Webmaster arrested for PM2.5 death post

A 37-year-old webmaster was arrested at home in Bangkok for a post claiming PM2.5 dust had killed a woman, and was charged with computer crime liable to five years in jail.

Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, immigration police chief, said at the Royal Thai Police Office on Thursday that Watanapong Pitawatanathitikul was arrested at his house on Kanchanaphisek Road in Khannayao district on Sunday.

He was wanted under an arrest warrant for inputting false information into a computer system that could cause public panic.

Pol Lt Gen Surachate said the suspect posted on his www.bangpunsara.com (sharing useful information) website that a person had died in Bangkok because of particulate matter with 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter (PM2.5). The post also showed pictures of a woman with a swollen back, face, neck and shoulder while being admitted at a hospital.

The post was untrue and the woman had died of another illness, Pol Lt Gen Surachate said.

Pol Col Siriwat Deepor, deputy spokesman of the Technology Crime Suppression Division, said the suspect confessed that he had uploaded the misleading post related to the trending air pollution topic to attract viewers for more advertisement income.

Apart from a jail term of up to five years, the offence carried a fine of up to 100,000 baht, he said.

Police also asked the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission to close two other websites — gmmwork.com and jookthai.com — for sharing similar misleading information, Pol Col Siriwat said.