30 arrested for violating emergency decree, 18 teens jailed

18 teenagers have been jailed for violating the Emergency Decree by holding a party and abusing drugs in Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok. Yesterday prosecutors indicted the teenagers for breaching the decree, taking part in a mass gathering and drug use.

The teens were arrested on Monday after officials got a tip off from local residents. Homeowners reported illegal drugs were being taken at a party held at a raft house on the Chao Phraya River. Authorities seized marijuana, ketamine, ecstasy pills and drug paraphernalia from the teens in the house.

The court sentenced two defendants to a month in jail for defying the Emergency Decree. The remainder got four month jail terms for violating the decree and drug abuse.

Meanwhile, police in in the northern Udon Thani province, near the Laos border, arrested 12 men yesterday for gathering and drinking in breach of thedecree on Thursday. Local officials went to a house Ban Na Sai after hearing about a group of men drinking together. Police say they were disturbing the neighbours by playing loud music from a car.

The men told officers that they were debt collectors but had been laid off due to the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak. They said they were having a birthday party for a friend before they returned to their homes in Nakhon Ratchasima, Chaiyaphum, and Uthai Thani provinces .

The men at first resisted arrest, saying they only partied in the house, and didn’t go out anywhere else. This prompted police to call for reinforcements to arrest them. They’ve now been charged with defying the emergency decree and face a jail term and/or a fine of no more than 40,000 baht each.

Source: Chiang Rai Times | Bangkok Post