Yongyuth’s verdict on Alpine case upheld

By THE NATION

 

 

THE APPEALS COURT on Thursday upheld a two-year jail term against former Pheu Thai leader Yongyuth Wichaidith for his role in the Alpine Golf Club land scandal.

 

However, Yongyuth, 77, has been released on a Bt900,000 bail guarantee and seeks to file an appeal. According to his bail conditions, he is not allowed to travel overseas without prior permission from the court. 

 

The Appeals Court convicted Yongyuth on Thursday morning of abusing his authority as the Interior Ministry’s deputy permanent secretary nearly two decades ago. 

 

While at the Interior Ministry, Yongyuth had revoked an order issued by the Land Department and helped Alpine Real Estate and Alpine Golf and Sport Club unlawfully obtain two plots of land in Pathum Thani province. 

 

The owner of the land, Nuam Chamnanchartsakda, had left these plots to the Thammikaram Worawiharn Temple in her will in 1969. However, in 1990, the executors of Nuam’s will were forced out and replaced by the Mahamakut Buddhist University Foundation. 

 

The foundation then took the ownership of the land over from the temple, and later sold the plots to Alpine Real Estate and the Alpine Golf and Sports Club for Bt142 million. 

 

The companies – owned by the friends and family of the late Snoh Thienthong, who was deputy interior minister in charge of the Land Department at that time – built a housing estate and golf course on the land. These assets were later sold to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra. 

 

The day the land was sold to the companies, they mortgaged the plots for Bt220 million, the court said. Later, the Land Department revoked the transfer of land ownership to the companies, on grounds that it was illegal. However, Yongyuth rescinded the order when 290 individuals appealed against the Land Department’s decision.

 

Yongyuth’s role in the case raised enough eyebrows for him to be taken to the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct.

 

In 2017, the court handed down a guilty verdict and two-year jail term, which Yongyuth appealed, leading to on Thursday verdict. 

 

The court said Yongyuth had deliberately ignored the guidance provided by the Council of State on the Alpine Golf Club case, and his claim that his decision was based on an Interior Ministry committee’s resolution of the case was unreasonable. 

 

The court pointed out that Yongyuth had established the committee himself, after all. 

 

The court also noted that after Thaksin bought the golf club from Snoh, Yongyuth was promoted to become Interior Ministry’s permanent secretary in 2002 and was given several key positions during Thaksin’s administration. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30364998

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-03-01

If ever you need one story to prove how corrupt this country is then this is the one.

Rotten to the core  . . . . (nice golf course though ????)

4 hours ago, webfact said:

he is not allowed to travel overseas without prior permission

That's all right then.

...hard to understand how many of you insist that 'these types' would make a 'better government'....

 

...jeez....

 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Yongyuth rescinded the order when 290 individuals appealed against the Land Department’s decision.

 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The court said Yongyuth had deliberately ignored the guidance provided by the Council of State on the Alpine Golf Club case

Superficially, Yongyuth's actions don't seem illegal (not to mention 20 years ago!). He responded to individual appeals and went against COS guidance. "Guidance" is not law and not following guidance is not in itself illegal. Maybe the law was weak and/or had loopholes but it is from legislative action and not judicial action that laws are corrected.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The court pointed out that Yongyuth had established the committee himself

What made that illegal, especially if he had the approval (which I don't know) from the prime minister?

Look how many committees PM Prayut has established over the last five years for which he becomes the chairman.

appealing the appeals court and we still see someone trying to claim he isnt guilty, shows how blind some people are when it comes to certain people. Doesnt matter which govt he was in, what he did was illegal and fraudulent, another thaksin stooge that ripped the country off

2 hours ago, SOTIRIOS said:

...hard to understand how many of you insist that 'these types' would make a 'better government'....

 

...jeez....

 

 

A Thai politician who is not corrupt is rarer than hens teeth. 

Taksin was heavily involved in this corruption, and yet there are people on this forum who claim his crimes were politically motivated.

3 hours ago, SOTIRIOS said:

...hard to understand how many of you insist that 'these types' would make a 'better government'....

 

...jeez....

 

Easy, greedy and corrupt they may be but less likely to shoot at the masses they also may possess some, may be a little more business and economic management skills than the thieves in uniform. 

2 hours ago, Srikcir said:

 

Superficially, Yongyuth's actions don't seem illegal (not to mention 20 years ago!). He responded to individual appeals and went against COS guidance. "Guidance" is not law and not following guidance is not in itself illegal. Maybe the law was weak and/or had loopholes but it is from legislative action and not judicial action that laws are corrected.

What made that illegal, especially if he had the approval (which I don't know) from the prime minister?

Look how many committees PM Prayut has established over the last five years for which he becomes the chairman.

 

Oh dear. So you see nothing wrong. And presumably Thaksin the Honest, the former disgraced PM whose never ever done anything wrong, promoted and rewarded him for his skill and devotion to duty!

 

Wake up and smell the coffee.

1 hour ago, Oziex1 said:

Easy, greedy and corrupt they may be but less likely to shoot at the masses they also may possess some, may be a little more business and economic management skills than the thieves in uniform. 

 

Agree maybe less likely to shoot, although it has been known but more specifically targeted.

 

Business and economic management skills - hard to really tell as they're usually too busy thieving!

1 hour ago, gamini said:

Taksin was heavily involved in this corruption, and yet there are people on this forum who claim his crimes were politically motivated.

 

I would suspect that during his political tenures, and those of his puppets, that there weren't any major corruptions that he or some of his family didn't benefit from.

 

But like all modern day politicians caught being totally corrupt, the defense is always - it's all political. And as long as you can successfully pretend to be "left wing" then left wingers will support that.

5 hours ago, CelticBhoy said:

If ever you need one story to prove how corrupt this country is then this is the one.

Rotten to the core  . . . . (nice golf course though ????)

I especially like this player 'Mahamakut Buddhist University Foundation'. Such devout Buddhists.

Once again the big fish took the money and nothing happened

to them,justice in Thailand moves at a snail's pace if you are

rich and influential, there's a good chance you will have died

before any threat of serving jail time comes around.

regards worgeordie

3 hours ago, Oziex1 said:

Easy, greedy and corrupt they may be but less likely to shoot at the masses they also may possess some, may be a little more business and economic management skills than the thieves in uniform. 

You seem to be completely ignorant of Thaksin's 'war on drugs', around the same time, which allowed the corrupt police to murder around 2,500 citizens without oversight.

 

Also I don't think that Snoh Thienthong is 'the late' quite yet.

3 hours ago, khunken said:

You seem to be completely ignorant of Thaksin's 'war on drugs', around the same time, which allowed the corrupt police to murder around 2,500 citizens without oversight.

 

Also I don't think that Snoh Thienthong is 'the late' quite yet.

The misguided and murderous war on drugs is far removed from the military action against the people's want for progress, justice and liberty from the shakels of fuedelism.

7 hours ago, gamini said:

Taksin was heavily involved in this corruption, and yet there are people on this forum who claim his crimes were politically motivated.

Define "politics" from my experiences in life it means to make money for ones self by either representing someone with a lot more than you who promises a lot in return for services rendered, or being in a position where people put deals in front of you that make one lots of money from, do you see it different?