The attorney general has indicted former police chief Somyot Poompunmuang and seven others for helping Red Bull heir Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya evade criminal charges after a deadly hit-and-run in 2012.
Pol Gen Somyot, 69, was indicted for wrongful exercise or negligence of duty and for supporting officers to commit unlawful actions with an aim to help Vorayuth evade or receive less punishment, among other charges, according to a statement by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) on Tuesday.
Nate Naksuk, a former deputy attorney-general, will also face trial on similar charges along with two other police officers, the agency said.
The move came after the National Anti-Corruption Commission in September accused them of being involved in a 2020 decision by prosecutors to drop some charges against Vorayuth, which included speeding and hit-and-run.
The 2020 decision sparked a public uproar, prompting then-prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to order fresh investigation into how it had happened.
In the early hours of Sept 3, 2012, Vorayuth crashed his Ferrari into a motorcycle driven by Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichian Klanprasert, in the Thong Lor neighbourhood of Bangkok.
Instead of stopping to help the victim, Vorayuth, then in his early 20s, drove off, dragging the victim’s body about 200 metres from the scene of the accident. He did not report it.
After repeatedly ignoring orders to appear in court, he fled the country in 2017. The statute of limitations on some charges has already expired.
The NACC report last year concluded that Pol Gen Permpoon Chidchob, currently the education minister but formerly an assistant national police chief, was also guilty but of a less-serious disciplinary charge in connection with the “Boss” case.
Pol Gen Somyot admitted in 2018 that he had borrowed 300 million baht from the fugitive owner of the Victoria’s Secret Massage parlour while serving as national police chief in 2014 and 2015. The admission came after the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) said the money trail of the business’s owner, Kampol Wirathepsuporn, led to the former police chief.
Vorayuth is a grandson of the late Chaleo Yoovidhya, who founded TC Pharmaceutical and invented the energy drink Krating Daeng. Chaleo also co-founded the international Red Bull brand with the Austrian marketer Dietrich Mateschitz, who died in 2022. The Yoovidhyas are the second-richest Thai family with a net worth of $27.4 billion, according to a Bloomberg report.
Vorayuth, who has been at large since fleeing Thailand in 2017, still faces one charge of reckless driving causing death, which will lapse in 2027. The controversy around his cases has raised questions about impunity for the rich and powerful in Thailand.