BURIRAM – Police officers acted as mediators in successfully ending the conflict between Mr. Cleverley, a 55-year-old British national residing in Ban Khok Yai, Isan Subdistrict, Mueang District, Buriram Province, and Ms. Komkai or Khom, a 38-year-old owner of a chicken rice restaurant who filed a complaint about being threatened by the British.
Previously, on May 5, Ms. Khom filed a police report stating that Mr. Cleverley, carrying a gun, had intruded into her restaurant, Madam Chicken, in front of the Thong Market in Buriram Municipality on May 3. The British man claimed he was there to collect 90,000 baht from Ms. Khom for a visa extension, which he had demanded several times.
Ms. Khom insisted that Mr. Cleverley had fabricated this story, as she had already completed the visa paperwork for him when they were still on friendly terms. Initially, when they first met, she had helped him procure construction materials to build a large cannabis greenhouse. However, upon discovering that he was stubborn and liked to pick fights with others, she distanced herself from him.
Later, on April 12, Mr. Cleverley rode his motorcycle and crashed into a table at her restaurant and had an argument with her customers. Since then, she banned him from entering the restaurant, but he regularly came to threaten her. As a result, she had to close down the chicken rice shop for fear that she and her customers would be harmed.
On May 3, he intruded into the restaurant and attempted to assault her inside, accompanied by a person claiming to be a plainclothes police officer from Nakhon Ratchasima acting as his bodyguard. She then filed a complaint with Pol. Lt. Col. Adichat Meesa, Deputy Superintendent (Investigation) of Mueang Buriram Police Station.
On May 6, the police called both parties for mediation. Mr. Cleverley agreed to apologize and pay 5,000 baht in compensation, while Ms. Khom agreed to withdraw the complaint and warned the British man not to come to the restaurant again, which he promised to comply with.
Although deep down she was still wary and worried whether customers would return to her restaurant that had been closed for a long time, she thanked the officers for their assistance in resolving the matter peacefully.
