Phuket politician cleared of vote-buying allegation

PHUKET: Five days after it was seized, over half a million baht has been returned to a former Phuket politician cleared of vote-buying allegations.

Prasong Trairat, a former president of the Thepkrasattri Tambon Council, today went to Cherng Talay Police Station to collect 542,000 baht in assets taken from his home in Thepkrasattri by a provincial police anti-vote-buying task force.

Officers with a search warrant on the night of June 26 seized the money from Mr Prasong’s home, but never filed charges against him.

Mr Prasong pled his case before the local media, saying the money was from a family business.

The seizure caused him a great deal of personal damage and he intends to file charges against the state officials involved, he said.

— Manager online