02 July 2024 :

The Supreme Court on June 27, 2024 upheld the death sentence issued against former deputy commerce minister Banyin Tangpakorn by the lower courts for premeditated murder of a construction businessman back in 2015.
The Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the Criminal and Appeals courts that convicted Banyin for collaborating with others to murder Chuwong Saetung, 50, and disguised his death as a road accident.
Initially, Banyin reported to police on June 26, 2015 that a car driven by him hit a roadside tree on Chalerm Phrakiart Road in Bangkok’s Prawet district and his front-seat passenger, Chuwong, had got killed.
Chuwong’s family did not believe his account and filed a complaint with police, resulting in an investigation which found that Banyin had murdered the businessman in Samut Prakans’ Bang Pli district before driving his body to the site where he faked the accident scene.
The suspicion arose because Banyin took two hours to drive from a golf course in Samut Prakan to the accident scene.
The family reviewed Chuwong’s financial affairs and found that 10 days before the crash, he had transferred shares worth 38 million baht to a marketing officer at a stock brokerage close to Banyin.
Another 228 million baht worth of shares were transferred to a caddie at a golf course. So the family suspected Banyin had used forged documents to transfer the shares and later murdered Chuwong.
The Criminal Court ruled on January 20, 2021 that Banyin and his accomplices had murdered Chuwong and faked the accident with the intention of embezzling his assets. The court sentenced him to death.
Banyin appealed against the ruling but the Appeals Court ruled on August 25 2022 that there was no reason to reverse the guilty verdict of the primary court.
Anek Khamchum, a lawyer for Chuwong’s family, said the Supreme Court agreed with the verdict of the appeals court and upheld the death sentence.
Last year, the Appeals Court also sentenced Banyin to death for the murder of a judge’s brother.
The Appeals Court upheld the guilty verdict in the murder of Veeracai Sakuntaprasert, the elder brother of judge Panida Sakunprasert, on February 4, 2020. Panida was handling the share swindling case against Banyin at that stage.
Panida said she was intimidated several times to dismiss the case and her brother was kidnapped in front of the court in early February 2020 to try to pressure her to dismiss the case. Verachai’s bruised body was later found in a river in Nakhon Sawan province.

25 February 2024 :

Eighteen individuals on February 22, 2024 received the death penalty with one sentenced to life imprisonment in a landmark ruling at the Thong Pha Phum Provincial Court in Kanchanaburi province. The court acquitted four others in a case stemming from a deadly brawl between inmate groups from Ban Mueang Kan and Ban Bo Phloi against those from Ban Tha Maka. The incident, which occurred on February 22, 2015, resulted in the deaths of two inmates and injuries to six others.
The brawl was reportedly triggered by a dispute over tattooing within the prison, where inmates from Ban Mueang Kan and Ban Bo Phloi were admonished by the Ban Tha Maka group for tattooing in an area covered by surveillance cameras. This caused dissatisfaction that led to the violent confrontation. The defendants, numbering 26 in total, were indicted following the seizure of five sharp metal objects used in the altercation, reported KhaoSod.
The court’s verdict was delivered at 9am on February 22, with the Thong Pha Phum District Attorney present.
Out of the 26 accused, one died before the trial, and one escaped during the court proceedings, leaving 23 defendants to hear the judgment. The court took considerable time to read through the judgment, which exceeded 100 pages, due to the number of defendants and the complexity of the case.
Superintendent Montri Tangto of the Thong Pha Phum Police Station ensured tight security by deploying over 20 uniformed and plainclothes officers to facilitate and maintain safety at the courthouse. The defendants arrived at the court in an orderly fashion, each bearing a name tag displaying their identities and order in the case.
After the verdict was handed down, with 18 facing capital punishment and one sentenced to life without parole, the remaining defendants were escorted back to the Thong Pha Phum District Prison at 12.20pm. The police provided a high level of security throughout the transportation process to avoid any further incidents.

16 September 2024 :

Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has received a royal pardon, ending his parole on August 11, 2024, according to his lawyer, Winyat Chartmontri.
"The earlier finish comes as part of a general royal pardon for 7,500 prisoners with good conduct on the occasion of His Majesty the King’s birthday last month," local Thai media quoted Winyat as saying.
The media reported that the pardon was among those announced by the Royal Gazette on August 17, which stated that a Royal Decree was issued to grant a royal pardon to around 50,000 inmates in conjunction with King Maha Vajiralongkorn's sixth Cycle Birthday Anniversary on July 28.
It was reported that the decree also provides sentence reductions to more than 200,000 prisoners who are currently serving time. Thaksin, 74, will be among those released immediately under the terms of this decree, allowing him to leave prison before his sentence ends on Aug 31.
Thaksin returned to Thailand on Aug 22 last year after a 15-year self-imposed exile after he was handed down a prison sentence for misdeeds committed while in office. On the day of his arrival in Thailand, the Supreme Court sentenced the former prime minister to eight years in prison.
On Sept 1, his jail term was reduced to one year through royal clemency. The latest development came a day after Thaksin’s daughter and leader of the Pheu Thai Party, Paetongtarn, 37, was elected as Thailand’s new prime minister, replacing Sreetha Thavisin who was removed from office by the Thai Constitutional Court on August 14 due to a violation of appointing a minister with a criminal conviction to his Cabinet in April this year.