Sometimes I wonder about the Thai justice system; does it even serve any purpose? Remember David Murray? He’s the Brit who killed his stepson, Curry, by hitting him with a PVC pip and then kicking him in the chest. Curry fell to the floor from his bed and hit his head, suffering fatal injuries.
Despite being charged with murder without intent to kill, after six weeks of police investigations, David Murray is out on bail and no court date has been set. I asked around if Murray could leave Thailand, and the verdict was that if he wanted to, he could probably just go and avoid the charges.
What’s most disturbing is that Murray is now shacked up again with the mother of the boy he killed. I just can’t get my head around this. The Thai justice system is so slow and inefficient that a situation like this can materialize.
It reminds me of the tragic case of 23-year-old dive instructor and Phuket-resident Chompoonut “Jeab” Kobram, who was found stabbed to death in the apartment of her ex-boyfriend in Pattaya on June 25, 2004.
Belgian national Sam Van Treeck was accused of stabbing Jeab 48 times. Van Treeck was charged with murder on June 27 after sufficient evidence was gathered against him. He released later on bail. Despite his passport being held in custody by the Thai court system, in October 2004 it emerged that Van Treeck had fled Thailand and was safe in his home country of Belgium.
He bribed his way out of a possible death sentence, escaped Thailand illegally, and arrived in Belgium allegedly with the full support of his own embassy. There is no extradition treaty between Belgium and Thailand, which means that Van Treeck will likely never be brought to justice for the murder of Jeab.
I’ve been told that in Belgium there were even fund-raising events held to raise the funds needed to pay for Van Treeck’s escape, which would have mostly involved under-the-table payments.
Ah. It’s enough to make me sick.
You can be as sick as you like, but this disabled justice system is not going to be fixed.
Many years ago, there was a high profile case involving a son of a well-known politician who happened to shoot a policeman dead. The guy was sent to jail, but not for long though; he was released a few years later.
I am sad to say that this kind of story frequently happens in this country; it is not going to be the last.
Soon, you will be numb.
It's strange that they are very "easy" when it is about murder. As soon as drugs are involved, there much more difficult I think.
But hey, everywhere you see this screw ups.
In Holland recently, 3 Hells Angels were murdered by their own people. The police could prove that a group of 10 was involved, but only three weapons were used. So, three of them were murderers, the other 7 just stood there.
Because all 10 kept quiet, said nothing, the police could not find out which 3 were the killers.
The verdict? Since it was impossible to determine the killers and you cannot punish a group for something only some of them do, all 10 were released.
I also read some Belgian newspapers about Van Treeck. Strange case, very strange.
The story is that the Belgium embassy helped him because they were convinced there was no case against him.
I'd like to comment on what Sooksiam wrote. Of course, it concerns the son of wayward former politician and the all-powerful – Chaloerm Yoobumrung. His son Duang was finally found not guilty of the murder. Sooksiam mentions he was sent to jail for a few years – wishful thinking – it was more like a couple of nights.
Previous to being bailed out on murder charges, Duang had been on the run for around half a year. Even though it is quite obvious that his father was completely breaking the law by allowing his son assistance in avoiding arrest during that time, no charges were ever brought forth.
Just this morning, i was reading the newspaper that King Power at Suwannaphum airport had been reportedly been given illegal power to operate there and were now gonna have to close down. I wonder whether any of their directors will go to prison for earning millions of baht while knowing full well they were breaking all regulations? I doubt it, but one thing i do know is that there are foreigners in Samut Prakan Central prison who have spent months banged up for nicking the likes of 49baht face-wash from that very store.
Just how many politicians and generals for example, ever get seriously sentenced in Thailand AND do get imprisoned? The last one i can think of was donkey's years ago and it involved the Saudi Gem scam.
Look at the war on drugs for instance. How many of the big fish were either caught? I suspect none.
And finally, can anyone remember Thaksin's War on Influential Mafia (or something like that) in Bangkok? The only success to come of that was the arrest of the gangsters in control of Bangkok's motorbike taxis. Wow!
"The War on Dark Influences" is what it was called in the media. Embarrassing.
fyi, Sam Van Treeck has been arrested in Belgium now (July 3e)related to the Thailand killing in 2004.
Let's hope this is cleared out once and for all.
btw, I believe in Karma … perhaps it is time he needs to pay the price!