The owner of a Pattaya karaoke bar who brought charges against a cop for allegedly trying to frame and extort her is again crying foul, saying she was arrested for not having a license but no arrest warrant has been issued for the suspect cop, who twice has failed to appear to face charges.
Paranisa Chainapanitkul of Nangfa Karaoke complained about the preferential treatment supposedly shown by the Pattaya police toward follow officer Pol. Lt. Col. Narawut Karamhito July 28, after the chief inspector for Region 2 Provincial Police missed two meetings called for him to answer the allegations brought by the well-connected pub owner.
Narawut led a half-dozen officers in a raid on Nangfa July 14, accusing the bar of illegal prostitution and lacking proper licenses. During the raid, which Paranisa said came after a clumsy and botched setup attempt by an undercover agent, Narawut allegedly claimed he would make the case disappear if Paranisa paid him 30,000 baht.
She wasn’t about to take the extortion bid lying down and dialed up Royal Thai Police chief Gen. Chakthip Chaijinda. Yet, according to her, Narawut called her a liar, saying the voice on the phone was not the police chief, and slapped on handcuffs.
She then contacted Region 2 chief Maj. Gen Amphon Buarubporn and, again, the investigator scoffed at the man on the line – until Amphon called Narawut’s phone number directly. He was then told to release the karaoke staffers and leave the scene immediately, according to Paranisa.
Narawut Karamhito was transferred to an inactive post at the Region 2 operations center July 17 on orders from the national police chief and the Region 2 commander.
The pub owner and her sister went to Pattaya Police Station July 28 to complain why Narawut remained free without an arrest warrant being issued for him, only to discover one had been issued at the Pattaya Provincial Court for her on the license charge.
She said she was shocked that police were coming after her while protecting one of their own, and went to the courthouse to pay her fine.
Pattaya Police inspector Pol. Lt. Col. Taweesak Suathong told the media that no warrant could be filed against Narawut as he remains a commissioned policeman. Even though he missed his appointments, investigators must collect more evidence and witnesses before he can be tried.
