RAYONG - A man has been charged with tearing a sheet of paper from a voters' list, which he then rolled and smoked like a cigarette, at a community building in Map Ta Phut Municipality.
His offence was filmed by a security camera in the hall about 8pm on Friday, and he was arrested on Monday morning.
Pol Col Khonsan Chaicharoensilp, chief of Nikhom Phatthana police station, said Nattawut Boonma, 25, a labourer from Nong Bua Lamphu, admitted to his actions and explained he was drunk at the time.
Mr Nattawut told police he and a friend had been drinking together on Friday evening and decided to go and catch some fish.
They rode on a motorcycle to a canal opposite the Nakha community building, which is designated voting unit No.76 for the Aug 7 charter referendum, intending to catch their dinner.
He was still drunk and felt like having a cigarette but did not have any on him. So he walked into the community building and tore a sheet of paper from a notice board, unaware it was from a voters' list. He rolled it up, lit it and puffed on it as if it were a cigarette.
Shortly after that he and his friend went back to their living quarters.
Mr Natthawut said he was unaware he had broken the law until police arrived at his room with a court warrant on Monday. He denied having been hired to tear up the list, or being in any way involved in politics.
The police took Mr Nattawut back to the hall for a re-enactment on Tuesday morning.
Pol Col Khonsan said police obtained a warrant for his arrest from the provincial court after seeing footage from a security camera showing him walking up the notice board and tearing of page from the list.
He was charged with destroying an official document, an offence that carries a maximum jail sentence of five years.
