Chachoengsao court jails senator for four years over theft from crash victim

The Chachoengsao Provincial Court has sentenced senator Thanakorn Thawornchinchot and Apichai Moomark to four years in prison each for stealing assets worth more than 1.5 million baht from a man who died in a car-overturn accident in Bang Pakong district in 2021, after footage surfaced showing both men removing the victim’s belongings from the scene.

According to Inside Thailand, Thanakorn — currently a senator in the 13th Senate (2024), representing the agriculture, forestry, livestock and fisheries sector, and serving as deputy chair of the agriculture and cooperatives committee and chair of the fisheries subcommittee — had admitted during the police investigation that he took the victim’s belongings. 

However, he failed to return all the items as requested by the complainants. The case was forwarded to prosecutors in 2021, but the decision was postponed several times.

Thanakorn holds a master’s degree in public administration and previously served as president of the Samae San Fisheries Association and deputy president of the National Fisheries Association of Thailand. 

He has played a role in advocating for fisheries-related legislation and cooperating with state agencies on marine resource protection.

The theft case resurfaced in public attention after a separate ethics scandal emerged, when Natthasinee Pinyopiyavid, an adviser to a Senate subcommittee, and her lawyer alleged that a prominent senator had sexually assaulted her at a condominium in Bang Sue on May 8, 2025.

She filed an ethics complaint and a police report for indecent behaviour, while the senator counter-filed a defamation charge, claiming she had initiated close contact beforehand.

On July 28, 2025 at Parliament, Pol Lt Gen Boonchan Nuansai, chair of the Senate committee on law and justice, said the committee would meet on July 30 and had invited Thanakorn to clarify the online allegations. Boonchan insisted it would only be an informal discussion and that no pressure would be applied.

Thanakorn tendered his resignation from the committee on July 25, 2025, to avoid criticism while court proceedings were ongoing, calling it an act of political responsibility.

When asked about the ethics complaint, Boonchan advised reporters to direct questions to the chair of the Senate ethics committee.

The Senate ethics committee, chaired by Gen Kriangkrai Srirak, was scheduled to meet on July 29, 2025, but there was no indication that the complaint filed by Natthasinee on  July 8 — concerning a “male senator”, initial “T”, accused of sexual misconduct — was included on the agenda.

The court held a follow-up hearing in the theft case on August 6, 2025, amid mounting pressure over ethical standards within the Senate.