Father of jailed brothers grateful for Kiwi support
The Hamilton father of two brothers currently behind bars in Phuket after an alleged altercation with a Thai police officer says he has not spoken with his sons since the day after the incident.
On March 16, a Thai police officer allegedly ordered Hamish Day, 36, and Oscar Day, 38, to stop as they were riding motorbikes too fast in a residential zone and didn’t stay in the left lane, the Bangkok Post reported.
The pair reportedly sped up, before eventually stopping and shouting at the officer. They allegedly attacked the police officer, forcing him to the ground and trying to snatch his pistol, which went off without injuring anyone.
The pair are the children of Hamilton multi-millionaires Laurence and Katrina Day, who donated $675,000 to Colin Craig's Conservative Party's election campaign in 2014.
Speaking to the Waikato Times, Laurence said he had not spoken to his sons since the day after the incident as there had not been the opportunity to do so.
“They’re incarcerated and we’re just going through the various processes that are pretty standard over there.”
Laurence said his family had received a “tremendous outpouring of support and empathy” and they were “determined to carry on our lives as best we can with our children and grandchildren”.
According to local media, the Kiwi brothers have had their visas revoked and would be blacklisted from Thailand.
The siblings are facing five charges of robbery, obstructing an on-duty officer, assaulting an on-duty officer, bribery and driving without a licence.
In a press conference on March 18, Phuket Governor Sophon Suwannarat called the actions of the two pair “intolerable”, the Bangkok Post reported.
"The behaviour was improper and illegal,“Suwannarat said on Monday, and added that ”serious action“would be taken to “protect the tourism atmosphere of Phuket“.
“It sets a very bad example in a tourist province like Phuket ... Visitors and Thai people in Phuket must be safe.”
He said the New Zealand Embassy in Bangkok would be informed that the Day brothers had seriously violated
Thai law. wThe vehicle rental business would be fined 2000 baht for renting the bikes without licences.
The Day family have been contacted by hundreds of people, Laurence told the Waikato Times.
“And it's been really, you know, sometimes you think where is the country going with some of the challenges we face? But when you see individual people reaching out to you... there is a lot of good people in this country and we're very, very grateful for all the support and outpouring of love and prayers that we've received.”
Asked whether he intended to travel to Thailand, Day said “I’m sure at some stage that will be appropriate”.
Day did not wish to talk about his sons’ immediate families, saying they wanted to minimise the effect on their children and partners.