Rory McDonald's six-year quest to find justice for his dead son ended late last month when he received a phone call from Australian officials informing him the main suspect in the attack had been caught in Thailand.
His son, Andrew Oake, 28, died of cardiac failure on April 11, 2010, after being slashed by a group of machete-wielding men in Prasat, Surin, who set out to target foreigners in the company of local women. Oake suffered severe head and arm injuries trying to protect fiancee Nareerut Sawaengdee, or Som, who was five months pregnant with their daughter Angelina.
Suvit Srimoontri, the 17-year-old driver of the motorcycle used in the attack, later confessed his involvement and informed on Somyod Sangchan and Pitak Thonglong, both then 19, who went into hiding.
In the years since his son's death, Mr McDonald -- now aged 60, financially struggling and working as a part-time driver -- has spent most of his superannuation fund of A$100,000 (2.64 million baht) and travelled to Thailand, Macau, Cambodia and New Zealand in search of the attackers.
The message he received on a Saturday afternoon in his hometown of Adelaide was to inform him that the final suspect, Pitak, had been arrested by police on Oct 13 at a construction site in Nakhon Sawan.
"I remember getting the news. I was so happy. We were over the moon," Mr McDonald told Spectrum. "It went on and on and we were running out of money pretty quick."
Som had received her Australian citizenship a few days prior to the phone call. But Angelina, now aged six, could not forget her father's killers and her grandfather's promise to bring them to justice.
"She's a pretty smart kid," said Mr McDonald. "She keeps saying, 'Grandaddy, what are you going to do about catching these men who killed my daddy?'
"I told her, 'We're not looking for revenge, we're looking for justice. We did everything we could to get the men who killed your father and attacked your mum.'"
CONSPIRACY TO MURDER
The northeastern city of Prasat is a small community where most people know each other's business. Prior to being attacked on March 14 and suffering head and body injuries which doctors believe led to his death a month later, Oake had befriended a local policeman with whom he went fishing.
After the machete attack, which the suspects told police was triggered by a road rage incident, a woman contacted one of Som's relatives offering to turn over Pitak and Somyod, both from Khon Kaen. Mr McDonald said she had been lurking around Oake's funeral service and trying to ingratiate herself with mourners.
"A lady asked for 100,000 baht to give up these guys because they were living with her," said Mr McDonald. "They ran away but had left their Thai IDs at the house. We said, 'We're not going to do that, you should just give them up.' She said she needed it for protection money."
A month after the attack, Suvit, a local who legally was a juvenile at the time, turned himself in to police and confessed to driving Pitak and Somyod.
He told police he had only met the pair, who worked as panel beaters, on the day of the attack.
Suvit pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and conceal a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. But this was later reduced to a three-year suspended sentence and 20 hours of community service. The judge -- citing his age, confession and payment of 50,000 baht to Oake's family in compensation -- ruled a prison term was not warranted.
Somyod had fled to Macau even though there was an outstanding arrest warrant against him. It's unclear whether he used a fake travel document or had been issued with a valid one. Mr McDonald and his family had learned Somyod was in Macau by information shared in the tight-knit local community. The suspect's parents later confirmed to a Surin court that he was working as a security guard at a Macau casino.
Mr McDonald travelled to Macau and informed Special Branch police that Somyod was wanted in Thailand over the death of his son. Somyod was deported but was not arrested when he arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport.
"He was supposed to be arrested by Interpol, but he was let free and went back to his village," said Mr McDonald. >>
>> He believes an article published in Spectrum in April 2013 ("A father's three-year search for justice") shedding light on the issue helped lead to Somyod's arrest in October of that year.
"Because of the story in the Spectrum section of the Bangkok Post, people in his village were aware he was wanted," said Mr McDonald. "They said, 'You had better turn yourself in to police or we will.'"
Police confirmed that after being on the run for three years, Somyod was pressured by his family members and friends into giving himself up.
Somyod pleaded guilty to attempted murder and carrying a weapon in a public place without a proper reason. He was sentenced to 10 years, reduced to five, and was released from prison in August this year after receiving a royal pardon for good behaviour. He spent three years in jail.
Both Suvit and Somyod identified Pitak as the main attacker.
SEARCH CONTINUES
Mr McDonald continued his amateur sleuthing after more information gathered by the local community and passed on to Som's relatives indicated Pitak was in Cambodia.
Mr McDonald had quit his job at Mitsubishi Motors to spend most of his time searching for the suspects. A friend who is a financial adviser and often travels to Southeast Asia also helped fund his multiple trips as his superannuation funds began to dwindle.
The best lead he had was that Pitak was working at a Thai restaurant in Phnom Penh.
Mr McDonald and the financial adviser travelled to Cambodia in early 2014 and took the arrest warrant for Pitak and pictures of him to the restaurant. The staff said Pitak had been working there but had left.
"I met with Cambodian immigration officials. I showed them a picture and they said, 'All Thais look the same to us,'" Mr McDonald said.
"He was there but I missed him. That's the closest I got to him, but I couldn't find any more contacts."
The wild goose chase also took him to a Thai restaurant in Lake Taupo, New Zealand, where Pitak had relatives, and Siem Reap in Cambodia. Mr McDonald has lost count of how many trips he has made overseas. "I stopped counting at 15," he said.
However, Thai police investigators believed Pitak had never left the country, according to his travel documents.
On Oct 13, Pitak was located at a construction site at Lat Yao Hospital in Nakhon Sawan province where he was working and living with his wife. He was arrested and sent to Prasat police station in Surin.
Pol Maj Gen Luechai Sudyod, deputy commissioner of Police Region 3 who is in charge of the investigation, told Spectrum police used old-fashioned techniques to search for Pitak.
"I ordered all investigation police to follow Mr Pitak's friends and relatives," he said. "We even went to Cambodia to look for him, but we found nothing useful. The police used their common sense when talking to people who knew Mr Pitak as not all of them were telling the truth. Eventually, we got some clues from some of his friends."
Pitak is now being held in Surin provincial prison under court orders until the case comes to trial. He is facing charges of premeditated murder and carrying a weapon in a public place without a proper reason. Police say he has confessed to the charges. If found guilty, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
IN THE WRONG PLACE
Oake first visited Thailand as a teenager and felt at home in the country away from Australia, where he believed he was unfairly judged by some people for his rough appearance.
CLOSE BOND: Rory McDonald with his granddaughter Angelina, who never met her father but wants to know everything about the case. photos: CHAIYOT YONGCHAROENCHAI
Mr McDonald said that when Oake was a boy he suffered facial injuries from a Bunsen burner accident in the classroom which he believed had left him disfigured, although the wounds completely healed.
The tattooed, tough-looking young man travelled to Thailand more frequently and met and fell in love with Som. When the machete attack occurred, the couple had just completed a Buddhist marriage ceremony at a temple in Prasat, Som's hometown.
The confrontation took place after the couple left an internet cafe about 10pm. Two men sprang off the back of a motorcycle armed with homemade machetes. The suspects told police the attack followed a road rage incident. But Mr McDonald insists the real motive for the attack was to target Western men in the company of Thai women.
"There had been other attacks on foreign men in the area that night, but not so severe," he said. "Andrew was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Oake told his pregnant wife to run to safety, but he was brought down in the attack and suffered severe head and arm injuries. He was rushed to the local hospital. He had taken out full medical coverage with one of Australia's largest insurers, who Mr McDonald believes could have done more for his son.
Oake phoned his father the next day to tell him what had happened. The immediate concern of medical staff was damage to tendons in his arms and the possibility of amputation.
He was transferred to Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok, where he was treated as an inpatient for six days and as an outpatient for three.
While doctors were more concerned about his outward injuries, Mr McDonald believes his son was already showing signs of suffering from cerebral oedema and infection, which were later identified as the causes of death. Oake was exhibiting unstable behaviour.
"They [the hospital] had to attach a security guard to him because he was wandering around the wards looking for his brother and sister from Australia," said Mr McDonald.
Oake was eventually moved to Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. While Mr McDonald wanted his son to be treated under his insurance policy, an emergency care consultant for the insurers assessed his condition as not too serious as weeks had passed since the attack.
Mr McDonald said his son was under pressure from the insurer to get on a flight to Australia and be treated in the public health system. He requested a business class flight for his son due to the bandaging on his body and his gruesome injuries.
The insurers refused, he said, and Oake decided to travel back to Australia economy class. However, he had left his passport in Prasat and had to return there in a minivan with no medical assistance. At journey's end he appeared lifeless and was pronounced dead at Prasat Hospital.
Doctors who conducted the autopsy said the cerebral oedema and infection were thought to have caused several blood clots in Oake's heart that resulted in cardiac arrest. They also told Mr McDonald that Oake wouldn't have made the journey back home to Australia. "He took that trip to his death for no reason," he said bitterly.
Mr McDonald holds a great deal of anger towards the insurer despite meeting a senior executive in Sydney who expressed his concern over the handling of Oake's case. He said the executive conceded that the company's decisions were based on costs.
THE FUTURE
The McDonald family are still in financial difficulty and have to find A$5,000 to pay a Thai lawyer as they prepare for Pitak's trial.
Som will have to give a statement to a pre-trial hearing this month. The McDonalds are requesting financial assistance from Australia's Foreign Affairs Department with the help of Senator Nick Xenophon. Another member of Mr Xenophon's Senate team has also offered support.
Mr Xenophon travelled with the family on Tuesday to Nakhon Ratchasima when they met police from several regions who explained how they arrested the suspects and the court procedures to come.
He described Mr McDonald as a very determined man. "This is an extraordinary story of love for Andrew and a determination to seek answers and get justice for Andrew's death," Mr Xenophon said.
Mr McDonald has approached an Australian law firm to look at a claim against the insurer, but he is not hopeful it will proceed. He lacks the funds to pay lawyers and the case is being looked at on a pro bono basis.
Mr McDonald holds no grudges against the Thai police or people and hopes that the tragedy of his son's death will serve as a lesson to other travellers. He advises foreigners to be mindful of Thai culture and show respect.
"A lot of people think because they are Western citizens and have insurance they will be OK. We want to remind them to be mindful of the pitfalls and to be careful," he said.
Ms Nareerut, who also attended the police briefing with her daughter, told Spectrum that she would return to Australia and stay with her husband's family. After that she will divide her time between her home in Surin and Adelaide.
The McDonalds said their granddaughter would complete her education in Australia. Angelina is bright and feisty and wants to know everything about the case even though she never got the chance to meet her father.
"I'm not even sure what to say to the guy who hurt my daddy and mummy," Angelina told reporters. "But I know that I will kick him if I get to meet him in court."
WEAPONS: The machetes used to attack Andrew Oake in Surin in 2010. He suffered severe head and arm injuries trying to protect wife Nareerut Sawaengdee. photo: bangkok post archive
TARGETED WESTERNERS: Suvit Srimoontri, left, and Somyod Sangchan, centre, have been convicted over the attack, while Pitak Thonglong, right, is awaiting trial. photos: CHAIYOT YONGCHAROENCHAI
SEEKING JUSTICE: Andew Oake's family attend a police briefing in Nakhon Ratchasima on Tuesday. Widow Nareerut Sawaengdee, second left, and daughter Angelina were keen to attend.
PREGNANT: Andrew Oake with Nareerut Sawaengdee in 2010. Right, his wounds. photos: bangkok post archive
WARNING TO TRAVELLERS: Rory McDonald holds no grudges against the Thai police or people but advises foreigners to be mindful of Thai culture and show respect. photo: CHAIYOT YONGCHAROENCHAI