The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has assured the community that crowd control involving protestors in the Din Daeng area on Sunday, followed protocols and used non-life threatening equipment accepted internationally.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Pakkapong Pongpetra, detailed operations in front of the 1st Infantry Regiment on Vipavhadi Road, to control protesting crowds between 3pm and 2am starting on February 28, 2021, saying that officers periodically warned protestors that they were illegally gathered, before taking action against those attempting to cut through barbed-wire, to move blockade containers, and who were pelting authorities with objects.
Action taken by police was the first-time rubber bullets were employed. Pol Lt Gen Pakkapong confirmed that non-fatal munitions are internationally accepted, and used only as required to contain a difficult situation. The authorities are still assessing damage caused by the protestors who gathered at Din Daeng Police Station and Suthisarn Police Station, where 22 people were arrested.
Deputy Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Maj Gen Piya Tawichai added that the 22 were arrested in the course of proper procedures and are being held on charges of assembling in a restricted space, violating contagious disease laws under the Emergency Decree and illegal use of a public-address system, as well as obstruction of authorities and assault of an officer. Fires were set at both police stations, damaging police property. (NNT)
