Abduction from 1986 cited by police

In 1986, there was an abduction and murder case similar to that allegedly committed by Santiparb Pengduang, the chauffeur of murdered businessman Akeyuth Anchanbutr. Metropolitan Police investigators recently cited the 1986 case, saying it was comparable to the circumstances in Akeyuth’s abduction and murder.
The crime took place on January 4, 1986 and shortly after, Metropolitan Police arrested Pol Corporal Pairot Phukarb, a 191 Emergency police officer. He was entrusted as a bodyguard to Dr Amorn Mahapattanangkul – a well-known millionaire – but was later convicted of abducting and killing her for a large amount of cash.
Amorn was well known for donating money to charities and was entrusted by the Interior Ministry with looking after the Chao Pho Sua shrine in Phra Nakhon district. In those days, the shrine was much respected by Chinese people who donated money to it on a daily basis.
Amorn handled the donations honestly, which led to conflicts with a number of local Mafia groups that wanted to profit from the donations. As a result, Amorn sought protection from police and Pairot was assigned to act as her bodyguard, thus giving him access to personal information about her movements.



On the day of the murder, Amorn left her house on Soi Phaholyothin 22, Bang Khen district, in her Volvo car. Pairot was acting as bodyguard and sat beside the chauffeur in the front. After Amorn finished her business and left Janpen Restaurant, Pairot tricked Amorn into believing that a car was following them. Pairot then told the driver to speed up and head for Saraburi. He also told Amorn to lie down on the floor for her safety. Once they reached Saraburi, Pairot pulled out a gun, handcuffed Amorn, and ordered her to lie down again. He then forced the driver at gunpoint to drive to Pairot’s home in Kalasin province.
When they arrived, Pairot took Amorn to the house of his brother, Sompak Phukarb. He forced Amorn to write a hand-written letter to her husband asking him to pay a Bt2 million ransom.
Pairot then took Amorn back to the car and forced the driver at gunpoint to drive to an isolated forest area about 8km away, where he shot Amorn dead. Pairot’s brother and two other relatives then buried Amorn’s body in the forest, but not before they removed the Bt2 million worth of cash from her car.
They then forced the chauffeur to return to Bangkok to hand over the letter to Amorn’s husband.
At the time, the Northern Metropolitan Police Division was in charge of the case. Investigators found discrepancies in Pairot’s statements and interrogated him until he confessed. He eventually led police to the location where he and his relatives had buried Amorn. The chauffeur also appeared as a witness against him. Pairot admitted that he abducted Amorn because he wanted the cash she was carrying.
The jury found him guilty and he was given the death sentence, but it was commuted to a sentence of 50 years, because he confessed to the crime. However, Pairot only served 13 years before being released.
At that time, many suspected that the Mafia was behind Amorn’s murder, but no evidence was ever found to substantiate the theory.