Cast members of the semi-historical TV drama "Lued Suphan" (Blood of Suphan) have accused the producer of withholding about 2 million baht in wages they are owed.
They arrived at the Crime Suppression Division head office on Thursday to file a complaint, alleging the production company refused to pay wages owing to actors, actresses and a scriptwriter.
They did not publically name the firm. However, according to the promotion material on the company's Facebook page it was produced by the Pre-Pro-Post-Live Entertainment Co.
The complaint was filed with Pol Maj Supachai Chartmontri, investigation chief at CSD subdivision 1.
Actress Duanghathai Satthathip said they had been hired for roles in “Lued Suphan’’. The producer got the work from the Ministry of Culture.
The production of the semi-historical drama had begun in August last year and continued in September, and it was broadcast on TV Channel 5 in October.
Ms Duanghathai said some of the cast received their wages. However, she and other members in her group were still owed about 2 million baht they should have been paid by Sept 1 last year.
In the meantime, the drama had been rerun, she said.
The producer kept postponing the payments, which totalled about 2 million baht.
Ms Duanghathai said they had contacted the Ministry of Culture and were told that the producer had been paid in full.
They wanted to know why they had not been paid. Over the years, they had worked on other productions with state agencies and had never encountered such a problem.
After receiving the complaint and examining the evidence presented, CSD investigators said it was a civil matter, not a criminal case. They advised them to consult a lawyer about filing a civil lawsuit.