Mr Narong authorised Thitima Chaemchoi, Legal Officer at the Phuket Provincial Administrative Office, to file a formal complaint about the posts on Feb 17, 2022, reports Phuket Info Center.
The complaint was filed against Aiya Phetthong, registered as a resident of the Lat Phrao District in Bangkok. The complaint was received by Pol Lt Col Thada Sodarak of the Phuket City Police.
The filing of the formal complaint to police followed the national Anti-Fake News Center issuing two warnings of fake news spreading online accusing Governor Narong of illegally smuggling Muslims into Thailand, and of using state funds to build a mosque.
The first fake news warning, in October 2021, noted that a post circulating claimed that the “Governor of Phuket Secretly is smuggling foreign Muslims into the country illegally”.
“The Anti-Fake News Center investigated the facts via the Phuket Provincial Public Relations Office and found that such information is false,” the warning said.
“In the case of posting a message with a picture that states that the Governor of Phuket is secretly smuggling foreign Muslims into the country illegally in the hope of proliferating and devouring [sic] the Thais to the end, the Phuket Public Relations Office reviewed the post and clarified that such information is not true, because the Governor of Phuket is Buddhist. In addition, there is no illegal smuggling of Islamic people into the country,” the Anti-Fake News Center said.
“Therefore, people are asked not to trust such information and [we] ask for cooperation not to send or share such information on various social media channels. People can receive more information from the Phuket Public Relations Office posted through the website https://pr.prd.go.th/phuket or [they can] call 076-216118,” the post added, using its standard reminder.
The second fake news warning, in December 2021, warned, “According to the information published on the subject ‘Phuket Governor Approved budget for building a mosque of 56 million baht and transporting Muslims to Phuket’, the Anti-Fake News Center has conducted a fact check by Phuket Provincial Public Relations Office found that such issues is false information.
“In the case of posting information indicating that a Muslim governor who pretends to be a Buddhist moved from Chaiyaphum to Phuket approved a budget of more than 56 million baht to build a mosque and bringing a large number of foreign Muslims into Phuket, the Phuket Public Relations Office has reviewed the post and clarified that It’s not true at all.
“The governor of Phuket is a Buddhist. He has never approved a budget of 56 million baht to build a mosque and has never smuggled Muslims into Phuket in any way,” the notice said.
Mr Aiya, identified as responsible for posting the claims online, was found guilty under Section 328 and Section 78 of the Criminal Code, said the Phuket Info Center report.
The Phuket Provincial Court handed down its verdict yesterday (Oct 31), the report added.
Mr Aiya is to post corrective notices on social media and on Facebook for seven days, and have corrective notices published in at least two daily newspapers for seven days each. He is also to remove all posts regarding the fake claims from online.