A worker at Samut Prakan's Bang Pu Industrial Estate has been arrested for allegedly disseminating online a diagram accusing government figures of irregularities in Rajabhakti Park and lese majeste offences.
The National Council for Peace and Order's legal chief on Wednesday said soldiers arrested Thanakorn Siripaiboon, 27, at a company where he worked in tambon Praksa in Muang district on Tuesday afternoon, using special powers under Section 44 of the interim charter.
Officers searched his home and seized his computer and his mobile phone. Mr Thanakorn was initially taken to the Technology Crime Suppression Division before being held in custody at an undisclosed military camp for further inquiry, Maj Gen Wicharn Jodtaeng, chief of the NCPO's legal office, said.
Maj Gen Wicharn filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Division on Wednesday accusing Mr Thanakorn of posting the diagram which circulated on the social media a few days ago. It was seen on a political red-shirt Facebook page named “สถาบันคนเสื้อแดงแห่งชาติ ” (The national red shirts institute) at 7.45pm on Tuesday.
The diagram suggested corruption in the Rajabhakti Park project and implicated key cabinet and government figures including Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his wife.
Maj Gen Wicharn said Mr Thanakorn allegedly confessed that he saw the diagram on Facebook and saved it on his mobile phone before posting it on the Facebook Page of “สถาบันคนเสื้อแดงแห่งชาติ ”.
He said he posted the diagram because he wanted anti-government people to gather and oppose the junta.
Mr Thanakorn was also accused of giving a “like” to an inappropriate image on Facebook which insulted the monarchy on Dec 2.
Maj Gen Wicharn said an investigation found the people behind the Facebook page was an anti-monarchy group and had disseminated inappropriate content regarding the royal institution, and authorities are investigating further to identify more people involved.
He faces charges of breaching Section 112 of the Criminal Code, known as the lese majeste law, Section 116 — the equivalent of sedition, and violating the Computer Crime Act.