Ital Thai chief Premchai sentenced to six months in jail over poaching rifle

[Arkady]

"Premchai was in possession of two hunting rifles and a homemade one when apprehended..."

 

No details of the homemade weapon and whether he is also facing charges of being in possession of an unlicensed firearm and possibly a type that is illegal for civilians to own.  I remember at the time a report that police found an illegally modified weapon in his possession.  It may have been a .22 semi automatic rifle, which with the right parts and some basic tools can easily be modified to be a 5.56mm semi or fully automatic rifle, i.e. an AR-15, which civilians may not own and the penalties are up to 10 years in prison.

 

So far he has been convicted of carrying weapons into a park, possession of carcasses and attempting to bribe a government official but the most obvious charge of poaching has not been pursued "for lack of evidence" despite the conviction for possession of poached carcasses.  It is odd that no one is to be punished for the act of turning the animals into carcasses.  

 

So far he is getting off lightly.

 

 

[Arkady]

1 hour ago, monkfish said:

Normally this guy would be untouchable somehow can't help thinking someone wants him out the way.

I don't pretend to know the ins and outs but he heads a construction firm that does mainly infrastructure work which in Thailand is mostly government.  This type of player has to try to walk a fine line to be good friends with those in power as well as those who might in power in future.  Sudden changes of government can be extremely difficult for them.  His firm won a lot of tenders in the Thaksin years and under Yingluck and the other nominees and may have been viewed as too close to them and therefore expendable.

[4MyEgo]

28 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Interpol have been notified - yeah sure, not this year or next,  you fully well know how long it takes to translate Thai documents into English. 

Lol, I totally forgot about that ????

 

[1duckyboy]

2 hours ago, thequietman said:

A suspended sentence is put in place so that if you re-offend, you serve the time.

 

Sooooo ...... he got 1 year suspended for bribing a forest ranger with the point being that if he re-offended he serves the year. He re-offended for possessing animal carcasses and should have served the year BUT, he got a suspended sentence for that. Ok ..... reset.  So, if he re-offends for this, he has to serve the 16 months.

 

Soooooo.......... he re-offends and gets 6 MONTHS!  <deleted>!

Soooo, nothing or double, sweet deal.

[phkauf]

1 hour ago, Arkady said:

I don't pretend to know the ins and outs but he heads a construction firm that does mainly infrastructure work which in Thailand is mostly government.  This type of player has to try to walk a fine line to be good friends with those in power as well as those who might in power in future.  Sudden changes of government can be extremely difficult for them.  His firm won a lot of tenders in the Thaksin years and under Yingluck and the other nominees and may have been viewed as too close to them and therefore expendable.

As long as the envelopes are full and keep coming, guys like him don't care who is in power. The elites just switch allegiance to the new government and the games stay the same. 

Unless the new government is truly on the up and up with no corruption, all the new politicians are looking for their payday. And I think we all know the chance of a non-corrupt government is Zero.

[DrTuner]

4 hours ago, jumbo said:

better off killing a few people than wildlife....

That seems to be the Thai priorities, yes. Mow down a policeman in a Ferrari while coked up, spend an extended holiday abroad and no worries. Shoot a panther, instant jail. And don't even think of picking mushrooms.

[Montnoveau]

What distinguishes a poaching rifle?

[moe666]

It is their system and has been for a long time, they will not change it to make some whiney farangs happy. Get over it boys are go back home were everything is so perfect. There I got go back home out of the way

[Grusa]

5 hours ago, darksidedog said:

While I am happy the court didn't listen to any of his pathetic attempts at merit making to get away from a prison sentence, I think we all know that at the end of the day, he is never going to serve a single day. There will be appeal after appeal, with a "serious" health issue no doubt making an appearance and in a very quiet judgment it will all get suspended, with some people getting richer in the process.

I feel sorry for the honest people at the Parks department, whose hard work should have seen this toad and his pals locked up already.

A Thai friend put it this way:- "his name will go to jail and serve time, but his body will not. "

[Enki]

7 hours ago, z42 said:

He confessed, had his sentence cut for doing so.. And as such is guilty, yet the court grants bail to a person they just convicted as a criminal 

 

If ever a system was in dire need of reform, here it is. Nauseating 

Erm, I can not follow. And what exactly is in your eyes wrong with that?

[Paul Henry]

Thai law seems very similar to the US and many other developed countries. One set of rules: Paragraph "A" for the rich and connected .Paragraph "B" for mr & mrs average. Paragraph "C" for the poor and underprivilaged.

[sammieuk1]

15 Days making merit means he wants to shoot some monkeys and what about a houseful of ivory or taking a dump in a protected forest????    

[HannahD]

11 hours ago, scorecard said:

And the reality is that unfortunately it's been full of discrepancies, lack of fairness and more for decades and under all PMs.

 

Roll on FF...

And find a world where the "legal system" isn't full of discrepancies, lack of fairness and more.  If the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal were still in session there would be a whole lot fewer living government officials and former government officials in the world. Thousands from many countries would have been tried, convicted and hanged.

[JulesMad]

11 hours ago, phkauf said:

Hey Premchai, look at the upside - prison food isn't all that good so maybe you can drop a few dozen kilos you fat <deleted>.

 

This fat f*** will not eat 1 day prison food, he will be served 5 course meals three times a day. He is rich and will have a pretty good stay in prison ????

 

[hotchilli]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

The construction tycoon admitted to the charge in a Criminal Court session today (August 20), in which the judges sentenced him to a one-year prison term, before halving it due to his confessing to the crime

Confessing to the crime means it was premeditated... should have doubled it !!!!!

[JAG]

16 hours ago, monkfish said:

Normally this guy would be untouchable somehow can't help thinking someone wants him out the way.

 

15 hours ago, Arkady said:

I don't pretend to know the ins and outs but he heads a construction firm that does mainly infrastructure work which in Thailand is mostly government.  This type of player has to try to walk a fine line to be good friends with those in power as well as those who might in power in future.  Sudden changes of government can be extremely difficult for them.  His firm won a lot of tenders in the Thaksin years and under Yingluck and the other nominees and may have been viewed as too close to them and therefore expendable.

Perhaps he is not being as accommodating as he might be, when it comes to handing over {sorry, I meant to say restructuring) those various business interests? Maybe it is thought that a little nudge will remind him where his future interests lie...

[garyk]

Good, I hope he has to serve every day of it..

[brianthainess]

So still no jail time,pathetic justice system and still  putting in bids for government projects...watch this space...

[Vacuum]

On 8/20/2019 at 11:12 AM, moe666 said:

It is their system and has been for a long time, they will not change it to make some whiney farangs happy.

Spot-on. 

[BobBKK]

Sentenced:

 

1. bail
2. bond
3. appeal
4. more bail
5. another bond
6. another appeal
7. more BS