In just 24 hours last week, Thai authorities demonstrated how to catch a fugitive, and how not to. By issuing an Interpol warrant, police have caused the detention of an English man accused of a 2014 murder in Kanchanaburi. By refusing to issue another such warrant, and through other actions, it appears law enforcement has hindered chances that the internationally infamous fugitive Red Bull scion, the suspect in a 2012 fatal hit-and-run case, will face justice.
Last Thursday, a patrol of the Guardia Civil on the Mediterranean Ibiza island of Spain detained a man wanted on an Interpol warrant. Shane Kenneth Looker, 47, of Stoke-on-Trent, was a fugitive from November, 2014. It is believed he can provide information on the brutal killing and mutilation of Laxami "Pook" Manochat. Before her body parts were found in a suitcase in a river, she had last been seen on a Bangkok CCTV leaving a bar with Mr Looker.
The British man had left Thailand on a train to Malaysia before police could interview him. They investigated the case professionally, even taking DNA samples from Mr Looker's home and from under Laxami's fingernails. They issued the Interpol warrant quickly, and last week that attention to detail paid off. Whether Mr Looker will make it into a court dock is unclear, but the point is authorities were skilful.
Compare that with the case of Red Bull scion Vorayuth Yoovidhya. No international warrant has been issued for the presumptive heir to the Krating Daeng empire. For more than four years, he has been travelling the world. He has been to Thailand frequently, where police including immigration authorities have shown indifference. As the arrest of Mr Looker was being announced last week, prosecutors brought up Mr Vorayuth's case. It presented quite a contrast.
The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) wanted to assure the public it is doing everything in its power to bring Mr Vorayuth back to Thailand, and face justice. Of course, it is common knowledge that is not true. Deputy OAG spokesman Prayuth Phetkhun had said Mr Vorayuth would be apprehended before the statute of limitations ran out on a speeding charge. But then it ran out. Last week the OAG said Mr Vorayuth would be apprehended before the statute of limitations runs out on a charge of failing to help a crash victim. That is in 83 days from now.
For a reality check, it has been 1,743 days since the death of 48-year-old Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichian Klanprasert, a Thong Lor traffic police officer. He died when his patrol motorcycle was struck from behind by a speeding Ferrari. His body was dragged down Sukhumvit Road a long way. The motorcycle wound up entangled in the front end of the Ferrari found parked inside the compound of the super-rich Yoovidhayas, Mr Vorayuth's family.
The Foreign Ministry has at least, and at last, cancelled his passport, but that is not even a minor problem for a rich person. Police claim they will ask for an Interpol arrest notice some time in the future, if they are able to find out where the fugitive is.
This is legal procrastination. Everyone knows where he is, along with his siblings and his mother. A foreign news agency was able to find them easily, and photos of their London residence appeared in this newspaper.
In the Shane Looker case, no one in Thailand had a clue where the suspect had fled. Yet an Interpol warrant was requested and issued immediately. It took some time but police on a Spanish island showed how these warrants work -- when authorities in Thailand want them to.