has denied all these statements and said that she had not been drinking, was fully cooperative although admitted there were language barriers, and did not break any laws.
One large piece of dispute is Charlene claims to have been taken away from her taxi to a quiet area to be extorted for money but Thai police claim CCTV footage disputes this fact. Additionally, the main witness, her taxi driver, has seemingly sided with police in his statements and also gone on record claiming she was drunk and acting hysterical in her dispute with police.
This has led to a continued escalation on both sides with Charlene pledging to get Interpol and Taiwanese police involved and make it an international incident and Thai police threatening Thailand’s extremely strict slander and libel and defamation laws.
As a result, Pol. General Damrongsak Kittipraphat is now personally involved after his subordinates mainly handled the ongoing drama for the past several days. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha has also asked for a full investigation, acutely aware it could affect tourism due to Charlene’s significant Instagram and social media following.
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