Anti-coup protest organiser Sombat tracked via web and arrested in Thailand
Security forces swoop to detain Sombat after tracing him via computer network he was using
Thailand's security forces have tracked down and detained a prominent activist who helped organise protests against last month's military coup via comments he posted on the internet, officials said yesterday.
Sombat Boonngamanong was caught in Chonburi province east of Bangkok late on Thursday, traced via the internet network he was using, said Major General Pisit Pao-in, head of a technology crime division at the Information and Communication Technology Ministry.
Pisit said Sombat was held after police searched a house in Chonburi after pinpointing his network's IP address. "The case is now with the army and it will investigate and decide how to proceed next," he added.
The detention was the latest in the military crackdown on pro-democracy dissidents and supporters of ousted Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Yingluck, her ministers and prominent supporters of the Shinawatras have been detained, most for brief periods, and warned against anti-military activity. The military has not said how many people are being kept in custody.
The coup was the latest chapter in a decade-long conflict between the Bangkok-based royalist establishment, dominated by the military and old-money families, and supporters of Yingluck and her brother, ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who are adored by the poor in the north and northeast.
Yingluck was prime minister until May 7, when a court found her guilty of abuse of power and she stepped down. The army toppled the remnants of her government on May 22, saying it needed to restore order after sometimes deadly protests since November that had brought the economy close to recession.