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Published on November 7, 2007

The allegation that Pol Colonel Anothai Bamrung-phong was drunk was made to the press by DSI chief Sunai Manomai-udom and his deputy Phornchai Assawawatthana.

Anothai, a C-8 legal adviser to DSI, said he had not consumed any alcohol before meeting DSI officials on Monday to obtain a document, adding that it was he who was assaulted by Pol Senior Sergeant-Major Naris Raksaneh.

Anothai, who apologised to officials yesterday for shouting during Monday's incident, said he was angry because his request for a confidential document had been turned down three times.

The document was to be used in his investigation into an allegation about Samsung's false tax declaration, which allegedly involved a senior DSI official.

He said Sunai and Phornchai had accused him of being drunk because they wanted to discredit him. "They were cornered, so they invented a story to defame me", he claimed.

Anothai said he had a blood test after the incident to prove he had not consumed any alcohol before going to the department to meet Tharit Phengdit, another DSI deputy director-general, for the documents needed for his investigation.

Anothai described the atmosphere at the DSI as "fearful" because three police officers had been removed from a DSI investigation into a London-based tobacco company for questionable tax declarations. The three investigators were very close to completing the probe, he said.

He claimed that the DSI director-general had personal relations with an executive of the tobacco firm, while his deputy's wife worked for a New York-based financial company that served the tobacco company in question.

Countering the C-8 legal adviser's claims, Naris said that Anothai looked flushed and smelled of alcohol when he showed up at the department.

Naris said that after Anothai had obtained the documents, he attempted to hit him with the document file.

Naris said that as he swerved to avoid being hit, his right arm hit Anothai's ear.

Narit also denied Anothai's claim that he had stomped on his back as was reported by the media.

"He stumbled and fell down. I think he deserved [the infamy] given the way he behaved just like an 18-year-old," he added.

Tao Poon police said they were waiting for a doctor's analysis to see if the injuries sustained by Anothai were serious. The more severe the injury, the heavier the punishment.

Sunai declined to comment and only said that Justice Ministry permanent secretary Charan Phakdithanakul was expected to set up a committee to look into the matter.

The Nation