Thai man accuses cop of assault after he honked truck horn (video)

A Thai man accused a police officer in Samut Prakan province, near Bangkok, of physically assaulting him, even though he did not violate any laws and only honked his truck horn to greet a passing friend.

The Thai truck driver shared a video on Facebook, where he and his girlfriend were seen arguing with a traffic police officer from the Bang Kaew Police Station. The video was accompanied by a caption that read:

“Do police have the right to do this? Are you misusing your authority?”

The truck driver explained in the post that his friend had driven past him on the road, and he had honked his horn to greet him. In response to this greeting, he honked his horn back.

Unexpectedly, the traffic police officer asked him to pull over for an investigation and accused him of modifying his horn to make it louder than usual. The driver insisted to the officer that he had not modified the horn at all, but the officer suddenly hit him on the back.

In the video, the couple and the police officer can be heard in the following conversation:

Truck driver: “Do you have the right to do what you just did to me? Why did you hit me on the back?”
Driver’s girlfriend: “He is a citizen, and you are a police officer. Should you be doing this to people?”
Police officer: “Is it wrong? Why are you honking the horn like that?”
Truck driver: “My friend greeted me, and I just responded.”

Don’t hit, Just touch

The truck driver suspected that the police officer was annoyed by the car horn and had tried to make a false accusation against him. He urged the officer to resolve the issue at the police station but the officer refused and left the scene.

Bang Kaew Police Station Superintendent Adirek Thonggamkaew told Channel 7 that the issue had been settled on the day of the incident.

Adirek added that the incident took place near the Khlong Khut Intersection on Tuesday, August 20. The police officer and the truck driver had reached an agreement in front of him on that day.

The officer insisted that he had not hit the driver on the back but merely touched him. He also claimed that he had no intention of making a false accusation against the driver. He explained that he was talking on the walkie-talkie at the time and could not hear the horn clearly to determine whether it was modified or not. He then asked the driver to stop for a check.

The truck driver was later seen deleting the video from his social media account. No legal charges were issued against any party, Adirek stated.

However, the truck driver’s actions may have violated the law, according to Section 14 of the Land Transport Act: motorists must use a horn only when necessary and should not make a long or repeated honk. Violating this rule can result in a fine of 500 baht.