Officials clarify Korat police van stopped at the beach after collecting murder suspect

Cops in the northeastern Thai province of Nakhon Ratchasima, AKA Korat, recently came under fire, figuratively, for allegedly using an official police van to take a trip to the beach. Police launched a fact-finding committee to investigate after pictures and videos surfaced of the police van arriving at a beach in Phetchaburi, a central Thai province, and people getting out and having a meal on the beach. Officials have now cleared up the misconception, saying the police were there on official business after collecting a murder suspect and the van was not used for personal use.

Pol Maj Gen Paisarn Luesomboon, the deputy commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 3, says an inquiry panel revealed that an officer from the Phon Krang police station had received contact from a fugitive, Sawai Khanpakwaen, who wanted to turn himself in. Sawai was wanted for allegedly killing his wife and her son in Korat 10 years prior. Sawai allegedly told police that he was working in Surat Thani but had a problem, so he asked the police to pick him up. It was not stated if Sawai’s problem, besides being wanted for murder, was a transportation issue.

Paisarn says the officer who was in contact with the suspect alerted his superior, Pol Col Songwut Saiboon, to the suspect’s plight and was given permission to use the van to pick up the suspect. Then, when Korat police arrived in Prachuap Khiri Khan on September 16 they discovered officials from the Provincial Police Region 8 had already arrested the suspect.

The cops from up north then put the suspect in the van and started their drive back up to Nakhon Ratchasima. They conceded that they stopped on the way for a bite to eat at the beach in Phetchaburi. They did not state whether the suspect was still in the van at this time or whether he joined them for their respite from the road. Paisarn reiterated that the police van was only used for official duties and the officers did not use it for personal use…

SOURCE: Bangkok Post