Last week, the primary court found Akanat and his friend, Wittawat Sribunditmongkol, guilty of assaulting and violating the liberty of motorcycle messenger Kittisak Singto, 25, following a road accident on November 4, last year.

The court initially sentenced Akanat and Wittawat to two years in jail each, but the jail term was cut in half because they pleaded guilty. The court suspended the jail term on the grounds that the duo had never been jailed before. They were instead ordered to carry out 24 hours of community service and to report to the authorities four times every three months.

Thousands of people have watched the video online that appears to show Akanat punching Kittisak in the face on a Bangkok street last November 4, allegedly demanding that he apologise for a collision that left the TV star’s Mini Cooper damaged.

The incident became widely known with the popular hashtag “kraab rot ku”, or “kneel and wai before my car”.