High controversy: Thai police in pot predicament as video of bong-smoking officer goes viral (video)
The Royal Thai Police (RTP) is under fire after a viral video showed a police officer in uniform smoking ganja from a bong. It was later revealed the RTP officer suffers from mental health problems.
The drama erupted on Thai social media after the popular Facebook page, Eight-pointed Star (ดาวแปดแฉก), shared a video of the police officer behaving inappropriately by using cannabis in his uniform.
The page claimed today, November 15, that that the officer was a police lieutenant who was a deputy inspector of the Crime Suppression Division at a police station under the supervision of the Provincial Police Region 8.
The page stated that a video of the police officer using cannabis in his uniform was shared on Facebook and included a screenshot from the video in the comment session. The picture featured the police officer smoking cannabis from a bong in a room.
Some netizens criticised that it was not appropriate for the police to use ganja while in uniform and that the video should not be shared on social media. Other netizens, however, said the action was not wrong because the officer might be using it for a medical purpose, as allowed by law.
The commander of Provincial Police Region 8, Sermphan Sikong, later came forward to confirm to the public that the officer in the video was Police Lieutenant Somkiat, who worked at Wiang Sa Police Station in the southern province of Surat Thani.
Sermphan revealed that Somkiat had used cannabis at his home on the morning of November 13 and that another police officer was the person who recorded the video and shared it on his personal Facebook account.
Sermphan added that Somkiat had a history of mental illness and treatment at Suan Saranrom Hospital. The hospital is known for rehabilitating drug addicts and for using cannabis in treatment.
Sermphan assured the public that a committee would be set up to investigate the purpose of the ganja use. Both Somkiat and another police officer who recorded the video would be punished for tarnishing the image of RTP.
