Police Raid Lese Majeste Fugitive's Radio Station
By Khaosod English


Police officers conducted a surprise raid on the headquarters of Mr. Wuttipong’s community radio station, called "Redguard Radio," in Lam Lukka district today, 7 May 2014.

PATHUM THANI — Police have raided the radio station operated by supporters of a Redshirt activist who is currently on the run from charges of lese majeste.

Wuttipong "Ko Tee" Kochthammakul was charged with lese majeste (insult of monarchy) for an interview with Vice News in which he referred to His Majesty the King in a negative way.

Defamation or criticism of the Royal Thai Family is criminalised under Article 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Codes, carrying a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison per offence.

Mr. Wuttipong, a prominent activist with the pro-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) in Pathum Thani province, has not been seen in public since the charges were filed against him in April. He is believed to be currently living in exile in Cambodia.

In an effort to uncover Mr. Wuttipong's whereabouts, more than 70 police officers from the Crime Suppression Division conducted a surprise raid on the headquarters of Mr. Wuttipong’s community radio station, called "Redguard Radio," in Lam Lukka district today.

When police arrived at the radio station with a court warrant, radio operators refused to let them in, claiming they needed permission from the building’s owners. Meanwhile, some of the staff hastily packed their belongings and escaped via the backdoor.

The police officers eventually managed to enter the radio station after they assured the staff that their previous resistance would not constitute contempt of the court.

The search turned up one shotgun, several rounds of ammunition, and two knives, but no documents or evidence related to Mr. Wutthipong's case, a high-ranking police officer said. A weapon inspection by the police revealed that the shotgun had been legally registered.

Around 40 Redshirts showed up at the radio station to protest the police raid, with some accusing the police of harbouring a bias against Redshirt leaders. However, no violence was reported throughout the search.

Experts from the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) were also expected to join police in the search and collect evidence related to the radio equipment, but no NBTC officials showed up, forcing the police to withdraw from the station after spending an hour inside the premises.

It is the second police raid on Redguard Radio since Mr. Wutthipong was charged.

Source: http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1399453077


-- Khaosod English 2014-05-07

Royal Thai Police once again showing why they're an elite world class police force! Locked gates couldn't stop them from entering! All they needed was to negotiate to let them in. They didn't even need to climb over the fence or use bolt cutters! Bravo!

What a show.

"Mr. Wuttipong, a prominent activist with the pro-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) in Pathum Thani province, has not been seen in public since the charges were filed against him in April. He is believed to be currently living in exile in Cambodia".

Is that not now ex-government?

Royal Thai Police once again showing why they're an elite world class police force! Locked gates couldn't stop them from entering! All they needed was to negotiate to let them in. They didn't even need to climb over the fence or use bolt cutters! Bravo!

But that they raid it and obviously didn't call before shows that they think Thaksin is loosing and start to change sides.....Always good to be with the winner.....

Might I ask who was guarding the back door?

"Mr. Wuttipong, a prominent activist with the pro-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) in Pathum Thani province, has not been seen in public since the charges were filed against him in April. He is believed to be currently living in exile in Cambodia".

Is that not now ex-government?

No. There is still a PTP caretaker government.

"Mr. Wuttipong, a prominent activist with the pro-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) in Pathum Thani province, has not been seen in public since the charges were filed against him in April. He is believed to be currently living in exile in Cambodia".

Is that not now ex-government?

is the ex-activist (pasivist?) now ex-pro-caretaker-government or pro-ex-caretaker-government...or pro-caretaker-ex-government?

They allowed people to escape through the back door. Ha ha. Very serious operation.

..........When police arrived at the radio station with a court warrant, radio operators refused to let them in, claiming they needed permission from the building’s owners. Meanwhile, some of the staff hastily packed their belongings and escaped via the backdoor..........

A court warrant is the same as a search warrant. And Mack Sennett's Keystone Cops had to plea to be let in? "Pleeeeeeease let us in. This is a surprise raid with a warrant after all"

The doors should have been smashed down with sledgehammers in a pre dawn raid.

Might I ask who was guarding the back door?

You have to laugh......"people packed up and left via the back door".....)

Obviously, that escape route didn't occur to the cops........

They truly are like a cancer. Absolutely no respect for the law all the way from the recently departed leader yingluck all the way down to red shirt DJ's. A street gang has more morales than these people. I would not be surprised if you raided some red shirts houses you would find guns under the babies beds.

Why would people run out the back door carrying belongings? What do they have to hide? It is a radio station!

These people are supposed to be peaceful democracy loving people, but they are more akin to mafia. Guns, running away, intimidation then the street gang turns up to take the law into their own hands if needed.

The cherry on the cake though is this "accusing the police of harbouring a bias against Redshirt leaders" This says it all and is the ethos of PTP and red shirts. As soon as someone goes against your agenda, as soon as the law does not suit you, as soon as anyone has a different view point they are biased. It is very widely known the police are thaksins little helpers. It is known that the principle "equal protection under the law" is abused by the PTP on a daily basis, but they are very quite to jump on the bias bandwagon. This is a fanatical dangerous mindset to have and Thida, Jatuporn and Nattawutt have a lot to answer for for brainwashing these people into having this mindset. It is a terrorists mindset. The courts are biased, the police are biased, the NACC is biased. The world bank is biased. The polls are biased. Even the members on TVF are guilty of this very dangerous mindset. Moody's are biased. Human Rights watch is biased. IMF is biased. The list goes on.

Rest assured I will not be teaching my children anything of the red shirts traits. They will be taught to be responsible and accountable and to respect the law and respect all 15 principles of democracy. Not just 1.

And they call the current happenings a judicial coup. They deserve everything they have coming to them.

Unlike a cancer that has no cure this one does. Accountability.

Might I ask who was guarding the back door?

You have to laugh......"people packed up and left via the back door".....)

Obviously, that escape route didn't occur to the cops........

you don't become policeman because you are a great thinker....

Why do they need the NBTC?.... These muppets don't have a license, so all the equipment should have been removed..... period.

Might I ask who was guarding the back door?

Police at the front door with the warrant and more of thaksins little helpers at the back door providing the get away car.

BTW - This is only my opinion Fab4 and Fat Haggis so don't ask for four links to this as well as photos, police documents, witness statements and all the other evidence you seem to need from me to believe a fact.

Royal Thai Police once again showing why they're an elite world class police force! Locked gates couldn't stop them from entering! All they needed was to negotiate to let them in. They didn't even need to climb over the fence or use bolt cutters! Bravo!

And no one watching the backdoor ... how unusual for them to be so sloppy to give the people time to run away with the information they were looking for ...

Good job of acting the whole thing......your PM is out. What you gonna do when they come for you?

Royal Thai Police once again showing why they're an elite world class police force! Locked gates couldn't stop them from entering! All they needed was to negotiate to let them in. They didn't even need to climb over the fence or use bolt cutters! Bravo!

But that they raid it and obviously didn't call before shows that they think Thaksin is loosing and start to change sides.....Always good to be with the winner.....

Why bother to call in advance when they just let everyone pack their things Nd slip out the back door?

Sent from my GT-S5310 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

"Mr. Wuttipong, a prominent activist with the pro-government United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) in Pathum Thani province, has not been seen in public since the charges were filed against him in April. He is believed to be currently living in exile in Cambodia".

Is that not now ex-government?

No. There is still a PTP caretaker government.

Well, if you're into details, I guess it's much more a reduced-in-size caretaker cabinet remaining from the Pheu Thai led coalition government, which has appointed one amongst them as interim caretaker PM or so.

How much actual governing this group is allowed to do is unclear to me. Not even sure they had the authority to select one from amongst them as interim PM even though that guy was the nearest to being a Shinawatra clan member having been an employee for many years.

Did anyone here actually read the story?70seventy policemen to find a guy who says what he thinks.

When police arrived at the radio station with a court warrant, radio operators refused to let them in, claiming they needed permission from the buildings owners. Meanwhile, some of the staff hastily packed their belongings and escaped via the backdoor.

To be completely fair, there is no way that 70 officers could have remained on camera if they were spread around the property.

They truly are like a cancer. Absolutely no respect for the law all the way from the recently departed leader yingluck all the way down to red shirt DJ's. A street gang has more morales than these people. I would not be surprised if you raided some red shirts houses you would find guns under the babies beds.

Why would people run out the back door carrying belongings? What do they have to hide? It is a radio station!

These people are supposed to be peaceful democracy loving people, but they are more akin to mafia. Guns, running away, intimidation then the street gang turns up to take the law into their own hands if needed.

The cherry on the cake though is this "accusing the police of harbouring a bias against Redshirt leaders" This says it all and is the ethos of PTP and red shirts. As soon as someone goes against your agenda, as soon as the law does not suit you, as soon as anyone has a different view point they are biased. It is very widely known the police are thaksins little helpers. It is known that the principle "equal protection under the law" is abused by the PTP on a daily basis, but they are very quite to jump on the bias bandwagon. This is a fanatical dangerous mindset to have and Thida, Jatuporn and Nattawutt have a lot to answer for for brainwashing these people into having this mindset. It is a terrorists mindset. The courts are biased, the police are biased, the NACC is biased. The world bank is biased. The polls are biased. Even the members on TVF are guilty of this very dangerous mindset. Moody's are biased. Human Rights watch is biased. IMF is biased. The list goes on.

Rest assured I will not be teaching my children anything of the red shirts traits. They will be taught to be responsible and accountable and to respect the law and respect all 15 principles of democracy. Not just 1.

And they call the current happenings a judicial coup. They deserve everything they have coming to them.

Unlike a cancer that has no cure this one does. Accountability.

well said. accountability. its not just the red shirts that lack this(though it looks that way). ... but a majority of Thais. at my(former) work, id gladly take the fault of another (thats what soldiers do). this means i would be tasked at fixing their problems. and when they gave me solutions... or tried... i merely told them that they should talk to their supervisors. this is how i became a director in under 6 months. to add the icing on the cake. I gave it to my lawyer, who did more work than any employee there.

at the rate thailand is going do expect a surplus of vigilante behavior.

Post removed.

15) Do not make changes to quoted material that changes the intended meaning of the quoted post

Might I ask who was guarding the back door?

70 officers and they can't manage to contain one crummy search location???

Almost gives you the impression, they weren't trying all that hard.

Amazing Thailand.

They allowed people to escape through the back door. Ha ha. Very serious operation.

Cut them some slack; they only had 70 officers.

They truly are like a cancer. Absolutely no respect for the law all the way from the recently departed leader yingluck all the way down to red shirt DJ's. A street gang has more morales than these people. I would not be surprised if you raided some red shirts houses you would find guns under the babies beds.

Why would people run out the back door carrying belongings? What do they have to hide? It is a radio station!

These people are supposed to be peaceful democracy loving people, but they are more akin to mafia. Guns, running away, intimidation then the street gang turns up to take the law into their own hands if needed.

The cherry on the cake though is this "accusing the police of harbouring a bias against Redshirt leaders" This says it all and is the ethos of PTP and red shirts. As soon as someone goes against your agenda, as soon as the law does not suit you, as soon as anyone has a different view point they are biased. It is very widely known the police are thaksins little helpers. It is known that the principle "equal protection under the law" is abused by the PTP on a daily basis, but they are very quite to jump on the bias bandwagon. This is a fanatical dangerous mindset to have and Thida, Jatuporn and Nattawutt have a lot to answer for for brainwashing these people into having this mindset. It is a terrorists mindset. The courts are biased, the police are biased, the NACC is biased. The world bank is biased. The polls are biased. Even the members on TVF are guilty of this very dangerous mindset. Moody's are biased. Human Rights watch is biased. IMF is biased. The list goes on.

Rest assured I will not be teaching my children anything of the red shirts traits. They will be taught to be responsible and accountable and to respect the law and respect all 15 principles of democracy. Not just 1.

And they call the current happenings a judicial coup. They deserve everything they have coming to them.

Unlike a cancer that has no cure this one does. Accountability.

You have a very lucid stupidity.

And now Ko Tee has declared war... through the same man who issued threats against Abhisit a week or so ago and also "predicted" at least one deadly attack against anti-government protestors. Oddly enough the CAPO doesn't seem to have taken any action against this person.

You know a police raid failed when there's no finger pointing picture.

If I was a police officer, I would have asked her to enter. I would as a second time, at that point I would put her in handcuffs in the back of the truck.