The Royal Thai Police (RTP) on Tuesday announced it had punished five of the seven police officers found guilty of dereliction of duty in their lenient handling of the high-profile 2012 hit-and-run case involving Red Bull scion Vorayuth "Boss" Yoovidhya.
The five officers are; Pol Maj Gen Sukhon Phrommayon, a deputy chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB); Pol Maj Gen Chumphon Phumphuang, chief of Samut Prakan provincial police; Pol Col Samrit Ketyaem, a deputy chief of the RTP's Personnel Planning and Design Division; Pol Col Wibun Thinwatthana, chief of the investigation unit of the MPB's Division 2; and Pol Col Wiladon Thapthimdi, the chief investigator of the traffic police unit.
Deputy police spokesman Pol Col Kissana Phathanacharoen said all the officers had been placed on probation on March 31, except for Pol Col Wiladon, who had to serve a three-day detention instead.
The two other convicted policemen retired before the punishment order was issued at the end of March and the order was not retrospective, he said.
They are Pol Col Traimet U-thai and Pol Maj Gen Krit Pia-kaeo, who had retired on Oct 1, 2016 and Oct 1, 2013 respectively.
Pol Col Kissana was responding to growing public criticism of the police after the Office of the Attorney-General urged the police to track down Mr Vorayuth before the statute of limitations for the most serious charge -- reckless driving causing death -- expires in 2027.
A speeding charge was dropped when the one-year statute of limitations expired in 2013 and a second charge -- failing to stop and help a crash victim -- expired on Sept 3, 2017.