Police insist they did not intimidate parents of three-finger saluting kindergartner
Police in Yasothon province insisted on Sunday (August 23) that they did not threaten the parents of a kindergartner, who held her hand up in an anti-government three-finger salute at school.
Police were responding to a video of officers exchanging words with the parents’ at their home, which generated negative comments from netizens recently.
Pol General Krisana Pattanacharoen, deputy spokesman of the Royal Thai Police, said the parents had not been charged for their child’s action.
In fact, he said, the persons in the clip also included officials from different agencies, such as the kindergartner’s teacher, who came to the house after the clip went viral.
Officials have also urged parents to manage images of the child shared online in line with the Child Protection Act 2003.
Krisana said the parents had only posted the security camera recording in a Facebook post to inform their relatives and friends, and did not think it would go viral.
The clip had been posted on Friday with the comment: “The authorities are looking for Om Yim [the kindergartner] for raising three fingers. Is that why they came to threaten us?”
Though netizens have been debating police action and whether it was appropriate, there are no details on actually what was said in the discussion between the officials and parents.
The kindergartner reportedly won quite a following in her school when she held up her three-finger salute.