A paltry million baht, are you kidding?

A paltry million baht, are you kidding?

You must be kidding, surely, was one of the first things that popped into my mind when it was announced Pol Gen Somyot Pumpanmuang, the national police chief, has offered a one-million baht reward for information that leads to the arrest of Sahachai "Sia Jo" Chiansoemsi.

You have to be kidding, surely, was one of the first things that popped into my mind when it was announced that Pol Gen Somyot Pumpanmuang, the national police chief, has offered a one-million baht reward for information that leads to the arrest of Sahachai "Sia Jo" Chiansoemsi.

Sia Jo, is a fugitive, a convicted document forger and alleged oil smuggling mastermind whose long bribery-payroll included Pol Lt-Gen Pongpat Chayapan, sacked chief of the Central Investigation Bureau, and his criminal gang of rogue police officers and civilians.

Ivory and a small stash of cash, part of the billions of baht supposedly found in Pongpat's safe houses. But where did the cash go, asks Veera. Bangkok Post photo

He has been on the run since he escaped, with the help of police, from the Pattani provincial court house on Oct 9 immediately after he was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison on forgery charges.

Sia Jo was held in custody by the military after the May 22 coup. A search of his office, Sahasapthavee Kha Mai, on Aug 5 uncovered about 100 million baht in cash and valuables stuffed in a safe. He is also facing a bankruptcy lawsuit and tax evasion charges for failing to pay 414 million baht in taxes.

Although he is suspected of being a major oil smuggler, authorities have so far failed to come up with the hard evidence to prove it. However, a seized log book detailing the bribes he paid, and to whom, showed his payroll amounted to about 25 million baht a month.

For a big fish like Sia Jo, the one million baht reward offered by the national police chief is a pittance. Even the fugitive himself may feel insulted. I wonder whether anyone who has any knowledge of his whereabouts would even be tempted by such a small bounty. He's not a nice guy to cross.

Also, since many officials, not just Pongpat’s gang, were believed to be on the take from Sia Jo, it is doubtful they actually want him caught and put on trial. Sia Jo holds too many secrets and the risk he may spill the beans is enough to scare off most of the bribe-takers.

The low ranking police officer who escorted Sia Jo out of the court house the day he escaped, Pol Sub-Lt Aroon Srisukmark, faces punishment but has kept his mouth shut. It seems no one believes that he acted alone. It seems the police themselves are not so enthusiastic to find out more about the escape and those responsible. Sia Jo was whisked away in a car, and then reportedly taken out of the country.

Besides Sia Jo’s amazingly easy escape, there is yet another mystery – that is the money seized from Pongpat’s safe houses, which was originally reported to be in the tune of tens of millions of baht, and then later billions of baht. So far, the seized money has not been shown to the public, apart from a few small stacks of cash shown in a police video clip.

And strangely, police now rarely mention the seized money - instead focussing on the thousands of miscellaneous seized items, which include Buddha images, pottery, decorative figurines, elephant ivory and old artefacts.

That raises a big question mark: whether the "billions" of baht in seized banknotes ever actually existed - or has it just "gone missing". 

Veera Prateepchaikul

Former Editor

Former Bangkok Post Editor, political commentator and a regular columnist at Post Publishing.

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