9 social-media users face arrest for allegedly defaming Thai Army
Thailand’s Army chief on Wednesday demanded the arrest of nine people for allegedly claiming that Thai soldiers were being flown to the United States for Covid-19 booster shots.
Army chief General Narongpan Jittkaewtae announced that eight Facebook users and one Twitter user will be arrested over defamation charges and may face up to two years in prison and/or a fine of no more than 4,000 baht.
The general also had Colonel Nakhonsom Naowabut from the Army's office of the judge advocate file a complaint with the Nang Loeng police station on Wednesday.
Recently, social-media users shared images of Thai soldiers heading to the US to participate in the July 10-26 Strategic Airborne Operation at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Accompanying the images were captions accusing the soldiers of travelling to the US to get a Pfizer booster and using the taxpayers’ money to fund this exercise.
Meanwhile, deputy Army spokesman Colonel Srichan Ngathong pointed out that the vaccination card pictured in the posts is that of a 58-year-old, while soldiers heading to the US are a lot younger.