TAK - Myanmar police handed over fugitive and former police doctor Supat Laohawattana to Thai authorities on Thursday to face his death sentence for killing a Myanmar worker in Phetchaburi province 13 years ago.
Deputy national police chief Thammasak Wicharaya arrived from Bangkok at the border crossing in Ban Rim Moei of Mae Sot district to accept Pol Col Dr Supat, a former doctor at Police General Hospital, from senior Myanmar police officers on the Thai-Myanmar friendship bridge.
Supat, 63, was initially questioned at the local customs office. Police then took him by plane to Hua Hin district of Prachuap Khiri Khan, where he was transported to Phetchaburi for further interrogation.
Supat was sentenced to death for the murder of Myanmar worker Ita on his farmland in tambon Klad Luang of Tha Yang district, Phetchaburi, in early 2004.
Supat fled before the Phetchaburi provincial court delivered its judgement in the case on May 1, 2015.
He and his two sons, Ake and Akara, were charged with the murder of Ita.
The court sentenced Supat, in his absence, and Ake to death. Akara was sentenced to life imprisonment, but the sentence was commuted to 25 years and three months as he was only 19 when the crime was committed.
After hunting Supat for more than a year, Phetchaburi police followed a close aide to the former doctor who crossed the border in Tak to meet the fugitive in Myanmar.
After discovering his whereabouts, Thai police asked Myanmar police to arrest him last December.
Supat was detained along with a large amount of cash at a house near the Thai-Myanmar border. He was charged with illegal entry and possession of a fake Myanmar ID card.
In Myanmar, Supat was sentenced to two years' imprisonment, but was released early as Thailand sought his repatriation for further prosecution.
Myanmar authorities earlier said Supat entered Myanmar illegally through the Three Pagodas Pass in Kanchanaburi province, and had kept a low profile with his Myanmar wife up until his arrest.
Before his trial on the murder case, police searched Supat's farm in Phetchaburi for evidence after receiving a complaint on the disappearance of a Phetchaburi farming couple. Their vehicle was found at a deserted house belonging to Supat's mother in Nonthaburi province.
The search revealed three human skeletons, including that of the murdered Myanmar worker. Authorities also found illegal migrant workers and a large number of weapons on Supat's property in Phetchaburi.
Police arrive with Dr Supat at Hua Hin airport in Prachuap Khiri Khan province on Thursday. (Photo by Chaiwat Satyaem)