The men allegedly attacked the officer after being stopped for speeding in a residential area. Photo: Supplied / Thapapong Trs
Two New Zealanders accused of attacking a policeman in Phuket are unlikely to be sent home and will have to go through a lengthy court process, says a lawyer familiar with the Thai justice system.
Thai media reports the pair, Hamish Day, 36, and Oscar Day, 38, were on motorcycles in a residential area in Phuket on Saturday, and failed to stop for a police officer who thought they were speeding and failing to stay left.
When they did eventually stop, the Bangkok Post reported they started shouting, and the officer used his phone to record them.
The Kiwi pair then allegedly attacked him, trying to wrest control of his phone and pistol, which fired one round without hitting anyone.
The men were arrested and were expected to appear in Phuket Provincial Court on Monday.
They face multiple charges including bribery, robbery and obstructing police.
Law Aid International director and barrister Craig Tuck said after their court appearance they were likely to be detained further.
"The court has the jurisdiction to grant further remands and those remands can be up to 84 days in total," Tuck said.
"It is unlikely that any criminal justice system would release or deport people prior to dealing with them within the criminal justice system that's in that country so they will be subjected to the court processes in Thailand."
The conditions the men would face while going through the Thai judicial system depended on where they were placed, but cells were known for being overcrowded, Tuck said.
"I certainly know of situations where these cells were so crowded that people had to take turns sleeping at night, because not everybody could lie on the cell floor."
If the men were sentenced, Tuck expected they would continue to be detained in a Thai jail
"That's part of the rule of law, fair trial in countries dealing with those people that breach the Penal Code within that jurisdiction."
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) spokesperson said consular officials from MFAT were providing assistance to the family of two New Zealanders.
"The Ministry is unable to comment further due to privacy reasons."
Tuck said the role MFAT played while the men faced the judicial system was to provide ongoing social and humanitarian support.
"They do not engage in another country's criminal justice."
MFAT had a list of local lawyers they could provide the men with. "Often those lawyers are just involved in the commercial not criminal jurisdiction and many times people are left to navigate criminal justice or criminal law in whatever countries are detained in, in a trial and error fashion."
The parents of two men charged said they were "understandably distraught".
