Off-duty officer reportedly carried gun and “acted eratically” in Phuket

An off-duty police officer was reportedly spotted walking around carrying a gun and “acting erratically” in a Phuket housing estate, according to residents. The residents told police they saw the Phang Nga Police officer, 27 year old Corporal Korn, at the estate in Thalang district on Monday morning.

Thalang Police Chief Colonel Pisit Chuenpet said police were first alerted about the incident at 8:30am. He said it took nine hours to arrest Korn, The Phuket Express reported. Chief Pisit said…

“He blocked the entrance of a private housing estate with a pickup truck. The man later hid in his house in the housing estate.”

Until 3:30pm, Korn’s parents tried to negotiate and convince him to surrender, but he refused. But finally, at around 5pm, Korn calmed down and surrendered, Khaosod reported.

Police seized from him a gun loaded with seven bullets, and eight bullets in his pockets. Chief Pisit said that Korn faces charges of carrying a gun in public without reason. Korn was to be drug tested for possible further prosecution.

It was not yet clear if Korn would face charges related to his employment as a police officer.

This news comes after Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha declared a war on drugs and a clampdown on gun control laws after a massacre at a daycare centre in northeast Thailand sparked urgent calls for change last week.

A former police sergeant facing trial for drug charges murdered 37 people – including 24 children under six years old – at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu province in a gun and knife rampage before committing suicide.

Prayut ordered the national chief of police to proactively ensure the force is free of drugs and take strict criminal and disciplinary action against any officer who fails a drug test, said government spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri.