Angry Thai man crashes car into PPRP election poster
An angry Thai man was prosecuted for damaging an election campaign poster belonging to the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP). He deliberately crashed his pickup into the poster. The suspect’s family revealed he was angry at the party because his request for unemployment compensation was rejected.
With the General Election set to take place on May 14, every political party has begun promoting their policies and Member of Parliament (MP) candidates for each province by installing campaign posters on footpaths and along roads in Thailand.
One such campaign poster, of the PPRP’s candidate for Nakhon Sawan province, Pornwisit Jamsai, was the unfortunate recipient of a random attack. A video of the poster was seen on social media and quickly went viral after the driver of a black pickup smashed his vehicle into the poster outside of the party office in Nakhon Sawan.
The incident was reported to have happened on Monday, March 20 at about 5.20pm. The authorities in the office who witnessed the action recorded a video of the incident and reported it at Ta Klee Police Station.
In the video, the driver, later identified as 28 year old Pongsathorn, crashed his pickup into the poster. Then, he climbed out of the car, lay the poster on the floor, and ran his car over it before driving off.
Police managed to arrest Pongsathorn shortly after the incident. According to the police, Pongsathorn was under the influence of alcohol and lost control. He told arresting officers that he was not a fan of the PPRP.
Officers contacted Pongsathorn’s family to pick him up at the police station. The family told officers that Pongsathorn was angry with the party because he submitted a request for unemployment compensation and it was rejected.
It is unclear what charges have been filed against Pongsathorn. According to Thai Criminal Law, destroying or stealing an election campaign poster is a violation of Section 358. The penalty for this offence is imprisonment for up to three years, a fine of up to 6,000 baht, or both.
PPRP is a Thai civil-military political party with ties to the National Council for Peace and Order, which has been in power since the 2014 coup. The party is now led by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.
The former leader of the PPRP, PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, will now run for prime minister under the Ruam Thai Sang Chart, also known as the United Thai National Party.
