Cops in Bangkok and Nakhon Si Thammarat evidently couldn’t resist the celebrity allure, despite the fact that he’s accused of firing a pistol into the air at a temple and had methamphetamine and ecstasy in his system when arrested and tested.

Royal Thai Police deputy spokesman Pol Colonel Krissana Patanacharoen said on Friday that Pol Maj General Wanchai Ekpornpit – the police chief in Nakhon Si Thammarat, home to the temple where Seksan fired nine rounds into the sky in his own live-online broadcast – had set up a fact-finding committee to determine why his officers were partying with the rock star.

In Bangkok, Khan Na Yao police superintendent Pol Colonel Sing Singhadet has been transferred to an inactive post pending the results of an investigation into a photo of Seksan and him.

Seksan is charged with carrying and discharging a firearm in public and illegally possessing an unregistered gun.

He flaunted the evidence in a Facebook Live broadcast last Friday and was arrested at his home in Bangkok’s Bang Khen district after an armed confrontation with police, resulting in the additional charge of resisting arrest.

A Bangkok court granted bail so he could answer the warrant for his arrest in the South.

There, Seksan allegedly confessed to carrying and discharging his gun, but insisted he legally owned it and it was registered.

The Nakhon Si Thammarat court granted bail on a Bt150,000 guarantee so he could return to Bangkok to respond to a further charge of drug abuse based on the findings of a urine test. Seksan blamed the test results on sleeping pills.

Somewhere on his travels, Seksan stopped to dine with police officers at a Nakhon Si Thammarat restaurant and swiftly posted cheery photos of the event on Instagram.

Viewers complained that such chumminess on the part of the police was inappropriate and undermined public confidence in their neutrality in the investigation.

Krissana identified Seksan’s fellow diners as superintendent Pol Colonel Rangsan Sukkua and Muang Nakhon Si Thammarat inspector Pol Lt Colonel Theerapol Phumchai, and said they too are now in inactive posts and under investigation.

In Bangkok, Pol Colonel Sing is being asked why his picture also appeared on Instagram with Seksan, posed casually over a table laden with food and beverages, complete with a message from the rocker thanking the officers for “helping things to be easier”.

Sing, seen in the photo making a thumbs-up gesture, said it was taken in his precinct’s investigation room at 7am on January 1 – before the drug-test results were known and before Seksan was brought up to apply for detention.

The beverages were neither alcoholic nor ordered for Seksan, he said. They’d been left there by police officers using the room earlier.

Sing said the photo was taken when two visitors arrived to see Seksan, as was their right – Pol Maj General Prasopchoke Prommul, who had put Seksan in drug rehab in 2011, and an executive from Grammy Entertainment.

Metropolitan Police Area 2 chief Pol Maj General Ekkachai Boonwisut on Friday nevertheless notified Bangkok police chief Pol Lt General Chanthep Sesawet that Sing would face a probe and had meanwhile been transferred to Metropolitan Police Area 2 Office.

Sornchai Sathitrakdamrong, 35, was shot while driving past a checkpoint on Tuesday night. His girlfriend, Sirirat Rabiang, was riding as a passenger in the car.

Police yesterday identified the shooter as Wutthichai Injai, 46.

The suspect, however, has denied shooting at Sornchai but admitted that he had fired three shots into the sky that day. The incident occurred after Sornchai reportedly failed to stop at a checkpoint.

Sirirat said on Wednesday that she and her boyfriend had not seen anyone staffing the checkpoint so Sornchai had not stopped his car.

An ongoing police investigation, however, determined that people had waved at the car but in a gesture that did not make it clear whether the car was supposed to stop or slow down.

After Sornchai drove another 20 metres, Sirirat said she heard gunfire, Sornchai collapsed in his seat and the car crashed into a power pole. After she determined that Sornchai was dead with bullet wounds to his head, unidentified officials emerged from a hiding spot along the road and told her to raise her hands, Sirirat said.

After they searched her and failed to find any contraband items, she was allowed to call relatives and police.

Sornchai’s body was then sent for an autopsy at Chiang Rai Hospital where the family later collected the body for religious rites.

Sornchai and Sirirat had been travelling from Rayong, where they worked, to Chiang Rai province to visit his family.

About 300 of his relatives and friends camped outside of the Mae Suay Police Station in Chiang Rai province for hours yesterday to demand a swift police investigation to find and punish the shooter and an apology.

The group, led by Sirirat and lawyer Jeerasak Damrongchokchaikul, said the deceased man had been a good person and his family’s breadwinner so they wanted to know who had shot him and how authorities justified the shooting.

Sirirat said the family would not cremate Sornchai’s body until they received answers, while Jeerasak questioned what state agency would provide compensation and remedial measures over the loss.

The angry crowds then moved into Mae Suay Police Station.

Chiang Rai deputy chief Pol Colonel Weerayuth Prasopchokchai talked to the angry crowd to calm them down, telling them that the suspect had already been arrested and sent for a court detention order. The group then agreed to retreat outside.

Mae Suay Police Station superintendent Pol Colonel Wichan Churit yesterday morning said investigators had already interviewed 19 people who staffed the community checkpoint.

According to Wichan, at least two people had fired guns on Tuesday night. A simulation of the incident was held on Wednesday night to check ballistic trajectories.

Police collected weapons that those manning the checkpoint had been armed with and checkpoint officials also underwent a test for gunshot residue, he added.

Deputy Police Spokesman Pol Colonel Krisana Pattanacharoen said there was strong evidence against the assistant village head.

Labour Ministry permanent secretary Jarin Chakkaphark said yesterday that the increase might be well over Bt15 because the wage had been fixed at Bt300 a day for most parts of the country for a few years already.

“The Tripartite Wage Committee will convene a meeting to pass a resolution by January 15,” said Jarin, who chairs the committee.

Labour Minister Pol General Adul Saengsingkaew said the wage hike was in response to an order by Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha.

“He wants to make the minimum-wage increase a New Year gift to workers across the country,” he said.

Adul said he expected the wage hike to take effect from the end of this month.

It remains to be seen whether the increase will be high enough to satisfy workers. In recent months, it has been reported that labour leaders were hoping the minimum daily wage would be hiked to between Bt600 and Bt700 a day.

That demand is based on the principle advocated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which suggests that minimum wages should be high enough to cover the expenses of a worker and two other family members. Labour leaders, moreover, hoped that authorities would ensure that commodity prices would not rise following the wage hikes.

They said the government should not be worried about the possibility of investors relocating their manufacturing bases out of Thailand because the government should prioritise workers’ quality of life.

Jarin yesterday said the Tripartite Wage Committee would take into account consumer price indexes, economic growth in each province of Thailand and neighbouring nations, and living expenses.

He said he believed the wage hike would encourage more people to take up jobs.

“We will specify minimum hourly wages too for special categories of jobs, the types of jobs that elderly and physically challenged people can do, or the type that company workers can do after normal work hours,” Jarin said.

In 2013, the minimum wage was hiked significantly to Bt300 a day across the country by the Yingluck Shinawatra-led government. Employers agreed to the hike but demanded that the wage be frozen afterwards.

Last year, the minimum daily wage increased to Bt310 a day, but only in 30 provinces.

“But this time, we will ensure wages rise across the country,” Jarin said.

Meanwhile, a subcommittee on solutions to human trafficking and illegal labour yesterday approved a new work plan to combat human trafficking.

The work plan has been revised in response to discussions regarding labour issues between Thailand and the European Union.

“This plan is the key to solving labour problems in the fisheries sector and to the removal of the EU yellow flag,” Jarin said, referring to the EU’s warning designation for Thailand’s fisheries industry.

Road safety experts and authorities gave credit for the accomplishment to strict law enforcement during the New Year period. Arrests for dangerous driving and traffic-law offences sharply increased.

Deputy Interior Minister Sutee Markboon said yesterday during a press conference at the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department that the New Year holidays ended on Wednesday with 423 deaths and 4,005 injuries from 3,841 accidents, which were lower than the last year’s figures.

On the final day of the monitoring period on Wednesday, 386 accidents occurred, killing 40 people and injuring 402 others, Sutee said.

He thanked stakeholders, particularly officers, who had worked hard on road safety promotion and strictly enforced the law, which he said resulted in reducing accidents and the death rate by 2 and 11.5 per cent respectively.

National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) spokesperson Colonel Sirichan Ngathong also said accident prevention measures during the period had seen officers citing illegal driving behaviour 300,365 times, which was higher than the previous year.

However, Sirichan said the higher arrest rate contributed to behavioural adjustment and encouraged drivers to be more careful and respect traffic laws when they were behind the wheel. She also added that 245,356 people had been prosecuted for driving dangerously, 141,327 of whom were on motorcycles and the other 104,209 in cars.

Officers temporarily seized 6,326 vehicles, of which 4,823 were motorcycles and 1,503 were cars. A total of 38,190 driving licences were also confiscated.

Dr Thanapong Jinvong of the Road Safety Policy Foundation said authorities had progressed in the right direction to promote road safety by strictly enforcing traffic laws.

However, Thanapong said officers could further improve their performance in preventing accidents by increasing the penalty for dangerous driving, especially drunk driving.

“We have found that the arrest rate for drunk driving case has risen by 49 per cent, which made the roads safer,” he said.

However, he cited a poll finding that 74 per

cent of respondents had said they had seen drunk people driving, so the problem remained serious.

He added that officers had to strictly enforce traffic laws throughout the year to make people afraid of the consequences of drunk driving, as Thailand’s roads were still the most dangerous in the world and drunk driving remained a prominent factor in road accidents throughout the year.

Health authorities, however, have expressed worry and warned people about possible adverse impacts from such treatments.

“The skin of the private parts is sensitive. Such laser services may cause irritation, allergies and inflammation,” Health Service Support Department deputy director-general Dr Thongchai Keeratihuttayakorn said yesterday.

He added that such services would do more harm than good.

“What if your skin becomes spotted?” he asked rhetorically.

Thongchai said he had never heard of such services being available in other parts of the world.

He also pledged to encourage the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to check if equipment used in such services had already been approved.

“If not, the service provider will be liable for punishment,” he said.

Laser services for skin lightening are nothing new in Thailand. But a social media post about lightening male genitalia has become the talk of the town.

A Facebook user, who goes by the name of “Atittayapa Photiya”, posted a message about the services. She described herself as working for the Lelux Hospital.

“New services. Reduce pigmentation. Make penis whiter. No pain. No recuperation needed. Let’s tag people who should do it,” the post said.

The hospital has confirmed that the services are available and insisted that they are not dangerous.

A patient who had used the service said he “loved” laser facial treatments and had been keen to try the service when he found out it was available.

“And I am impressed with the results,” he said on condition of anonymity. “I will complete the programme of five laser treatments.”

According to AFP, Lelux Hospital’s genitalia whitening services have attracted about 100 men a month and they cost around $650 for five sessions.

Urologist Dr Kampanat Pornyoskrai said laser treatments on genitalia might have different results depending on each particular person.

“Usually, the male genitalia is darker than other parts of the body because of androgen,” he said. “No other medicines can change that.”

He said lasers could be used to whiten faces and might work as well for genitalia for some people.

“But before you go for it, study the bad points of laser treatments first,” Kampanat said.

On December 28 and 29, the court issued rulings on three separate national security cases linked to various violent attacks in Pattani.

In the first case, the court sentenced Ruslan Tuyong to four years in prison after a DNA sample left on evidence implicated him in a case involving separatist signs hung in various places in Pattani’s Yarang district on March 26, 2013.

In the second case, Akaradech Sani was also sentenced to four years for a criminal association charge after his DNA was found on documents relating to terrorism and separatism. He had been arrested at a school in Pattani’s Panare district on March 10, 2017, Pramote said.

In the third case, the court gave a life sentence to Sufiyan Sani in relation to a shooting attack on March 2, 2017, when a group of seven to eight armed men opened fire at soldiers and civilians in Pattani’s Ma Yor district, resulting in three soldiers’ deaths and one civilian injury.

Sufiyan was arrested on March 31 in possession of two guns, one of which was linked to the shooting, and a SIM card that belonged to a slain soldier, he said.

Pramote said the three men were wanted on a total of six arrest warrants linked to various attacks but they had been acquitted in other such cases due to insufficient evidence.

Public prosecutors were appealing the other cases.

NCPO spokesperson Col Sirichan Ngathong said the road accident prevention measures for the New Year period resulted in officers nabbing dangerous drivers and traffic law violators for a total of 300,365 infractions – higher than last year’s apprehensions.

The higher arrest rate contributed to drivers adjusting their behaviours as it encouraged them to be more careful and respect traffic laws when behind the wheel.

She noted the operation resulted in 245,356 people prosecuted for driving dangerously, 141,327 of which were motorcycles riders with the remainder 104,209 car drivers.

The officers temporarily seized 6,326 vehicles – 4,823 motorcycles and 1,503 cars. A total 38,190 driving licences were also confiscated.

Sirichan said all seized vehicles have been properly stored and some drivers have already contacted officers to collect them. If the vehicle owners were involved in a lawsuit, they would have to wait until the case is concluded to get their vehicles back, he said.

After being briefed on Thursday about the nationwide peace and order operation on Thursday, Pol General Chalermkiat Srivorakan, the Royal Thai Police deputy commissioner, said he was satisfied with the results.

Chalermkiat listed the main achievements as the lack of serious crime, and the increased public participation in the number of houses enrolled in the project “leave your home with the police” project. The increased participation signified growing trust in the police to guard their properties while they were away on vacation.

A total of 9,007 houses participated in the house-watch program this year, 1,785 of them in Bangkok.

Chalermkiat also claimed success in suppressing serious crimes and drugs crimes during the New Year period, especially in the North and Northeast. In those regions, his force worked closely with local authorities, soldiers, and local volunteers in preventing serious crime, he said.

He said police arrested 12 people for the crime of celebratory shooting into the sky, including controversial rock star Seksan Sukphimai, or Sek Loso.

The dismantling of the crematorium and surrounding pavilions are expected to finish around the middle of March.

The premises were opened to the public from November to the end of December. It was reported that around 3 million people visited the site as part of their final farewell to the beloved monarch.

Photos taken yesterday showed officials pull down tents used as a waiting place for visitors to the crematorium.

The main pavilion – Songtham – as well as six other pavilions and two decorated ponds will be moved to a 10-rai land museum of the Royal Funeral of King Rama IX beside the National Archives in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in Pathum Thani province. The other pavilions will be moved to the Office of Traditional Arts in Nakhon Pathom province.

Meanwhile, the larger dwarf trees will be returned to Nong Nooch Garden and Resort in Pattaya while the smaller ones will go to Klong Toey Nai Temple in Bangkok.

The marigold flowers will be used for decorations during the winter festival in front of Dusit Palace scheduled for late this month.

The Lelux Hospital, renowned for its body whitening expertise in a country obsessed with skin colour, began offering the unconventional treatment six months ago after a male customer complained of “dark parts” on his groin.

“These days a lot of people are asking about it. We get around 100 clients a month, three to four clients a day,” Bunthita Wattanasiri, a manager for the Skin and Laser department at Lelux Hospital told AFP.

The procedure, which uses laser whitening, got wide play on Thai television and social media on Thursday after the hospital released images of a man undergoing the treatment.

“We have to be careful because it’s a sensitive part of the body,” Bunthita said, adding most clients were aged between 22 and 55-years-old with many from Thailand’s LGBTQ community.

She said they use a very small laser.

The same hospital stirred controversy last year for touting a cosmetic procedure called a “3D Vagina” in which the customer’s own body fat is used to make genitalia more plump.

The whitening service costs around $650 for five sessions.

“I think it’s a good market to enter so we offer the ultimate body treatment to our clients, either men and women,” Bunthita said.

Whitening and bleaching are not uncommon in other parts of the world and are widely offered online.

But they are particularly sought-after in Thailand, where skin-whitening ads have caused outrage and accusations of racism.

“The obsession… people nowadays can’t embrace their own skin color,” said one Facebook user.

Another user Parin Ruansati posted: “Oh god… what ever happened to the world?”

Another had a lighter response, writing “why not?”.//AFP