Cabbie penalised for trying to cut through PM's motorcade
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A taxi driver was given a one-month suspended jail term and fined Bt5,000 yesterday for driving recklessly in his effort to block the motorcade of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Pongpicharn Thanathirapong, 49, pleaded guilty to the charges of reckless driving and blocking traffic lanes with his taxi during his arraignment at the Dusit District Court. He was accused of blocking the premier’s motorcade on Thursday afternoon on Phitsanulok Road in front of Government House.
Public prosecutors said Pongpicharn drove in the wrong direction on the opposite lane to cut through the PM’s motorcade. His move allegedly caused damages to vehicles of Thai Post and Channel 7 reporters, who were tailing the motorcade.
The court ruled that the taxi driver had violated the 1979 Land Traffic Act on several counts and hence deserved to be punished severely. He was initially sentenced to two months in jail and a Bt10,000 fine, but the court chose to commute his penalties by half and suspended his jail term on grounds that he had no previous criminal record.
The cabbie has been put on probation for a year and needs to report to police three times a month. He also needs to do 20 hours of social service, while his licence for driving a taxi has been suspended for six months.
Pongpicharn said he tried to disrupt the prime minister’s motorcade to bring to her attention the fact that he had not received compensation in relation to the 2010 red-shirt protests.
After the verdict was read, police arrested the man and charged him with trespassing into a government office and attempted arson, because in an earlier incident he had driven his taxi into the Parliament compound and threatened to set his car on fire if his demands for compensation were not met.
