Duongchalerm: Pressure mounts for arrest

BANGKOK (AFP): Pressure mounted Wednesday for Thai authorities to arrest MP’s son Duongchalerm Yoobamrung, who is accused of killing a police officer on Sunday. But first they have to find him, which appears to be causing some difficulty. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra called on the military to arrange for Duongchalerm to be handed over to police for interrogation after a warrant for his arrest was issued Monday. “The police could arrest him immediately if they knew his whereabouts,” he said. “It’s about time to revise the joint agreement between the Interior and Defense Ministries,” Thaksin said, referring to an agreement between the two ministries that requires the arrest of a commissioned officer to be handled by the Judge Advocate-General’s Department (JAGD). The Bangkok Post reported today that the JAGD had told police investigators it could not comply with the request to hand over Duongchalerm because the senior army officer responsible was “tied up with important duties”. Lt Gen Prapan Nilwong, commander of the Armed Forces Security Center where Duongchalerm has served since earlier this year, said the Armed Forces Supreme Command was working to dismiss Duongchalerm from the service. The General declined to specify where Duongchalerm is at present, though he conceded it might well be in the residence of his father, powerful MP Chalerm Yoobamrung. “I think that he is probably staying with his family,” he said. He said he was negotiating hard with Chalerm for a quick surrender, no later than Friday. Police issued a warrant for Duongchalerm for premeditated murder after witnesses reported seeing him gun down a police officer at a Bangkok nightclub Sunday night. He and his two older brothers are notorious troublemakers who have been involved in a series of nightclub brawls and brushes with the law.