Two suspects in Tangmo case plead guilty to ‘recklessness causing death’

More than one year after Thai actress Nida ‘Tangmo‘ Patcharaveerapong drowned in the Chaophraya River, two suspects in the ‘speedboat gang‘ have confessed to all charges including recklessness causing death.

The four remaining suspects denied all charges.

Tangmo’s mother Panida Siriyuthyothin said the confessions follow new evidence she submitted to the court on February 24.

The new evidence is dashcam footage from Tangmo’s black Mazda car. The footage was recovered by a national data recovery company after it was allegedly erased from the memory card by “malicious people.”

Today, two suspects in the case – Tanuphat “Por” Lertthaweewit and Paiboon “Robert” Treekanchananan – confessed to all charges filed against them at Nonthaburi Provincial Court.

Tanuphat “Por” Lertthaweewit (boat owner) plead guilty to the following charges…

• Recklessness causing death (up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to 200,000 baht)
• Driving a boat without a legal certificate
• Driving a boat with an expired license
• Littering in the river
• Not affixing the name of the boat in Thai and English
• Giving false statements to police

Paiboon “Robert” Treekanchananan (boat skipper) plead guilty to the following charges…

• Recklessness causing death (up to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to 200,000 baht)
• Being a boat skipper without a legal certificate
• Driving a boat with an expired license
• Littering in the river

Panida said the confessions came as a great surprise to her, considering Por and Robert had denied all charges throughout the year-long Tangmo case.

The remaining four suspects, Wisapat “Sand” Manomairat, Nitat “Job” Kiratisut Sathorn, Itsarin “Gatick” Jutha Suksawat and Phim “Em” Thamtheerasri denied all of the various charges filed against them.

Sand, one of Tangmo’s managers, is filing a 40.8 million baht lawsuit against Tangmo’s mother in retaliation to her filing and dropping murder charges against him.

The court will read the verdicts of Tanuphat “Por” Lertthaweewit and Paiboon “Robert” Treekanchananan on May 10 and April 28 of this year, respectively.