By CS Thana
BANGKOK
A high-ranking Thai court official is being held on charges of insulting the monarchy, a report said Saturday.
The Bangkok Post reported that Thailand's Criminal Court had approved a police request to further detain the former grand chamberlain of the Royal Household Bureau while they finalise a charge of lese majeste against him.
Montri Sotangkur - who worked for disgraced former princess Srirasmi - has been detained at an army training camp in Thawi Watthana district since Wednesday when Crime Suppression Division police arrested him.
The 53-year-old is believed to have used his royal standing to gain favors and positions from various government bodies.
The Post reported that he has confessed to four charges relating to lese majeste, including demanding bribes and abuse of authority, after allegedly using his royal connection to demand a seat on the boards of PTT Plc and CAT Telecom Plc in 2011.
He is also suspected of involvement with a criminal gang led by disgraced, convicted and jailed former Central Investigation Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Pongpat Chayapan - an uncle of the former princess.
Princess Srirasmi's family figured at the center of a corruption scandal last November, after which Thailand's Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn - her husband - was forced to strip several members of their royal family name.
Srirasmi, the crown prince's third wife, was then “authorized" to resign from the family a few days later.
Her parents - Apiruj Suwadee, 72, and Wanthanee Suwadee, 66 - were also jailed in March, having been found guilty of using their royal status to pressure police into imprisoning a young woman that the mother suspected of having an affair with her husband.
Thailand has some of the harshest lese majeste laws in the world; designed to protect the country's highly revered monarch and his family, which the ruling junta views as above politics.
Due to the strict laws, local media were forced to report with extreme caution on the scandal. Initially they were unable to even mention the connection between Chayapan and Srirasmi.
The law punishes offenders with jail terms of between three to 15 years.
