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Panya Unanan, a red-shirt supporter and former red-shirt guard, has been detained by the military since Tuesday afternoon, according to his wife, who asked to remain unidentified. 
 
On Tuesday at 3 pm, a group of soldiers arrested Panya at Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital in Bangkok’s Bang Kho Laem district, where he works as a paramedic. 
 
His wife believes that the military was actually targeting Panya’s twin brother Santi, who has been more active in the red-shirt movement, because the military visited Panya’s home at 8 pm to ask his wife for his twin brother. She told them that she has no knowledge of his whereabouts. 
 
During the 2011-2012 red-shirt demonstrations at the Democracy Monument, Panya decided to follow his brother and volunteer as a red-shirt guard, under the care of Pol Maj Sangiam Samranrat, a former Pheu Thai politician. 
 
The military also told Panya’s wife that he will be released within “one day” and that he has been detained at a military base in Sanam Pao, Bangkok. 
 
The wife lost contact with Panya, 40, since the arrest. 
 
Panya has been interested in politics and became a red-shirt supporter after the 2006 military coup d’état. 
 

 

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