Songkhla prosecutor transferred following allegations by escaped crime boss
The attorney-general has transferred a public prosecutor from his Songkhla Office following allegations by an escaped crime boss that he was involved in drug trafficking and in setting him up.
Prayut Phetkhun, spokesman for the Office of Attorney-General (OAG) said the Songkhla prosecutor, identified only as “Prosecutor Boy”, has been moved to the human trafficking division at the OAG head office.
“Prosecutor Boy” was accused by fugitive crime boss Chavalit Thongduang, alias Boss Paeng of Phatthalung’s Na Node, of setting him up, causing him to be arrested, charged and convicted for drug trafficking and attempting to free a drug suspect from police custody.
Prayut said the OAG has set up a committee to conduct a fact-finding investigation against Prosecutor Boy.
Chavalit escaped from police custody in the early hours of October 22 after faking an illness and being admitted to Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital. He was serving a term of 20 years and three months for multiple crimes, including illegal possession of firearms and attempting to use firearms to free a drug suspect from police custody.
Despite being notorious for serious crimes in Phatthalung, Chavalit has apparently turned into a Robin Hood-like hero to many on the social networks after managing to embarrass police.
Hundreds of police were deployed to comb the Bantad Thong Mountain in Trang for almost a month to no avail. When Chavalit released the first video clip in which he accused Prosecutor Boy of being the main cause of his arrest, netizens believed Chavalit had fled abroad. They speculated Chavalit had strong ties with local people who helped him escape on the first night following an exchange of gunfire with police on the mountain on November 8.
In the first clip released on November 24, Chavalit alleged that Prosecutor Boy had called him to inform him that his relative, a man called Jaruad, had been kidnapped by a drug gang, leading Chavalit to assemble his men to help Jaruad.
It turned out that Jaruad had been arrested by police on a drug trafficking charge and Chavalit ended up being charged and convicted of drug trafficking and attempting to free a drug suspect from police custody.
He said it was unfair that Prosecutor Boy escaped legal action as the prosecutor in charge of the case had dropped charges against Boy.
In the second clip released on November 25, Chavalit claimed that since he was singled out and no legal action had been taken against other suspects, including Boy, he would not turn himself in to police.
On Wednesday night, Chavalit released the third clip, addressing the Supreme Court president, the Appeals Court president and the chief of the Phatthalung provincial court.
In this clip, Chavalit asked why he was not released on bail while other suspects were granted bail by the Phatthalung court.
Chavalit demanded that the courts set clear criteria for granting bail instead of leaving it to individual judges to decide.
He claimed that his garage business had been ruined because the Phatthalung court refused to grant him bail.
