Thai authorities are ready to send an extradition request to any country able to arrest Red Bull energy drink scion Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya, who faces charges over a hit and run incident in Bangkok five years ago that caused the death of a traffic police officer.
Amnat Chotchai, director-general of the Office of the Attorney-General's (OAG) International Affairs Department, said prosecutors were working with police and the Foreign Ministry to draw up the request in English.
Once Interpol informs Thai authorities of Mr Vorayuth's whereabouts, a written request will be ready to send to any country where he is apprehended within five days, Mr Amnat said.
He was speaking after Interpol released a list of wanted fugitives and issued a red notice for Mr Vorayuth on Monday that extends to over 100 countries.
A red notice is a request to police forces around the world "to locate and provisionally arrest an individual, pending extradition", Interpol said.
According to Mr Amnat, two forms of the request are being prepared: One for countries which have an extradition agreement with Thailand, and another for those that don't.
For countries in the second category, the extradition process will be conducted in compliance with the 2008 Extradition Act. The Foreign Ministry will also take into consideration the relationship between the two countries.
Both forms of the request must be signed off by the OAG.
Mr Amnat said that once arrested, the suspect would have the right to defend himself in a foreign court during his detention period prior to extradition. This could take about 30 days, he added.
"We are now handling the case in accordance with due legal process. We are ready to take swift action to have the suspect face prosecution here before the statute of limitations of the [one] outstanding criminal charge against him expires," Mr Amnat said.
"We must try to avoid raising public suspicion that rich people can escape legal action [in Thailand] because that would taint the judicial process and [scare off] investment," he said.
The suspect is widely known in Thailand and overseas, and a number of countries are keeping a watchful eye to help track him down, Mr Amnat claimed.
As such, if Thai authorities fail to take action against Mr Vorayuth other countries would lose confidence in Thailand, he said. The suspect is wanted in connection with an incident that occurred in September 2012 when his Ferrari struck and killed a motorbike patrolman.
Mr Vorayuth has avoided meeting prosecutors ever since. He left Thailand in April, days before authorities finally issued an arrest warrant. His Thai passport was later revoked. He reportedly went to Singapore and then to Taiwan, but his whereabouts since early May are unknown.
