Yesterday afternoon, Daily News journalist Korsit Kongchom – whose pants were allegedly pulled down in front of others by Premsak’s subordinates during a meeting on Tuesday – filed a police complaint against Premsak. He sought charges of forcing others to do or not do something with a threat to life, and detaining and depriving others’ liberty. He was accompanied by the four journalists who gave testimonies to police as witnesses.

Meanwhile, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has suspended the “Khon Jit-asa Tamroy Phor Khong Phaendin” [volunteer-spirited persons following in His Majesty’s steps] award to Premsak until he could prove his innocence and be cleared of charges in this scandal. Premsak was nominated for projects that had benefited underprivileged people in the past nine years.

Khon Kaen Governor Khamthon Thawornsathit yesterday said he had assigned a fact-finding committee to probe Premsak’s action and it was expected to complete the task within 15-30 days. If Premsak was found guilty, Khamthon said he would propose to the Interior Minister to dismiss Premsak as mayor.

The controversy stemmed from Tuesday’s incident when Premsak allegedly told his subordinates to pull down Korsit’s pants in front of four other journalists at a meeting room, allegedly to avenge reports on a personal matter. The five reporters, who were made to hand over their cameras and cellphones to officials before attending the meeting, were seeking Premsak’s comment about a photograph of him sitting next to a Mathayom 5 schoolgirl in what appeared to be an engagement or wedding ceremony.

According to Premsak’s Facebook post at 8.30am, he accused the reporters of intruding into the mayor’s office and detaining and pressuring him to provide information that was of no benefit to the public. He accused the reporters of violating his personal rights and liberty and keeping him occupied instead of enabling him to work for people who sought public services.

NLA member Wanlop Tankhananurak commented that this case had to be split into two separate matters. The first matter was the photos of the alleged wedding, which although was a personal matter could be checked whether Premsak had a wife and if they were already divorced. The second matter was allegedly ordering a media member’s pants to be pulled down, which must be probed for facts.

Wanlop said the NLA award was very important hence a recipient must be cleared of criticism and doubts, hence the NLA award committee had suspended conferring the award to Premsak.

Reportedly furious over recent reports about a personal matter, Premsak had the reporter’s pants pulled down and the incident photographed and filmed in the presence of four other journalists in a Khon Kaen municipality office.

The five reporters had been made to hand over their cameras and cell phones to officials before attending the morning session. They were meeting Premsak to interview him about a photograph of him sitting next to a Mathayom 5 schoolgirl in what appeared to be an engagement or wedding ceremony.

The image had gone viral on social media including Facebook last week, and reporters have been trying in vain to get a comment from the politician since Monday. After locating him at the municipality office yesterday morning, the five journalists entered a conference room hoping to get comments. They were made to leave all their devices and belongings with seven officials in the room.

Premsak – who now serves as Ban Phai district municipality mayor – reportedly verbally attacked the media for publicising his personal information and photographs of him without permission.

Claiming that the event was held to help the girl’s troubled family, he said he was hurt by news reports and claimed he had not avoided the media.

Despite the journalists’ explanation that they had not published anything personal and just wanted a comment, Premsak allegedly had the Daily News reporter, who is in his 60s, undergo a “body search for communication devices”. After the man’s pants was pulled down and photos taken in front of everyone, a shocked female journalist burst into tears.

Five minutes later, Premsak had the reporter put his pants back on and return to his seat. He then allegedly asked the reporter if he felt embarrassed – as if to demonstrate how he felt when reports on his personal life were made public.

The reporters collected their belongings and left, while the Daily News journalist later said that he would not file a police complaint or press charges, as he hoped the conflict would end because he feared for his safety.

Khon Kaen media association president Pisit Chancharoen later condemned the action, saying it was threatening and disrespectful to members of the media who had only sought a comment from Premsak.

He said the former MP – a highly educated public figure – should have welcomed the opportunity to explain himself instead of expressing dissatisfaction in this manner. He said the association regarded Premsak’s action as a violation of human rights and would issue a formal statement about the matter.

The Thai Journalists Association also issued a statement yesterday condemning Premsak’s behaviour, saying that Premsak should have resorted to legal recourse if his privacy was violated instead of resorting to such an “over-reaction”.

The statement said the ex-MP had violated the Criminal Code’s Article 309 (forcing another person to do or not do something by putting him in fear of injury to life, body or liberty) and Article 310 (detaining another person and depriving the person of liberty).

The association called for the authorities to investigate and take legal action against Premsak to |prevent similar behaviour in the future.