The wife of an autopart shop assistant - arrested for selling old VCD movies on a Bangkok pedestrian bridge - has appealed to National Police spokesman MajGeneral Pongsapat Pongcharoen, saying the discs belonged to the couple's son.
Amporn Nitcharoen, 45, told Pongsapat her husband Somchai Nanthawanich, 46, was arrested by Bang Mod plainclothes police on June 5 for taking 19 VCD movies - which his son had bought and got bored of -along with old clothes to sell on the Rama 2 pedestrian bridge.
She said the officers demanded Bt2,000 so Somchai wouldn't face charges, but her husband refused and was taken to the police station.
Pongsapat took Amporn to help pay the Bt95,000 fine at the Thon Buri Criminal Court yesterday to free her husband. Bang Mod police also carried out a probe into allegations the two officers demanded a bribe from Somchai.
Meanwhile, city garbage collector Surat Maneenoppharatsuda - fined Bt133,000 for selling VCDs he salvaged from the trash - yesterday received Bt50,000 assistance money from Pongsapat to repay money his family had borrowed from a loan shark to fight the court battle.
Surat promised not to sell VCD movies again and urged others not to also, because it was against the law. Surat said he would later seek legal advice from the Lawyers Council of Thailand.
Pongsapat said the Royal Thai Police had lined up deputy police chief General Pansiri Prapawat to work with the Culture Ministry on a public relations campaign for more awareness of this new law.
A seminar would soon be organised for police officers nationwide about reinforcement of the law so that treatment of law violators would be correct, Pongsapat said. A guideline for proceeding according to the law would also be provided to all law enforcers.
Pongsapat urged people facing problems similar to Surat's to contact police so related agencies could help them either before or after conviction.