Bangkok—
On March 5th, 2024, Pol. Maj. Gen. Wittawat Chinkham, the commander of the Metropolitan Police Division 5, held a press conference regarding the recent conflict between Thai and Filipino transgender people in Soi Sukhumvit 11, Watthana, Bangkok.
There were two separate cases: one, there were a total of six Thai people who allegedly were attacked by 20 Filipino People in the early morning of March 4th. Initially, two Filipino people were facing legal action for conspiring to assault other persons. The Lumpini inquiry officers would take the suspects to Pathumwan District Court for further legal processing.
Upon police investigation, one more Filipino person was under police investigation and the police were requesting an arrest warrant from the Thai criminal court on the Filipino suspect.
Another case was on March 4th, the night of the so-called transgender veterans incident in which one Filipino transgender person was physically attacked by a Thai person, publicly identified only as Mr. Champ, who recently received bail.
However, the Filipino transgender person applied to a mediation process as it was not necessary to press charges against Champ, said the Filipino transgender person who was attacked by Champ.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Wittawat publicly revealed that the case was already settled between the two parties.
However, one person in particular, a social media influencer, allegedly initiated the protest leading to an escalated situation involving more than 100 people in Soi Sukhumvit 11. The police summoned the unidentified Thai person who posted the social media posts to gather on March 4th.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Wittawat emphasized that the incident had nothing to do with relations between Thailand and the Philippines and the issues were addressed to the Philippine Ambassador to Thailand for mutual understanding.
In response to a report of alleged prostitution services among Thai and other national transgender people in Soi Sukhumvit and nearby areas, Pol. Maj. Gen. Wittawat asserted that Thai police worked proactively to tackle the issues, however, there was no prostitution in the areas.
The police were ordered to investigate thoroughly regarding the report, remarked Pol. Maj. Gen. Wittawat.
