‘Patt’ makes public appeal after being freed on bail

Meanwhile, NSB chief Pol Lt-General Sommai Kongwisaisuk hinted to reporters that more Thai celebrities might be involved in drugs, including entertainers who consumed illicit substances to lose weight.
Napapa, looking tense and unaccompanied by her motorbike star husband Akarakit “Benz Racing” Worarojcharoendet, arrived at NSB headquarters at 9am and was met by a large number of reporters. She made no comment before entering the building to meet police. 
Following the acknowledgement of the charges and an initial interrogation, the actress was brought to the court as authorities applied for an initial 12-day detention period lasting until May 26 while the investigation proceeds. 
Her lawyer Arkhom Khongsawat pledged Bt500,000 as collateral to apply for her release on bail, which the court granted in the afternoon. The court also ordered her to report back to court on July 3, the lawyer said. 
Following her release, Napapa asked the public to believe in her, saying she had not done anything wrong and had not known the origins of the money.
NSB chief Sommai said police had clear evidence against Napapa, adding that she was still a suspect. 
However, he said she was innocent in the eyes of the law until proven guilty, but added that her case could be a cautionary tale for people who assumed that if they were not directly involved in drug trafficking, they could not be prosecuted. 
The NSB had issued two summonses for Napapa to face charges after investigators discovered that the actress possessed money that Akarakit had reportedly received from a network led by alleged Lao drug kingpin Xaysana Keopimpa. 
Akarakit is accused of receiving money from Natthapol Nakkham, a suspect connected to Xaysana’s network who has already been arrested, and transferred about Bt1.9 million to Napapa.
“If she admitted in the beginning that she received Bt1.9 million from money-laundering suspect Akarakit, it would have sped up the investigation. But her manager at first claimed the money was from acting-related jobs, which made the police probe more complicated as investigators had to find evidence. Then she claimed in her second testimony that she didn’t know the origins of money as it was wired to her by her husband,” Sommai said.
The investigation found that Akarakit transferred the money to Napapa three months before they were married in November, Sommai said. If Napapa had said the money was a bride price, it would have been different and she could have escaped prosecution, the NSB chief added. 
But she had said the money was given to her by her husband in her capacity as his wife, so the funds were considered joint property, and she faced criminal charges along with Akarakit. 
Sommai also said Napapa had filed a petition for leniency on the grounds that she had to take care of her mother.