Anutin a traffic fine delinquent?

The national police chief has confirmed that traffic law violation records related to Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, which were shared online, are genuine and originated from the police database.

Police are attempting to identify the person or people who released the records to the public, because the information is personal, Pol Gen Kitrat Phanphet said yesterday following the posting of the information on the Facebook page of ‘CSI LA’, which published details of nine traffic citations linked to Anutin, three in 2017 and the rest in 2020.

The violations include a mix of expired, cancelled and newly issued citations. The website claimed that the information was sourced from the Royal Thai Police records system.

Kitrat said preliminary findings show that the data leak was not the result of a cyberattack. Instead, he suggested that an individual with authorised access may have retrieved and disclosed the information.

The police chief stressed that the investigation will be conducted fairly, noting that the owner of a vehicle is not always the individual committing the traffic offence.

Some people own multiple vehicles or allow others to use them, which can result in violations being issued without the owner’s knowledge.

He explained that members of the public can only check their own electronic traffic tickets, while access to broader system data is restricted to authorised police personnel.

An internal investigation has been ordered to determine how and by whom the records were obtained and shared.

Deputy national police chief Samran Nualma, who oversees traffic operations, is leading the probe.