The year 2017 saw many infamous crime stories make the headlines in the Bangkok Post. The Post would like to recap five such stories -- from the killer "beauties", the Krabi family massacre, the wholesale fraud surrounding non-existent tours to Japan, the Xaysana drug trafficking gang, to the Jomsap retrial saga -- which had readers following each case over the course of many days and weeks as the events unfolded.
The stories included here were chosen on the strength of the public interest they aroused through the elaborate scheming involved in the crimes, along with the depth of brutality the authorities uncovered and the lengths to which state agencies went to build and solve the cases almost from scratch.
These stories also served to make people wary of the danger that is posed by premeditated criminal activities while the authorities were able to gain more insight into criminal networks and piece together the ways some criminal syndicates are connected.
1. Preaw's revenge
Karaoke bar hostess Warisara Klinjui, 22 vanished on May 25 before turning up dead the next day in a revenge killing committed by a gang of assailants feted on social media for their good looks.
Preaw the killier: Left, Preeyanuch ‘Preaw’ Nonwangchai, one of the suspected killers of a 22-year-old karaoke bar girl, posted this photo on her Facebook. Right, Ms Preeyanuch was escorted back from Myanmar where she fled after allegedly killing Warisara Klinjui. Apichit Jinakul
The body of Warisara was found in a shallow grave in Khon Kaen’s Khao Suan Kwang district. The corpse had been dismembered.
About a week later, readers were introduced to a 24-year-old woman, Preeyanuch Nonwangchai, nicknamed “Preaw,” who was accused of carrying out the murder by dismembering Warisara in a revenge killing over drugs.
According to the police investigation, the murder was believed to have been motivated by a personal conflict between Warisara and Ms Preeyanuch, as well as Ms Preeyanuch’s gang members who include two other attractive women, who allegedly assisted Ms Preeyanuch in the murder.
Before her death, Warisara had tipped off police on a drugs matter leading to the arrest of Ms Preeyanuch’s husband, a drug suspect.
On May 25, two members of the gang including Ms Preeyanuch picked up Warisara in a car where she and the victim fought.
The victim challenged Ms Preeyanuch to assault her and allegedly said if she had survived, she would settle scores, according to the driver, Wasin Namprom, 22.
Mr Wasin told police Ms Preeyanuch covered Warisara’s head with a plastic bag before strangling the victim to death.
Mr Wasin was the first suspect charged in the ghastly murder. He fled to Vientiane, Laos, where he was arrested on May 30.
Also on that day, Jidarat Promkhun, 21, who did not flee with Mr Wasin and the rest of the gang, was nabbed in Ubon Ratchathani.
Mr Wasin, who claimed he only drove the car and played no part in the killing, claimed Ms Preeyanuch dismembered Warisara’s body, using a saw and knife, with the aim of concealing it at a resort in Khon Kaen.
Police investigators later located Ms Preeyanuch and two other suspects, also believed to have colluded in the murder plot. The trio fled to Myanmar via Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district on May 25.
Hunting for them, police learned the women were seen being taken in a car to a restaurant in the border town of Tachileik opposite Mae Sai.
The restaurant owner was quizzed by the authorities who found the suspects had left his restaurant with customers.
With help from the Myanmar authorities, the police eventually arrested Ms Preeyanuch and two other women, Kawita “Earn” Ratchada, 25, and Apiwan “Jae” Sattayabundit, 28, on June 3.
Ms Preeyanuch, who became a high profile figure on social media, said after her arrest she did not intend killing Warisara but only wanted to teach her a lesson.
2. Family slaughter in Krabi
Another high-profile criminal case involved the killing of a whole family, including a two-year-old girl, in Krabi in July.
From left: Surikfat Bannopwongsakul allegedly masterminded the family massacre; National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda and investigators examine the evidence.
The massacre took place at the house of village head Worayut Sanglang in Ao Luk district on July 10. Eight people were shot dead, including Worayut.
Police said the killing stemmed from disputes over a land mortgage deal between Worayut and Surikfat Bannopwongsakul, 41, thought to have masterminded the massacre.
Mr Surikfat is believed to have duped Worayut’s father-in-law into signing land sale documents, without the latter being fully aware of what he was doing.
When Worayut found out what was happening, he planned to bring a lawsuit against Mr Surikfat.
Police said Worayut and Mr Surikfat had exchanged death threats which eventually ended in Woraut’s cold-blooded murder.
Eight assailants, wearing camouflage outfits, stormed Worayut’s house, killed the family and made it look as though Worayut had gone berserk under the strain of his debts and shot his own family.
The gunmen forced Mr Worayut to call a friend and ask to borrow B500,000, to support the story that he was in trouble, while Mr Worayut’s gun was used in the killing to frame him.
According to police, Worayut had previously mortgaged his land in Ao Luk district, worth over one million baht, with Mr Surikfat.
However, when Worayut later paid back the money, Mr Surikfat allegedly not only refused to return the title deed but sold the land to another person using Worayut’s father’s signature.
This led to a fierce dispute and Mr Surikfat’s plan to “finish off” Worayut and his family. Mr Surikfat said he had borrowed the murder plot from movies.
The assailants themselves were deceived by Mr Surikfat who told them to help him collect debts worth three million baht from Worayut, according to police. There was also a ninth suspect, a woman named Chalita Sangkhachot, 41, who provided food for the attackers.
One gang member, identified only as Chak, told police he ushered the family into the house so as not to make the killings conspicuous.
3. Mystery Japan tour
On the night of April 11, about 1,000 people found themselves stranded at Suvarnabhumi airport and discovered they had been cheated into paying for a tour to Japan which did not exist.
From left: Sin Sae Shogun is charged with fraudulent borrowing and operating an illegal business; Victims of the scam were left stranded at Suvarnabhumi airport.
The victims said they purchased the tour, scheduled for April 11-16, for 9,730-20,000 baht each from WealthEver Co, a company selling food supplements, run by Pasist Arinchalapis, alias Sin Sae Shogun.
Shortly after the fraud scheme came to light, Ms Pasist and her relatives were arrested as they were about to leave the country through Ranong province which borders Myanmar.
Ms Pasist claimed her company sold only food supplements to members for 9,730 each while victims were persuaded by other people, not her, to buy the package tour.
She also said she earlier spent 20 million baht of her own money to buy tickets to Japan for many other members.
In July, Ms Pasist and nine other suspects went before the Criminal Court to deny charges of committing public fraud and other charges relating to membership of their online food supplement company.
Police said the victims were conned into buying memberships of the food supply company between January and April in exchange for promised free trips to South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan.
They face other charges relating to their online business WealthEver, which attracted people to buy food supplement memberships worth 9,000-20,000 baht.
Prosecutors also charged Ms Pasist and the other suspects with operating an illegal business, computer crime, distributing food supplements with false labels, and customs-related offences of buying or accepting falsely declared imported goods.
According to officials, Ms Pasist has changed her name more than 10 times. She has been embroiled in several fraud cases since 2012 although she managed to reach a compromise with her victims in some cases, resulting in the revocation of her arrest warrants.
In the Japan tour scheme, there are 757 victims, of whom 175 were treated as witnesses by police. Total damages were estimated at 51 million baht.
4. Xaysana, 'Benz Racing' and 'Boy' busted
A major raid on Lao drug lord Xaysana Keopimpha’s drug syndicate which implicated Akarakit “Benz Racing” Worarojcharoendet, the husband of an actress, drew intense public interest.
A Lamborghini car found at the home of Akarakit Worarojchroendet, right, who is allegedly connected to Lao drug kingpin Xaysana Keopimpha. Pa ttarapong Chatpattarasill and Tawa tchai Kemgumnerd
On Jan 19, the drug kingpin was apprehended at Suvarnabhumi airport on his arrival from Phuket by the Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB) which had been tracking his activities.
Shortly after the arrest of Mr Xaysana, the NSB raided 40 locations across the country in an operation called “Chaiya Sayob Pairee 60/2”.
During the raid, several suspects embroiled in the Lao narcotic ring were detained, including Mr Akarakit, the husband of actress Napapa “Patt” Tantrakul, and Natthaphol “Boy” Nakkham, a key suspect believed to be closely linked to Mr Xaysana and an acquaintance of Mr Akarakit.
Among the targeted locations were “Area 51”, Mr Akarakit’s shop selling auto accessories for big bikes, and his room in Soi Inthamara 51, both in Bangkok’s Din Daeng district.
Police also confiscated a grey Lamborghini Gallardo, several big bikes and two 9mm pistols with 15 bullets from the locations.
An investigation indicated Mr Akarakit did not have vehicle registration papers for a BMW big bike while an examination on another big bike found it was registered in Mr Natthaphol’s name.
Mr Natthaphol later told police that Mr Xaysana’s assets, including the Lamborghini, were spread over several locations.
He said the luxury car was used by the drug lord during his visits in Thailand.
The probe also showed Mr Akarakit had allegedly opened bank accounts to receive transactions related to the drug ring. Around 11 million baht had been transferred to various bank accounts via 53 transactions.
Mr Akarakit also faces charges of assisting in drug trafficking and conspiring to launder money generated from the drug network allegedly run by Mr Xaysana. Mr Akarakit is being detained at Bangkok Remand Prison pending trial.
As for his actress wife, NSB investigators charged her with colluding in money laundering and involvement in drug smuggling after they found 1.9 million baht had been wired to her bank account in instalments by her husband.
Ms Napapa denied the allegations. Prosecutors later dropped both charges against her in August after investigators could find no solid evidence against her.
5. Jomsap feels heat after retrial bid comes unstuck
The case of former teacher Jomsap Saenmuangkhot, who tried to prove she was wrongfully jailed in a 2005 hit-and-run case, ended with a twist last month when the Supreme Court dismissed her petition seeking a retrial.
From left: The pickup truck formerly owned by Jomsap Saenmuangkhot which was involved in a hit-and-run killing in 2005; Ms Jomsap is charged with hiring false witnesses.
In the weeks following the court’s decision, Ms Jomsap, 55, was transformed from victim of a miscarriage of justice into a suspect in a criminal network that allegedly paid people to serve jail sentences.
Her attempt to seek a retrial after being found guilty of recklessly driving a pickup truck that struck and killed the elderly Lua Pobamrung, in Nakhon Phanom’s Renu Nakhon district in March 2005, attracted wide attention. It was the first case since the 1983 Retrial of Criminal Case Act in which the Justice Ministry sought a retrial.
Pol Col Dusadee Arayawuth, deputy permanent secretary for justice, and the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), were involved in the retrial bid. Among her witnesses were Thassanee Hanphayak, a motorcycle driver, and Thongres Wongsricha, who was said to be riding pillion on Thassanee’s bike, who claimed the driver involved in the hit-and-run was a man.
Ms Jomsap’s insistence of her innocence carried more weight after Sap Wapee came out and said he himself drove the vehicle that fatally hit the bicycle being ridden by Lua.
Based on these accounts, people started to believe that Ms Jomsap had been a scapegoat and was right to seek justice.
However, Mr Sap failed to show up in February for the initial hearing regarding the petition for a retrial, which fuelled doubts as to what really happened in the case.
On Nov 17, the Supreme Court dismissed the retrial bid, saying there was no new evidence and Ms Jomsap’s witnesses had given conflicting accounts. The court indicated that a network had been hired to falsify statements to clear Ms Jomsap's name.
Following the court’s ruling, police pressed charges against 11 people including Ms Jomsap, Mr Sap, Ms Thassanee and Ms Thongres.
Ms Jomsap’s credibility was further undermined after Mr Sap allegedly admitted to police he was hired by Ms Jomsap’s friend Suriya Nualcharoen, who was also charged for allegedly fabricating statements.
Police were also investigating the Justice Ministry officials involved in the retrial bid including 14 DSI officials.