National —
A South Korean drug suspect arrested in Pattaya for overstaying his visa sparked outrage after live-streaming inside a detention cell in Thailand and sharing the videos online.
https://youtu.be/K0NcqYEHd3I
The man in the videos has been identified as Seo Jungnam, a 44-year-old South Korean national. He was arrested by Chonburi Immigration Police on October 3rd for overstaying his visa by 373 days. He was arrested at a hotel room in Pattaya. After his arrest, he was transferred to the Nongprue Police Station for legal proceedings.
Following this, Seo was sent to the Pattaya Provincial Court, where he was fined and scheduled for deportation. Chonburi Immigration officials then took him into custody and prepared to hand him over to Bangkok Immigration for deportation. During the wait, he was temporarily held at the Banglamung Police Station as Chonburi Immigration lacked detention facilities. On October 14th, Chonburi Immigration transferred him to Bangkok Immigration for further deportation procedures.
On October 16th, Pol Maj Gen Choengron Rimphadee, spokesperson for the Thai Immigration Bureau, revealed that the Immigration Bureau had ordered an investigation into the incident in which it was revealed that Seo had filmed many live stream videos from jail, showing his conditions, food, other prisoners, and more. Mobile phones are banned in Thai prisons, notes TPN media.
The initial investigation confirmed that the videos in question were filmed during Seo’s detention at the Banglamung Police Station’s holding cell and during his transport to an immigration detention center in Bangkok.
Pol Maj Gen Choengron admitted that the officers responsible for escorting Seo failed to thoroughly search him, allowing him to retain a mobile phone. The Chonburi Immigration Police Chief has since suspended the responsible officers and is proceeding with a serious disciplinary investigation against them.
Seo has not released any statements about the videos and it is unclear if he may face further legal issues due to them.
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