Key witness in 'Boss' case dies

One of the motorcycles involved in a crash in Chiang Mai in which Jaruchart Maadthong, 40, was killed. (Photo from Facebook@KUSOLSONGKHORCHIANGMAIRESCUE)
One of the motorcycles involved in a crash in Chiang Mai in which Jaruchart Maadthong, 40, was killed. (Photo from Facebook@KUSOLSONGKHORCHIANGMAIRESCUE)

One of the two witnesses in the Red Bull scion Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya case died following a motorcycle accident in Chiang Mai province in the early hours of Thursday.

Jaruchart Maadthong, 40, was involved in a motorcycle accident at 1am. He died shortly after at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital.

His body was sent for an autopsy. His family and relatives said they knew nothing about his involvement in the high-profile case.

The Chiang Rai native was one of two new key witnesses added to the case two years ago. The other was a retired officer, Air Marshal Jakkrit Thanomkulabutr. Both testified that the Ferrari was travelling at 50-60 km/hour when the crash occurred.    

The two witnesses also testified that they saw a policeman on a motorcycle abruptly cut in front of Mr Vorayuth’s Ferrari, causing him to hit the bike. As a result, the dead policeman was named another suspect in the case alongside Mr Vorayuth.

Both were due to meet the House panel on justice and Aug 5. The chairman of the panel urged the police chief to give protection to the air marshal as he was the only remaining key to a trial. 

Deputy attorney-general Nate Naksook, on behalf of the attorney-general, signed the order not to charge Mr Vorayuth in late June but Thai media did not know about it until CNN broke the news last week.

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Vocabulary

  • abruptly: suddenly and unexpectedly, and often unpleasant - อย่างกะทันหัน
  • air marshal: commissioned officer in the air force who has the same rank as a lieutenant general in the army - นายทหารระดับสูงของกองทัพอากาศ
  • autopsy: a medical examination of a dead person’s body to find out why they died - การชันสูตรศพ
  • high-profile (adj): creating a lot of public attention - เป็นที่สนใจจากคนในสังคม
  • House (of Representatives): the largest part of Congress in the US, or of the Parliament in Australia and Thailand - สภาผู้แทนราษฎร
  • involvement: the act or process of taking part in something - การเกี่ยวข้อง
  • native: someone who was born in a particular place - ชาวพื้นเมือง
  • panel: a group of people who make decisions or judgments - คณะกรรมการ
  • protection: the act of protecting somebody/something; the state of being protected - การอารักขา, การปกป้อง
  • scion (noun): a young member of a family, especially a famous or important one - ทายาท
  • suspect: a person who is thought to have committed a crime - ผู้ต้องสงสัย
  • witness: a person who sees something happen or knows about something - ผู้ที่เห็นเหตุการณ์, พยาน

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