National—
On February 7th, 2024, Ms. Thantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon, a 20-year-old student activist, and her friends were facing legal proceedings after speeding to cut a lane and honking a horn during Princess Sirindhorn’s procession on Phahonyothin Expressway. As a result, the police on duty were able to intercept and capture them shortly after.
The police initially reportedly stated that the traffic operated normally during the procession as there was no road blockage. However, after the incident went viral showing an argument between Thantawan and the police, many Thai netizens criticized the incident regarding the appropriateness of Thantawan’s actions and petitioned the police to take legal action.
On February 10th, 2024, Din Daeng police officers performed an investigation to gather evidence and issued a summons to Thantawan and her friends to acknowledge the allegations. However, Thantawan and her friends failed to report themselves on the first call and reportedly tried to postpone the report to February 20th as they claimed they had personal business to attend to.
On February 9th, 2024, Pol. Gen. Torsak held a meeting with relevant agencies to establish guidelines to emphasize the intensity of police officers’ actions in performing their duties to ensure the safety of the Royal Procession and facilitate traffic. If any illegal act is found, the police will take serious legal action against them without exception.
Furthermore, the guidelines for the public’s use of the roads during the Royal Procession would be publicly made to ensure road safety, said Pol. Gen. Torsak.
Recently, on February 12th, 2024, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin held a meeting regarding the incident with high-ranked officials including Pol. Gen. Torsak. According to Srettha, they discussed measures to maintain the safety of the royal procession as royalists were important figures in Thailand.
However, Pol. Gen. Torsak believed that the action of defamation from Thantawan and her friends had an unidentified group supporting them. The police were ordered to work proactively to gather evidence for further legal processing.
Within two days, the police would issue an arrest warrant on related charges to those involved in the incident, said Pol. Gen. Torsak.
Thantawan ‘Tawan’ Tuatulanon, and two other activists, Natthanon ‘Frank’ Chaiyamahabutr, and Naphasin ‘Sai Nam’ Trirayapiwat have all been arrested as of the evening of February 13th in relation to various charges over the incident.
This article originally appeared on our sister website The Pattaya News.
