Red Bull Heir May Face Manslaughter Charge: Bangkok Hit-And-Run Crash

[ishan14]

It will be interesting to see the out come, but I think we a ll have a pretty good idea what it will be.

A judge or judges will get bought off, no jail time and that will be the end of it. case closed.

That's what i was thinking. Let's see, how things change when the money gets in.

[Farangdam]

Mai soncchai anymore reading this news we know how this story will end.. as obvious... nothing happened everybody happy... case closed

[JohanV]

I have to say that even though I fully agree with most posters on the sad state of the Thai judiciary, this case has a dimension that goes further than that.

A quick Google News checkup gave me 500+ articles on the subject in international press already. So, assuming this incident gets known outside of Thailand, a power more mighty than any Thai government or BiB will step into force - that is the power of international business and brand value.

Red Bull is a worldwide brand. There's a European ( Austrian ) branch with loads of value invested in the brand. It is promoted by football teams, and a major player on the F1 circuit.

The 'Red Raging Bull' on the logo is - at least until now - a symbol for energy, vitality and ( positive ) power. If the brand is getting associated with an act of ruthless road rage / blatant disrespect of life, I would say the whole RB brand machinery could get in serious trouble.

The behaviour by the managing director ( yes, he is the managing director ! ) doesn't go well with

1) Football = sportsmanship / fair play

2) F1 = driving skills, control, safety

.. I guess you get the point. Just because the BiB might look the other way, international investors/shareholders might not.

and, if the sales of the drink is affected and the European branch is hit, I bet there will be substantial pressure from non-Thai shareholders to remove him asap from anything associated with the brand. If the share value drops shareholders can possibly sue him for their losses.

If the 'Red Raging Bull' instead becomes a symbol for uncontrolled, ruthless road rage, the Yoovidhya family will have to face some very tough choices. It can take decades to repair such brand damage. Value losses would count in billions.

So, to sort this case under 'TiT' I would say is a bit wrong. And it seems that even Chalerm ( our omnipresent superhero-vigilante-wannabe deputy PM ) understands that.

But what do I know...

Kudos to Khun Khamronwit, anyway.

For the first time in ten years I'm seeing the police here doing something seemingly right.

Peace

[ addendum: up until today I used to drink about 8-10 bottles of Red Bull per day - a 20+ year habit of mine - but today I switched to Carabou Daeng. Tastes worse, but feels better... ]

Edited September 5, 2012 by JohanV

[dcutman]

Now the media is reporting a 50 to 60 metre drag not 200 metres Don't tell me the interference with the facts are already starting to be downplayed... You only need to look at the damage to realise this was an incredibly high speed hit, hardly premeditated murder as per the OP. This is a kid in the hands of a high powered machine pushing it and like the majority of Thai's, hasn't got a clue how to drive. Oh well, the smoke and mirrors started back at the attempted cover up by framing another employee, and then the blood tests... conducted nearly 12 hours after the fact to 'comply' with having done so. They are really trying to paint this kid a break I would say.

I would say the odds are very good this kid will never see a jail cell. The only question is how this will be explained to the press and to the public when he goes free.

It might be the same as the girl in the motorway incident, young man was so cooperative the sentence was suspended. Fines, and compensation, of course will be paid.

Guy's, please! Regardless of how old you are personally, this 'Man' is not a kid. He is a 27 year old 'Man'.

I hope my wife is wrong, but she is sick to death of this kind of thing. She is adamant that this is all now just news and media hype to keep the masses calm by thinking justice will be done, and in the fullness of time this guy will walk, a free man.

My apologies.

It is hard to refer to him as a man, for the obvious reason that he ran home like a little boy that broke a window, instead of stopping to assist somebody you just ran over, like a MAN should.

Sadly enough I believe your wifes fears are going to come true.

Edited September 5, 2012 by dcutman

[Arkady]

This story made it to CNBC front page today. http://www.cnbc.com/id/48895859 . Chalerm seems to have it sized up correctly based on the news. In that it became a "premeditated" murder, attempted murder or certainly manslaughter at the very least - once he decided to keep driving with the motorcycle and the human being attached to the Ferrari and banging around on the asphalt for 3 football fields of city road. This not counting attempting to have a company driver take the fall and the police obstructing justice by shielding the real driver.

I think in developed legal systems that use the term "manslaughter" that ramming the motorbike from behind at high speed while shitfaced and killing the driver would be consider manslaughter, if he stopped immediately and called for help. That would signify that after accidentally hitting the motorcyclist he tried to give him the maximum chance of survival and there was no intention to kill him. Dragging the body along instead of stopping could easily be classified as murder, since after the collision there was apparently intent to kill the victim. Boss could not be sure if the sergeant was alive or dead after the collision but intentionally decided on a course of action that gave him virtually nil chance of survival purely in an attempt to minimize the potential repercussions on himself. If the sergeant had survived, then attempted murder would be appropriate.

I don't think that taking evidence from the car is an acceptable excuse for waiting several hours before testing Boss's blood alcohol level. Anyway it is a foregone conclusion that the test will be negative. It's unlikely that they even tested Boss's own blood.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Arkady

[Arkady]

Boss will get the best justice that money can buy. The involvement of Chalerm ensures that he will pay a high price.

[jerrysteve]

In the U.S. this lad would not fair so good. The first test would having to show the officer the ability of hhyaving eye and

physical co-ordination. If that failed the breath analyizer would have been the next test.

I am not sure what the maximum limit in other states are, but in California the maximum is .08% blood level. Any thing

over that you are handcuffed and thrown in the back of the police unit and driven to jail.

However just because you are at .08% blood alcohol does not mean they cannot arrest you and take you to jail.

It is a judgement call on the part of the law enforcement person that pulls you over. If the officer deems you are not

capable of driving and a danger to others, they will take you in.

But a hit and run is a Felony whether or not someone was killed or not, and whether or not their was any damage

for example to another car or not.

And if you have the money to hire the best law firm, there are always deals cut of some sort. If you do not have the

kind of money it takes to hire a excellent mouth piece you are S.O.L.

I am not saying no penalties will be incurred, because they will.

If a person opts for a jury trial the outcome may be a lot different and highly in favor of the plaintiff in terms of

money damages.

This heir may not be as lucky in the U.S.A. AUSTRALIA, CANADA, OR THE U.K. as he will be in Thailand; sad to

say.

Edited September 5, 2012 by jerrysteve

[bigbamboo]

With all the international attention on this case this guy has managed something pretty unique. He's managed to trash the reputations of Red Bull and Ferrari in one hit. Might be the last we hear of an F1 race in Thailand for a while.

Edited September 5, 2012 by bigbamboo

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

...BTW, now I realize, the above OP article makes absolutely NO mention of the guy's custody status... Is he in jail overnight? Did he get released on bail? Is he back at home comfortably sleeping in his cozy bed???

Last I read, he was out on 500,000 Baht bail.

Do ya think he and his family can afford what roughly equates to $16,000 U.S. for his bail? A princely sum for someone who's just killed a cop.

[catmac]

With all the international attention on this case this guy has managed something pretty unique. He's managed to trash the reputations of Red Bull and Ferrari in one hit. Might be the last we hear of an F1 race in Thailand for a while.

So at least some good will come from this tragedy then.

[Curt1591]

Guy's, please! Regardless of how old you are personally, this 'Man' is not a kid. He is a 27 year old 'Man'.

It takes more than a few birthdays to make a man. Far too many kids never grow up and take responsibility for themselves and their actions.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Curt1591

[SOTIRIOS]

......'may' .......

....what disturbs me is that soulless expression in his eyes......

[Soutpeel]

In the U.S. this lad would not fair so good. The first test would having to show the officer the ability of hhyaving eye and

physical co-ordination. If that failed the breath analyizer would have been the next test.

I am not sure what the maximum limit in other states are, but in California the maximum is .08% blood level. Any thing

over that you are handcuffed and thrown in the back of the police unit and driven to jail.

However just because you are at .08% blood alcohol does not mean they cannot arrest you and take you to jail.

It is a judgement call on the part of the law enforcement person that pulls you over. If the officer deems you are not

capable of driving and a danger to others, they will take you in.

But a hit and run is a Felony whether or not someone was killed or not, and whether or not their was any damage

for example to another car or not.

And if you have the money to hire the best law firm, there are always deals cut of some sort. If you do not have the

kind of money it takes to hire a excellent mouth piece you are S.O.L.

I am not saying no penalties will be incurred, because they will.

If a person opts for a jury trial the outcome may be a lot different and highly in favor of the plaintiff in terms of

money damages.

This heir may not be as lucky in the U.S.A. AUSTRALIA, CANADA, OR THE U.K. as he will be in Thailand; sad to

say.

As everyone is getting on their moral high horses over this case and the state of the Thai legal system/cover ups/ people in power influencing the outcome of cases etc etc....

lest not forget the Chappaquiddick incident...where in a famous US senator drove on a bridged pished and killed someone....and received a two month suspended sentance...

[candyman123]

Did you see the forensic science team????.......I wonder how much contamination there was!!!

With them only using rubber gloves???? how stupid these Thai forensics really are.

But going back to the story what a bast*rd this cretin is for speeding and killing this poor policeman RIP and hope justice comes round for this man who got murdered. But somehow I don't think so with the amount of money this bast*rd has!!!

[Arkady]

"Krating Daeng managing director Worrayuth Yoovidhya may face a charge of manslaughter over the hit-and-run crash that killed a Thong Lor policeman, Deputy Premier Chalerm Yoobamrung and senior police said yesterday."

Chalerm's involvement is obviously designed to reassure the online Thai public that justice will not only be done but be seen to be done. Given his experience in handling cases where sons of influential and wealthy individuals murdered policemen he is an inspired choice.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Arkady

[toenail]

Everyone should boycott drinking Redbull energy drink -spread the word. (I don't drink the stuff-too sweet.)

[Soutpeel]

Everyone should boycott drinking Redbull energy drink -spread the word. (I don't drink the stuff-too sweet.)

why ?

[sysardman]

Everyone should boycott drinking Redbull energy drink -spread the word. (I don't drink the stuff-too sweet.)

I don't think I'd have much impact as I've never touched the stuff in my life and I suppose I never will.

[Curt1591]

These guys could lose a billion or two and still be billions ahead. It would be very hard to hit them financially.

[ttelise]

This story made it to CNBC front page today. http://www.cnbc.com/id/48895859 . Chalerm seems to have it sized up correctly based on the news. In that it became a "premeditated" murder, attempted murder or certainly manslaughter at the very least - once he decided to keep driving with the motorcycle and the human being attached to the Ferrari and banging around on the asphalt for 3 football fields of city road. This not counting attempting to have a company driver take the fall and the police obstructing justice by shielding the real driver.

For it to be premeditated murder he would have had to plan to kill the officer before he hit him.

From a practical standpoint yes, but not necessarily. If he heard him or knew he was still alive and then continued to drive to get rid of the witness under his car, then you can form premeditation in an instant.

[thequietman]

Anuchai denied that police tried to help Worrayuth by testing his blood alcohol level in the afternoon although the accident happened early in the morning. He said the test was conducted later in the day because investigators conducted several tests, including collecting DNA samples and fingerprints inside the Ferrari car.

Shocking statement. Do they really think people are that stupid?

exactly, the car was his, so who's dna and finger prints are they looking for ? even if they found different dna or prints, what was the point in it. it is a car that can carry passengers or other people may have driven it. This guy is a lying sack of ..........

[Crazy chef 1]

All this could be avoided.a carriage behind a water buffalo (or for the hiso-two buffalos)doesn't have the same effect

[JohanV]

All this could be avoided.a carriage behind a water buffalo (or for the hiso-two buffalos)doesn't have the same effect

No, not buffaloes. In this case we're definitely talking bulls.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed. This topic is not about any U.S. politicians, ambassadors, movie stars or singers. The incident happened in Thailand. Stay on-topic.

[akka]

""We have tried to collect the most evidence. We will definitely help the suspect but we will deal with the case based on evidence," Anuchai said.

What does he mean by "we will definitely help the suspect". Odd comment for a police guy to say isn't it?

[steelepulse]

""We have tried to collect the most evidence. We will definitely help the suspect but we will deal with the case based on evidence," Anuchai said.

What does he mean by "we will definitely help the suspect". Odd comment for a police guy to say isn't it?

Not odd when the envelopes are coming your way!

[GentlemanJim]

The police General probably told the police Colonel "I will get you out of the way, then we will really screw these lot for 50 mill at least as they will be desperate, and split it between us". Playing good guy, bad guy. The mans father may as well give the police a blank cheque.

[Bung]

Everyone should boycott drinking Redbull energy drink -spread the word. (I don't drink the stuff-too sweet.)

Wow. Yeah, great idea. Start a facebook page about it, I'm sure that will make all the difference in the world having a couple of hundred people stop drinking Red Bull.......

[ALFREDO]

Stop drinking RED BULL? In Thailand?

As far as I know Thailand and some other countries in the region are managed and under supervision from the Thai Business family.

So boycotting Krating Daeng in TH makes sense.

Boycotting RED BULL Worldwide?

Hit the Austrian led Company, by Mr.Mateschitz, because of an incident in TH with his Businesspartners? Fair?

I doubt that that is fair.

Anyway, that incident could have a small negative impact on the local market, but as I believe not on The World Market.

[KeyserSoze01]

One has to only look to the past to know what the outcome of this incident will be. He will serve no time in jail, probation for a period of time, community service and a hefty payment to the family of the deceased and of course, we can't forget the contribution fine for the BiB benevolent fund. He will most likely have someone stand-in for him to perform the community service as that sort of thing is beneath the hi-so's.