Two New Zealand brothers remain in jail in Phuket following their March tussle with an on-duty Chalong policeman.
They were charged with multiple offences at the time, including robbery, assaulting an officer, attempted bribery and driving a motorcycle without a license.
34 year old Hamish Day and 36 year old Oscar Day, have been incarcerated since the incident with the Chalong police officer late in the afternoon of March 16 this year.
As they were riding past the police, on patrol at the front of the Chalong Police Station, the two brothers are alleged to have ignored Pol Sen Sgt Maj Somsak Noo-iad’s demands for them to stop on their rented motorcycles. Instead, they sped up and the policeman also headed off in pursuit.
Eventually he caught up with the pair but, after pulling out his mobile phone to record the incident, the brothers allegedly assaulted him, wrestling his mobile phone from him. The officer’s gun, holstered at the time, was then removed from its holster by one of the brothers as the two wrestled on the ground. It fired twice, according to witnesses, although no one was struck by the bullets.
Other Chalong police appeared at the scene and arrested the two brothers. Pol Sen Sgt Maj Somsak Noo-iad was unhurt in the incident.
Hamish and Oscar Day appeared in the Phuket Provincial Court on the following Monday and have been in custody ever since. At the time the Thai media was reporting that there were three witnesses to the incident.
A representative from the New Zealand government is visiting the pair in prison today. A trial date has not been set at this stage.
Rumours of a ‘deal’ being struck by their wealthy parents to ensure the pair’s freedom are untrue.
The incident drew a lot of attention at the time and formed a period of Thai media reporting and negative Thai social media under the category “Foreigners Behaving Badly”.
