The Excise Department has launched an investigation after a Lao worker accused one of its officials and his wife of assaulting her, taking her passport and detaining her for more than six hours over 190,000 baht missing from their restaurant in Nonthaburi.
The alleged attack took place on August 2 at a pork leg rice restaurant in Sao Thong Hin subdistrict, Bang Yai district. The woman reported the case to Bang Yai Police Station on September 11.
The 29 year old Lao national, identified in reports as Fon, told police that the couple accused her of taking 190,000 baht in shop revenue. She denied stealing the money and said her employers searched her but found no evidence linking her to its disappearance.
Fon alleged that the male employer first attacked her before his wife joined the assault, hitting and kicking her, striking her back with a chair and slamming her head against the floor.
She said the attack lasted about 10 minutes before she was confined in a room for several hours, eventually getting out with help from a colleague.
She reported injuries to her face, back, arms and other parts of her body. Fon also alleged that her passport was taken and that she later received threats that she would be killed if she tried to flee.
Bang Yai Police Station superintendent, Police Colonel Sirapop Anusiri, said officers found that the front of the premises operated as a restaurant, while the rear was allegedly used to sell untaxed cigarettes, e-cigarettes and kratom drinks. The shop was closed when police later inspected it.
Police said they would question the Lao worker in further detail and issue a summons for her former employer. Investigators were preparing four preliminary charges involving assault, unlawful detention, threats causing fear and snatch theft in connection with the alleged seizure of her passport.
Sirapop said the man’s position as a government official would not affect the investigation and that the case would proceed according to the law.
The case prompted a separate response from the Excise Department on September 12. The department said it had ordered relevant units to investigate both the alleged assault and claims that its employee may have been connected to the sale of untaxed or illegal goods.
The department said it would cooperate with police and other agencies, adding that disciplinary or criminal action would follow if its investigation found wrongdoing. No findings from the departmental investigation have yet been publicly announced.
As of the latest reports reviewed, police had not announced an arrest or confirmed that the summons had been served on either of the accused.
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