PRACHIN BURI ― Police have denied reports they had found the pickup truck of a high-profile businessman and key supporter of the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy reported missing from his home in Sa Kaeo’s Aranyaprathet district, according to the missing man's son.
Chaichana Mai-ngan, owner of a large restaurant and a second-hand clothes business in Talat Rong Kluea market, left home in his pickup truck shortly after 5am on Monday.
His family said he was on his daily shopping routine to a local market. He had not been heard from since.
His son, Suchart, said he learned from a television news report that a white Nissan Navara believed to belong to his missing father had been found at a PTT petrol station in Kabin Buri district of Prachin Buri.
He went to Kabin Buri police station on Thursday to follow up on the report, but was told that police had still not recovered the missing vehicle.
“I saw the CCTV camera footage of the vehicle [on the news] and I was pretty sure it was my father’s pickup truck,” Mr Suchart said.
Mr Suchart said he arrived at the police station and had to go through a lot of red tape, only to hear from an investigating officer that his father’s pickup had not been found.
Mr Suchart believed his father’s disappearance was related to his business. However, he did not know everything about his father's business dealings because he seldom went home.
Mr Suchart said he had now feared for his own safety. His father's business opponents were very influential, he said.
Pol Col Taweesak Ponkerd, chief of Kabin Buri police station, said he had no report of the missing man's vehicle being found.
investigators said earlier that security camera footage showed two cars appeared to be following Mr Chaichana’s pickup in a suspicious manner. They were working to identify the owners of the cars and track where they went.
Sapsakul Mai-ngan, a daughter of Mr Chaichana, said land and business conflicts were the most likely cause of her father’s disappearance.
The 67-year-old businessman was engaged in a legal battle over a block of land near the Cambodian border, and was involved in various court cases with both government officials and local figures in the province, she said. She ruled out other possible motives.