Rich drunk driving Benz businessman buys off family for 45 million baht in death of cop and wife

[Grusa]

10 hours ago, BestB said:

I think it’s a moral dilemma which is right or wrong from western values and point of you.

 

how would you feel if he paid nothing but was jailed ? 

 

How would the family feel if he was jailed and they got nothing ?

 

how is putting him in jail helps the family or achieves anything ?

 

He has paid out a lot of money , what it is to him I feel is irrelevant but for the family , it is huge money. 

 

Not saying what is morally right or wrong but perhaps having him pay for family and kids is a better option than to jail him.

Jail + civil and criminal damages would be appropriate. 

[Traubert]

4 hours ago, hotchilli said:

I would rather see the money held in a bank account in the name of each child with a monthly index linked amount paid to them.

At the age of adults they then take control of the account!

Do you think they're keeping it in the cupboard under the stairs then?

 

the money will be administered by the court

 

That is exactly what will happen.

[Traubert]

2 hours ago, robblok said:

Why can't you have both in some Scandinavian countries fines go up if your income goes up. So you can have both. Its just you who says you can't have both.

 

 

 

Thailand wasn't in Scandinavia last time I checked.

 

Thailand also doesn't have to play monkey see monkey do with other countries.

[Traubert]

8 hours ago, ChristianBlessing said:

"... cleared family credit card debt to the tune of 5 million baht." Speaks volumes.

It speaks something.

 

I read somewhere that all Thai police have money coming out of their ears because they're all on the take and that's an indisputable fact. Their pockets are stuffed with it, they light their smokes with 1000bt bills.

 

Now where did I read that, it escapes me for the minute...bear with me.

[cracker1]

11 hours ago, darksidedog said:

I have mixed feelings about this. I am happy that Somchai has put his hand deep in his pocket and ensured the kids are financially set. I am very unhappy that he seems set to escape jail time. Sure, he has shown contrition, but two people are dead because of him. If he is allowed to stay out of jail, it will send a message to every other rich person that you can drive as drunk as you like, wipe out as many people as you like and walk free by lobbing out a few dollars. I hope the court recognises this and ensures he does see time behind bars.

Wait and see !

[mehrdad]

Jail ?? No way to jail for super rich people here 

actually once again a drunk rich people with money power 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

2 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

look at the drink driving issues which exist here

 

People do that because they know they can get away with it as there are zero highway patrols, especially at night. And that is also why they drive as they do, because no-one is going to stop and arrest them. That only happens after an accident and never before.

[Jane Dough]

4 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

At least he wasn't cheap like the Red Bull family. 45 million is a decent settlement. I don't see the need for any jail time, although that might not be a mainstream view among the expats on TV.

Money may satisfy the victims. 

 

Society needs jail time.

 

Rooster

[BestB]

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

A rather vague argument there BestB, It would seem that your implication is that because minority break the law the penalties are ineffective as a preventive measure. 

 

People will always 'think they can get away with it' and will take risks, but the majority of the population of fearful of the consequences both legally and through social judgement, in Thailand the exact opposite exists - no one is fearful of the penalties, they can pay their way out (a acquaintance recently paid 6000 baht after getting caught driving drunk at 2am).

 

You say minority as if there are just s few people , there are little more than minority. 85000 people convicted in UK of drink driving you could most likely triple that number of the ones who were not caught .

 

i wonder how statistics would change in UK if all those caught were made to pay huge sum of money.

 

i am in no way condoning drink driving or excusing it but in this case I believe guy owned up to his stupidity and instead of paying bribes, he did the right thing and paid the family a very very healthy sum of money and did it before any charges were dropped .

[BestB]

5 hours ago, joecoolfrog said:

Of course you can do both. A criminal prosecution secures conviction and resulting punishment , civil action secures financial recompence. 

I have no problem with the accused paying blood money , but that should never nulify criminal prosecution.

Look this is Thailand , money talks and justice walks , but from a moral standpoint there is no dilemma whatsoever.

Incidently we only have the word of the accused ( or rather his lawyers word ) that there is any remorse at all other than he got caught.

Personally I think he will have paid the minimum he was advised to pay and I very much doubt that he has given up alcohol for good.

Only you forget , civil case would take years, cost a fortune in legal fees and awarded amount would be nowhere near of what he paid . Insurance companies value your life at 1 million baht from memory, so fat chance to get much more , guy paid 40 times more. 

 

So yes, can put him in jail and sue him. He stays in jail, tax payers pay for it, family gets 40 times less and then pays half of it in legal fees . 

 

Principle and morality are served yet the ones who have suffered get very little 

[BestB]

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

The serious penalties are a deterrent for the majority of the population and that makes the roads in the UK much safer because of this. It is only a minority who take a chance and risk the law. 

 

In Thailand the majority of the population do not fear the consequences, this makes the roads more dangerous. 

 

I don't know anyone in the UK who drinks and drives. In Thailand, pretty much every Thai male I know drinks and drives, most women also do, only a handful don't.

 

 

Agree, so perhaps fines for drink

driving should be stiffer not the possibility of going to jail.

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, Jane Dough said:

Money may satisfy the victims. 

 

Society needs jail time.

 

Rooster

I don't follow that. Jail would be revenge by the establishment. If victims get satisfactory or better recompense the perpetrator has paid his dues to the members of society that count in that case.

 

It's little to do with the man in the street.

[Jonmarleesco]

15 hours ago, webfact said:

The victim's mother said she is satisfied and that's an end to it. The drunk man was contrite and has paid all bills and even bought the family a new car.

TiT! Though possibly not confined to LoS.

[Jonmarleesco]

8 minutes ago, Traubert said:

I don't follow that. Jail would be revenge by the establishment. If victims get satisfactory or better recompense the perpetrator has paid his dues to the members of society that count in that case.

 

It's little to do with the man in the street.

Revenge? Justice, as it should be done, and seen to be done. And everything to do with the man in the street who could have been the victim - and might very well be the next time.

[mmushr00m]

They had credit card debt of 5million??!!

How is that even possible?

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, BestB said:

You say minority as if there are just s few people , there are little more than minority. 85000 people convicted in UK of drink driving you could most likely triple that number of the ones who were not caught .

 

i wonder how statistics would change in UK if all those caught were made to pay huge sum of money.

 

i am in no way condoning drink driving or excusing it but in this case I believe guy owned up to his stupidity and instead of paying bribes, he did the right thing and paid the family a very very healthy sum of money and did it before any charges were dropped .

Thats quite a sobering thought...  its a lot of people still drinking and driving in the UK.

 

There are 32.9 Million Drivers in the UK - 85,000 of them caught for DUI.

Thats 0.26%  which is about 1 in every 400 drivers caught for DUI.

I agree that its most likely triple that number - perhaps more.

 

So it could be argued that 1% of UK's drivers drive under the influence of Alcohol.

I suspect that even if the penalties were higher, the stat wouldn't improve by much. 

There has to be some psychological term for those who believe they won't get caught.

 

Penalties and Laws work for the majority of the population - but not everyone will follow them. At some point a sort of equilibrium is reached - in the UK it could be that 99% of people follow the law, the other 1% believe the law doesn't apply to them - I'm not sure if this is a national trait or a human trait. 

 

 

How many of Thailands drivers drive under the influence? I'd hazard a guess at about 30% in the City areas and about 50% in the country.  

 

Thailand has a long way to go - and strict and unavoidable penalties a would make a difference - there may still be a percentage of people in Thailand who, like in the UK (and other countries), think they can get away with it - but that doesn't make stronger penalties and laws ineffective. 

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, Traubert said:

I don't follow that. Jail would be revenge by the establishment. If victims get satisfactory or better recompense the perpetrator has paid his dues to the members of society that count in that case.

 

It's little to do with the man in the street.

 

It has everything to do with the man in the street - You [the man in the street] surely care that the government and authorities are doing everything they can to ensure your safety and that the roads are not full of drunks driving dangerously. 

 

A brutal question for which I apologise in advance: How much would be enough to appease you if your Wife or Child were to be killed by a drunk driver? Is 42 million baht enough, or would you rather that past cases have been dealt with so severely that the guy 'could've' killed your family chose to not to drink and drive.

 

As BestB has mentioned, enforcing the laws and applying strict and unwavering penalties will not stop everyone, but it would make a huge dent in Thailands extremely damning RTA and Road Death statistics.

[mickyr55]

The thing that most seem to be missing here is the fact the victims were a cop family and his correctly enraged colleagues were calling for murder charges.

How much influence did this have on his compensation, if his victims had been a lowly 7/11 worker whose family and colleagues didn't have the influence of the police force behind them would he have been as contrite?

[Chongalulu]

The mother was "satisfied ". What’s the Thai word for "ecstatic!"

[DavisH]

23 hours ago, XenZen said:

I've decided my life here is worth about 500 baht, and maybe some trolling comments on the internet.

 

Not my country, and I know how it works.....and it doesn't work in my favor.   But I'm here, so my life is about 500 baht if some drunk person drives into my house, runs me over, backs up, runs me over again, and drags my lifeless body 10000 kms through the jungles.

 

sad.  but not surprised at all.  

500 is low balling yourself. If I recall, the foreign bicycle rider up north got the princely sum of 7000 baht when he was hit and killed by a car. 

 

Obviously, in the current case, the rich guy wasn't as rich as boss - pretty sure his family didn't have to pay 45. You are either rich and avoid jail, or poor and go to jail. It's really as simple as that. 

[DavisH]

2 hours ago, mickyr55 said:

The thing that most seem to be missing here is the fact the victims were a cop family and his correctly enraged colleagues were calling for murder charges.

How much influence did this have on his compensation, if his victims had been a lowly 7/11 worker whose family and colleagues didn't have the influence of the police force behind them would he have been as contrite?

It explains why most in this country are keen to climb the social tree - the more status the better....at the top you can literally get away with murder. 

[thailand49]

On 5/23/2019 at 7:18 PM, darksidedog said:

I have mixed feelings about this. I am happy that Somchai has put his hand deep in his pocket and ensured the kids are financially set. I am very unhappy that he seems set to escape jail time. Sure, he has shown contrition, but two people are dead because of him. If he is allowed to stay out of jail, it will send a message to every other rich person that you can drive as drunk as you like, wipe out as many people as you like and walk free by lobbing out a few dollars. I hope the court recognises this and ensures he does see time behind bars.

That is the problem I agree,  police have no business deciding the case there is a criminal and Civil element here the two don't mix but the police seem to think they are the judge and jury here which is why stuff like this continues.

Mix feeling at least he is putting out a lot more than the RedBullshit kid family only kicked out 2-3 million to the cop family he ran over. He just raised the bar!