The father of a nine-year-old girl video-taped driving a car to school in Surat Thani province was fined for a traffic violation on Thursday and is facing another, more serious charge, police said.
Yongyuth Mankaprathum met Pol Lt Col Narong Kittipngwiwat, the deputy superintendent in charge of traffic of Muang police station, to hear a charge of letting a person without a driver's licence drive a vehicle. He was fined 1,000 baht, Pol Capt Omjai Rungklang said.
The father faces another more serious charge of violating the Child Protection Act as he allowed a child to engage in inappropriate and risky behaviour. Police are gathering evidence to hand the case to state prosecutors to indict him before the provincial court, according to Daily News online
The charge carries a maximum fine of 30,000 baht and three months in jail.
The 38-year-old father took his daughter along to the Muang district police station where she met investigators.
The girl, who studies in Pathom 3 (grade 3) at a school in the southern province, violated the Traffic Act by driving a vehicle with no licence and without a copy of the car registration book. But she faced no charges as she had not yet reached the age of 10 years.
The case spread wildly on social media on Wednesday when a video clip showing her driving a car was posted on a Facebook page.
The father apologised for what had happened and said he would not allow her to drive again until she was old enough to apply for a licence.