A battered father filed charges against his ex-father-in-law after he sparked a raucous fight in front of Pattaya School No. 6 as a bitter and long-running child-custody battle went public.
Thara Warajang, 35, and his lawyer met Aug. 9 with Banglamung police chief Pol. Col. Jukthip Parapantasakul to file the complaint against his ex-wife’s relatives, who, along with police and soldiers, beat and punched him in the face.
The brawl came after Thara’s ex, Pavita Pongphan, allegedly told the Banglamung government complaint center that Thara was a drug dealer. Then she and soldiers showed up at Pattaya School No. 6 to take custody of her two children.
It wasn’t the first time Pavita had tried this, Thara told police. She has many police friends and several times enlisted them to help kidnap the children. All the attempts failed. He now eats lunch with his children every day to prevent kidnappings.
This time, when she showed up, the school called him.
When he showed up, he was greeted by Pavita, her father and several relatives, backed up by soldiers. One of the gawkers in the crowd pulled out their mobile phone and posted four minutes of the confrontation online, showing a fight breaking out and Thara getting beat up by soldiers and police, along with relatives.
Jukthip said officers were not helping his wife, but simply trying to break up the fight.
He and Thara then visited the district’s complaint center, which denied taking a report from Pavita. They said she probably made a verbal complaint to military friends, who intervened on her behalf.
