On the day the Supreme Court threw That Woman out of politics for good, judges from the same Dika Court dealt with a second fugitive.
They awarded Thanyaporn "Than" Chansakulporn an arguably well-deserved four-year prison sentence. Like Voldemort's sister, she's on the run and her conviction stemmed from the Pheu Thai government's rice policies. Somewhat like the ex-premier who got to her position because of her big brother, Than got to taste success and power because of her father.
He is Apichart Chansakulporn aka Sia Pliang, a Samut Sakhon rice dealer, deemed by various courts a breathtakingly corrupt and wondrously crooked businessman, more tenacious than a hungry dog with a bone.
Thanyaporn Chansakulporn, rice trader's daughter, condo developer-marketer, now the 'other woman' fugitive from a four-year prison sentence by the Supreme Court. (Photos from Than Magazine 2014)
Than's fleeting success was strictly economic. Unlike many of her second-generation Sino-Thai women contemporaries, Than wasn't found in the Ferrari showrooms like "Champagne" Yoovidhya, or on the pages of Tatler.
Sia Pliang, going by the public record, never turned an honest deal where he had a viable choice to do it otherwise. In inner circles he was an SOT -- sycophant of the billionaire who sold phones until he became prime minister, angered the wrong people, bought a villa in Dubai, etc. But mainly Sia Pliang was close to Watana Muangsook, who was Voldemort's trade minister.
That gave Apichart one of the sweetest deals in Commerce Ministry history, the purchase of 30,000 tonnes of 5% broken rice at a price other rice dealers were jealous about. Plus a contract to sell 20,000 tonnes of it to Iran. Tehran paid him up front, sent a ship to collect the rice. And waited. And still is waiting.
Apichart's claim was that he didn't have the money to deliver the rice. Nine years later, the Criminal Court in Samut Prakan laughed at that claim. In 2016, that court handed Apichart a three-year prison sentence for "rice embezzlement", then allowed him bail of 700,000 baht to appeal. Surprise! He had no problem producing bail money.
Two things happened between his theft of Iran's rice and money in 2007, and when he was brought to book in 2016. In 2011, Voldemort's sister took Voldemort's old position. And Sia Pliang gave a lot of money to his precious children, son Soravis but particularly daughter Thanyaporn.
She went into the property development business. Like her father with rice, she established a network of shell and operating companies in Thailand, Singapore and perhaps elsewhere. Her sudden appearance on the real estate scene brought new names: Keetha Property, marketing company Siralai Smart Lifestyle. She sold out two large projects that were widely advertised and promoted in certain daily newspapers -- but never using her name.
'Than' ran this photo in her eponymous magazine to illustrate the leisure lifestyle of her Siralai condos.
And while she was multiplying daddy's money in obscurity, the patriarch himself was parlaying his old Thai Rak Thai contacts into new Pheu Thai contacts. He hooked onto the very influential coattails of the commerce minister, Boonsong Teriyapirom. He and Boonsong and another dozen and a half people who thought they were pretty smart did deals so blatantly illegal that they are currently living, at taxpayer expense, in a place with bars on the windows.
Starting with the 2011 election, Than did well for herself and for brother Soravis as well as her minder and veteran of the Iran embezzlement, Kinkaew Limpisuk. Her self-promoting, eponymous publication Than Magazine featured photos of Than luxuriating in her model condos, although without identifying her. Her close aide and editor-in-chief of the magazine was Monchai Orawongpaisan. Remember that name for a moment.
When the calendar rolled round to late 2013 and then to May 22, 2014, Than was at the height of her condo-peddling success. But she was more astute than many, including daddy, and went proactive. First and foremost, she wiped her name from the real estate market. An extremely secretive Singapore company, T Land Pte, took over her Keetha and Siralai companies.
The announcement of the Singapore-based firm's buyout was by the new CEO. "We had no involvement in the rice deal," claimed Monchai Orawongpaisarn, the man from a couple of paragraphs above.
It would be criminal if Than still held an interest in Keetha, Siralai, T Land or any other involved entity. The state would be justified in seizing it all. So probably she doesn't. And anyway, CEO Monchai says she doesn't, so probably she doesn't.
Cashed out, Than hit the road and hasn't been seen since. Just like the female ex-premier, she's a fugitive, facing four years in the clink for helping her father, Boonsong and the other crooked cronies.
Like most deals involving crooked people and fugitives, Than's real estate holdings will never be fully revealed. The condo firms have reverted now to Adamas (Thailand) Co Ltd, which is honest and above board, different from Sia Pliang's family, imprisoned physically or as a fleeing fugitive.