Hang Chat: Social media shares a clip of an older man sitting drinking in a restaurant in Hang Chat District, Lampang Province, drunk and making a scene, claiming to be a police officer, before arguing with a teenager who was sitting drinking in the restaurant, causing a scuffle. The Superintendent of Hang Chat Police Station admitted that the man was indeed a police officer with the rank of Police Sergeant Major, and is preparing to set up a fact-finding committee.
According to Thai News Agency, a clip shows an older man claiming to be a police officer in a drunken state after drinking with friends at a restaurant in Hang Chat District, Lampang Province. He is yelling, cursing, and shouting at teenagers, asking them, ‘Do you want to die?’ before a fight breaks out. The older man collapses to the ground but fights with all his might.
The incident occurred after the older man was about to leave the restaurant, but the staff came back to inform him of the price of 399 baht. This made the older man unhappy and he started yelling and cursing loudly. The teenagers in the restaurant who were live streaming heard a woman, who was believed to be an employee, yelling that they still hadn’t paid for 399 baht. The older man then argued that it wasn’t true, he hadn’t paid but should think about it carefully, and claimed to be a police officer, saying how much he had taken care of them in the past. This caused the two teenagers who were live streaming to go and look at the table where the incident occurred, and they started arguing with the older man.
The story ends with a friend who came with the older man to clear up the expenses and then took the older man on a motorcycle to ride home, with a woman’s voice following behind to tell him not to come again.
Progress this morning, reporters went to the restaurant in Hang Chat District, Lampang Province. Khun Nui, 44 years old, the owner of the restaurant and her husband, took reporters to see the scene of the incident. The first table was a table of a police sergeant who came with one friend. The second table was a table of teenagers with three people, two men and one woman. On the day of the incident, it was almost midnight on the 8th to the 9th of March. At that time, I was going to close the shop, so I came to check the bill for food and drinks, which was 399 baht. The friend of the police sergeant paid 300 baht and was looking for an additional 99 baht. However, the police sergeant looked at the bill and threw it away before shouting that he would close the shop and make it impossible for the shop to stay open.
Until the young man who was at a nearby table tried to help stop and clear things up, but later the police sergeant punched the young man, so he fought back as seen in the CCTV footage and a scuffle ensued. As a villager who works to make a living, I didn’t think that a police officer, who is a protector of the peace, would do this to me. In the past, no matter how drunk a customer was, I would never do this.
Later, the Superintendent of Hang Chat Police Station, Hang Chat District, Lampang Province, assigned the Deputy Superintendent of Investigation to go to the area to follow up on the case. The shop owner and Nong Ice, a teenager who was at the scene, gave initial information. The police admitted that the person in the clip was a police officer, a police sergeant, approximately 50 years old, working in the radio communications room at Hang Chat Police Station, Lampang Province. Initially, they prepared to set up a fact-finding committee first. If there is any wrongdoing, they will set up an investigation committee according to the next steps. They confirmed that they will be fair to both parties. If the shop wants the person to come and apologize, they will notify the police sergeant to come and apologize again. As for the cause, it is likely due to intoxication.
Ice, 21, the teenager in the clip, revealed that at the time, she was live streaming at a nearby table and heard the commotion, so she went to help the owner clear it up because she knew the owner. At first, she talked to him nicely, but he kept arguing. Then he punched her first, but she dodged it in time, so she fought back to defend herself. However, someone came to stop him and told her to separate them. He kept arguing and picking a fight with her for over an hour and a half.
