Although the curfew technically came into effect for the last time at 11pm last night, police decided to waive enforcement for the one hour through to midnight, Phuket Provincial Police Commander Maj Gen Rungrote Thakurapunyasiri told The Phuket News today.
In total, 1,995 people in Phuket were arrested for breaking nationwide nightly curfew since it was introduced on Apr 3, noted a report issued by Phuket Provincial Police today (June 15).
The report marked five people arrested in Patong for breaking the curfew. “Those five arrests were from the previous night, Jun 13, and had yet to be added to the total for the island,” Maj Gen Rungrote explained.
The report noted that of 1,995 people arrested for breaking the curfew from Apr 3 to June 14, only 109 people were arrested at checkpoints. The remaining 1,886 were arrested by patrols.
The breakdown of curfew arrests as per each police station was reported as follows:
- Muang Phuket Police Station – 590
- Patong Police Station – 399 (5)
- Wichit Police Station – 281
- Thalang Police Station –173
- Karon Police Station – 155
- Chalong Police Station – 143
- Kathu Police Station – 79
- Cherng Talay Police Station – 58
- Tha Chatchai Police Station – 42
- Sakhu Police Station - 38
- Kamala Police Station - 37
Thongchai Rattanadet of the Phuket Provincial Narcotics Control Management Centre, who also served on nightly patrols in and around Phuket Town during the curfew hours, told The Phuket News, “Our team alone arrested 420 people from April 3 to June 14. More than 90% of those arrested were men aged from about 30-35 years old.
“The most common reason we were given by the people arrested was that they were going to a friend’s house for a meal and to hang out. Others said they were going to see their girlfriend or boyfriend,” he added.
“We tried to explain to them that they could have organised to see their girlfriend or boyfriend at another time, but they still maintained this was why they were out during the curfew. Sadly, they just did not use any common sense,” Mr Thongchai said.
“However, whatever reason people gave for being out during the curfew, we recorded it and passed it on to police for them to decide whether they would be charged or not,” he added.