NZ brothers Hamish and Oscar Day remain in jail after appearing in Phuket court

By RNZ

Two New Zealand brothers remain behind bars after appearing in a Phuket court, after a scuffle with a Thai police officer earlier in the week.

Hamish and Oscar Day have been charged with multiple offences including robbery, assaulting an officer, attempted bribery and driving a motorcycle without a licence.

The brothers were allegedly speeding and fled from the police officer on Saturday. The officer was later tackled by one of the brothers and a gun was wrestled off him, causing a bullet to be fired. Nobody was injured.

Phuket News journalist JP Mestanza told RNZ Checkpoint today the two brothers appeared in court on Monday but it was just a formality.

“When someone is arrested over the weekend, they hold them until they have a court appearance on the next available date.”

They would be held in a jail at the back of the courthouse until authorities decided on how to proceed, said Mestanza.

He said the police officer who was assaulted in the incident was at home recovering.

Mestanza said local police were still sorting out exactly what happened, but there appeared to be an offer of a bribe, and the fight began when the officer took out his phone to take a photo of the licence plate.

He said the incident was part of a larger crackdown on foreigners in Thailand.

One case in Phuket – involving a Swiss ex-pat who kicked some Thai people who were sitting on the steps of his villa – has seen the Phuket governor and immigration police pledge to deal more strongly with people who were breaking Thai law.

“This is two tourists and a police officer, so hard to tell if it’s an anti-foreigner sentiment, but it is in the middle of this whole thing.”

The brothers’ parents – millionaire businesspeople Laurence and Katrina Day – are likely to travel to Thailand soon.