Father says cop stole B1.4m payout for son's death

Somkid Laongnual (right) answers questions from reporters on Monday, with his lawyer, Atchariya Ruangrattanapong of the Crime Victims Assistance Club. (Photo: Wassayos Ngamkham)
Somkid Laongnual (right) answers questions from reporters on Monday, with his lawyer, Atchariya Ruangrattanapong of the Crime Victims Assistance Club. (Photo: Wassayos Ngamkham)

The father of a teen motorcyclist killed in a road accident involving a police colonel has said that the officer himself pocketed 1.4 million baht compensation he was due.

Somkid Laongnual alleged that Nong Prue police chief Pol Col Thawatchai Norasingh misappropriated about 1.4 million baht compensation he was supposed to be paid for the death for his son, Prinya.

Prinya, 19, was killed when his motorcycle and a car driven by Thawatchai collided on the night of Dec 27 last year in Kanchanaburi province. Thawatchai was police chief in Nong Prue district.

Mr Somkid alleged that Thawatchai began negotiating about a month after the accident over the money to be paid for the loss of his son.

Mr Somkid alleged to reporters on Monday he was told to settle the case and accept 100,000 baht or get nothing.

Mr Somkid learned later that he was supposed to receive 1.5 million baht in total instead of only 100,000 baht, but he was afraid of registering a fraud complaint with police in Kanchanaburi, where Thawatchai was a senior officer.

Mr Somkid decided to post a message asking for justice on his Facebook account.

"I am deeply saddened by the loss of my son, who cannot be replaced by money. And then I was cheated by this police officer," he wrote.

A day later, Kanchanaburi's police chief transferred Pol Col Thawatchai from Nong Prue station chief to the provincial police head office, to clear the way for an investigation into the case.

Pol Col Thawatchai has not reacted to the accusation.

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Vocabulary

  • accusation: a statement that someone has done something wrong or illegal even though this has not been proved - ข้อกล่าวหา
  • cheat (verb): to trick somebody or make them believe something which is not true - โกง
  • collide: (especially of moving objects) to hit something violently - ชน,กระแทก
  • compensation: money that someone receives because something bad has happened to them - เงินชดเชย
  • fraud: the crime of intentionally deceiving someone or cheating in order to gain an advantage or benefit - การฉ้อโกง การหลอกลวง เล่ห์เพทุบาย
  • justice: a fair result or punishment from a court of law - ความยุติธรรม
  • misappropriate: to use money improperly; to take for yourself money that you are responsible for but that does not belong to you - ใช้เงินในทางที่ผิด
  • negotiate: to try to reach an agreement by discussing something in a formal way - เจรจาต่อรอง
  • react: to respond as a result of something that happens - มีปฏิกิริยาตอบโต้
  • settle: to reach a decision or an agreement about something, or to end a disagreement - แก้ปัญหา
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