A woman said to be close to disgraced former Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) chief Pongpat Chayapan narrowly escaped death after being beaten and dumped behind a golf course in Samut Prakan on Friday.
A security guard at the Suphapruek golf course alerted police on Friday night after spotting the woman, who had nylon rope tied around her hands and adhesive tape fastened around her neck, said Pol Lt Chakthong Khammapol, a duty officer at Bang Bo police station.
The woman, identified as Chanita Kinnis, 38, of Phanat Nikhom district in Chon Buri, appeared to be exhausted and in severe pain when police arrived, and she was rushed to Bang Bo Hospital.
The security guard, Supoj sae Lor, told police that a taxi carrying two passengers had entered the golf course near a fish pond at about 6pm on Friday. About 10 minutes after the taxi left, he said, he saw a lone man wearing dark glasses and a cap walking away from the area. Shortly afterward, he said, he saw the woman crawling along the ground near the fish pond.
Police who questioned Ms Chanita said she told them that she was close to Pol Lt Gen Pongpat, who has been convicted of heading a multi-billion-baht bribery and extortion ring.
After the officer had his assets seized by the Anti-Money Laundering Office (Amlo), she said she was facing the same action. The exact nature of her connection to Pongpat was not made clear.
Ms Chanita told police that she had left her home earlier on Friday to meet Amlo officials and discuss her case. Along the way, she stopped at a restaurant to have a meal. As she was leaving the restaurant, she said, a man walked up behind her and put something believed to be a gun at her back and forced her into a black sedan.
While she was inside the car, she said, the man tied her hands and covered her eyes. She then heard him talking on a mobile phone to someone who ordered her to be killed. Shortly afterward, she was hit on the head with a hard object and knocked out.
Police said the woman was still suffering acute head pain and they planned to interrogate her further after her condition improved.
Officers have yet to establish a motive for the attack.
Ms Chanita also told police during questioning that she was a daughter of Thanayos Pathumwassana, a wealthy furniture factory owner, by his second wife. Thanayos was shot to death along with his third wife, two children and a maid in 2009 over an apparent business dispute. Ever since that time, she told officers, she had received death threats.
Pongpat has been sentenced to jail terms totalling 31 years and nine months after being convicted on a variety of charges.
The disgraced former police officer headed a network that accumulated ill-gotten gains worth billions of baht through bribery and extortion.
Many of the more than 20 people arrested have been charged with or convicted of lese majeste for claiming a royal connection to justify their actions.