After searching for six years, police at the Region 3 headquarters in Nakhon Ratchasima announced Tuesday the arrest of the key suspect in the murder of an Australian man, apparently resulting from road rage.
Pol Lt Gen Tawitchat Palasak, the commander of Provincial Police Region 3, announced the capture of the final suspect in the case involving three Thai teenagers and Australian citizen Andrew Oake.
Oake was attacked in March 2010 on his way home with his pregnant wife, Nareerat Swengdee, on a motorcycle.
The three teens, Suvit Srimoonsri from Buri Ram, and Somyod Sangchan and Pitak Thonglong, both from Khon Kaen, became angry that they were cut off on the road.
The teens allegedly attacked Oake with a machete as he tried to protect Ms Nareerat from harm. Oake suffered brain damage and later died.
Mr Suvit and Mr Somyod surrendered to police following pressure from family members and police. However, Mr Pitak ran away from his hometown and remained in hiding for six years in different parts of Thailand.
After police at Provincial Police Region 3 kept up their probe, Mr Pitak was finally discovered at a construction site in Nakhon Sawan on Oct 13.
He was brought back to Prasat district of Surin where the incident took place for further questioning.
Mr Pitak is now in prison under a detention order issued by the Criminal Court in Surin until the court reaches a decision.
Rory McDonald, the father of Oake who spent the past six years helping to track down the last suspect, told the Bangkok Post he could not be happier with the police's work.
"The effort they put into this case is amazing. The police at Provincial Police Region 3 and local police in Prasat have done an excellent job. I'm very happy to see the suspect in the judicial system. I would like to say thank you to the police for the hard work they have done," Mr McDonald said.
Meanwhile, Pol Lt Gen Tawitchat expressed concern regarding the case, saying it could damage the country's standing internationally as the victim was a foreigner.
"This isn't good for the country's image. We have many foreigners living here and visiting Thailand every year. I'm glad our investigative team worked together to find the suspect," Pol Lt Gen Tawitchat said.
"It is all thanks to Mr Rory, who never gave up. This arrest had a lot to do with him pushing the case through," he added.