Bangkok Police Inspect Car Used By Military Officer To 'Run Over' Woman In Parking Dispute

[webfact]

Police inspect car used to 'run over' woman in parking dispute

By Suparat Iamtan,

Monthien Inthaket

The Nation

Officers at Bangkok's Phya Thai Police Station yesterday inspected a car that was allegedly used by a military officer last week to run over a woman over a parking dispute. The victim is in hospital and still in critical condition.

The victim's mother Dr Pannakorn Imwittaya, who was formerly a lecturer at Siriraj Hospital, met the Metropolitan Police Division 1 chief Pol Maj-General Wichai Songprapai yesterday to provide information about the incident and appeal for justice. She also told him that she was concerned about her family's safety.

On the day of the incident, Pannakorn and her daughter Major Hathaiporn Imwittaya, who works as a doctor at the Phra Mongkutklao Hospital, returned home to find a Nissan sedan with the licence plate number "Wor Khor 1355" blocking the entrance.

Pannakorn went to the restaurant nearby to look for the car owner, while Hathaiporn parked her car next to the Nissan sedan and rushed home to use the toilet.

The car owner, who appeared to be drunk and was reportedly upset about having to move his car across the street, suddenly sped across to hit Hathaiporn as she was about to get into her vehicle. He reportedly tried to hit her again, but sped away when neighbours intervened.

Pannakorn said the neighbours had found a windscreen wiper, believed to have fallen off the culprit's car, and had kept it for use as evidence. She said the officer obviously believed that he had enough clout to protect himself.

Wichai, meanwhile, said the police were not dragging their feet but might be a bit slow in taking action due to bureaucracy, but would ensure justice for all sides.

Hathaiporn, 34, who sustained severe concussion, is in critical condition despite two surgeries.

Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon, officials from the Office of the Army Comptroller delivered a Nissan sedan at the police station for inspection. Phya Thai superintendent Pol Colonel Saman Rodkamnerd said police needed to collect evidence before the culprit could be identified.

Initial inspection showed that the car delivered to the police station might be the one driven by the officer, except its windshield only had one sticker, while the culprit's was said to have several, though one of its windshield wipers looked like it was changed recently.

Phya Thai deputy superintendent Pol Lt-Colonel Chote Suwanjunee said police were planning to file a charge of assaulting another with the intention to kill, because this was not a hit-and-run accident. He added that police also had security camera footage of the attack.

Office of the Army Comptroller deputy director Maj-General Pisut Pao-in said the car belonged to the office, but because it has had engine problems since June 8, it was not taken out of the compound.

-- The Nation 2011-06-21

[barrybankruad]

What's the odds that the Army will close ranks around the culprit (if he is Army personnel) and nothing will ever come of it. Best wishes to the victim, may she make a speedy recovery.

[junkofdavid2]

What I find very strange is that another article seems to refer to the victim as both a doctor and a "Major".. major where? In the army too? The Bangkok POst even has a picture of her in an army-type uniform.

[geriatrickid]

The person that was the victim of the attempted murder comes from a reputable family. I believe the family has the position and connections to obtain justice. Had this been a poor somtam saleslady nothing would have happened.

[x5david]

What I find very strange is that another article seems to refer to the victim as both a doctor and a "Major".. major where? In the army too? The Bangkok POst even has a picture of her in an army-type uniform.

Yes she is a doctor in the army holding the rank of Major...

[REM]

This is one of the disgusting things about Thailand, and it's in the papers all the time. People with a good job, or in a position of power, always thinking they can do the unspeakable and get away with it. I hope this guy hangs to set an example to everyone out there, watch yourself. This poor lady only wanted to go home.......

[wackysleet]

What's the odds that the Army will close ranks around the culprit (if he is Army personnel) and nothing will ever come of it. Best wishes to the victim, may she make a speedy recovery.

Reading the article, it would appear this is the case of the army closing ranks the army stated that the vehicle has been in the compound since June 8th and not been out since and yet possibly a wiper has been replaced, the police say that it looks and is possibly the vehicle and have CCTV.

If this case ever went to court and that's a big if would certain other army personell ever be charge with complicity in attempting to cover up an offence, NAH not in this country.

Decision of the courts or police, insufficient evidence for a successful prosecution, case closed after a suitable amount of compensation has been handed over, what rank comes after Major?. cynic that I am.

[LomSak27]

I'm almost positive an investigation will reveal that the victim in this incident was actually hurt by the impact with the pavement, not with the vehicle.

Case closed

[edgarfriendly]

This is one of the disgusting things about Thailand, and it's in the papers all the time. People with a good job, or in a position of power, always thinking they can do the unspeakable and get away with it. I hope this guy hangs to set an example to everyone out there, watch yourself. This poor lady only wanted to go home.......

Ya, 100%

he wont hang though, he'll probably be rewarded for his inconvenience.

get well soon non-poor person..

ef

[jfchandler]

I can't vouch for this myself, but my wife relates it from the Channel 3 news report on this...

She's saying, in addition to the mother and victim-daughter being doctors and the daughter being a military officer, that supposedly the father of the family is a deceased military officer as well...

If true, that would add another wrinkle to this... military vs. military.

Separately, it kind of sounds like the military guys might have delivered a different car to the police...

No one's saying who the alleged driver was...so presumably we can assume, it was someone of some prominence and rank.

[baboon]

We live in sad times indeed when someone considers it perfectly acceptable to run over another humam being because of a parking space being taken.

What a piece of crap.

[richard_smith237]

There is no place on this earth for a despicable human being such as this...

This is one of the few times I post "Hang em High"......

Edited June 21, 2011 by richard_smith237

[jonclark]

The army must be a penny short of a pound. Does it not realize that its incident like this that increases the anger and resentment against this institution and provide more ammunition for the UDD and their political allies to rouse the public with. Is the army without honour? Does the army not serve the Thai public ? Is teh army not funded by the public through taxpayers money? If PTP or DP form the next government i hope they absolutely slate the army and bring all members of the armed forces under the jurisdiction of the law. The time is right now for this to be done, as another coup will not be tolerated, either domestically or internationally.

[ableguy]

This is one of the disgusting things about Thailand, and it's in the papers all the time. People with a good job, or in a position of power, always thinking they can do the unspeakable and get away with it. I hope this guy hangs to set an example to everyone out there, watch yourself. This poor lady only wanted to go home.......

Seems to me there is a thug lurking in most Thais.

[baboon]

There is no place on this earth for a despicable human being such as this...

This is one of the few times I post "Hang em High"......

You`ll get no argument from me.

[Thai at Heart]

The mere fact that this is reported shows that the little people are starting to stand up for themselves.

[IanPrince99]

All of you are just speculating. I believe none of you have seen the evident. I have, and here is it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_UDH0Z7Ba8&feature=related This look to me as a pure case of accident, a case for the insurance company to clear up. She happens to run into the car (like the red ran into the bullet, said Suthep). Also, it is more likely that it is the impact on the concert road that hurt her (as concrete is harder than the steel car). . . Before you have any hard evident, please be reminded that you could be sue for defamation (by the army generals) as no one have been found guilty yet. As a matter of fact, no one was even arrested as a potential suspect, and never will. Sorry army rule, else there will be a coup like in 2006, and 18 others before it.

[Kilgore Trout]

All of you are just speculating. I believe none of you have seen the evident. I have, and here is it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_UDH0Z7Ba8&feature=related This look to me as a pure case of accident, a case for the insurance company to clear up. She happens to run into the car (like the red ran into the bullet, said Suthep). Also, it is more likely that it is the impact on the concert road that hurt her (as concrete is harder than the steel car). . . Before you have any hard evident, please be reminded that you could be sue for defamation (by the army generals) as no one have been found guilty yet. As a matter of fact, no one was even arrested as a potential suspect, and never will. Sorry army rule, else there will be a coup like in 2006, and 18 others before it.

Please be reminded that your post reveals nothing but pure idiocy

but thanks for the lunchtime humour

[rotary]

Strange story.......even for Thailand.

[anterian]

As the army claim it was a pool car, then if the worse comes to the worst some private will be shown to have been the driver.

[ToffeEFCpower]

This case will eventually be written off as an attempted suicide.

[rotary]

Hey I think there have been more than 18 coup in history here. that number is low I think

[SAffer]

All of you are just speculating. I believe none of you have seen the evident. I have, and here is it http://www.youtube.c...feature=related This look to me as a pure case of accident, a case for the insurance company to clear up. She happens to run into the car (like the red ran into the bullet, said Suthep). Also, it is more likely that it is the impact on the concert road that hurt her (as concrete is harder than the steel car). . . Before you have any hard evident, please be reminded that you could be sue for defamation (by the army generals) as no one have been found guilty yet. As a matter of fact, no one was even arrested as a potential suspect, and never will. Sorry army rule, else there will be a coup like in 2006, and 18 others before it.

Please be reminded that your post reveals nothing but pure idiocy

but thanks for the lunchtime humour

[RKASA]

It has been reported in the other paper that A colonel attached to the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters turned up at the police accompanied by officers from the Judge Advocate General's Department and claims she jumped on the car and fell - he was released without charges at this point. My guess is he then text chatted a few friends.

[KeyserSoze01]

Strange story.......even for Thailand.

Hardly.

What would be strange was if the military officer politely excused himself from his dinner, moved the car to where it did not block someone's driveway, then apologized to the ladies for the inconvenience and finally returned to his dinner. You know, like in most civilized countries that are not run by thugs, criminals and murderers.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

The army must be a penny short of a pound. Does it not realize that its incident like this that increases the anger and resentment against this institution and provide more ammunition for the UDD and their political allies to rouse the public with. Is the army without honour? Does the army not serve the Thai public ? Is teh army not funded by the public through taxpayers money? If PTP or DP form the next government i hope they absolutely slate the army and bring all members of the armed forces under the jurisdiction of the law. The time is right now for this to be done, as another coup will not be tolerated, either domestically or internationally.

"Penny short of a pound" - no - perfectly rational. Their hold on real power (as opposed to the surface PR BS) is very strong. Why should they care about anger and resentment among the general population?

The source of their funds comes from the top 10% of the population (OK, maybe 25% these days), and that's exactly whose interests they and the yellows are protecting.

I'm not saying the reds are actually for the common (poor rural) people, but relatively speaking, and certainly from the POV of perception, that's the "line in sand".

No of course the armed forces here don't serve the public, except in the sense of defending the borders in wartime. The rest of the time it's just another mafia. Same with the police much of the time.

Honor? Pretty abstract concept - personal honor and big face I'm sure they're full of it. But "serve the public" - what planet are you from? That kind of idea is very culturally specific to only rational, well-developed nations with a strong rule of law, with feudalism and absolute monarchy long distant in their history. Few and far between in this part of the world.

So take your penny and buy yourself a clue, judging the situation here by such idealistic standards is just delusional. . .

[bino]

I remember a story some time ago about some Thai starlet who was photographed by a speed camera, and the story turned out that her licence plate was duplicated,and even on the exact same brand of car, even the same color. She proved herself by showing that she ad Hello Kitty stickers or something like that on her car that were not visible in the photo.

Could this be a situation like that?

[BigJohnnyBKK]

This is one of the disgusting things about Thailand, and it's in the papers all the time. People with a good job, or in a position of power, always thinking they can do the unspeakable and get away with it. I hope this guy hangs to set an example to everyone out there, watch yourself. This poor lady only wanted to go home.......

Seems to me there is a thug lurking in most Thais.

At least here the thuggery *is* usually lurking!

Change "Thais" to "humans" and you'd be more accurate - let's face it, civilization everywhere is just a thin veneer; free the average person from consequences and/or put them under enough stress and the savage shows his face pretty quickly.

Back home the thuggery's right out there swaggering down the street and in your face everywhere you turn.

[Arkady]

When I first came to Thailand an air force general ran over and killed a little girl in front of her house in a narrow street near China Town. The girl's father rushed out distraught to remonstrate with the occupants of the car and pulled open one of the doors while his son tried to restrain him. The air force general jumped out of his car, pulled out his side arm, shot the son dead, then drove on to his important engagement.

1. What do you think happened to the air force general?

2. What do you think will happen in this case?

[katana]

Pic of Doctor Mook in intensive care. Apparently she has swelling on the brain and is in a coma.

http://www.thairath.co.th/content/region/180529

Pic of Colonel Saksit Phuklan, 51, who initially denied being the driver, but then said the doctor jumped on the bonnet of his car and fell off when he reversed, hitting her head.

http://www.manager.co.th/Crime/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9540000075759