Prachatai reports that yet another lese majeste case has begun. The case is about a shoe repair man who was charged with making a hoax call saying there was a bomb at Siriraj Hospital, where the king has been holed up for more than a year. Suriyan Kokpuey is now also charged with lese majeste and was denied bail.
As PPT posted earlier, the political labeling is a part of a broader campaign to attack red shirts. Saying the man is a red shirt means little as that claim would be true of most northeastern men of his class in Bangkok.
The report says Suriyan, aged 29, is from Yasothon. Police claim that as well as the bomb at Siriraj Hospital, and making offensive remarks against the monarchy.
Police requested “that the suspect had been detained for almost 48 hours, but the investigation had yet to be completed, as 15 more witnesses still had to be interrogated and the suspect’s fingerprints had to be examined against police criminal records. As this is an important case, involving offences against national security and the monarchy, and carrying severe penalties, the police asked for the suspect to be further held on remand and objected to bail, fearing that he might flee or tamper with the evidence. The suspect reportedly made no objections, and had no relatives to request bail. He then was sent to Bangkok Remand Prison.”
Political Prisoners in Thailand 