January 19, 2021
Mongkol Santimetakul.
The Nation/Asia News Network
Mongkol Santimetakul, a member of the pro-democracy protesters’ security unit, on Sunday (Jan 17) recounted his kidnapping on Saturday (Jan 16) night by a group of mysterious men.
Mongkol’s nightlong disappearance saw members of the pro-democracy group and guards gather outside the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) in Bangkok s Dusit district on Sunday morning to demand answers.
Mongkol had apparently been pulled into a van as he was walking out of a convenience store on Saturday night by a mysterious man who then proceeded to send out messages on the guard s phone claiming he was an Isoc officer.
Kidnapped Free Guard found
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A member of the Free Guards group reported to have been kidnapped by state security personnel was found near the BTS station in Samut Prakan s Bang Phu area on Sunday afternoon.
The Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) denied any involvement in Mongkhol Santimethakul s disappearance.
Mr Mongkhol, 23 and nicknamed Yel , was accompanied by lawyers yesterday when he lodged a complaint at Samut Prakan police station claiming he had been kidnapped.
He told the media he was hustled into a van by five men at 11pm on Saturday as he went to shop at a 7-Eleven store on Phraeksa Road in Samut Prakan province.
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police said on Monday they were investigating a complaint by a political activist who said he had been abducted by a group of unknown men and then questioned inside a van for 12 hours before being dumped on the street. Mongkol Santimetakul, 25, a volunteer guard for the protest movement, said at around 11 p.m. on Saturday on a street near his home in a province south of Bangkok he was bundled into a van by the men who placed a hood over his head and confiscated his phone. He said he was asked about an anti-monarchy sign that was erected by protesters in a nearby area. I was told to sign some document, which I refused and also told to cease all activism, Mongkol told Reuters. Youth-led protests since last year have been demanding the resignation of the military-backed prime minister, who first came to power in a coup, and also reforms to Thailand s powerful monarchy. Mongkol, who filed a police complaint after he said he was dumped on the street around noon the
Sweeping closures in city
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As a new wave of Covid infections bites, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has ordered the closure of all entertainment venues from Tuesday until Jan 4.
The order covers bars with hostesses, horseracing tracks and cockfighting arenas and other entertainment venues including massage parlours. However, pubs and restaurants can stay open as long as they serve only food and drinks, and close by midnight.
BMA spokesman Pongsakorn Kwanmuang on Monday advised entertainment venues to switch to serving only food and observe disease control measures.
Meanwhile, the governor of Samut Sakhon, the epicentre of Thailand s latest Covid-19 outbreak, has tested positive for the virus, as health authorities in Rayong reported its first coronavirus-related death.
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16/12/2020 09:44 GMT+7
Man imprisoned for attempting to overthrow people’s administration
Defendant Tran Duc Thach at the court
The People’s Court of north-central Nghe An province on December 15 sentenced Tran Duc Thach to 12 years in prison for “attempting to overthrow the people’s administration”.
Thach, 68, from the province’s Dien Chau district, will be subject to a probationary period of three years upon his release. He was previously sentenced to three years behind bars on charges of “conducting propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”.