Top Democrat battles 'smear' campaign

Chaichana Detdacho, deputy leader of the Democrat Party overseeing the South, has filed a complaint with police against several social media pages for spreading what he called false claims linking him to a drug suspect who was arrested on Tuesday.

- POST REPORTERS

The controversy followed a post by the Facebook page CSI LA claiming police were preparing to search the home of a southern-based deputy leader of the blue party, identified only by the initial “T”, over alleged links to a drug network.

Netizens speculated the post must have referred to Mr Chaichana, whose nickname is Tan, prompting widespread criticism during the election campaign period ahead of the February election.

According to police in Nakhon Si Thammarat, a 30-year-old drug suspect, identified as Chakrit Detdacho, alias Sun Thung Chin, who happened to share the same surname as Mr Chaichana, was arrested on Tuesday.

But there has been no verified link to Mr Chaichana so far, they said.