Top court deals absent ‘Kamnan Sia’, wife, jail time for land encroachment

[webfact 35,601]

Top court deals absent ‘Kamnan Sia’, wife, jail time for land encroachment

By The Nation

 

File photo: Former MP Pracha Pothipipit or “Kamnan Sia” and his wife.

 

THE SUPREME Court yesterday convicted the once-influential former MP “Kamnan Sia” and his wife for encroaching on state land in Kanchanaburi province.
 

In absentia, the couple was sentenced to four years and eight months in jail. 

 

The highest court overturned a previous ruling by the Appeals Court, which accepted Pracha Pothipipit, 76, and his wife Khemaporn Tangjaiyen, 53, claim that they were unaware that the 50 rai belonged to the state and had purchased the plot innocently.

 

“It’s just an excuse,” the court said when delivering the guilty verdict. 

 

The charges date back to 2001 and 2002 when the couple used more than 50 rai (8 hectares) of state land in Kanchanaburi’s Bo Ploi district. 

 

Pracha and Khemaporn have so far failed to report to court after being released on a Bt1-million bail each. 

 

The bail was approved after they appealed against the guilty verdict delivered by the court of primary instance. In 2015, the court had convicted the couple and sentenced them to 10 years and 16 months. In 2016, the couple again did not appear when the Appeals Court meted out an acquittal. After public prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court, it was initially scheduled to read its decision last month. 

 

Missing again

 

However, since the couple failed to appear, the court postponed the verdict reading to yesterday and issued arrest warrants for both defendants. 

 

Since the couple failed to appear again, the Supreme Court delivered the guilty verdict in their absence and approved fresh arrest warrants for them. 

 

Both Pracha and Khemaporn are also wanted in several other cases, including a conviction for colluding to fix bids. In that conviction, Pracha was given five years in jail and Khemaporn four years. 

 

Pracha was also sentenced in separate previous cases of land encroachment. In one case, he was convicted of encroaching on 1,199 rai in Kanchanabri’s Dan Makham Tia district and in Ratchaburi’s Suan Phung district. For this offence, the final court verdict doled out two years and eight months in jail. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30362469

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-01-18

[YetAnother 9,826]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

including a conviction for colluding to fix bids. In that conviction, Pracha was given five years in jail and Khemaporn four years. 

 

Pracha was also sentenced in separate previous cases

thailand's version of rule of law; multiple guilty verdicts , multiple arrest warrants and....nothing; pathetic

[Lungstib 5,051]

Take everything from them and hand it over to the poor. Multiple offenders who dont show need to be dealt with harshly.

[Briggsy 15,350]

18 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

thailand's version of rule of law; multiple guilty verdicts , multiple arrest warrants and....nothing; pathetic

Yes.

 

Kamnan Sia is (was) a very powerful person.

 

We have seen this pattern before with very powerful local godfathers e.g. Kamnam Poh. They rise and they fall but they never do time in prison in Thailand. Part of becoming a godfather, apart from the obvious intimidating, killing, monopolising of the local legal and black economy, is to lock yourself into relationships with other power players through the use of compromising evidence. This is one of the reasons the police "have been unable to find him". They are totally compromised. So, they don't look very hard.

[grumbleweed 3,157]

Can just see them rushing back to spend the rest of their lives in jail, however, considering the efficiency of the RTP they won't remain free for long

[MrPatrickThai 669]

31 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

thailand's version of rule of law; multiple guilty verdicts , multiple arrest warrants and....nothing; pathetic

Yetamother Thailand hater. This happens with mafia ALL over the world, probably even in your country, 

[sammieuk1 5,840]

Get the pinky red notice ready here comes another two fleeing crims on the well worn path called justice 

[rkidlad 18,377]

24 minutes ago, MrPatrickThai said:

Yetamother Thailand hater. This happens with mafia ALL over the world, probably even in your country, 

Even if that were true, it doesn’t change the fact that Thailand’s justice system is corrupt. Multiple wrongs don’t make a right. 

 

But please, show us some examples of a foreign mafia (in a developed country) being allowed bail and then absconding from their country. 

 

 

[Oziex1 7,276]

44 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

Yes.

 

Kamnan Sia is (was) a very powerful person.

 

We have seen this pattern before with very powerful local godfathers e.g. Kamnam Poh. They rise and they fall but they never do time in prison in Thailand. Part of becoming a godfather, apart from the obvious intimidating, killing, monopolising of the local legal and black economy, is to lock yourself into relationships with other power players through the use of compromising evidence. This is one of the reasons the police "have been unable to find him". They are totally compromised. So, they don't look very hard.

The house of cards! 

[robblok 28,417]

If your rich you escape here almost all the rich criminals escape. Only some of the really rich get in trouble not all unfortunately. Crazy system where they allow bail for cases like this. 

[thequietman 5,189]

1 hour ago, MrPatrickThai said:

Yetamother Thailand hater. This happens with mafia ALL over the world, probably even in your country, 

Have a look up at the top of the page. Do you see Restofthe worldVisa ???

 

Nope, then probably because this is ThaiVisa Forum and we discuss all things Thai.

 

Stop being an apologist. Discuss the issue.

[zaZa9 1,056]

"The bail was approved after they appealed against the guilty verdict delivered by the court of primary instance. In 2015, the court had convicted the couple and sentenced them to 10 years and 16 months. In 2016, the couple again did not appear when the Appeals Court meted out an acquittal. After public prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court, it was initially scheduled to read its decision last month"

 

Where else in the world can one consistently  fail to appear in Court ,  launch an Appeal , even fail to turn up to its hearing - and receive an acquittal ??!!

[hotchilli 2,267]

Seize everything they own, auction what is theirs & share it with the poor.

[ChipButty 1,193]

Probably in Dubai with you know who

[Eric Loh 9,812]

4 hours ago, YetAnother said:

thailand's version of rule of law; multiple guilty verdicts , multiple arrest warrants and....nothing; pathetic

Gets much more pathetic when the 2 sons of Kamnan Poh were appointed by Prayut as political officials. The eldest son is now the adviser to Prayut and his brother given the job of assistance to another cabinet minister. Real swamp in junta land. Corruption reform???