Supreme Court sentences Premchai to prison
published : 8 Dec 2021 at 13:24
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Piyarat Chongcharoen and King-oua Laohong
The Supreme Court on Wednesday sentenced construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta to a prison term of two years and six months for hunting in Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary nearly four years ago.
Premchai, 66-year-old former president of Italian-Thai Development Plc, arrived at the court with a walking cane and a bandage over his left eye. The two other defendants in the case were also at the court.
His former driver was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison and his hunter to three years and one month.
The Supreme Court upheld the Appeal Court's order that they pay 2 million baht in compensation for damage to nature resulting from their illegal hunting.
The three defendants, along with a cook, were arrested at their camp in Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary on Feb 4, 2018, for hunting of wildlife, including killing a rare black panther, a kalij pheasant and a barking deer. They also faced other related charges.
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Vocabulary
- Appeal Court (Court of Appeal) : a court that decides requests that a decision made by a lower court be changed - ศาลอุทธรณ์
- bandage (noun): a long thin piece of cloth that you wrap around an injured part of your body - ผ้าพันแผล
- cane (noun): a piece of cane or a thin stick, used to help somebody to walk - ไม้เท้า
- compensation: money that someone receives because something bad has happened to them - เงินชดเชย
- court: the place where legal trials take place and where crimes, etc. are judged - ศาล
- deer: an animal with long legs, that eats grass, leaves, etc. and can run fast. Most male deer have antlers (= horns shaped like branches) - กวาง
- defendants (nloun): people who have been accused of a crime and are on trial - จำเลย
- panther (noun): a black leopard (= a large wild animal of the cat family) - เสือดำ,เสือลายตลับ
- pheasant (noun): a large bird with a long tail, the male of which is brightly coloured. People sometimes shoot pheasants for sport or food. Meat from this bird is also called pheasant - ไก่ฟ้า
- sentence: (of a court of law) to officially state what someone's punishment will be - พิพากษา, ตัดสินลงโทษ
- supreme court: the highest court in a country - ศาลฎีกา, ศาลสูงสุด