Fugitive ex-mayor surrenders to police

PHUKET TOWN: The former mayor of Patong, Dr Anan Ananthanawat, surrendered to police on Saturday, nearly two years after a warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of involvement in the murder of an ex-policeman. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, told the Gazette that he received a phone call from Dr Anan’s lawyer on Saturday morning, advising him that the ex-mayor would surrender to the police later that afternoon. Police questioned Dr Anan for two hours. “He still denies all the charges, and asked to be released on a bail of 500,000 baht,” Col Paween said. “We refused.” The murder victim, former Pol Sub-Lt Weerapol Panrod, was shot dead on Luang Phor Wat Chalong Rd in Phuket Town in December 1998. Ten months later, five men were arrested for involvement in the murder of the former policeman. During questioning, they implicated Dr Anan in the murder. After several telephone conversations with police shortly after the warrant was issued, and after a subsequent search of his house in Chonburi, Dr Anan remained a fugitive, prompting the police to set up a team of Provincial Special Duty Squad officers last year to follow the case. Dr Anan is accused of hiring the hit men, possessing a gun and ammunition without a license, and forging a government document (for the gun’s registration). He remains in custody at the Phuket Town Police Station.