The driver of the van that dropped off a foreign family on the side of a Bangkok expressway said he will file a police complaint against the person that shared a photo of the passengers on social media and claimed they were abandoned.
"Posting online a photo with groundless accusations by someone who was not involved in the actual incident and did not really know what had happened can cause great damage to the country's image," said Boonmee Rakdaeng, 52, at a police news conference Monday night.
Mr Boonmee said he wanted the criminal action to be an example to other Internet users against posting false information. He also said he would seek advice from legal experts whether he should lodge charges of defamation and violation of the Computer Crime Act against the original poster.
Social media exploded in uproar Friday after the photo of the foreign couple, their baby and luggage was shared on social network with a caption claiming they were left there by an airport taxi driver who missed an exit and didn't want to take them to their desired destination.
The post sparked torrents of criticism against Thai taxi drivers and users complained the incident could affect the country's image in the eyes of foreign visitors.
However, the post turned out to be totally false, with the couple never having travelled in a taxi at all.
An investigation by Department of Land Transport and highway police revealed that, on March 16, Mr Boonmee was taking 13 foreign tourists from Sa Kaeo province to Khao San Road in Bangkok in his Bangkok-registered Toyota Hiace Commuter van.
At about 5pm, when he was about to stop at the Asok 4 toll plaza, the foreign couple said something he did not understand, but guessed that they wanted him to stop so that they could use the toilet.
But when he stopped, the family disembarked with their luggage and refused to heed his plea that police could arrest him for leaving them on the expressway. The couple then thanked him for letting them get off.
The investigation concluded that Mr Boonmee was found to be driving outside his authorised route and fined him 2,000 baht. For allowing his passengers to disembark on expressway, he was found innocent, because the passengers decided to get out themselves, although he had tried to forbid them.
Speaking at the press briefing, police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said Aunnop Saenawong, an employee of the Expressway Authority of Thailand, asked the tourists where they wanted to go and was told that they wanted to go to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office.
“He then led them to a staircase to exit the Asok 4 toll plaza, so they could use public transport on the road below,” said Pol Lt Gen Prawut said.
He quoted Mr Aunnop as saying that the passengers did not look upset at the time.