Actor avoids jail again over ‘kraab rot’ road rage incident
The Appeals Court has upheld the two-year suspended jail term given former actor and TV host Akanat “Nott” Ariyaritwikul over a 2016 road rage case in Bangkok that became notorious online under the hashtag “kraab rot ku”.
Prosecutors wanted Akanat, who has since changed his first name to Thee, jailed as an example to others, but the Appeals Court on Tuesday deemed the primary court’s sentence appropriate.
Akanat, then 30, and his friend Wittawat Sribunditmongkol, 29, were originally sentenced last June to two years in prison for assaulting motorcycle messenger Kittisak Singto, 27, and forcing him to kowtow to Akanat’s car in apology for bumping into it.
The November 4, 2016, incident was recorded by passers-by and the video widely shared online.
The same court then halved the jail term and suspended it for two years because the accused had confessed and Akanat had paid the victim Bt180,000 in compensation.
The two were also ordered to perform 24 hours of social service and report to probation officers four times a year.
Akanat reportedly did his 24-hour service by donating blood and cleaning temple and school toilets and will meet his probation officer for the fourth time on March 3.