Court upholds two-year sentence of young driver who killed three cyclists

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Court upholds two-year sentence of young driver who killed three cyclists

By Patinya Srisupamas

 

 

The Appeals Court on Tuesday upheld the primary court’s two-year imprisonment of a young woman driver who killed three cyclists when she crashed into them in Chiang Mai’s Doi Saket district in May 2015.

 

The incident, which instantly killed Saman Khanta, 62, Phongthep Khamkaew, 40, and Chaiwat Yonglan, 63, and wounded two other cyclists, took place on the Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai highway section in Tambon Talad Kwan on May 3, 2015.

 

Patchuda Jairuean, who was 23 years old at the time, sustained a broken arm in the crash. Tests showed she had a blood alcohol level of 67 milligrams – above the legal limit of 50mg.

 

The Appeals Court also ordered Patchuda , whose driving licence was also revoked, to pay more compensations to the deceased victims’ families. The original payment of Bt1.7 million compensation for Saman’s widow would now be Bt2.334 million, while compensation for Pongthep’s parents would rise from Bt435,000 each to be Bt1.18 million each.

 

Following the primary court’s verdict last May, Patchuda appealed for a lighter sentence.

 

The deceased victims’ families sought a heavier punishment and more compensation as they said she didn’t seem to show remorse. 

 

The families claimed to have received only Bt200,000 from the obligatory insurance policy and Bt1 million from the voluntary insurance policy for each death.

 

Although the victims’ families said they were content with the Appeals Court verdict, they said they would discuss with relatives and lawyers whether to appeal for a heavier punishment for the defendant. 

 

Patchuda, who has been on bail, wasn’t present in court to hear the verdict on Tuesday but her lawyer applied for further bail pending her appeal to the Supreme Court.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/breakingnews/30319262

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-06-27

[Just1Voice]

Kills 3 people through her recklessness, and only gets 2 years.

What the hell is wrong with this country??

 

 

[mortenaa]

"pending her appeal to the Supreme Court" - why the h*** would the Supreme Court care about a case like this... 

[z42]

This despicable halfwit didn't even show up to court. Bona fide dregs of society along with those judges doling out such pathetic sentences.

The mushroom pickers actually got sent back to jail also. This is why vigilante justice shouldn't be completely overlooked as the actual legal system has totally failed the victims and their families ?

[metisdead]

A post in violation of the following forum rule has been removed as well as a reply:

 

8) You will not post disruptive or inflammatory messages, vulgarities, obscenities or profanities.

[sweatalot]

1 hour ago, z42 said:

This despicable halfwit didn't even show up to court. Bona fide dregs of society along with those judges doling out such pathetic sentences.

The mushroom pickers actually got sent back to jail also. This is why vigilante justice shouldn't be completely overlooked as the actual legal system has totally failed the victims and their families ?

and don't forget the "heavy punishment" of the Red bull scum

[carlyai]

"Kills 3 people through her recklessness, and only gets 2 years.
What the hell is wrong with this country??"
Great. You don't drink and drive. Never?
There's nothing wrong with the country that you criticize.


Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk

[Briggsy]

Note this crime was committed over 2 years ago. The judicial process drags on whilst the defendant who has been found guilty at every stage remains free on bail. Whilst this is in accordance with the law, it is not anywhere near justice.

[Bangkok Barry]

Appeals and has the (financial) punishment increased. I like that. It's not like she didn't actually kill these people, yet she thinks her punishment was too harsh. Let's hope the supreme court increases her jail time too.

[little mary sunshine]

It's a good start, but they need to jail many more of these

irresponsible, stupid, reckless, young people.....mandatory 

minimum sentence of 7 years for each victim!!

[Briggsy]

Just now, little mary sunshine said:

It's a good start, but they need to jail many more of these

irresponsible, stupid, reckless, young people.....mandatory 

minimum sentence of 7 years for each victim!!

She is not in jail. Still out on bail. Hasn't served a single day.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

18 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

Note this crime was committed over 2 years ago. The judicial process drags on whilst the defendant who has been found guilty at every stage remains free on bail. Whilst this is in accordance with the law, it is not anywhere near justice.

 

That's true... but it could have been even worse...

 

When I first started reading this news, I was expecting to see the 2-year sentence in the headline, and then, as so often happens, read in the body of the article that the sentence has been suspended, meaning no time in custody.

 

In this case, the courts seem to have actually handed down a real, non-suspended sentence, even though it's less than what this defendant actually deserves -- DUI and killing 3 people.

 

Maybe or so 5 years from now, just maybe, we'll actually find out if this woman ever will have to spend a day in custody for the crimes she committed.

 

[Cloggie]

...

Edited June 27, 2017 by Cloggie

[Jeremy50]

If she'd gone to jail in 2015, her sentence would be up by now. Instead she thinks she can talk and pay her way out of doing a single day behind bars, even though she sent three other people to the black abyss for all eternity. Lock her up and make sure she pays every penny of the money awarded to the victim's families.

[Momofarang]

52 minutes ago, carlyai said:

"Kills 3 people through her recklessness, and only gets 2 years.
What the hell is wrong with this country??"
Great. You don't drink and drive. Never?
There's nothing wrong with the country that you criticize.


Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk
 

Who pays you to write such BS. 

[Cadbury]

2 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

Kills 3 people through her recklessness, and only gets 2 years.

What the hell is wrong with this country??

 

 

What the hell is wrong with this country??  No head scratching needed.

That's a severe penalty compared to that little princess who ran a van off the overpass and killed nine people. Photographed at the time phoning home to tell daddy to get a big envelope ready. Punishment - 3 months duty in a hospital at a time of her convenience.

It is all about money.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

The other news of the day is that the pop corn gun man was set free today by the Appeals court due to a lack of evidence. Just a reminder he was photographed with a weapon of war in his hands at the site where people was shot and one person died due to his wounds. 

[allane]

I am waiting to see what they do with that Australian in Udon, and also waiting to see the reaction on here.

[anon467367354]

Kill three people while driving drunk and get two years in prison, Get caught without a work permit and get 5 years?

Am I missing something here?

If a "foreigner" kills three Thai people while driving drunk, would it also just only be two years as well? Is there a book somewhere that houses these penalties or is it a case by case kind of thing, depends on who you are I guess.

It's disturbing any way you look at it.

[pieeyed]

If your last name was Ayuttaya you can kill 10  people in a van. Have no drivers license because you are 17 years old and do 2 weeks community work , which turned into nothing because the little <deleted> did not like the hours she was supposed to work.q Man o man the have's and have not's is a very clear line . In real life, have money see later.

 

[SiamBeast]

No amount of money compensates the loss of someone. If my wife would be killed by a drunk driver, I'd turn down a billion dollars to get her back - which is impossible, so we're left with the money.

Two years is a joke. Drunk driving and killing someone should be at the very least 10 years.

[phantomfiddler]

1 hour ago, carlyai said:

"Kills 3 people through her recklessness, and only gets 2 years.
What the hell is wrong with this country??"
Great. You don't drink and drive. Never?
There's nothing wrong with the country that you criticize.


Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk
 

It looks as if you have completely missed the point of "Just1Voice",s comment. This has nothing to do with whether he ever drinks and drives, it is about the complete lack of applied justice for people who are well connected.

[whatawonderfulday]

2 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

Kills 3 people through her recklessness, and only gets 2 years.

What the hell is wrong with this country??

 

 

well then don't forget the youngster who took out a minivan a few years back at Don Muang, killing 7 ? only got a suspended sentence with community service (which she is still trying to wriggle out of). Why , well daughter of ex army general.  So exactly what is wrong with Thailand where in most countries both drivers would have faced manslaughter charges. Life is cheap in Thailand and even cheaper if you have money or connections

[Happy Grumpy]

3 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Saman Khanta, 62, Phongthep Khamkaew, 40, and Chaiwat Yonglan, 63

 

Ah, Thai victims.

 

 

different to the two Brit cyclists killed and the driver was fined 1,000thb. 

[The Deerhunter]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

That's true... but it could have been even worse...

 

When I first started reading this news, I was expecting to see the 2-year sentence in the headline, and then, as so often happens, read in the body of the article that the sentence has been suspended, meaning no time in custody.

 

In this case, the courts seem to have actually handed down a real, non-suspended sentence, even though it's less than what this defendant actually deserves -- DUI and killing 3 people.

 

Maybe or so 5 years from now, just maybe, we'll actually find out if this woman ever will have to spend a day in custody for the crimes she committed.

 

We are unlikely to ever find out.  LOS  journalism has a very short attention span and very rarely follows up cases, even high profile cases like this. PS. Only another couple of months before the statute of limitations expire on most or all of the remaining possible charges for the Red Bull road death case.  Don't hold your breath.

Edited June 27, 2017 by The Deerhunter

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

45 minutes ago, The Deerhunter said:

. Only another couple of months before the statute of limitations expire on most or all of the remaining possible charges for the Red Bull road death case.  Don't hold your breath.

I believe, that's only partially correct. Some of the lesser charges are heading to expire.

 

But IIRC, the most serious charge has a long statute of limitations, like 10 years or more. So there's at least some time still to run on that one.

 

[stephen tracy]

2 hours ago, carlyai said:

"Kills 3 people through her recklessness, and only gets 2 years.
What the hell is wrong with this country??"
Great. You don't drink and drive. Never?
There's nothing wrong with the country that you criticize.


Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk
 

Ni I don't ever drink and drive, and yes, there's quite a lot wrong with the country he is criticizing.

[cardinalblue]

Carl....

 

it's called lack of accountability...she should have been in jail for the last 2 years and could have counted towards her 10-15 year sentence...

 

gets 2 years and been out on bail from day one.. You also probably don't understand why thailand ranks #2 year on year out on road fatalities...

 

there is a big problem not in Houston but in thailand and it runs very deep...

[lee68]

This happened very close to were i live, her parents had to sell there house  and pay compensation to the family's, and dont get me wrong she should be in jail, but this is the thai law system and its badly wrong, and she has shown no remorse to the victims, thats even worse as she now thinks it should be less.

[SABloke]

It's a good start, but they need to jail many more of these
irresponsible, stupid, reckless, young people.....mandatory 
minimum sentence of 7 years for each victim!!

Well she's not actually IN jail yet