Photojournalist Natthaphon Phanphongsanon was attacked by a group of pro-monarchy supporters in April 2022.  After almost year, justice in the case is seemingly being impeded by the police.

A CCTV footage shows how Nattaphon (on the motorbike) was surrounded by three attackers (Source: DemAll)

On 16 January, Natthapon informed Prachatai that he was told his case has been passed to the prosecutor in October 2022. As one of the attackers faced 11 assault-related charges, the prosecutor reportedly requested additional information from investigators. 

The investigator in charge of Natthapong’s case eventually resigned and no one replaced him. As a result, the indictment has stalled and the police have yet to hand over the requested information.

“I asked them (the police), what if it runs out of time? The officer replied that the statute of limitations was 15 years and there was no need to worry,” Natthaphon said.

The attack took place late in the evening on 22 April last year. As Natthaphon was about to leave a protest site he was covering, 4 men wearing vests and casual clothes approached him, asking to see the pictures on his mobile phone. When Natthaphon refused, he was attacked and hit with batons.

Natthaphon filed a complaint with the police over the assault. However, as he was trying to access the CCTV footage at a nearby McDonald, two men in private clothes with pistols approached him, claiming to be police officers, and asked him not to collect the footage.  He was told to go to see a doctor instead.

Shortly afterward, another quarrel broke out and the attackers ended up injuring another citizen.

The next day, the royalist group Vocational Students Protecting the Institution admitted that their members took part in assaults. The group banished members involved in the attacks but claimed that they were acting in self-defence. A video of the briefing was later made inaccessible. 

A photo of the Vocational Students Protecting the Institution during their Facebook livestreaming.

Wasinee Pabuprapap, from the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) subcommittee for Press Freedom and Media Reform, has been monitoring Natthapon’s case from the beginning. She said the delay may largely be due to the resignation as a related citizen assault case was adjudicated by the Court in 2022.

According to Wasinee, in this latter case the Court imposed a 5,000 baht fine on the perpetrators.

She expressed disappointment in the lack of progress made in Natthaphon’s case. Noting that the delay might lead to further assaults, she demanded that the police proceed with transparency, efficiency, and haste.

“We can see how seemingly insignificant things that happened in other countries – hitting a journalist before developing to enforced disappearances and shootings. I think this case is part of a process for halting violence to spread to that point.

“If they get away with hitting him today, they may feel comfortable abducting him later as nobody will come after them,” said Wasinee.