Earlier today around 40 fans of the late Pi Tia, the unofficial Chiang Mai University mascot and beloved campus dog who died mysteriously earlier this year, met at the Provincial Hall to demand justice for Pi Tia.
Over the uncertain days of the lockdown in May, the biggest news to consume Chiang Mai, following that of the pandemic, was news of Pi Tia’s death. Over the course of days following Pi Tia’s disappearance there was a campus-wide and almost city-wide search of the adored dog. When his body was found discarded down a soi in Chang Khian there was national condemnation and multiple accusations made as people tried to attribute blame for his death. Read all about it here.
Matters were not allowed to rest even after a Border Patrol Police (BPP) officer came forward to admit that he had accidentally run over Pi Tia, video footage of him leaving the university of the dog appearing to confirm his story. Watchdog Thailand, a foundation, got involved and refused to accept that Pi Tia’s death was that simple and began to make some very serious allegations, one overheard by CityNews editor at the Phuping Police Station in July when a member of Watchdog Thailand told police that she suspected that the “murder of Pi Tia” reached the highest levels of police and Chiang Mai University in complicity.
Pi Tia’s skeletal remains have since been memorialised at the university’s Veterinary Anatomy and Pathology Museum and a statue of him erected in memory. There is even a Pi Tia garden dedicated to him on campus. Multiple Facebook pages, some with nearly half a million followers, have also popped up in his honour, with some being used to continue the fight to “find him justice” while others dedicating themselves to helping and spreading awareness about other street dogs in need.
Today the 40 fans of Pi Tia, all wearing Pi Tia t-shirts and carrying Pi Tia banners, met to demand justice as prosecutors are considering whether to take up this case to prosecute the border patrol police or not.
CityNews asked one of the fans, a woman named Ranee, why she was here today and she said, “I am here to offer support to the cause and am here to say that we fans will fight until the end. If the prosecutors say that there is not enough evidence, we will continue to search for it.”