Double standards

Rocker Sek Loso accuses police

"Sek Loso" gives a press interview as he reports to the Nakhon Si Thammarat provincial court in connection with Dec 29 gun-firing incident.

Rock singer Sek Loso has accused police of double standards after learning that a local official facing similar charges was released on bail for a third of what he was required to pay.

The troubled star arrived in Nakhon Si Thammarat on Monday to report to the provincial court in connection with the gun-firing incident on Dec 29 last year.

Seksan “Sek Loso” Sookpimay, accompanied by his lawyer, faces charges of shooting into the air and illegally carrying a gun in public on Dec 29 when he fired 10 shots in front of the statue of King Taksin the Great at Wat Khao Khun Phanom in Phrommakhiri after a concert.

The rock star said he fired the shots as a way of paying respect.

In a press interview, the rocker said he turned up to fulfil his obligations and was scheduled to report to the court again on Jan 29.

He also said he planned to perform another concert in the province to raise funds for Wat Khao Khun Phanom and promised that there would be no shots fired.

His public appearance came after he published a video clip accusing police of double standards. He criticised the police for unfair treatment after 46-year-old Sathian Chuanrak, a kamnan in tambon Pho Raiwan, of Phetchaburi’s Muang district, was allowed bail on a surety of 100,000 baht.

Mr Sathian is alleged to have fired 15 shots into the sky during a house-warming party on Friday night and assaulted two police officers as they tried to detain him.

In the Facebook video, Sek noted that his bail was set at 300,000 baht for similar charges.

The rock star was arrested in two related incidents: one involving the gun-firing incident in Nakhon Si Thammarat and the other involving a charge of illegal possession of a handgun during his arrest at his Bangkok home.

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Vocabulary

  • assault: attacking someone violently - การทำร้ายร่างกาย
  • bail: money that is given to a court when someone is allowed to stay out of prison until their trial. If they do not return for the trial, the court keeps the money  - เงินประกัน; การประกันตัว
  • detain: to keep someone in a police station or prison and not allow them to leave - กักตัว ควบคุมตัวหรือฝากขัง
  • double standards (noun): a rule or standard of good behaviour which, unfairly, some people are expected to follow or achieve but other people are not - สองมาตรฐาน
  • kamnan (noun): the head of a tambon, a group of villages - กำนัน
  • obligation: something which you must do because you have promised, because of a law, etc. - สัญญาผูกมัด, ข้อผูกมัด
  • surety: money given as a promise that you will pay a debt, appear in court, etc - การค้ำประกัน
  • troubled (adjective): experiencing many problems - ยุ่งยาก,เป็นทุกข์,เป็นภาระ,วุ่นวาย,น่ารำคาญ,หนักใจ
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