Two nabbed Seals 'work for protesters'

Two nabbed Seals 'work for protesters'

Men found carrying PDRC guard cards

Two members of the Naval Special Warfare Command (Seal) have been arrested by police who suspect they are working as guards for anti-government protest leaders.

The latest arrest raises further questions over the navy’s role in the anti-government protest.

On Jan 16, three navy men were arrested in Bangkok, and on Monday, three ex-Seals were nabbed in Rayong.  

In the most recent incident, two Seal members were ordered to stop their pickup truck yesterday while passing through a police checkpoint near Mahai Sawan intersection in Thon Buri district.

The pair were later identified as Petty Officer First Class Somphong Thaennak, 34, and his colleague PO First Class Pricha Munphuak,34.

The police officers examining their vehicle found weapons including two pistols and five magazines.

They also found two PDRC guard cards, a discovery that raised police suspicions that the two men worked as guards for the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC).

The men admitted they had been hired to guard PDRC co-leaders at the Silom rally site, deputy Bangkok police chief Pol Maj Gen Thitirat Nonghanpitak said after the men were questioned for three hours. “I feel pity for these young guys” as they have been dragged into the political conflict, he said.

Pol Maj Gen Thitirat suspects PDRC co-leaders were worried about their safety, so they hired the men as bodyguards. Police have charged the two Seals with carrying weapons in Bangkok which is under strict weapons controls as part of the emergency decree.

However, Pol Maj Gen Thitirat’s comments were dismissed by Seal commander Rear Adm Winai Klom-in who insisted later yesterday the two naval men had nothing to do with politics. They are posted in the insurgency-torn provinces in the far South, but are currently on leave, so they came to Bangkok to “contact state agencies and take a rest”, Rear Adm Winai said.

Earlier, the Seal commander also denied the three navy men arrested on Jan 16 were involved in anti-government rallies. The officers were found in possession of “NSPRT VIP supporter cards”.

The NSPRT is a PDRC ally, the Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand.

Rear Adm Winai said the cards were used when they needed to enter a rally site as part of an intelligence mission for the navy’s anti-drug unit.

Caretaker Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan yesterday said navy chief Adm Narong Pipattanasai recently met caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to talk about the three former Seals arrested in Rayong.

He apologised to the premier for the incident. Though the men are no longer in the navy, they were in the wrong for carrying weapons, Mr Charupong, quoted Adm Narong as saying.

Meanwhile, violence continued in Bangkok yesterday when M79 grenades were shot into the compound of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, where the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order (CMPO) is located, and into a Thai PBS TV station car park.

CMPO member Tarit Pengdith, also Department of Special Investigation chief, said protesters have surrounded or occupied 11 state agencies and private establishments. He urged that police complaints be filed against the protesters.

The CMPO has accepted for investigation 188 criminal cases against the PDRC protesters on charges related to the blocking and obstruction of the Feb 2 general election.

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