Democrats urge action against red-shirt leader over sluice gate
Play
The opposition Democrat Party yesterday called on the ruling Pheu Thai Party to ensure that the law is fairly enforced when figures linked to the government are accused of illegal activities.
Democrat spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said the opposition party denounced the recent actions by red-shirt leader Pol Major Sa-ngiam Samranrat, who he said repeatedly led protesters to trespass on official premises and force open sluice gates at the border between Bangkok and Pathum Thani.
Sa-ngiam is a political appointee at the Prime Minister's Office.
Chavanond said Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra should ensure that appropriate legal action is taken against Sa-ngiam.
“If the government fails to make sure its people abide by the country’s laws, how can it expect people in general to respect the law?” the Democrat spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the government’s Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC) has requested that legal action be taken against Sa-ngiam.
Pol General Pongsapat Pongcharoen, a deputy police chief and a FROC spokesman, yesterday said the agency had asked the superintendent of Khu Khot police station in Pathum Thani to bring legal action against Sa-ngiam.
Pongsapat said Khu Khot police superintendent Colonel Naradech Tiprak had informed him that local police were trying to determine which station – Khu Khot or Lam Luk Ka – had jurisdiction in the case. An initial examination had not yielded a clear decision on the matter, he said.
However, Bangkok’s Khan Na Yow police station offered to deal with the case if no agreement could be reached, according to Pongsapat.
He said that police would ensure justice for all parties involved.
Sa-ngiam led protesters from flood-hit Pathum Thani to raise the Phraya Suren sluice gate in Bangkok’s Sai Mai district to 1.5 metres early last week, claiming it was an instruction from the premier and the FROC’s director.
That led Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra to order the gate lowered. The governor said he would take legal action against Sa-ngiam for tampering with the sluice gate without permission.
