At 1pm yesterday (March 19) Special Chief Petty Officer Sutthinun Khunyong of Thachadchai Police submitted a complaint to the Phuket Provincial Court, asking for the court to investigate the investigating officer as well as another volunteer police officer involved in the 2012 case, whose names are being withheld by request of the court.
Officer Sutthnun remarked, “As a result of this ordeal, my reputation was ruined. I initially lost my status as a government officer, I had to sell all my assets to fight this case for three years.”
Officer Sutthinun was formally acquitted of any wrongdoing at a hearing on August 26, 2015, the ruling of which was made official in writing on January 13, this year.
Officer Suthinun, who worked for Phuket City Police at the time of the attack on January 4, 2012, reported that he was on duty in the Saphan Hin area nearby, when the attack took place at Ratchada Pub in Phuket's Poon Phon night entertainment zone.
“When I was alerted by the pub owner ... I reported to the scene and was out of uniform so I could observe the scene [inconspicuously] from the front. When someone ran out and yelled that there was an attack, I went in and tried to help the victim [Vorasit “Pla Wan” Issara], who was under the influence [of alcohol] but I ended up being accused as one of the attackers,” said Officer Suthinun.
“I seek justice from the public for me and my family, because these past three years I've been wrongfully accused by the public, and so I'm here to bring my [two] accusers to account,” he said, adding that the court will decide by April 20 whether or not to receive his complaint.
The infamous 2012 attack (story here) received wide attention, not only in Thailand due to the “high-so” status of the main victim, but also because one of his guests, Hollywood actor Jeremy Renner sustained minor injuries in the incident.
Acting on pressure from the victim's lawyers, as well as royal and political influences, police swiftly made arrests; within a day of the attack, six suspects – Jarungsak Sawangkij, 29, Suriya Kraipian, 33, Suchart Palar, 26, Nareubate Tednok, 18, Natthawut Kongplub, 19, and Wasan Poethong, 20 – were charged.
Within days, two more arrests were made to appease the investigation: Komsan Ngamwilai, 27, and Choodetch Kerdsap, 19. In addition to these eight suspects, Officer Sutthnun was also accused of helping the attackers.
Though given praise by friends and family of the victim, the swift results of the investigation also received criticism for the double-standard applied, considering that many violent attacks had been, and continue to be ignored by police, particularly when the victim is not from a connected family.
Also worth note in this case was the biased, negative attention applied to the accused by local media, police, government officials and the victim's family, who firmly denied any accountability for the role that Pla Wan might have had an instigating the attack.
At a press conference affter the attack, Pla Wan's father told media: “I want to assure the media that Plawan would never start a fight … I think he was in the wrong place at wrong time. He had been to this bar half a dozen times before. He is a victim of the overall decline in society,” he added.
Mr Vorasit’s mother Sriwara added, “I’m sure that rumours that he started the fight are not true. Especially with people lower on the social scale, he was always nice and polite.”
But, she added, “I am not surprised it happened. It’s the kind of people who go [to the Rachada Bar].