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Phuket defense volunteer fined B500 for pistol-whipping tourist


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Phuket defense volunteer fined B500 for pistol-whipping tourist
Saroj Kueprasertkij

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Police are investigating whether the gun Amnard Choodet (pictured) struck the tourist with has been used in other crimes.

PHUKET: -- A Territorial Defense Volunteer in Phuket has been fined B500 for pistol-whipping a Kuwaiti tourist and breaking his nose last month. However, the volunteer, Amnard Choodet, 38, may face more serious penalties for gun-related charges.

Patong Police charged Amnard with assault and carrying a gun in public after an altercation with Fahad Al Mutariy, 57, in Patong on Sept 9. (See story here.)

Amnard, a part-time Territorial Defense Volunteer for Kathu District, was found carrying a .38 Taurus revolver and 18 bullets on the Patong beach road when he was taken into custody.

Phuket Provincial Court on September 14 handed down a B1,000 fine and sentenced Amnard to one-year imprisonment for the assault.

“But as the defendant confessed and entered a plea of guilty, the court halved his fine and suspended his prison sentence,” a source at the court told The Phuket News yesterday (Oct 20).

The maximum penalty for assault is two years imprisonment, a B2,000 fine, or both.

Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-defense-volunteer-fined-b500-for-pistol-whipping-tourist-54627.php

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-- Phuket News 2015-10-21

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Apparently foreigners' lives are cheap, had it been a Thai victim, well that would have been another matter no doubt.

Sure, he would have had to pay 1000 baht to the guy whose nose he broke, and another 500 baht to the police. It would have cost him 500 baht more. That will teach him to keep assaulting foreigners and to leave other Thais alone.

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1000 Baht and then halved to 500 because he confessed! This is seriously a joke! "The maximum penalty for assault is two years imprisonment, a B2,000 fine, or both."

​Compare that with the maximum penalty for working without work permit: Imprisonment for 5 years or a fine ranging from 2,000 Baht to 100,000 Baht, or both.

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Why is this "However, the volunteer, Amnard Choodet, 38, may face more serious penalties for gun-related charges." not explained any further?

Pending the ever present "negotiations" he may or may not face more serious penalties. I'd dare say he won't face more serious penalties except a hit to his wallet.

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my god,

he will think twice about doing that again, for sure!!!

He almost certainly will think twice about it considering that he was given a suspended sentence. You do know what a suspended sentence means, don't you?

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Why is this "However, the volunteer, Amnard Choodet, 38, may face more serious penalties for gun-related charges." not explained any further?

It kind of was explained in the full article, although pretty obscurely.

If you read down at the end, the article says police haven't actually charged him for the gun possession part of the case, even though the article at the top appear to say he was charged with gun possession.

So what I'm interpreting this to mean is, he was sentenced for the assault part of the case, and drew the 500 baht fine.

But police now are checking the forensics on the gun for other potential cases, and then who knows whether they will ultimately pursue the illegal gun possession case again him. My guess is, it will fade away, like so often these things do.

Police have yet to formally charge Amnard for carrying a gun in public, Kathu Police Inspector Maj Col Theerasak Boonsang told The Phuket News.

“We are having a ballistics check done in case the gun has been used to commit another crime,” he said. “We have to wait about one more month for the forensic test results.”

Edited by TallGuyJohninBKK
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