Five soldiers and five civilians have been arrested and charged over the armed abduction of a Ukrainian man and his wife in Phuket.
The arrests took place when the suspects took Igor Lermakov, 37, to a Kasikorn Bank branch near Chalong intersection in Phuket’s Muang district on Friday, where they believed he would withdraw US$200,000 (6.5 million baht). Instead, undercover police were waiting in the bank and arrested the group.
On Thursday, Maryna Lermakova, 32, lodged a complaint with police, saying she and her husband had been abducted by the gang, which claimed Mr Lermakov had borrowed $500,000 from a fellow Ukrainian and had failed to repay the debt.
Ms Lermakova said her husband had been kidnapped first and a Thai woman and a number of armed men later showed up at her house in the Chalong area. They then forced her to go with them to where they were holding her husband.
She told police she was later released after she promised to pay $200,000 of the debt the suspects had demanded.
After informing police about the incident, Ms Lermakova contacted the abductors and told them she would give them the $200,000. However, the money was in Mr Lermakov’s bank account and they had to take him to the bank to withdraw it, which they did.
Undercover police made the arrests at the bank.
After interrogation, the suspects were charged with intimidation using weapons.
The five soldiers are attached to the army’s 41st Military Circle in Nakhon Si Thammarat. They have been identified as Sgt Maj Sumit Chuaybamrung, 49, Sgt Khachenpong Boonmee, 43, Sgt Wichian Suknun, Private Kaew Wihok, 26, and Private Ritchai Phromthongkaew, 22.
The five civilian suspects are Prawat Iadyao, 36, Oranuch Tiyapongpatthana, 40, Khemtichai Pansao, 32, Bandal Inmang, 35, and Somporn Chaising, 58.
Deputy Defence Minister Gen Udomdej Sitabutr, who is also the army chief, said he needed to verify the information before making any comment about the soldiers' arrests.
He was speaking to reporters while on a visit to the southern border areas.
He said if any member of the armed forces was found to have broken the law they would not receive any special protection from the military.
If found guilty of misconduct, they would also face disciplinary action from the military, he said.
"I have to admit that the army has a lot of personnel under its care, more than 230,000 people. And of course, some of them may behave badly sometimes and they deserve to be punished," he said.
Meanwhile, the 4th Army Support Command has been instructed to punish four soldiers found to have been involved in smuggling whiskey into the country last Sunday worth more than five million baht.
The army order said Capt Chaliaw Takngulueam was to be detained for 15 days, while Sgt Yutthaya Mekbangwan, Sgt Sunet Onkliang and Sgt Niran Mekchai were to be detained for 60 days.
The four soldiers' detention started last Tuesday, according to the document.