Tour exec acquitted by court lodges complaint against investigation officers
OA Transport Company executive Wasurat Rojrungrangsi, who along with family members was recently acquitted in a zero-dollar tours case, on Thursday lodged a complaint against police officers who had handled the case.
Wasurat’s complaint with the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) in Bangkok accused the Tourist Police Superintendent for Tour and Tour Guide Business Control, Pol Colonel Surasak Surinkaew, and Phyathai Police Station deputy superintendent Pol Lt-Colonel Thammarak Ruangdit, of perjury and malfeasance.
In his complaint, Wasurat said the officers last July had wrongfully accused him and his family members of racketeering, leading to an investigation by 69 police officers, culminating in the indictment of him and 12 others by prosecutors for violation of the Tourism Business and Guide Act 2008.
However, the Criminal Court in August acquitted Wasurat and the 12 others on grounds of insufficient evidence against them.
Wasurat claimed the accusation, which had resulted in their detention for five months pending a court trial, had tarnished their reputation, damaged their three-decades-old business, pushed them into debt for billions of baht, while some 1,000 workers had been laid off. He said the company would also consider filing a civil lawsuit later.
OA Transport and five companies operated by Wasurat’s family members and relatives were accused of being part of a zero-dollar tour network that sold cheap tour packages to visitors mostly from mainland China, and then allegedly pressured them into buying overpriced goods and services from shops under its network.